Western Alaskan seeking stove advice for burning driftwood

[Sooz]

Well, I've read LOTS of reviews and articles, and poured over specs, and am now turning to this forum for additional advice! We are attempting to reduce our $6/gallon fuel oil prices, and provide some security against mid-winter power outages, by installing a wood stove. I can't attach the PDF of our house layout, but would be ahppy to e-mail it to you if you're interested.

Ours is a 1200 sq ft home only moderately well insulated. The house is long and narrow and built in two sections that don't exchange airflow readily. The stove would be near an outer wall toward the center of the house. We'd like to use the stove as supplemental heat mostly on evenings and weekends AND in the event of a power failure (all too common in our little Bering Sea town) to be able to keep our pipes from freezing, although I'd sure like to keep my houseplants from freezing on the non-plumbed end of the house. We currently heat the house with three Monitor oil stoves. Here's the catch - we live 70 miles from any timber, and that's only in summer when the road is open. Most folks with wood stoves burn wooden shipping pallets, although their availability is declining as the switch is made to plastic pallets. While we may be able to make a few trips for the distant spruce, and have limited access to leftover construction lumber, we will also likely need to burn driftwood - of which there is a relative abundance renewed with each year's fall storms. We have been STRONGLY warned by stove dealers not to use driftwood - and not to buy a catalytic stove (sorry, Woodstock!) - but I'm afraid burning driftwood is a reality in our remote tundra town.

I am trying to select the best stove for our size and circumstances, which also include regular winter periods of -20 F plus BIG wind, and rare dips to-35 F. Also, there are no roads to Nome, so we will be paying about $1.20 per pound to ship the stove here. I'm willing to spend money on a heavier stove, but I need it to be as reliable a stove as possible as there will be no return trips to the dealer, and shipping replacement parts is also expensive. And while I require function, it IS a piece of furniture and I'd like it to be attractive. I know - another hard to please woman!

I'm not sure how much to knock off from the estimated room coverage provided by stove manufacturers for our climate, and for our less-than-stellar wood, when estimating the size stove we need. I'm also wondering if a particular stove construction (cast iron, cast iron with metal stove box, soapstone, plain steel box, stainless steel baffles, ceramic parts, refractory or brick lining, etc.) would handle our conditions better than another. We also have tight clearance's to either side of the stove and need heat that is directed forwards, not sideways. So far I've been considering the Hearthstone Tribute or Craftsbury, the Quadra-fire Yosemite, the Morso 7110, and the small Dutchwest. Do these stoves seem big enough? Just when I get myself convinced of the one I want, some doubt or controversy creep in and I'm back to pondering. Are there anystoves anyone is willing to recommend??? These smaller stoves have not received many reviews in the review section so there hasn't been much to go on. Any advice would be appreciated Thank you! Quyana!

 

[N/A N/A]

There are a bunch of threads on here about new stoves. I, personally just bought the Harman TL 300. Obviously cause I like it and its features. So take a look at them. Also, if you want to burn driftwood, just take the stove out and throw it in the drink, cause thats what your going to do anyways. All the salt in driftwood will destroy a stove in short order. You would be better off burning the plastic pallets lol...KIDDING. Good luck on getting fire wood.

 

[cmonSTART]

Hey, you do what you have to do to keep warm. As said, burning driftwood isn't the best thing for a stove, so I would probably stick to something older and used that you can pick up for relatively short money. Install it, burn with it, and keep an eye on it's condition. If it gets too bad, time for another one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If only that weren't salt water...

You might want to reconsider getting that spruce during the summer months when the road is open. Then you could get that Woodstock stove. The Fireview is really a beautiful stove too. Also consider that we reduced our wood consumption by 40-50% by installing the Fireview and also stay a lot warmer. In addition to that, the clearance issues aren't as critical as on lots of stoves. 18" on the sides for combustible surfaces is pretty good.

Some of those pallets along with spruce would really give you some good heat. You would not get the longer burns but you should be able to get some decent times anyway.

70 miles is a long ways to haul wood, but at $6.00 per gallon for oil, it still very well might be your best route. How much could you haul with a snowmobile and trailer? Do you have a snowmobile? If so, and if the ground is covered with good snow cover and not too deep, that very well might be your answer. Besides, it could also be fun, except on those very windy days.

Good luck to you.

 

[BrotherBart]

Burning ocean driftwood is a fact of life in some places in Alaska. I would buy a stove with a ceramic fiber baffle instead of stainless steel or mild steel and be ready to inspect the stove and flue pipe often for corrosion and mineral buildup. And realize going in that, no matter what stove and chimney, that replacement of parts will most likely be more frequent than when burning other, cleaner wood.

And don't skimp on the quality and thickness of the chimney material.

Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[Todd]

I don't know if I totally agree with the "don't ever burn driftwood" theory. Most of the salt is on the exterior of the wood and gets washed off by the rain after it drifts on shore. If the wood soaked up salt water it would sink, not drift around and end up on a beach. If I had a limited firewood source I would definetly look at driftwood and rinse the salt off with a water hose.

 

[Sooz]

Thanks all for your thoughts! I guess there are no easy answers. We also pay $6+/gal for gas, so it's tough to drive past miles of big driftwood timber (up from the mouth of the Yukon River), whether by truck or snowmachine, in order to get to skinny standing black spruce, but I will try to heed your warnings. What a lousy time for the barges and airlines to switch to plastic pallets! The tip on ceramic baffles is especially helpful. Do you know offhand which brands of cast iron stoves have those? I guess it's back to reading specs! Thanks again, guys - and keep those suggestions coming! This is a fabulous website. I'm so glad I stumbled on to it!

 

[begreen]

Hopefully Tom will chime in here. Rotted out stoves that have burnt driftwood are not uncommon out here. Salt is corrosive.

Sue, I would get a cheap stove, not cast iron which is more expensive and watch it. You may go through a stove every 5-10 years, but I guess you gotta do with what you've got. I would order a spare secondary manifold and tubes. They are usually the first parts to go. Good inexpensive brands to look at would be Englander, Osburn, Drolet. Check with Nome Home Depot or Lowes. If you want a bit fancier stove with replaceable stainless baffle maybe contact Tom about shipping a PE stove to you directly? www.chimneysweeponline.com

 

[granpajohn]

I would be curious to hear from anyone who has burned driftwood routinely in a cast iron stove. I'm not a materials engineer, but I note that both ductile iron and cast iron are not considered nearly as corrosive as carbon (A36) steel. Manhole covers, e.g. are gray iron, and spend many winters being loaded with road salt. Also, the salinity of the ocean is far lower than the slush on a Boston roadway in January.

 

[Sooz]

Granpa John - you give me some hope! So far the feedback has been very discouraging - to the point that I've started looking into propane stoves for emergency back-up only when the power goes out. I hope some cast iron woodstove users will have additional experience or expertise to add. Thanks!

 

[BrotherBart]

The few bolts that hold cast iron stoves together are not cast iron. They are plain old steel. And they are inside the stove.

 

[tkirk22]

The few bolts that hold cast iron stoves together are not cast iron. They are plain old steel. And they are inside the stove.

Could they be replaced with stainless steel bolts?

 

[BrotherBart]

The few bolts that hold cast iron stoves together are not cast iron. They are plain old steel. And they are inside the stove.

Could they be replaced with stainless steel bolts?

From what I have read salt corrosion eats stainless about like it does mild steel. And who wants to tear down a brand new stove and rebuild it?

They need a heavy plate stove like PE makes and to keep an eye on it and especially the chimney.

 

[fossil]

Seems to me that we don't really have any collective experience or quantitative data...or even qualitative data to support our group speculations. I propose we launch an investigative program, wherein we all contribute a bit toward the installation of both a cast iron and a steel stove in Sue's home, and we change out selected fasteners with different materials, and she burns her driftwood in both stoves, keeping accurate records, and we inspect the stoves periodically for any signs of deterioration over a period of say 5 years or so. Rick

 

[myzamboni]

Seems to me that we don't really have any collective experience or quantitative data...or even qualitative data to support our group speculations. I propose we launch an investigative program, wherein we all contribute a bit toward the installation of both a cast iron and a steel stove in Sue's home, and we change out selected fasteners with different materials, and she burns her driftwood in both stoves, keeping accurate records, and we inspect the stoves periodically for any signs of deterioration over a period of say 5 years or so. Rick

Rick, can you cover my donation for me? I'm good for it and will gladly pay you tuesday . . . :coolsmirk:

 

[fossil]

...Rick, can you cover my donation for me? I'm good for it and will gladly pay you tuesday . . . :coolsmirk:

Absolutely, Zambo...I'm sure you'll find my Stove Research Program donation loan interest rate to be more than reasonable. Rick

 

[Todd]

Burn the drift wood and keep up on maintenance. The first sign of corrosion would be the stove pipe, it would take a long time for the stove to rust through. You don't have much choice up there and at your current price of oil you will save money burning whatever you can find.

 

[RedRanger]

Sue: While it won`t help you for this year. It is true that if you collect the driftwood and let it sit in the rain for about 12 months most of , if not all the salt will have washed away. Which makes sense. Downside to that is you must always be 1 year ahead on your wood supply. Which is a good idea anyway.

As for stoves for Alaska, maybe pm North of 60, he has the Blazeking Princess (cat). Seems to work for him in that harsh climate.

 

[Sooz]

I must say, I sure like where Rick is going with this! But it does get me to thinking that there might be a niche market out there for someone creative enough to come up with a system that would allow for burning driftwood - or at least some grant sources that would pay for some research and development. This forum seems to draw a lot of attention from out-of-the-woodbox thinkers. Here's a meaningful challenge!

 

[begreen]

I suspect it is far too much a niche for any company to make money off of. And I suspect Rick's program's travel expenses would be too high. However, I have tons of driftwood available to me close by, so if someone wants to pay for replacement stove and stack, I can easily run this experiment. But I think Tom has seen enough of these stoves to have the rift down.

Sonny, Blaze King Princess is a cat stove, that is out as a option and it's not all that attractive. I'm thinking the Alderlea T5 is a good compromise here.

Sue, with your short season, you should already have several cords of this wood stacked and drying in a shed.

 

[thechimneysweep]

We have a customer who lives out in the San Juan Islands. His house is right on the beach, at the foot of a cliff, with a zig-zag staircase. No place to put an LP tank. He wanted to heat with wood, but had no reasonable way to get firewood down the cliff. Looking to harness the endless supply of free driftwood right outside his front door, he bought a Sweet Home woodstove and stainless chimney from us, which we trucked down to the dock at the foot of our street and loaded onto his boat.

At first, he was going through mild steel stovepipe like crazy, so he replaced it with porcelain-coated pipe we were able to get from Waterford at the time. The pipe was porcelain coated inside as well as outside, and is still there today. The Sweet Home lasted about 6 years, during which time it warped so badly he couldn't actuate the baffle bypass lever, and finally developed a big hole in the bottom plate of its mild steel secondary burn chamber. The plate was welded in, so that stove now serves as an anchor for his moorage float. He decided he needed a stove with replaceable secondary burn chamber and no bypass, and finally settled on a Pacific Energy Super 27. The original Super 27 had a mild steel secondary burn chamber, which lasted about 5-1/2 years. The replacement, also mild steel, lasted nearly 6 years. He's on his third burn chamber now, but in the meantime PE switched to stainless steel for that assembly, so we're thinking it will likely last longer. He has also replaced the side rails and flame shield, which, like the secondary burn chamber, were originally mild steel and are now stainless. Last year, he noticed that the three sections of insulated stainless chimney were buckling on the inside, and replaced them.

So, here's approximately what it has cost him to heat with driftwood for 18 years:

Sweet Home Stove: $700.00
Replacement Stovepipe, Mild Steel: $150.00
Replacement Stovepipe, Porcelain: $400.00
Super 27 Stove: $900.00
Replacement Secondary Burn Chambers (2): $420.00
Side Rails (set of 2): $80.00
Flame Shield: $26.00
Replacement Chimney Lengths: $380.00
Replacement Chimney Caps (2): $128.00

Total: About $3185.00
Cost per year: About $180.00

The bottom line: choose a heavy plate steel stove with replaceable innards, keep your eye on things, and burning driftwood can pencil.

 

[begreen]

Word. ;-)

 

[fossil]

Oh shoot, Tom...now I have to return all those donations to the stove/driftwood test program that have been pouring in. :down: Rick

 

[myzamboni]

We have a customer who lives out in the San Juan Islands. His house is right on the beach, at the foot of a cliff, with a zig-zag staircase. No place to put an LP tank. He wanted to heat with wood, but had no reasonable way to get firewood down the cliff. Looking to harness the endless supply of free driftwood right outside his front door, he bought a Sweet Home woodstove and stainless chimney from us, which we trucked down to the dock at the foot of our street and loaded onto his boat.

At first, he was going through mild steel stovepipe like crazy, so he replaced it with porcelain-coated pipe we were able to get from Waterford at the time. The pipe was porcelain coated inside as well as outside, and is still there today. The Sweet Home lasted about 6 years, during which time it warped so badly he couldn't actuate the baffle bypass lever, and finally developed a big hole in the bottom plate of its mild steel secondary burn chamber. The plate was welded in, so that stove now serves as an anchor for his moorage float. He decided he needed a stove with replaceable secondary burn chamber and no bypass, and finally settled on a Pacific Energy Super 27. The original Super 27 had a mild steel secondary burn chamber, which lasted about 5-1/2 years. The replacement, also mild steel, lasted nearly 6 years. He's on his third burn chamber now, but in the meantime PE switched to stainless steel for that assembly, so we're thinking it will likely last longer. He has also replaced the side rails and flame shield, which, like the secondary burn chamber, were originally mild steel and are now stainless. Last year, he noticed that the three sections of insulated stainless chimney were buckling on the inside, and replaced them.

So, here's approximately what it has cost him to heat with driftwood for 18 years:

Sweet Home Stove: $700.00
Replacement Stovepipe, Mild Steel: $150.00
Replacement Stovepipe, Porcelain: $400.00
Super 27 Stove: $900.00
Replacement Secondary Burn Chambers (2): $420.00
Side Rails (set of 2): $80.00
Flame Shield: $26.00
Replacement Chimney Lengths: $380.00
Replacement Chimney Caps (2): $128.00

Total: About $3185.00
Cost per year: About $180.00

The bottom line: choose a heavy plate steel stove with replaceable innards, keep your eye on things, and burning driftwood can pencil.

Sue, print this post and use it as your decision point. It is the one example in this thread of real life experience. The rest of us are relying on hearsay and Rick is just looking for a way to travel.

 

[fossil]

...and Rick is just looking for a way to travel.

I have a way to travel, I just need money for gas. Rick