New guy, has questions(surprise surprise)

[SPED]

First of all awesome forum!! Although I blame you guys for keeping me up late reading all the old posts...ok not all, but a lot. So I've been burning wood for about 4 years now, i'm not exclusive with it, i have natural gas hot water baseboard as a backup. I keep that set at 60(got two little ones in the house) and I generally try and keep a fire going most days. I burn about 3 cords a year right now.

So for the questions.....

My stove is a freestanding cast iron sucker, 1/4" plate, with two bifold doors on the front. Not even close to sealed So the question is how much am I looking at to upgrade and what will my savings be if i do? I have all the obvious problems with it, can't really accurately control the fire with the little slider vents on the bottom of the doors, has some leaks, etc. I spend about 500 a year on firewood, i've been trying to scrounge free wood, but so far not much luck, other than the 1/2 cord of maple from a tree i took down myself.

For firewood, besides the obvious scrounging, how much do people save who do log length and cut split themselves? I get green hardwood for 170 a cord here right now, and let it sit for a year. I'm wondering what the average % off is for log length.

I'm sure I'll come up with some more FNG questions....but that's all for now.

Thanks Guys,
Ed

 

[SlyFerret]

Around here (this year at least) even buying split cordwood, delivered, is cheaper than propane. Propane is going for about $3.25/gal right now. If I were to buy all my wood, I'd spend about half of what I spend on propane to heat my house.

What stove are you running currently? Is there a name plate on it anywhere that would have the manufacturer and model number?

-SF

 

[swestall]

The amount of wood you are using would be reduced with a modern EPA approved stove. There are many available and all would burn less wood than an older stove that is also having air infiltration problems. You would use less wood, emit fewer gasses and enjoy longer burn times

You need to get out and look at the various models with secondary burn technologies: basically there are Non-CAT designs with secondary air tube or baffles and downdraft with refractory burners and there are stoves with Catalytic Converters (CAT). They are all pretty effective when used with the correct chimney.

All of these stoves do not emit the gasses/smoke that the older stoves do and as such do not produce a lot of creosote which is a very dangerous problem responsible for fueling chimney fires.

It would be well worth your investment to get a modern stove to heat and enjoy.

 

[Todd]

$500 per year aint bad for firewood. Around here a cord of oak split and delivered is roughly $150, log length oak is $75. Scrounging is free, but you get what you get, can't be picky. And you have to have all the toys to process the wood.

How much are you paying for NG? Are you looking for a new stove, or can you fix the leaks or rebuild the old one?

 

[webbie]

Tell us about your chimney situation....so at least you will know if you have to upgrade that part of the deal.....

I would say you are a prime candidate for a newer and cleaner stove. If you have bi-fold doors, you probably have a Franklin Style, which may be 30% efficient....maybe a little more. You will at least double that with a newer stove, let alone the increased safety, glass view, etc.

People who upgrade don't always do it 100% for the money savings, though. There are a lot of factors involved, from the independence of it to the backup heat (if and when electric goes out). A new stove is also a piece of furniture for many folks, being as it is often the center of attention in a room.

Hopefully you read the guide for choosing a stove (see most popular links in my sig) - that offers a good over view.

Welcome to the clan.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yes the modern EPA approved stoves are a wonder indeed. We finally broke down and installed a new stove last summer. I am simply amazed at the difference. We will burn less wood for sure. We were told maybe about 1/3 less wood but it appears it might be much more than that.

Just last night I was once more scratching my head. Got up in the middle of the night and the house is nice and toasty...but I could see no fire in the stove (front glass). The only thing was the glow of the cat., but there was no visible spark, hot coal or flame in the stove at all. Out of curiosity I looked at the stove top temperature and it was 575 degrees! How can that happen when there isn't even a flame or hot coal in sight? Don't know and don't care. All I know is that the darned thing gives lots of heat with very little fuel.

As for prices of firewood. I see $135-165 all the time in the paper but most are $150. I have a friend who has sold firewood for many years. He sells mostly oak and it truly is seasoned. Price is $50 per face cord.

We just go out in back and cut what we need! That's great. Although we have a nice woodpile with enough for several years, I can't keep up with Eric.

 

[Moose]

I know in my area You can get a load of green log lengths for right arround $500-700 depending on time of year and lenght of delivery you should average about 6.5 full cords per load.

 

[SPED]

Sounds like the wood prices around here aren't too bad then, at 170 a cord. This year was the first one I ended up having to buy "seasoned" wood, didn't get my usual delivery last year b/c the back yard was ripped up and I had nowhere to put it. So of course I got SS wood(supposedly seasoned) as usual . I did find a model on my stove on the back, it's atlanta stove works, and the model is 2757. I need to get in gear and start looking at stoves. I did read the guide and I may try and buy used.

Sounds like the log length is the way to go, I'm going to try and get some prices on that, need to get my delivery for next year soon.

The chimney has a 6 inch liner in it, not sure what it's made of it's a light orangeish color and appears to be in good shape. This is surrounded by cinder block and is in the middle of the house. It's probably only about 14-16' from the stove to the top of the chimney as i have a ranch, the whole chimney is two stories, with a cleanout in the garage.

Thanks for all the replies!!

Ed

 

[SPED]

So will this chimney(assuming i get it checked out and is in good shape) stand up to a new stove?

 

[Jimbob]

I think once you see one of the newer stoves doing it's secondary burn, you'll be sold.

Plus check out this video clip of an newer EPA stove in action, from JFK:
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/jfk4th/?action=view&current=MVI_1779.flv

 

[begreen]

So will this chimney(assuming i get it checked out and is in good shape) stand up to a new stove?

From the description, this sounds like a steel stove. Do you know the size of the flue pipe on it? Can you describe the flue in detail.

FWIW, it would be better if the green wood was cut and split right away. Sitting for a year as a full log doesn't dry out many types of wood adequately. However, if this is ash, then maybe it's fine.

 

[SPED]

So will this chimney(assuming i get it checked out and is in good shape) stand up to a new stove?

From the description, this sounds like a steel stove. Do you know the size of the flue pipe on it? Can you describe the flue in detail.

FWIW, it would be better if the green wood was cut and split right away. Sitting for a year as a full log doesn't dry out many types of wood adequately. However, if this is ash, then maybe it's fine.

The pipe coming out of the stove is 8" goes up out of the top rear about 3 feet, then takes a 90 degree turn, about 2 feet to the chimney. From there I guess it's about 12-13 feet to the top of the chimney(goes through the attic and then sticks up about 4 feet on the roof). The chimney itself is lined with a 6x6 liner, clay i think? Dunno it's terra cotta lookin, sorry i'm not describing this well I'll try and snap some pics, cuz they gotta be better than my explanation.

As for the wood, I meant to say I would split it when I get it, what i usually do is get 3 cords cut and split, but the price seems to go up about 20 bucks a year per cord lately. I think what i'll do is get one more load of this, as insurance against the "seasoned" salesmen, stack that then get the log length, so I can cut and split at my leisure for the following year.

BTW, thanks to the site, I got my stove loaded right and the damper set just so, and it was 69 in the house when I woke up(usually 62), what a difference!!

 

[eernest4]

www.englanderstoves.com
www.overstockstoves.com
www.homedepot.com
(broken link removed) sells www. summerheatstoves.com (englanders with dif name)
www.ask.com ----seach for wood stoves

Price the new ones so you dont pay too much for a used stove.

 

[begreen]

Congratulation on the burning improvements. Can you post a picture or two of the current stove installation?