Choosing a durable, economical wood stove

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Those of you who have a Summer's Heat by England's Wood Stove: Do you like it? How would it be different from the other Englander models?
They are quite different. They 1800 and 2000 model seem to be well received without a lot of problems. They are more picky about the draft and dry wood then the NC-30 put perform well otherwise. The 2400 is in a category by itself . While a great looking ,clean burning large stove with a huge viewing glass it has door issues. If choosing this stove, ck it carefully for door and stove body warpage before you buy. Has a tendency to leak air around the door if you get a bad one.
 
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I suggested the flagpole idea because it seemed like she has to go wayyyy above her roof line. If the stove wants 15' above the exhaust port for example (TBD let's see what the manual says) she's already at 4' with the stove, 4' to the ceiling, 1' of ceiling then shed need 10' of expost class A on the roof at a minimum...more if she wants better draft.

I guess braces could work for 10' but I feel like that or anything higher would start to be pushing it on a mobile home. Maybe that's just me!

I have a 24' exterior masonry chimney wit a liner that's a straight shot up. I know I wouldn't want to run my EPA tube stove with any less draft. While 15' may work its just really small.
 
The True North TN20 breathes easily and should be ok on a 12' flue system.

This seems like a nice compromise. Looks like it's "only" $1500 and would work without any major modifications to your system...maybe just a little chimney extension but nothing major. Has a 2 cu ft box, should be plenty of power.
 
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Straight up and out is always a better performing setup than introducing 90 degree bends as you go out a wall and then up as you have been advised as a option. Each 90 reduces your effective vertical length by approximately 2 feet. Avoid 90's.. Adding simple roof braces to a extended Class A is easy peasy. No worries. One way or another you need correct pipe length or your wasting your time entirely. You appear to already have a correct roof penetration installed? Why not just add what you need, brace it, and be finished?
My husband is very concerned about any roof penetrations, leaking because we are already having a hard time getting the chimney we had installed to stop leaking when it rains. The man who installed it is a professional contractor--not necessarily a chimney specialist but someone who understands construction--but had to seal it in the dark. Warned my husband he may have to go up and re-seal it. Sure enough, he did. But, it still leaks a bit.
 
post some pics. there are a bunch of guys here who do it for a living and most the time they can point out why its leaking.

BTW... its almost always because it was done wrong....
 
They are quite different. They 1800 and 2000 model seem to be well received without a lot of problems. They are more picky about the draft and dry wood then the NC-30 put perform well otherwise. The 2400 is in a category by itself . While a great looking ,clean burning large stove with a huge viewing glass it has door issues. If choosing this stove, ck it carefully for door and stove body warpage before you buy. Has a tendency to leak air around the door if you get a bad one.
Thank you for the info. I definitely don't want to end up with a stove that's picky about draft & dry wood. Just because we are already facing draft challenges (and it's a pain!) and we often have to scrounge for free wood that may not be seasoned perfectly. I mean, we try to use decent, dry wood, but can't always guarantee quality wood.
 
My husband is very concerned about any roof penetrations, leaking because we are already having a hard time getting the chimney we had installed to stop leaking when it rains. The man who installed it is a professional contractor--not necessarily a chimney specialist but someone who understands construction--but had to seal it in the dark. Warned my husband he may have to go up and re-seal it. Sure enough, he did. But, it still leaks a bit.
If the chimney penetration is relying on sealant not overlapped metal it wasn't done correctly and will continue to be a problem
 
Get ahead on wood while you are planning your stove and chimney upgrades. The stove you have now might even burn fairly well with seasoned wood. All new stoves, or at least stoves built in the last 20 years, need really well seasoned wood. Meaning wood that is under 20% moisture content. This can take years for some dense hardwoods or months for light softwoods. There are many threads discussing solar kilns to get hardwoods to dry faster. There are products made of compressed sawdust that can be burned in a woodstove if seasoned wood is hard to come by.

You could get the easiest drafting stove on the market and it will balk with poorly dried wood. I'm certain you and your husband can get the roof sealed up well with DAP 3.0 Silicone sealant applied to the bolts and mounting flanges for the roof brace. This would be the best option for safety and performance. This all sounds expensive and difficult, but necessary if you want to enjoy heating with wood. I'm sure burning in a smoldery stove and cleaning the chimney every two weeks would get old very fast after the first winter. We struggled our first winter with a broken stove and no seasoned wood. Now we are decently ahead and I can light our dry firewood with a piece of paper and one match. It pretty much wants to burn.
 
Thank you for the info. I definitely don't want to end up with a stove that's picky about draft & dry wood. Just because we are already facing draft challenges (and it's a pain!) and we often have to scrounge for free wood that may not be seasoned perfectly. I mean, we try to use decent, dry wood, but can't always guarantee quality wood.
If you dont have dry wood , your asking for trouble with any stove if heat is the desired result. Even a fireplace will not burn wet wood well. Smokes, smolders and you have to waste dry wood to keep it going and produces tons of creosote. And very little heat. Wet meaning anything over 20%. Fix the wood first ,all else will go smoother. I burn a lot of old 2x4s and floor joists to supplement my supply that come out of demolition jobs. They are very dry. Just avoid floorboards as they are usually varnished or painted or treated wood.
 
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Thank you for the info. I definitely don't want to end up with a stove that's picky about draft & dry wood. Just because we are already facing draft challenges (and it's a pain!) and we often have to scrounge for free wood that may not be seasoned perfectly. I mean, we try to use decent, dry wood, but can't always guarantee quality wood.
Sooo? You want a durable, economical wood stove that will be plugged into a vent system that you know is insufficient. AND you intend to make this work on periodically scrounged free wood that may not be properly dried.
I fear the advice and guidance provided has fallen on deaf ears fellas.........
 
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Sooo? You want a durable, economical wood stove that will be plugged into a vent system that you know is insufficient. AND you intend to make this work on periodically scrounged free wood that may not be properly dried.
I fear the advice and guidance provided has fallen on deaf ears fellas.........
Done right , heating with wood is way more work than most people realize or even want to sign up for. Its certainly not for everyone.
 
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I burn a lot of old 2x4s and floor joists to supplement my supply that come out of demolition jobs. They are very dry. Just avoid floorboards as they are usually varnished or painted or treated wood.

Along the same lines you could also try to source some pallets from around town. Lots of stores have them out back to be trashed. If you see some just pop in and ask if you can take some. Don't be shy! Just make sure they aren't painted and you may need to fish out rogue nails...but hey it's free.

It sounds like you have a lot to work on but have received some good guidance here. I hope you hunker down and get this done properly...I think we are last the MacGyver stage at this point.
 
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I suggested the flagpole idea because it seemed like she has to go wayyyy above her roof line. If the stove wants 15' above the exhaust port for example (TBD let's see what the manual says) she's already at 4' with the stove, 4' to the ceiling, 1' of ceiling then shed need 10' of expost class A on the roof at a minimum...more if she wants better draft.

I guess braces could work for 10' but I feel like that or anything higher would start to be pushing it on a mobile home. Maybe that's just me!

I have a 24' exterior masonry chimney wit a liner that's a straight shot up. I know I wouldn't want to run my EPA tube stove with any less draft. While 15' may work its just really small.
You are right about the high chimney being a lot for our mobile home. At least, according to my husband. He put a metal roof on it when he bought this old '88 trailer, and although he did add extra 2x4's or whatever boards to reinforce the roof, he says that the added weight of a much taller chimney would be a bit too much stress for our structure. However, there is the possibility of bracing it to a pole or other structure, as suggested, or we can install the new stove in the addition when we build onto the house.
 
Get ahead on wood while you are planning your stove and chimney upgrades. The stove you have now might even burn fairly well with seasoned wood. All new stoves, or at least stoves built in the last 20 years, need really well seasoned wood. Meaning wood that is under 20% moisture content. This can take years for some dense hardwoods or months for light softwoods. There are many threads discussing solar kilns to get hardwoods to dry faster. There are products made of compressed sawdust that can be burned in a woodstove if seasoned wood is hard to come by.

You could get the easiest drafting stove on the market and it will balk with poorly dried wood. I'm certain you and your husband can get the roof sealed up well with DAP 3.0 Silicone sealant applied to the bolts and mounting flanges for the roof brace. This would be the best option for safety and performance. This all sounds expensive and difficult, but necessary if you want to enjoy heating with wood. I'm sure burning in a smoldery stove and cleaning the chimney every two weeks would get old very fast after the first winter. We struggled our first winter with a broken stove and no seasoned wood. Now we are decently ahead and I can light our dry firewood with a piece of paper and one match. It pretty much wants to burn.
I didn't know about those solar kilns! What a neat idea! We were able to get a little more wood from another friend who recently moved here and we shared some of our wood with. The husbands kinda work together to collect wood. Some of our wood was seasoned wood that we bought from others; others was just free wood that had fallen and a couple trees we cut down last spring to make room for our house. This spring, we will begin collecting (hoarding?) wood and making sure it's well seasoned.
 
Sooo? You want a durable, economical wood stove that will be plugged into a vent system that you know is insufficient. AND you intend to make this work on periodically scrounged free wood that may not be properly dried.
I fear the advice and guidance provided has fallen on deaf ears fellas.........
No, I am trying to figure out just what we need to do to make our venting system work given the budget we have and the structure of our house. Also, we make every effort to burn the best wood we can find, and even drove a good distance at one point to buy seasoned wood from a guy who was selling for a good price. However, since this is our first year here and we were renovating the house while living in it with our 6 children, it was very difficult to put out the money and time needed to set up the stove and get enough seasoned wood before winter. And there was no furnace nor usable air ducts in the house, either. Buying a furnace and installing that along with duct work would also have been too expensive. Besides that, we want to be able to be more self-sufficient and not have to rely on public utilities to survive. So, we are doing the best we can to meet our family's needs on the budget we have, and we have a lot to learn about burning with wood- and homesteading in general. That's why I joined the forum. To learn what I don't know in order to improve our lives. Only then will I eventually be able to help others who are in the situation I came from.
 
Along the same lines you could also try to source some pallets from around town. Lots of stores have them out back to be trashed. If you see some just pop in and ask if you can take some. Don't be shy! Just make sure they aren't painted and you may need to fish out rogue nails...but hey it's free.

It sounds like you have a lot to work on but have received some good guidance here. I hope you hunker down and get this done properly...I think we are last the MacGyver stage at this point.
My husband has actually gotten some free pallets from a place where he used to work, and yes, had to fish out nails! But, is it OK to burn untreated lumber? I read recently that the best firewood is dry but not too dry; they said 2x4's were too dry to burn in a wood stove.
 
Untreated lumber, pallet wood 2x4's are all fine to burn, wood that is " too dry" won't
hurt anything, better than not dry enough, just pack the wood tight in the stove as
wood that is too dry burns faster an hotter so less air circulation between the boards
will help to control the burn rate, test small loads to see how controllable your stove is.
 
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Untreated lumber, pallet wood 2x4's are all fine to burn, wood that is " too dry" won't
hurt anything, better than not dry enough, just pack the wood tight in the stove as
wood that is too dry burns faster an hotter so less air circulation between the boards
will help to control the burn rate, test small loads to see how controllable your stove is.
Makes sense.
 
is it OK to burn untreated lumber? I read recently that the best firewood is dry but not too dry; they said 2x4's were too dry to burn in a wood stove.

Yep, it's absolutely OK as long as it's not treated or painted. As stated above though it will tend to burn very hot and fast so start with small loads and see how it reacts. Do not just stuff a full load in to start or you'll likely go thermonuclear!

I think the best way to use it though is to supplement cordwood...especially if it's less than ideal wood. The dryness and heat given off of the lumber will help offset the moisture in the wood and get the load going.
 
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It is a lot of work, but we are not signing up for an easy, luxurious life. We are aiming to be more self-sufficient, with the goal of being able to produce more than we consume.
I was mostly referring to the enormous amount of work needed to get a years supply (or more) of dry wood ready to burn. I had no idea myself when i first got into it. Im sure all the work makes some people have second thoughts. I too like to be self sufficient,not depending on utilities for everything .Good luck.
 
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