Buying House - Should I Keep This?

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Hello there! So glad I found this forum. I know very little about Wood burning stoves, but the house my family is buying has this stove in the downstairs furnished basement. I'm hoping it's a good stove/heater that can help us get more off the grid and save some $!

Any help with identification and/or other information would be very helpful. Thanks y'all!

 

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Forgot to mention that Wood feeds into the right side of the unit. I wish I had a closer pic of what appears to a name plate in the front. I'll be back in the house on 8/2 for the inspection and will get some better photos.

 

[BrotherBart]

Lots of companies have made the cabinet model wood stoves. They can be good heaters with the caveat that they are not clean burning modern stoves and require that they are burned hot to minimize chimney accumulation, need really dry wood for the same reason and require vigilant attention to chimney and stove pipe inspection and cleaning.

That is a really nice example of the breed.

 

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Thanks, BrotherBart! Is this a stove you would keep & use, or would you get a newer, more efficient stove to connect to the pipe?

 

[begreen]

Can you post a sharp picture of the labels on the upper right of the stove?

What does your insurance company say about the stove?

 

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Can you post a sharp picture of the labels on the upper right of the stove?

What does your insurance company say about the stove?

I'll be able to take a close up this coming Wednesday during the inspection, and will post it then.

This didn't come up when I called for the insurance quote. In your experience does something like this tend to increase the premium?

 

[begreen]

During inspection have them check out the chimney too to make sure it is still in good shape and useable.

Insurance companies vary with their requirements. What's ok for one may not be ok for another. If this is a more recent UL tested unit then insurance may be ok.

 

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

During inspection have them check out the chimney too to make sure it is still in good shape and useable.

Insurance companies vary with their requirements. What's ok for one may not be ok for another. If this is a more recent UL tested unit then insurance may be ok.

Ok thanks very much for that tip, I definitely will have them check the chimney.

I'll get that pic posted on Wednesday.

Thanks again

 

[Destructor]

It looks a bit like a vintage stereo console.

 

[begreen]

Whatever it is, the stove is huge. Looks like it could take a 30" log.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Looks like my father in laws old Ashley. Nice big basic stove. He's been heating with it for years but is regimented in cleaning his chimney twice a year.

 

[begreen]

Yes, Ashley was the first that came to mind for me, though I have never seen one this wide.

 

[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Nice work, fellas! It is an Ashley . I got some more photos today while I was getting the chimneys inspected and have included them in this post.

I also included a few pics of the "Cherokee" fireplace insert that is on the main floor in the house (the Ashley is in a finished section of the basement).

Not sure what I'll do with these if we go through with the home purchase. The inspector said he would switch the Ashley to a newer stove and use that often to heat the majority of the house. He also sells stoves, though, so I'm taking that with a grain of salt and am interested in what anyone here would do.

I don't think I'd use the main floor insert stove really, since it wouldn't heat as efficiently as the basement one would. I may pull that, sell it, and go back to it being a fireplace with a glass door, to use now & then for the ambiance.

Any recommendations? Thanks all!

 

[begreen]

Neither stove is going to be very efficient. They are both from decades ago, but you might want to try heating with them for a season to get a hang of how they work in the house. Be sure both are checked out first by a certified sweep.

Stoves are area heaters. It usually is most efficient to run the stove in the area that is most occupied. Heating upstairs from a basement often requires having the basement temp at 85-90º in order to have the main floor at 72º.

The shallow hearth that the Ashley is sitting on might require dropping the stove to the floor level on a hearth pad. There are some side-load only stoves that might work made by Woodstock.

 

[Old School]

As Begreen said keep both and use them a season. I made the mistake of pulling a main floor stove to use as open fireplace thinking the wood stove in the basement would heat the house....I was very wrong. The basement stove kept the finished basement very warm and the main floor was chilly. Open fireplace was very aesthetically pleasing but did not put out needed level of heat. I now use an insert on the main level and stove in basement. Very pleased with this set up. I find that I only have to use the basement stove at night and sometimes only a few nights a week to keep it warm down there. Insert burns 24/7 in winter.


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[kennyinblackmountainnc]

Thanks Begreen & Old School, I really appreciate both of your insights.

Question, when running a stove 24/7, how much wood are you going through? Also, I wonder about is being gone all day at work and how long it would take to warm the house up upon return in the evening.

 

[Old School]

I don't know exactly how many cords I burn because I cut and process all my own wood and have never really measured it to exactness. A rough estimate based off measuring my winter stack for this year, that is comparable to what I burned last year, tells me I'm burning around 7 cords per year. That amount might be lower with a newer more efficient unit, but I am fond of the older stoves and don't mind cutting wood at this point in life.

I have no experience with the insert you have but both of my Pre EPA units will go 8-9 hours between reloads so the house stays warm all day on an average winter day. Even when really cold the house maintains a high enough temp that I can push the insert a little harder in the evenings and no one complains about being cold.


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[venator260]

During inspection have them check out the chimney too to make sure it is still in good shape and useable.

Insurance companies vary with their requirements. What's ok for one may not be ok for another. If this is a more recent UL tested unit then insurance may be ok.

My parents have always jumped through hoops each time they changed companies concerning their wood stove. Always needed pictures or an inspection. When I got insurance on my current house with my former stove, I mentioned it to the agent. I told him that my grandfather burned this set up for 25 years or better with no problems. He said it sounds good and added some money to the rebuild cost to cover a stove and chimney. So experiences really do vary widely.