Help Identify my Wood Burning Stove / Problems

[ifunkygroove]

Hello, Thank you for taking the to help me with my situation. I recently bought a house with a wood burning stove. It is my first wood burning stove, this one appears to be old. I'm burning oak in it right now and loving it, the heat is fantastic. But I have a few issues I need help with:

1. What year/make/style is this stove? (see photos posted)
2. In photo on the left you can see the stones that insulate or line the lower section of the interior are broken. Question: do these need to be replaced - or leave them - suggestions? Where to find new stones?
3. In the centered photo, you can see the baffle (if it is indeed a baffle) that has fallen out of place. the stove has not been used in possibly as long as 3 years. Today was the first day i got it going, and the baffle fell and I was able to remove it from the stove as it appears outside the stove in photo on the right hand side.
a) what is the purpose of this baffle?
b) is it necessary to the proper function of the stove?
c) it appears it was attached by a couple of bolts. If I do decide to re-attach the baffle (hopefully I don't need a new one - if so where do I find one?) what type of bolts should I buy - ie galvanized, heat treated, etc...

Any other helpful suggestions in addition to what I've already asked are appreciated. Thank you!

Trying to keep warm in the Foothills of the Rockies....

 

[Todd]

Looks like an old Jotul. The broken bricks and baffles should be in place for best efficiency. You can purchase fire bricks at local mason yards or home improvement stores like Menards or Home Depot. Someone here may be able to find you a manual for this stove hopefully.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Jotul_Stoves_-_Identify_Older_Models/

 

[Slow1]

Not one to make assumptions - good or bad - I do want to ask you this: Have you had your chimney inspected by a competent sweep to make sure it is in good shape? The reason that I ask is concern for your safety as well as to help you get the most out of your stove/burning experience. Given the shape of the insides of that stove and that it hasn't been used in a long time I would want to be sure that the flue is clear and ready for peak performance.

 

[Jags]

The baffle was intended to re-route smoke before it enters your stack. It really should be in the stove for proper operation. With out it, you may be sucking up a bunch of flame into that stack. And yes, without it, your efficiency will drop. The fire bricks should also be replaced. This will do two things, first it will help protect the sidewalls from excessive, direct heat/flame and second it will increase the interior burn temp of the stove which will help maintain a cleaner burning stove.

That is a pretty neat old stove. That stove would be referred to as a "smoke dragon" 'round these parts because of the burn characteristics of the old stoves. Its also gonna be hungry. If you are looking at a long term relationship with burning wood, you may want to consider reading up on the benefits of the EPA cert. stoves of today. Hope the above helped a little.

 

[Jags]

>:-( >:-( >:-( >:-( >:-(

 

[BrotherBart]

The stove is a Jotul CombiFire. Pretty neat old stoves. You can slide the door down and under the stove for open burning if you have the screen.

 

[ifunkygroove]

Thank you everyone for your answers / expertise / advise. Of course I welcome more!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

ifunkygroove, welcome to the forum. That is a good stove you have. Enjoy it.

On the fire brick, many hardware stores carry it and they are not expensive at all. Others have given you good advice. Let us know how you turn out.

 

[Detector$]

I assume it's supposed to look like an Easter Island head w/ a nose ring? It is cool.

 

[YZF1R]

I assume it's supposed to look like an Easter Island head w/ a nose ring? It is cool.

Wow, I'll be darned if it don't! Nice stove.

Steve

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I always figured it was Jotul's answer to the double drum stove. All that surface area has to pull most of the heat from any fire. If you didn't have a clean burn in an older stove, one way to improve efficiency is to pull any heat you can out of what does burn.

Matt