Help me identify this stove.

[mgh-pa]

When we bought our house back in March, this stove was in the the "den/family room." We are remodeling that room, and planned to move that stove to the basement to heat the first floor (see my other thread about registers for that whole ordeal). Well, the stove burns well, but it doesn't seem to heat as well as I would like (the upstairs isn't as warm as we would like). I'm thinking it's too small of a stove, and was wondering if I could find the specs for it out of curiosity, but there's no identification other than the eagle symbol pictured below. Thoughts?

 

[Fsappo]

never saw one of those in 25 years of doin wood stoves. Very unique

 

[mgh-pa]

What's everyone's thoughts on size? You would think a stove like this would at least be able to heat the upstairs @ 840sq ft, and ~500 sq ft in the basement at least a decent amount. Granted I know that efficiency comes into play, but still.

 

[tiber]

The long and short of it is that you need to insulate the basement walls before a stove will work in the basement unless you have a very direct path to the upper floor. In your case, remembering the diagram, you may want to frame up a "stove room" in the basement under the register. This would give you the convection you need without having to do the entire basement.

 

[mgh-pa]

I was curious as to whether it matters as far as interior/exterior insulation? The first 5ft is below grade, and ALL of the exterior walls down to the footer is insulated on the exterior with 2" styro sheets, and the front exposed wall as insulation plus 1/2" smart ply siding. Obviously with the interior surface left uninsulated, the concrete has to get a chance to heat up, but once it's heated up, the block should act as a thermal mass correct?

We have a exposed block wall basement (insulated exterior) in my parents house, and we heated with a smaller stove for years very well.

 

[tiber]

I was curious as to whether it matters as far as interior/exterior insulation? The first 5ft is below grade, and ALL of the exterior walls down to the footer is insulated on the exterior with 2" styro sheets, and the front exposed wall as insulation plus 1/2" smart ply siding. Obviously with the interior surface left uninsulated, the concrete has to get a chance to heat up, but once it's heated up, the block should act as a thermal mass correct?

We have a exposed block wall basement (insulated exterior) in my parents house, and we heated with a smaller stove for years very well.

I've never heard of exterior walls "below grade" being insulated unless you're building a bunker and stacking dirt against it yourself. It's very likely it's just concrete against dirt.

I did the math on this because I was trying to compromise with my wife (an ongoing process, crazy nonfarm people) on where to put the stove and which stove to get and we looked at doing the basement. The bottom line was insulating the basement - either whole or in part - was expensive enough to justify moving the stove upstairs and not dealing with hauling wood and the airflow. Keep in mind the concrete has a thermal mass, yes, but the earth itself which it also touches has a thermal mass.

There's two ways of getting around it as far as code is concerned - finish the basement (insulation and sheetrock including standoffs if you have a french drain) or build a "stove room" (finish part of the basement) under the register. Both of these provide you with insulation for the stove.

 

[mgh-pa]

Nope, the basement/addition of the house is a walkout, the back and sides are built into the bank (much like a bunker :cheese: ). The walls are insulated all the way down to the footer. I know...I did it this summer ;-) 2" styro sheeting down to the footer, 1.5" of 2B backfill, then dirt graded away. There is no dirt to wall contact.

Here's part of the remodeling I did this summer (not completed yet). This is a shot from the front exposed walkout. On the right you can see how much of the basement wall is below grade.

Here's a shot under the deck of the one side wall, insulation, and backfill in place (note you can't see the 2B, because the top 6" was covered with topsoil.

 

[tiber]

Nope, the basement/addition of the house is a walkout, the back and sides are built into the bank (much like a bunker :cheese: ). The walls are insulated all the way down to the footer. I know...I did it this summer ;-) 2" styro sheeting down to the footer, 1.5" of 2B backfill, then dirt graded away. There is no dirt to wall contact.

Oh, I misunderstood how the house was laid out - I didn't realize there was a walk out portion of the basement. Or that you built the house. Or that you made a bunker.

Have you tried fans? How big was the register to the first floor? Would you be willing to try tossing a box fan over it and seeing if you can start the air flow that way?

 

[littlesmokey]

Doesn't matter if the foundation is insulated. You still have to heat that mass. The block walls and concrete floor are stealing the stoves heat. Insulate the walls and floor and you transfer that heat to other uses.

As far as the stove goes, it is unique to me. I have never seen one either. It does have the front load/side load feature, but I can't say how it works. I am not good on judging the size, so measurements and firebox interior set up will help us with some information based on similar stoves. The raised logo is unique also. Has some Germanic/Amish motif. Stove may be from the utility side of their recent designs. I'd think Pennsylvania Dutch country origin.

One last thing I noticed in the pics. You have water issues in your foundation. If it's outside insulated, you have real water issues. This adds to the humidity issues with the stove and may contribute to lowered efficiency. Wet blocks suck heat. If you have less than a thousand square feet down there, and it's open, should be a weekend or two job to insulate. I think you will be stunned by the difference.

 

[mgh-pa]

Nope, I didn't build the house, I bought it (first home) last March, and have been doing renovations since.

As for the efflorescence, that's left over because there WAS water issues down there...bad ones. That's why I have all of the insulation, backfill, etc now. I dug down to the footer, installed a french drain, put in insulation, backfilled with 2b, graded away from the basement, installed new drain lines, build a better retaining wall, and graded the exterior near the front entrance away from the front door. No moisture in that basement now. Here's a look at what I did this summer with this:

Before pic:

Progress:

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee1/mgh-pa/patiodrainline4.jpg[/img]

As it stands now:

 

[webbie]

I'm scratching my head on that stove also....never saw one.
Likely one of the hundreds of companies that opened in a welding shop or garage in the late 70's and went out of biz a year or two later.

I rarely get stumped.......on old stoves.

 

[littlesmokey]

Well, looks like the water situation is taken care of. Nice job, the signs are still on the wall, but that should be taken care of with the new insulation. :smirk:

 

[mgh-pa]

Well, looks like the water situation is taken care of. Nice job, the signs are still on the wall, but that should be taken care of with the new insulation. :smirk:

So insulation on the interior walls would make the difference, huh? Never really thought of it, but I suppose so. My parents basement heats amazing well with just block wall. The ONLY difference (and this might be key) is their basement ceiling is uninsulated (mine is insulated).

 

[littlesmokey]

Well, looks like the water situation is taken care of. Nice job, the signs are still on the wall, but that should be taken care of with the new insulation. :smirk:

So insulation on the interior walls would make the difference, huh? Never really thought of it, but I suppose so. My parents basement heats amazing well with just block wall. The ONLY difference (and this might be key) is their basement ceiling is uninsulated (mine is insulated).

Think of those walls as thermal mass. They want to warm up before letting the heat rise. I have seen the foil backed rigid board used to completely change the environment in a basement. I did a rock foundation home with fiberglass batting and wrapped it in plastic. Made the basement with the furnace the warmest rooms in the house and no ducts, just radiant heat. I guess that goes to the efficiency of the furnace, too. :roll: