Your Stove Setup - The one thing you wish you could change

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sutphenj

Burning Hunk
Nov 19, 2010
160
West MI
We all have different set ups with our own little quirks. What is the one thing you would like to change about your set up?

For me it's the height of the stove. Sure would be nice to have a relatively high raised hearth that didn't require crunching down and getting on the floor etc.
 
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sutphenj said:
We all have different set ups with our own little quirks. What is the one thing you would like to change about your set up?

For me it's the height of the stove. Sure would be nice to have a relatively high raised hearth that didn't require crunching down and getting on the floor etc.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed, & the older you get, the more you wish the stove was a little higher off the floor!
 
sutphenj said:
For me it's the height of the stove. Sure would be nice to have a relatively high raised hearth that didn't require crunching down and getting on the floor etc.
Click to expand...
bcrtops said:
Yes indeed, & the older you get, the more you wish the stove was a little higher off the floor!
Click to expand...
My SIL is even older than me, poor girl. ;lol She's running an old Dutchwest cat identical to my backup stove. With a vaulted ceiling in her open layout, she really needs more firepower so I'm trying to talk her into getting a Woodstock Absolute high style. That way, she doesn't have to bend down as much...and I get a new stove to play with, no skin off my wallet! ==c
 
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Little bit bigger hearth to catch some of the mess as I move splits from the woodbox to the firebox . . .
 
This is an excellent evolutionary question. I'd (and I could still do) install a swing out faucet arm to refill the humidifier pot.
 
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I would have liked to put a sheet of metal on the wall at the back of the stove with spacers. It would radiate less heat outside the house from that back wall. It would make my setup more efficient but I have no sure it would look very nice. Painted drywall looks more modern
 
Next time my hearth will project at least 40" from the front. I like having a warm place to stand when my feet are cold, but i dont like my pants catching on fire.
 
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To get rid of the cheap-looking surround tile (the type with the little sparklies in it) and replace it with "more natural looking" stone. Not much to complain, but when the sheet metal surround the wood stove looks much better than the "stonework", it gets you thinking.
 
I wish I had just 3 more feet of chimney height. I’m currently at the maximum I can go without a roof brace which is not desirable in my climate plus the extra height would look silly.

The stronger draft would reduce smoke spillage during hot reloads.

My other want is to build a wood shed and stop using top covers. Hoping to do that this year.
 
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coutufr said:
I would have liked to put a sheet of metal on the wall at the back of the stove with spacers. It would radiate less heat outside the house from that back wall. It would make my setup more efficient but I have no sure it would look very nice. Painted drywall looks more modern
Click to expand...
One of my SILs does faux-painting..she could paint the sheet metal to look like a stack of firewood! ==c
 
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A wood stack behind the stove would be in harmony with the sides and front;)
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I would have a contractor raise the lintel of the fireplace, so I could install a larger stove such as the Ideal Steel. 31 inches from the stone hearth pad to the bottom of the lintel support is not high enough.
 
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Texas123 said:
I would have a contractor raise the lintel of the fireplace, so I could install a larger stove such as the Ideal Steel. 31 inches from the stone hearth pad to the bottom of the lintel support is not high enough.
Click to expand...
That's my issue as I consider the Absolute; With the ash pan I don't quite have the lintel clearance at 28.75" for the ash door to open fully, with the legs chopped off as I plan to have them do. I think that if I remove a tile on the hearth, the ash door will open fully. With the legs chopped off it may look a bit goofy, like a steel box sitting on the floor but I want the additional firepower and the welded-seam box so I'll have to live with it anyway, unless the lintel COULD be raised. Hmmm...
 
Honestly i cant think of one thing i wish was different on mine, it's perfect. I do wish i had a good place to cut wood tho.
 
Woody Stover said:
That's my issue as I consider the Absolute; With the ash pan I don't quite have the lintel clearance at 28.75" for the ash door to open fully, with the legs chopped off as I plan to have them do. I think that if I remove a tile on the hearth, the ash door will open fully. With the legs chopped off it may look a bit goofy, like a steel box sitting on the floor but I want the additional firepower and the welded-seam box so I'll have to live with it anyway, unless the lintel COULD be raised. Hmmm...
Click to expand...

I asked someone at Woodstock if it was possible to have them customize the legs on the Absolute to make it shorter in order to fit in my situation (lintel at 30") and she said it was not possible to do that. Are you sure it's okay to cut the legs? Did you get different info from Woodstock? Would that not put it out of code compliance (and more importantly potentially make it unsafe)? Is the Ideal Steel a possibility for you? You should be able to fit that with the ash pan under the lintel at 28.75 (though it would be close).
 
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Regarding setup:

I would not change a thing about the La Nordica. It is perfect.

If I ever replace the Wamsler, I would get a stove with a top vent, not a back vent (so one less pipe bend before the chimney).

I would like to upgrade/improve my indoor wood storage by the stoves, and I have some ideas on that I will do maybe this year.
 
History. That’s the only thing I’d change. I’d have switched from Jotul to Blaze King years earlier, if I had really believed how much better the latter is, for my heating requirements.
 
Not much really. A better latch mechanism might be an improvement and they can get rid of the ashpan and save users $100, but the stove has met and exceeded our expectations. It's holding up well. Less than $60 and very little time spent on maintenance in 10 yrs..
 
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A woodshed, a hand-broom and dustpan just for the stove area, some way to filter the air so ash doesn't get sucked into the fan.
 
I wish my stove had the option for an OAK and a larger firebox although I have gotten a couple 12 hr burns which is pretty darn good for a non cat...
 
KennyK said:
I asked someone at Woodstock if it was possible to have them customize the legs on the Absolute to make it shorter in order to fit in my situation (lintel at 30") and she said it was not possible to do that. Are you sure it's okay to cut the legs? Did you get different info from Woodstock? Would that not put it out of code compliance (and more importantly potentially make it unsafe)? Is the Ideal Steel a possibility for you? You should be able to fit that with the ash pan under the lintel at 28.75 (though it would be close).
Click to expand...
I asked the same thing since the IS was half an inch too big and they said it couldn't be done. I probably could have done it myself but didn't want to open that can if worms.
 
I'd move it to a more central location in the house. My fireplace is in a back corner of the house in a narrow room behind my attached garage. For it's size, the insert does a really good job. It just takes a while to get the heat moved to the rest of the house.
 
I've got another one . . . sometimes, about once or twice in a heating season, I wish I had installed a damper in my flue.

Usually I think about making one for my double wall pipe sometime in the Fall, but never get around to it and then just figure on using a bit of tinfoil on those few occasions I find myself needing to slow up the fire.
 
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