Fire Box Size

[Todd]

How do manufactures figure out fire box size? I was trying to compare the Woodstock Fireview to the Hearthstone Homestead firebox. I just bought the Woodstock Fireview with a 14.5" H X 13" W X 20" D fire box. According to my calculations which could be wrong, I will have a 2.18 cubic ft fire box.

My Homestead claims to have a 2.0 cubic ft fire box. I measured 12"x12"x21.5" = 1.79 cubic ft. And that is not taking into account the slanted baffle. They must consider everything above the baffle as part of the fire box to get that figure. I wonder how the Fireviews fire box will figure?

 

[roac]

I would think everything within reach of the flames is within the firebox. Also they probably include the area the firebrick takes up.

 

[Eric Johnson]

That's a tough one, and I bet every manufacturer has its own philosophy on how to define it.

Sell a stove with a small firebox and half of the people probably think it's an efficient stove while the other half will conclude that it doesn't have enough capacity. Sell one with a big firebox and they switch sides. Of course, "small" and "large" could be the same stove, depending on how they figure the square footage.

 

[wg_bent]

That's a tough one, and I bet every manufacturer has its own philosophy on how to define it.

Sell a stove with a small firebox and half of the people probably think it's an efficient stove while the other half will conclude that it doesn't have enough capacity. Sell one with a big firebox and they switch sides. Of course, "small" and "large" could be the same stove, depending on how they figure the square footage.

Eric, I think you're right on target here. When I was looking at stoves, I looked at the Quadrafire 2700i and my immediate thought was that I'd only be able to get about 3 splits into it. Really small, yet the firebox is listed at 1.5 cuft. The stove I bought is clearly MUCH larger, yet it' s only listed at 1.8 cuft. If I were trying to determine volume, I'd fill the stove with water and measure how much water it took to fill it. (of course you'd have to find a way to determine what defines the firebox)

This is why standards exist in other industries. IEEE, DMTF, ANSI are a couple that come to mind. Hmmm...Could be a new business in the works. Standardizing stoves. Who's in?

HNSSI - Hearth Net Stove Standards Insittute

 

[Eric Johnson]

That's what makes it such a good marketing tool. People think there are standards when there aren't, which gives the seller a lot more flexibility in promoting the product. For a verifiable standard, I'd opt for btus and burn times. Maybe those already are standardized with wood stoves, but I doubt it.

 

[Corie]

Personally, when I'm calculating firebox size, I generally define it as the amount of space in the stove that can be occupied by burning fuel. I'm sure that isn't a standard in the industry, but to me it makes the most sense.

 

[Corie]

you sure are a feisty one these days in regards to my posts.

I guess your method works too, but usually I'm more likely to bring a tape measure. Measure the volume of the stove where the wood (or coal) would go, and call it the firebox. Sure the area above the baffle is part of the inside of the stove, but the volume up there is not related to how much fuel will be burning in the stove at once.