Is This Stove Safe/Repairable/Worth It?

[PSFarms]

Hi folks! First time posting to this forum and we're also first time owners of a wood stove (woohoo!!). We inherited a stove from a friend but unfortunately the friend's grand-kids went to town on the thing with hammers and sledgehammers before we got it and I'm sure it's missing parts. As far as I can tell it's an old Earth Stove (whom I believe are now out of business). I'm attaching some pictures of it. As far as I can tell it's missing the automated temperature control unit, the bricks on the bottom of the stove (the other bricks are cracked), it my be missing other items as well but to an inexperienced operator I have no idea (damper maybe? air vents?).

Overnight I'm blowing through about 6-8 pieces of hardwood a night and it still isn't putting out the heat that I really want it to. My question is do you all think it's safe to use this unit? Do you think it's worth repairing or should we just spend the money for a new stove? Any help you all could provide would be much appreciated!

 

[begreen]

I can tell you for sure that this is not a safe installation. This stove needs to be on a hearth. The way it's installed there is not even ember protection. Also, it's supposed to be 36" from any combustible.

6-8 pieces of hardwood/night is not a lot for that big belly.

A properly installed and sized EPA stove will produce more heat burning less wood. But the wood must be seasoned.

 

[fbelec]

yikes

don't use any stove in that spot. someone upstairs is looking out for you.

 

[peakbagger]

Not worth fixing, far better stove out there. Odds are it doesn't have a nameplate on back. As others mentioned I hope that the stove is just in storage and not hooked up as its house fire waiting to happen.

 

[PSFarms]

Hi everyone and thanks so much for the replies I just want to make sure I understand everyone's comments correctly. So this stove is not safe because it is not installed 36 inches from the nearest wall (I think it's a foot away right now) and it's not on a hearth/no ember protection. I also hear that there are more effective stoves out and it seems that it is not worth the money to repair it (when it comes down to long term cost recouped based on efficiency)? Would that be a correct assumption? Also, if we move it and get a hearth under their would you say it would be safe to opperate in its present condition?

Since we have the stove pipe installed already (and the stove is providing heat for our house albeit very inefficiently as it got down to 45F in our house last night...no insulation in the roof or floor yet) is there anyway to move the stove out 36 inches without having to redo the upper stove pipe/make a new hole in the roof?

I really appreciate everyone's feedback. We usually are very smart about how we go about things and usually research things to a t before doing them, but circumstances made that impossible for the woodstove and we just had to run with it.

 

[begreen]

I take it you are under construction, right? We can't help make much more heat out of the stove. The old stove is going to chew up a lot of wood and send a lot of the heat up the chimney. If you have dry wood, there are better heat producers out there under $1000. You will have to tell us whether that will work for you. In the very least, get a flue damper in place in the stove pipe. Once the fire is burning well, close that down to give you more control and to slow down the burn enough to keep more heat in the stove.

As for safety. You could tack up a sheet of 3 x 5 cement board behind the stove on 1", non-combustible spacers. That would reduce the clearance behind it to 12". You can use 1" pieces of 3/8" copper pipe to make the spacers or they sell ceramic spacers for this purpose. The top of the cement board should be just above the flue collar. Underneath the stove you should have a layer of full bricks on a sheet of metal, extending 8" behind and 8" past each side and 16" in front. Or put down two layers of Durock NexGen cement board that covers that same area.

We can't see the whole stove pipe. Single wall pipe needs 18" clearance from any combustible. If it doesn't have it then that too must be shielded.

 

[peakbagger]

The reference to a nameplate is that many insurance companies will not insure stoves that are not certified by a national testing lab. If the stove was certified there is generally permanent tag on the stove with the certification number. There generally will also be minimum clearances specific to the stove on the tag, if there are not recommended clearances then you need to install it to generic set of clearances that are generally larger.