Thinking of the future and cabin heating

[EatenByLimestone]

Sometime in the next few years I'm going to have to do something with the old potbelly in the family cabin. It's served well, but has been overfired (the stories I've heard...) too many times and needs retirement. It is not used often anymore, just in the early spring and late fall. Maybe you folks can point me in the direction of a suitable stove? I took it apart and rebuilt it this fall and the top is starting to have structural rust issues.

(broken link removed)

The main concerns I can think of are:

Good legs. You can see the water line across the cabinets to the left of the stove. Water does not come in often, but if spring melts raise the lake level faster than it can drain...

Tight clearances. As you can see, the stove is close to the wall and cupboards. As I understand it, in 1952, code was 18". The stove is 24" from everything.

And the kicker: the stove pipe is only 5" in diameter. It seems the smallest stove outlet I can find is 6". Does anybody make one for my size pipe? I don't think it would be safe to reduce 6" into 5, but it may be ok on a small stove. Sometime in the future I may be able to change the pipe from it's current route through the wall to one straight out the ceiling. In that case I would run a standard 6" setup, but that's not in the works anytime soon. The cabin still belongs to the generation above me so my job is mostly labor. I could replace the thimble without any problems, but the more I change, the more resistance I can probably expect.

The cabin is ~16'x35', insulation, what's that? (I'm hoping to work some in at the top of the walls and ceiling as we slowly replace the cloth wrapped wiring.) We just replaced the 60 year old leaky barn windows (Grandpa was proud he got them for $2.50 each.) with good quality windows that keep out the draft. My father and I are slowly going over it and updating it, but it's a slow process. The layout is pretty ideal for heating with wood, 2 rooms, a main room that has all of the living areas and the last 8'x16' at the back is for sleeping.

Can you point me to a suitable stove?

Matt

 

[kevinmoelk]

EBL, Sounds to me like the best thing to do is find a used set up and stick it in. Seems like there are more pressing structural issues with the home then having a new stove. I'm thinking of doing something about that rising water issue... My 2 cents.

-Kevin

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Water issue: (broken link removed) That is from the front of the cabin. (broken link removed) Here's the back. Here is my planing stop for the trim around the windows that shows how close we are: (broken link removed) Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about the water problem. A guy at Home Depot suggested a sump pump though.

Structurally the cabin is fine. It's just stuck in the 50s. I can remember getting hot water, a phone, wiring for summer cable when I lived there and most recently a toilet. Insulation wasn't needed for mostly summer usage and you have to be careful since wet insulation causes it's own problems. Since I moved back up to NY I'll be extending the season as much as possible.

I thought of a used setup, and I have a stove in my house I wouldn't mind putting in there. It has a 6" pipe and is a wood/coal stove. But it's EPAI and the clearances are too large for the room that is available.

Matt

 

[kevinmoelk]

Okay. Very nice spot Matt. Wow you are close to the water! Toilet? Are you using a composting toilet? Or were you allowed to do a septic system?

Concerning the rising water problem... well yeah, you could dig a trench and put a sump in there... but the water still has to be moved away somewhere. If you were on a pier foundation I'd jack the home up to a level so as to avoid the water. I'm sure Elk and others could give you much better advice than I. Rising water is not something I've ever had to deal with personally.

Too bad a used set up won't work. How about a Vogelzang? Just kidding. Maybe an Englander?

-Kevin

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah Matt the small Englander or Century was kinda born for that installation. They come with rear heat shields standard and given the use it will get will last until your ancestors are doing the next update to the cabin.

And with good shopping you could probably do the whole job for a grand or so. One good thing about the Englander leg model is that it has six inch hefty cast iron legs. The same ones that are holding up my big'un. They would probably rust away though by the year 3,000 or so with that water issue.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The corporation we belong to has a holding tank down near the lake and it is pumped up the mountain to the regular septic tank. Until the technology was cheap enough to invest in (about 4 years ago) I had to huff it up the mountain a few times a day. It wasn't bad except when I had a broken ankle. I put stress fractures in the crutches!

Yeah, the sump thing was a HD joke. But the guy did suggest it. We thought of jacking up the cabin, but it's an awful lot of work when the water doesn't get in there very often. The cabin is resting on piers of chimney blocks filled with concrete. I think the water mark is the highest it's ever been in there. They just replaced and widened the dam downriver so it may never get in again. (I'm not betting either way.) I just don't want water sitting in the stove slowly rusting it out. An Englander is an idea. They are up on a pedistal, aren't they?


Matt

 

[BrotherBart]

You can get the Englander with pedestal or cast iron legs.

 

[MrGriz]

Matt, I can see that there are just too many projects and too much work to be done on that cabin. The location also looks a bit questionable. I wouldn't make this offer to just anyone, but if you just want to sign the place over to me, I'll figure out some way to fix it up ;-P

Seriously, I think the Century or Englander would make a great choice for that space. With all the good things we have heard about Englander and their customer service lately I don't know why you would need to look farther.

 

[elkimmeg]

by vote Englander Century bought in the next month or so at the box stores as the reduce winter items to make room for spring inventory. You might also get a 6" classA vent kit
either that used decent Intrepid II

I might be able to talk the wife into a working vacation arangement again where I work off the cost of rent doing remodeling just an after thought
possibly install another stove and venting

 

[EatenByLimestone]

This thread became really timely. I spoke with my father today and the new insurance company did not like the old wood stove. We're going up tomorrow to disconnect the stove pipe and block off the thimble until this spring when we can do a more complete job of removal or replacement. I see this as a good thing. It will force the rewiring for more electric heaters and make the case for insulation easier.

I don't see a stove up there this year, but next year we should be ready for it.

Matt


Oh, I picked up a truck load of free wood this afternoon! :coolsmile: When I got it home I casually suggested to my wife that if delivered the rounds to me while I split them we would be done faster. It worked! It's already split! :coolsmile:

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I saw the Lowes clearance announcement yesterday and went over to investigate. They had the small FW240007 50% off. I bit the hook! I was out the door for $240 after taxes. The cabin isn't ready for a new stove so I have it half set up in the house. If I get the stove pipe cut to length tonight I'll have it in.

Matt

 

[stoveguy2esw]

that ought to be just about right for that cabin, its essentially the same size as our 13 series, which rated out at 1500 sqft. you ought to be comfy with that unit , my son in law's folks have that model down in texas and they love it. they wanted one of ours but nobody down there had one at the time and the didnt tell me until after they bought it. but its working well for them .