Fisher Wood Stove

[nyrainman]

Hello Everyone - I recently purchased a home and it had a Fisher wood stove. I have a few questions, as to the exact model, year and whether or not to use a grate.

I know the stove looks too close to the wall, but the insurance company did request I have a licensed installer come out to inspect the stove and it was approved and they stated it was installed properly. The back wall has the designer bricks as in the photo and behind that is red brick attached to the chimney, which is cinder block.

Not sure what year, but the stove does have the 76 on the front right door within the design (see photo).

Also, it came with a grate inside and I was wondering if that was supposed to be used or not. I cannot find out any information on this stove outside of researching and finding that some say wood stoves do not need grates and that gates are only for fireplaces.

Also, it looks like a Grandpa Bear stove, but the design is slightly different than other photos I've seen.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, as I am going to use this stove to heat my home for the winter.

Thanks in advance ,,,

 

[coaly]

1976 Grandpa. No grate is used inside a stove. Burn on 1 inch of ash for various reasons. Elevating tye fire allows excessive oxygen under the fuel, burning fast and ash insulates coals, also preventing oxygen from burning them up, extending burn time. A baffle is recommended with details also on home page.

Start here; https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/fisher-stove-information-parts-history-and-more.28/

At top is the Sticky Section that will identify any Fisher Model, then use Grandma Grandpa Details thread for your stove.

Manual used is the first one at top in the manuals thread. Unlisted, Pre 1978.

 

[nyrainman]

1976 Grandpa. No grate is used inside a stove. Burn on 1 inch of ash for various reasons. Elevating tye fire allows excessive oxygen under the fuel, burning fast and ash insulates coals, also preventing oxygen from burning them up, extending burn time. A baffle is recommended with details also on home page.

Start here; https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/fisher-stove-information-parts-history-and-more.28/

At top is the Sticky Section that will identify any Fisher Model, then use Grandma Grandpa Details thread for your stove.

Manual used is the first one at top in the manuals thread. Unlisted, Pre 1978.

Thank you so much for this information and for your quick response.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Thank you so much for this information and for your quick response.

In my opinion it looks like you have really stumbled upon a treasure in your new home. My neighbor has one just like this and he absolutely loves it. I asked questions about another Fisher stove and the biggest complaint seemed to be that they really go through fuel. That would not bother me one bit though to have a stove like this. I am still considering buying a used one for my home this Winter. I have found out that Fisher both made stoves for other companies and other people regularly tried to copy their designs. This tells me that they were easily some of the best stoves for their time and still are considering what people ask for them used.

 

[nyrainman]

In my opinion it looks like you have really stumbled upon a treasure in your new home. My neighbor has one just like this and he absolutely loves it. I asked questions about another Fisher stove and the biggest complaint seemed to be that they really go through fuel. That would not bother me one bit though to have a stove like this. I am still considering buying a used one for my home this Winter. I have found out that Fisher both made stoves for other companies and other people regularly tried to copy their designs. This tells me that they were easily some of the best stoves for their time and still are considering what people ask for them used.

Well I have to say, this stove definitely throws off a good amount of heat. I've used wood and coal/wood stoves in the past and the only downside with this Fisher stove, as per your neighbor's complaint, is that it does use a lot of fuel. I can fill it with six pieces of wood and 2-3 hours later I have nothing but embers and have to throw in some more wood. That is going to get a little expensive when winter gets here, as it will be my prime source for heat, but at least it'll be cheaper than using the electric heat in the house and I'll keep warm.

In the past, with other wood stoves I've used, I've only had to add wood maybe 3 times per day, but this baby is hungry and I'll be tossing in wood every few hours. We shall see, as this will be the first full winter I'll be here. All-in-all, I do like the stove.

If anyone has suggestions for a longer burn, I'm all ears. As of yet, I haven't used the damper to regulate air flow, so maybe that will help if I close it down some. But it has been many years since using a stove for my main heat source, so I'm relearning as I go along. I do still have to look into a baffle, as was suggested in an above post, but have not had the time to do so yet.

 

[Hexa Fox]

Well I have to say, this stove definitely throws off a good amount of heat. I've used wood and coal/wood stoves in the past and the only downside with this Fisher stove, as per your neighbor's complaint, is that it does use a lot of fuel. I can fill it with six pieces of wood and 2-3 hours later I have nothing but embers and have to throw in some more wood. That is going to get a little expensive when winter gets here, as it will be my prime source for heat, but at least it'll be cheaper than using the electric heat in the house and I'll keep warm.

In the past, with other wood stoves I've used, I've only had to add wood maybe 3 times per day, but this baby is hungry and I'll be tossing in wood every few hours. We shall see, as this will be the first full winter I'll be here. All-in-all, I do like the stove.

If anyone has suggestions for a longer burn, I'm all ears. As of yet, I haven't used the damper to regulate air flow, so maybe that will help if I close it down some. But it has been many years since using a stove for my main heat source, so I'm relearning as I go along. I do still have to look into a baffle, as was suggested in an above post, but have not had the time to do so yet.

That sounds like a lot. I have a woodstove that is in desperate need of replacement that is getting way too much air and I only load it around 3 times a day. It is getting way to much air. I have never had a damper on my stove pipe so I could not help you there. Having that said you could always do a quick test to see how well your doors are sealing with a piece of paper and not to point out the obvious but you are turning the air back on the doors yes?

One of the guys that I recently had out here said that a way a lot of chimney fires start is that creosote builds up and he said people cut the air way back on their wood stoves to increase burn time and it cools off their liner/chimney. Then he said when you raise the air again to get more heat, especially when adding more fuel he said the liner goes from cool to really hot and he said that is what starts a chimney fire. I have never heard this before.

 

[Itslay90]

That sounds like a lot. I have a woodstove that is in desperate need of replacement that is getting way too much air and I only load it around 3 times a day. It is getting way to much air. I have never had a damper on my stove pipe so I could not help you there. Having that said you could always do a quick test to see how well your doors are sealing with a piece of paper and not to point out the obvious but you are turning the air back on the doors yes?

One of the guys that I recently had out here said that a way a lot of chimney fires start is that creosote builds up and he said people cut the air way back on their wood stoves to increase burn time and it cools off their liner/chimney. Then he said when you raise the air again to get more heat, especially when adding more fuel he said the liner goes from cool to really hot and he said that is what starts a chimney fire. I have never heard this before.

i dont think thats true, with my epa wood burning stove I usually turned down the air control, but its open like 5-10 percent. And every time I check my chimney it’s tiny bit dirty,

 

[Hexa Fox]

i dont think thats true, with my epa wood burning stove I usually turned down the air control, but its open like 5-10 percent. And every time I check my chimney it’s tiny bit dirty,

I think the idea is that the selling point of new stoves is that they do more to prevent rapidly cooling or rising heat, especially if you have them installed properly like with a stainless liner for instance. For example, technology like the secondary air and especially the catalytic stoves seem to make it 'difficult' to over fire compared to an older stove. What I was talking about applies more to OP's situation because they have an older style stove that has none of these technologies.

 

[bholler]

i dont think thats true, with my epa wood burning stove I usually turned down the air control, but its open like 5-10 percent. And every time I check my chimney it’s tiny bit dirty,

Your using a modern clean burn stove which burns most of tge material out of the smoke. These are simply steel boxes you throw wood into. Lots of it. If you shut them down to far they make a huge mess out of the chimney