New Grandpa owner with questions

[New Wood Stove Guy]

Hello All, I am new here; writing from Norfolk, VA. What a fantastic wealth of info I see here that will take me some time to absorb! I just inherited a Fisher from a neighbor who just wanted it removed (and the stone veneer added to the original 1910 fireplace area). I gather this is a Grandpa model; it measures 32.25" across the top plate, and the whole thing (excluding the ash tray) is approximately 22" deep. I would like to know more about it; specifically it's age & how much these would generally be worth today. When I am able to relocate it to Texas in the spring I will be looking here more closely for best installation practices for this particular model, and could use dome help sourcing a screen for the opening. Thanks In Advance to anyone who could take a few minutes to help me out and Merry Christmas to All!!

 

[Todd67]

New Wood Stove Guy, welcome to the forum & congrats on the "new" stove! Thanks for posting the pics of your Grandpa Bear.

Stove values are all over the spectrum. I paid $300 for a 1976 Bicentennial Grandma Bear stove in really good shape, just last month. $300 was his asking price, and I thought that was fair, so I didn't try to offer him less. The stove was not refurbished and it did not include the screen.

I've seen stoves like yours where the sellers are asking between $650 (& higher) for a non refurbished stove to over $900 for a stove with new paint, and in some cases, they don't bother to replace the firebricks. A "fair price" depends on location, time of year, and whatever price the seller and buyer agree on.

The Fisher Stove expert on this forum is coaly, and maybe he will reply soon. I would guess your stove is from 1978, give or take a year. Coaly can narrow it down better than anyone though.

 

[New Wood Stove Guy]

Thanks Todd 67; good info and much appreciated! Although I plan to use it, not sell it, I am now exceptionally happy with "free", except my labor to haul it (and the stone) off for this homeowner.

 

[Todd67]

The doors should lift off the hinges, after you open the doors. That will lighten the stove a bunch for moving it around. Using a dolly or cart with wratchet straps makes it easier to move it around too.

That stove is a great payment for removing it & the stone hearth

 

[New Wood Stove Guy]

Great suggestions - thanks!!

 

[Todd67]

You're welcome, and welcome to the Fisher family. Do your research on this forum about putting a baffle in your stove. It will increase the efficiency of your stove, which means it will burn less wood, it will burn cleaner, it will create less creosote in your chimney, and it should hold a fire longer, not to mention it will probably burn hotter

The baffle that I added in my Mama Bear has made a very noticeable difference. Best of luck with your Grandapa Bear!

 

[New Wood Stove Guy]

Yes the baffle concept makes a lot of sense, pretty intuitive. I plan to set this one up in a workshop and will try to minimize heat out the top end of the vent. Perhaps opt for consecutive horizontal ascending pipe runs inside the shop before final exhaust. Would you see any benefit to adding additional baffles in order to further slow down the flow of exhaust (and increase radiated heat inside the shop)? I have read a bit about Scandinavian fireplaces using this concept that finally exhaust only cool air to the outdoors - all of the heat being radiated within the stone flue/chimney arrangement.

 

[Don H]

Slow the gasses too much and they will cool creating creosote build up in the pipes. Also cleaning would be more difficult.

Looks like your Grand Ma is a rear vent. I'd run a "T" fitting off the back then straight up through the roof. Below roof line would be single wall pipe, above would be insulated pipe.

 

[New Wood Stove Guy]

OK, I will take note of that - thanks Don!!

 

[Don H]

Check the manual for your stove found here:
https://www.hearth.com/images/uploads/fischermanual.pdf

Others with far more knowledge than me will weigh in. This is a great group with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

 

[Todd67]

I'm no expert on baffle plates or Scandinavian fireplaces. But if memory serves me correctly, I read on this forum that flue gases need to be 250* or above when they exit the chimney, or as Don H said, the exhaust gases (smoke, hot air) will cool too much and create creosote in your chimney.

An easy way to tell the difference between the Grandma and Grandpa stoves is how close the trees are to the center of the doors. On my Grandma Bear, the trees are much closer to the center than they are on your Grandpa.



The tress on the 76 & 77 Grandpa Bear stoves were taller. The 1976 had a number 76 inside the big star on the right door like my Grandma above. The 1977 Grandpa had no number in the big star on the right door. Sometime around 1978 they started making Grandpa doors with the shorter trees like those on your stove.


There are two baffle options that work well in Fisher double door stoves. There is one that is called the smoke shelf baffle, and there is this round type as found on newer Fisher stoves. Coaly has all this dimensions on how big the baffles should be, and how big the air gap these baffles should create between the baffle and the flue. I don't have a pic of the smoke shelf baffle, but they are on this forum. This is the round baffle type, and is usually about an inch bigger in diameter than the flue diameter.

 

[Todd67]

I found a pic of a smoke shelf baffle on this forum. Most baffle plates are 5/16" thick plate steel. This is just one example, posted by coaly...

 

[Todd67]

Besides looking at the trees to tell the difference, your Grandpa has 6 firebricks across the back of the stove. A Grandma has 5 firebricks across the back. Your firebricks appear to be in good shape for a stove that old.

 

[coaly]

This is a Grandpa model I call a "wide body" since the normal width is 29 1/2 inches across top plate for a normal Grandpa. It will use 6 and a partial brick across the back.
Doors, door opening and screen size are the same as a normal Grandpa.

Where was this found? Not many fabricators made them in the wider style. Normally common to the Dunn Brothers in VA and W. VA. but that fabricator had their own rounded door hinge plates to extend the hinge plates for a wider stove.
1978 or '79 model year. Screens are hard to find and draw a premium on eBay when available. This one had the chrome contemporary style with two handles. Screen use is very limited and they are not considered a radiant heater in Fireplace Mode.

More than one baffle causes direction of flue gasses to change, increasing resistance through firebox and extracting too much heat from the flue gasses. You need 250* f. flue gas temperature to the top of chimney to prevent condensing of water vapor within heat extractors, and flue gas in the chimney flue. Condensing vapor allows smoke particles to stick which is creosote formation. Correct chimney temperature is achieved by the balance of heat left up, and the efficiency of chimney flue to retain heat inside to the top. You can't have horizontal runs (pitched 1/4 in. per foot upwards) and extract heat from exhaust to allow the flue temperature to drop below 250* at the top of chimney. An insulated chimney flue loses the least amount of heat. Use of a magnetic thermometer on the pipe or IR thermometer is necessary to prevent creosote formation. Single wall pipe surface temp will show 1/2 the actual flue gas temp inside the pipe.

The most important questions are;
What is the heated square foot area?
What size and type chimney will you be connecting the stove to, as well as connector pipe configuration.
Chimney and pipe are more important than the stove.