How many time do you change water pot?

[BucksCounty]

I am thinking it is getting too dry in my house. I have a water kettle on the stove, but here is the problem. There is an air gap between the baffle and stove top. Then, the pot sits on stand, which is another air gap, so the water is not having an opportunity to get hot enough to evaporate at a steady rate. I was thinking of placing the pot directly on the stove top, without the stand it sits on, but I have the enamel finish on my stove and I am worried of damage to it. Thoughts?

 

[BucksCounty]

Thought some pics would help

 

[Mainely Saws]

Good morning Bucks County ,
I think you had responded to a question I had about my H300 a little while ago . As you know my H300 has the same raised top as your stove . I have the plain cast iron stove & keep a water kettle sitting right on the oval steel plate that is part of the top of the stove . I have found that it takes a long , hot fire to evaporate the water & it never will boil due to the air gap you mention . My previous stoves would boil the water kettle very easily . I don't think there is any way to improve what you are doing other than to remove the stand under the kettle . I've had the stove for almost two burning seasons now & although the oval steel top insert is discolored due to the heat there isn't any other noticeable damage to the rest of the stove top . It takes about 2 or 3 days of fairly constant burning to evaporate the water .

Have a great day !

 

[savageactor7]

We're on well water that's hard. When the pot of water on the old stove boiled over the top of the stove would look like hell. With our new stove we use a trivet like you have and yes we use less water. Last year I had the idea if grinding down the legs of the trivet some so the water would simmer but not boil. Trouble is I forgot all about it until I saw your thread. Maybe I'll look it doing that in the next couple of days thank for the reminder BC.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Every time I flush.

 

[hareball]

Maybe a square of high temp tile between the kettle and stove might work?

 

[quads]

My water kettle is cast iron, flat bottom, and sits directly on top of my steel stove. It never boils, but this time of year I go through up to 3 gallons of water per day, in a drafty house.

 

[firefighterjake]

I add water every other day or so . . . on a trivet on top of an elevated slab of soapstone over cast iron. Without the trivet I was having to refill it every day.

 

[jharkin]

Not the same stove as you but I have the steamer sitting directly on the stovetop (plain iron griddle in my case). Its one of those small lattice top steam pots... probably a couple quarts... and when the stove is going good I generally have to fill it up every reload.

Still doesn't make much of a difference in the humidity or allow my standalone humidifier to run any less....

-Jeremy

 

[Cluttermagnet]

My water kettle is cast iron, flat bottom, and sits directly on top of my steel stove. It never boils, but this time of year I go through up to 3 gallons of water per day, in a drafty house.

Ditto. Almost word for word. We do go through 2+ gallons per day. Our cast iron pot is getting quite rusty, but still looks good from the outside. Gets the job done. Oh, mine probably reaches a low boil or 'simmer'. You can easily hear it. Sounds a lot like a tea kettle on Low.

 

[ansehnlich1]

My cast iron steamer sits right on top my stove and boils a half gallon of water out of it almost every burn cycle. I fill that bad boy up 2, and sometimes 3 times a day.

And yes, it has marred the enamel on the oval cookplate on top the Oslo, but it ain't no biggie.

 

[savageactor7]

It never boils, but this time of year I go through up to 3 gallons of water per day, in a drafty house.

That's what I'm looking for cause I don't mind adding water. No amount of water seems to change the number on our relative humidity gauge. But if that pot on the stove gets dry you'll know it in a couple of hours.

We have an old farm house too and never had moisture on the inside of windows like other posters have reported. We had another topic like this percolating last fall so I started paying closer attention to the gauge. So far it high was 50 and low of 38, right now it's39. That's in the dry zone according to the gauge but because of all the water conditioning we suffer no signs of a dry environment. And imo static electrical shocks are the fist sign of a too dry air...but that's just our experience not science.

Sounds crazy but we run a dehumidifier in our slightly wet basement to keep it dry. Yeah I know contradictory but we have to do what we have to do.

 

[craigs]

Do you guys notice a difference in how the house feels, or how YOU feel when you have a water pot? I've noticed that since I've been hanging out downstairs a lot while babysitting the stove (I have big variations in temp so I worry about it), my throat and sinuses are all dried out. I'm really hoping that a water pot would change that part of the wood burning experience.

Craig

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yes Craig, I do notice it, especially in my eyes getting too dry.

Our pot of water sits not on the stove top directly but we have 2 small soapstone blocks which they sit on. Those blocks are about 1/2" or perhaps 5/8" and the water does not boil but we have to add water daily.

 

[quads]

Do you guys notice a difference in how the house feels, or how YOU feel when you have a water pot? I've noticed that since I've been hanging out downstairs a lot while babysitting the stove (I have big variations in temp so I worry about it), my throat and sinuses are all dried out. I'm really hoping that a water pot would change that part of the wood burning experience.

Craig

Big difference, in static shocks alone. In the Fall, even with the pot on the stove, my throat and sinuses still get dried out a little, until I get used to it. In the room furthest from the stove, at this time of year, we run about 35% humidity at 70°F. Without the water on the stove the humidity percent drops to half that.

 

[craigs]

Great, thanks and sorry to hijack the thread. Anybody know if it will hurt his stove's finish?

 

[jharkin]

I know my house is too dry because the gaps between floorboards are opening up and in a couple rooms we have cracks developing between plaster and baseboard due to wood shrinking.

 

[quads]

Great, thanks and sorry to hijack the thread. Anybody know if it will hurt his stove's finish?

I'm guessing it will mar his enamel finish. It leaves rings and large marks of lime and rust on my old smoke dragon (which doesn't matter to me) so I think if he doesn't protect the enameled surface it will do the same.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I am thinking it is getting too dry in my house. I have a water kettle on the stove, but here is the problem. There is an air gap between the baffle and stove top. Then, the pot sits on stand, which is another air gap, so the water is not having an opportunity to get hot enough to evaporate at a steady rate. I was thinking of placing the pot directly on the stove top, without the stand it sits on, but I have the enamel finish on my stove and I am worried of damage to it. Thoughts?

What's your pot made of?

I have a lattice-top enameled cast iron steamer. I leave it on top of my soapstone stove and don't even touch it except for cleaning out some of the layer of mineral deposits inside it a bit once during the summer.

If you don't move it and don't over flow it or spill water, I can't see how it would make marks on the stovetop. Mine sure doesn't.

I can tell when I've forgotten to refill it because the cats' fur becomes impossible to touch without touching off sparks. It's never boiled or even really simmered, but when the stovetop gets up to something over 400, I can see little steam waves coming out of it. I'd guess I use about 2 gallons of water a day in it when I'm burning constantly. It's not a lot, but it's enough to keep the cats happy, not to mention my sinuses.

 

[BucksCounty]

Here is a pic of the stove top. There is not a spot specifically for the pot. The pot I am using is ceramic. The bottom does not have an enamel finish, unlike the stovetop, so that is my reason for worrying about damaging the finish. I think I am screwed here. The wife is due on Tuesday (9th) and she made me get a humidifier with her the other night because "it is too dry in here". I agreed because she did let me get the stove last year. Can't argue that!

 

[BucksCounty]

Forgot....again

 

[gyrfalcon]

Wow, that is one pretty steamer! But making your problem worse is the fact that it's sitting on feet, right?

Well, you can keep it as a purely decorative object on the stove or somewhere else, or get a regular lattice-top enameled cast one like this one
http://www.amazon.com/2-2-Enamel-Steamer-Lattice-Top/dp/B00106CGXM

A number of different places carry them, and they come in a variety of really nice deep colors.

 

[savageactor7]

Well I enjoyed some success after removing the trivet. Now the pot is evaporating a little more water without boiling it. It's on the upper shelf of the step top maybe later on before refilling I'll move it to the lower and hotter shelf to see if it won't boil there either. In the past with boil over with our smoke dragons it left a terrible looking white hardened crust like deposit on the stove top. My wife would not be happy if that happened and so far she hasn't noticed I removed the trivet either.

Enjoy today's big game everyone.

 

[BucksCounty]

I went ahead an removed the trivet yesterday as well. I had to refill once. Doesn't bubble but you can see the steam if you look closely. I have looked under the steamer and have not notice any damage to the top. I'll keep checking.

 

[madison]

IMHO----Cast Iron kettles, softened water, spills, boilovers, and mist have damaged both the steel top and cast iron trivet on my t6 over one yr. I believe the damage, hassle and ineffectiveness of the the stove top kettles to negate the small amount of moisture that they add to the home.

Instead, I went to a whole house stand alone humidifier, that holds ~ 5-6 gallons. It will put out all 5 gals sometimes over a 24 hr period when needed. Essick Moist Air, available at home depot and online. Adjustable humidstat, fan on low is tolerable.