1960's home with wood stove..

[[Hooligan]]

First timer here with a wood stove in a 1960's home.. picture attached to help identify it. Tried it out today in Ohio 9 degree temps and got a good bit of smoke in home. Alarm went off a couple times. Burned about 6 hours nice and hot but too much smoke so I let it burn out.. the doors don't seal shut.. just lock to one another with gaps in them..

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ax9bmed18m9lko/IMG_20171227_211333.jpg?dl=0

 

[Tar12]

Pretty sure that is a old Franklin...correct me if I am wrong guys...never seen one that was worth a damn for heating purposes..for not much money you could have a much,much better stove setting there in its place that would not smoke you out and provides lots of heat doing it...the one I use to have had a fire screen for the front...it was basically a open fireplace...I hated every second of that thing and moved it down the road.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Pretty sure that is a old Franklin...correct me if I am wrong guys...never seen one that was worth a damn for heating purposes..for not much money you could have a much,much better stove setting there in its place that would not smoke you out and provides lots of heat doing it...

I picked up a Avalon Rainier from 2003 for under $300 today. In excellent condition.

 

[BrotherBart]

My first wood stove. In 1977. If it is smoking you out it is a chimney configuration or obstruction problem. But outside of that, it is for crap as a wood stove to heat the place. If you fix the chimney problem the best you have is a fireplace with the doors open. But put a screen in front of it to stop popping embers.

 

[Destructor]

If it’s not drawing then something is wrong with the chimney or the chimney is too short. We had an all cast iron franklin in a family room when I was growing up, it did a good job of heating the room while it was burning but ate wood the way any fireplace does. Once the fire went out and the stove cooled the room would begin to cool down. Ours never smoked no matter how windy it was outside. We often used it with the doors closed. We had an almost endless supply of wood so consumption wasn’t an issue. My father eventually installed a modern stove that could burn as long as we wanted and used much less wood, just put another log in come morning. The newer stove would also heat much more of the house when it was going all day. I would say use if it wasn’t smoking until you find a modern replacement. If you do solve the smoking issue and continue to use it don’t stuff it full of wood.


I can’t tell from the picture but some of the franklins back then were very cheap, the front and doors would be cast iron but the rest would be relatively thin steel.

 

[jwfirebird]

i have one of those, its just decoration now though because it belonged to my grandfather and its the one we had growing up, but like they said you have to have the chimney perfectly clear and most of your heat goes up the chimney along with the air and smoke.

anything more modern will be way better at transferring heat to your house before it goes up. my grandfather got a kodiak type stove that was how we got it, we didnt really use it but once in a while for something to cook smores in and stuff

 

[Jrose]

Back in 1975 we moved into an old farm house. It had an old, all cast iron, Franklin stove. We were constantly using it during the cold months in Illinois. We bought it from our landlord for 30.00 when we moved to another farm house in 1976. Terrible winter storm that year and one night the old coal furnace stopped working so I gathered the kids into the living room. Laid bedding on the floor closed the living doors and lit that baby up. Needed a lot of wood that night to keep a good fire burning. Little did I know I had collected some hedge wood. When husband and I laid down for the night we added wood and closed the door to prevent hot popping embers and catching fire. The cast iron doors turned red that night but kept us warm, cozy and smoke free. We have lived in the house we are in now for 32 yrs. Never hooked up the old fireplace as I was sick and tired of the mess of wood and ashes. The old stove is sitting out in the garage, husband has passed and the kids are all grown. Planning on getting the stove out of the garage spiffing it up with some proper black paint and putting it on my newly remodeled enclosed front porch. Will be shopping for a heated electric wood insert for it. Lot of memories moving that heavy old stove and sitting around its warmth. The only thing fancy about our franklin is the big brass balls sitting on the front corners and the front claw feet. Just hope I can find an insert that will fit into it otherwise the porch will be just a pass through in the cold months.