In search of the perfect stove

[Monica in France]

The cold weather here is more or less finished. It was unusually mild this year.
In a month time I will take my stove outside and give it a thorough clean with compressed air.
I expect that most people reading this will be inured to the regular cleaning of their stoves , some might even claim it is therapeutic : but I can't imagine there is anybody that actually enjoys it.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we just had to empty the ash tray and only clean it once a year !
Would it be possible to design a stove which deposited its combustion products only in the designated ash tray and sent the rest up ( and out of ) the chimney ?
Which did not : crud up the burn pot , block the smoke passages , get everywhere.
The answer is almost certainly NO , but what can be done to minimise this problem ?

When I switch on my stove it goes into a <final cleaning cycle> : in operation it periodically goes into a <cleaning cycle> . My feeling is that it cleans nothing at all : meddling with the parameters seem to make no observable difference to the regular cleaning that I am obliged to do.


Is there a stove which is actually self cleaning ?

 

[tjnamtiw]

Closest thing to that is a natural gas furnace!

 

[Don2222]

My 2 Harman P-61s are the next best thing. I empty the ash after each ton and clean it once a month or so!

 

[AddictiveStew]

My 2 Harman P-61s are the next best thing. I empty the ash after each ton and clean it once a month or so!

I second that. The Harmans are without a doubt extremely easy to clean and stay clean longer!

 

[The Grintch]

Have children...and teach them how to clean it

 

[Mt Bob]

Do not mind cleaning my stove,even a major clean,as it only reminds me how far ahead this design was years ago,so simple yet dual design heat exchanger,lift out pot and ash tray,5 bolts and both inside panels lift out,not an erector set style like some of the newer ones I have serviced.If your stove(that style design) did not have the cleaning cycle you would learn real quick about chinkers and low output.On your side of the pond a small company has designed and builds/installs an efficent pellet furnace,no burn "pot",almost zero particulate matter in exhaust flue,can be vented out pvc like a condensing furnace.Should be a heads up to other stove makers.

 

[boo boo]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we just had to empty the ash tray and only clean it once a year !

A lot of people do this. Then they log onto Hearth.com and ask why their stove wont run

 

[Tonyray]

A lot of people do this. Then they log onto Hearth.com and ask why their stove wont run

A big "Right On" There...
I scrape my Burnpot every other day.....
I'm talking with a flashlight so I see every little bump in the road.. Can always find something to chip off..
don't mind it at all and I have a Harman P61A which I could leave alone for weeks.
Even brush the ash laying on the shelves/Heat Exchanger while I'm at it. 3 or 4 minutes total.

 

[Lake Girl]

Specific to the Ravelli stoves, I get very frustrated with the fact that the "smoke shelf" below the heat exchangers doesn't allow enough of a gap to get a vacuum attachment into the corners so ash collects there. Not a hugh deal to clean with a putty knife but would be so much easier if there was a slightly larger gap or larger opening/flame trap.

 

[chken]

The cold weather here is more or less finished. It was unusually mild this year.
In a month time I will take my stove outside and give it a thorough clean with compressed air.
I expect that most people reading this will be inured to the regular cleaning of their stoves , some might even claim it is therapeutic : but I can't imagine there is anybody that actually enjoys it.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we just had to empty the ash tray and only clean it once a year !
Would it be possible to design a stove which deposited its combustion products only in the designated ash tray and sent the rest up ( and out of ) the chimney ?
Which did not : crud up the burn pot , block the smoke passages , get everywhere.
The answer is almost certainly NO , but what can be done to minimise this problem ?

When I switch on my stove it goes into a <final cleaning cycle> : in operation it periodically goes into a <cleaning cycle> . My feeling is that it cleans nothing at all : meddling with the parameters seem to make no observable difference to the regular cleaning that I am obliged to do.

Is there a stove which is actually self cleaning ?

Well, on my Piazzetta, which I think is similar to your Ecoteck, the "cleaning" is just combustion air on high. It's meant to burn off residual pellets, but it doesn't actually do any cleaning, in the sense that it doesn't scrape the pot or anything, that an owner has to do.

Is there an automated stove that does actual scraping and allows less periodic maintenance?

I'm awfully interested in the Biowin Firewin, which looks like a regular pellet stove, but can be hooked up to a bulk pellet bag using their vacuum, and supposedly scrapes its fire grate. Sounds like their pellet boiler concept but in a stove. Maybe Marc Caluwe who posts here, and sells them can tell us more about it.

 

[Mt Bob]

Well, on my Piazzetta, which I think is similar to your Ecoteck, the "cleaning" is just combustion air on high. It's meant to burn off residual pellets, but it doesn't actually do any cleaning, in the sense that it doesn't scrape the pot or anything, that an owner has to do.

Is there an automated stove that does actual scraping and allows less periodic maintenance?

I'm awfully interested in the Biowin Firewin, which looks like a regular pellet stove, but can be hooked up to a bulk pellet bag using their vacuum, and supposedly scrapes its fire grate. Sounds like their pellet boiler concept but in a stove. Maybe Marc Caluwe who posts here, and sells them can tell us more about it.

The blower on high cleaning works very well in stoves,helps keep efficiency up,and allows better restarts on t-stat.St croix uses/used a scraper system,more parts more money.The firewin is a hydronic boiler,just has a viewing window.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Our pellet stoves are a way of life here at the ranch.

We burn hazelnut shells and this requires a bit of love and care.
We have to haul them in, then barrel them to be stored indoors.

Each bucket of shells must be screened to prevent sticks or ??? from getting into the stove.

Cleaning is biweekly on the small Whitfield and weekly on the large one.

Cleaning includes vacuuming the stove out plus sucking out the vent with the leaf blower.

Filling the stoves is a chore that must be done to keep the heat on.

The bottom line is a nice even warmth that is cheap

 

[Polar Bear]

Cleaning isn't the worst thing in the world...

Clean the burnpot... grab a beer.
Clean the ashpan... grab a beer.
Clean behind baffle... grab a beer.

Small victories...

 

[Owen1508]

Cleaning isn't the worst thing in the world...

Clean the burnpot... grab a beer.
Clean the ashpan... grab a beer.
Clean behind baffle... grab a beer.

Small victories...

Sounds like a good work and reward system to me!!

 

[TimfromMA]

Closest thing to that is a natural gas furnace!

Which is even cheaper than pellets.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Which is even cheaper than pellets.

Amen! For now, anyway, but don't count on ANYTHING remaining cheap for too long.
This is our future > Digging in your Pa. backyard.

 

[TimfromMA]

The only thing my backyard produces is poison ivy and mosquitoes.

 

[tjnamtiw]

The only thing my backyard produces is poison ivy and mosquitoes.

There you go! Buy a pelletizer and make ivysquito pellets! Everyone down wind will be itching like heck but you'll be warm.

 

[Bioburner]

Price of NG has went up almost 30 percent since last fall. Wait till they compress it ad sell it to Europe etc.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Price of NG has went up almost 30 percent since last fall. Wait till they compress it ad sell it to Europe etc.

EXACTLY. That's what I've been saying too. One plant is on-line and 7 more being built for that sole purpose! We send our coal to China and our NG to Europe. What could go wrong with this plan? We have plenty of solar panels and windmills..........NOT! But of course we can't use them because we might harm turtles and birds. What a great nation!

 

[TimfromMA]

EXACTLY. That's what I've been saying too. One plant is on-line and 7 more being built for that sole purpose! We send our coal to China and our NG to Europe. What could go wrong with this plan? We have plenty of solar panels and windmills..........NOT! But of course we can't use them because we might harm turtles and birds. What a great nation!

Of course there's absolutely no harm with cutting down acres of forests, grinding the trees into dust, compressing the dust into pellets so shmos like me can burn them.

 

[Ncountry]

Cleaning isn't the worst thing in the world...

Clean the burnpot... grab a beer.
Clean the ashpan... grab a beer.
Clean behind baffle... grab a beer.

Small victories...

Ever watch the show Two Broke Girls? They had a similar system for paying bills ..lol

 

[tjnamtiw]

Of course there's absolutely no harm with cutting down acres of forests, grinding the trees into dust, compressing the dust into pellets so shmos like me can burn them.

As long as they replant the trees, which they do down south here. Of course, it's all pine since Oak takes too long to grow and we can't wait for energy to grow. Never mind the couple hundred years worth of coal reserves and oil reserves. And we can't use them because the resultant pollution is 'RACIST'
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/04/29/Obama-EPA-Chief-Says-Pollution-is-Racist

Can you believe the crap coming out of these morons' mouths?

 

[Bioburner]

Of course there's absolutely no harm with cutting down acres of forests, grinding the trees into dust, compressing the dust into pellets so shmos like me can burn them.

Emerald ash borer is doing a good job of doing it all by itself. Till bio oil from algae gets bigger. Sucks up CO2, eats the sewage and makes animal food too. Extremely fast growing. Most of us could get a big enough system gong in a homes basement to meet ones energy needs. Oh wait, big oil wont want it and goverment cant control or make money from it.

 

[tjnamtiw]

No, big oil and all the other lobbyists would nix it. Today Michigan made it illegal to raise chickens, goats or even bees within 250 feet of another house on a family 'farm'. No more self sufficiency allowed! Gotta rely on Big Brother no matter what it costs.

http://www.naturalnews.com/044965_family_farms_food_security_Michigan_government.html#