Why wont someone make a wood stove with a 5 or 6 cu ft forebox?

[SmokeyCity]

Id love to have a wood stove in my basement with a huge window to watch 2nd-aries and be able to toss in a 30" log or even a medium sized stump or large irregulars that would normally have to be re-split and cut.

I can see the limitation of a 36" basement door but you get a lot of stove thru a 36" door especially if you make it 36" deep and 24" high.

I just dont see why no one will crack the 5cf barrier for a normal wood stove (other than a home furnace of course)

 

[HotCoals]

Probably a point of diminishing returns deal..lol.

 

[mxjamie540]

Hell, here I thought moving to 3.5cf was a monstrous leap!

 

[begreen]

Very limited market would be my guess. I costs a lot to bring a product to market, particularly if it has to go through a battery of testing.

 

[Exmasonite]

They do... they're called wood burning furnaces. (broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100185844&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100185844&ci;_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-28-_-100185844&cipa=pla&locStoreNum=6209)

I think once you get much above 3 cubic ft of firebox, you need some sort of central distribution system (ducting, water/radiator system) in order to make it work. You start to exceed the ability to efficiently circulate the heat from a single source like a stove.

If that's not feasible (the furnace), then you are probably better off looking at 2 different stoves.

 

[wkpoor]

Pre EPA stoves were commonly in the 5-6 range and some even larger. My old Nashua was around 5.5cuft and I considered it normal. Stoves IMO have gone like everything else, smaller and more efficient.
Currently there is a stove made that is right there called the ELM. The 38" model will have a firebox larger than 6cuft. I have the 30" and its over 5 cuft. It is nice to be able to put in whatever I grab from the pile and not have to worry if it is split down far enough.

 

[HotCoals]

They do... they're called wood burning furnaces. (broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100185844&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100185844&ci;_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-28-_-100185844&cipa=pla&locStoreNum=6209)

I think once you get much above 3 cubic ft of firebox, you need some sort of central distribution system (ducting, water/radiator system) in order to make it work. You start to exceed the ability to efficiently circulate the heat from a single source like a stove.

If that's not feasible (the furnace), then you are probably better off looking at 2 different stoves.

maybe even a Magic Heat! lol

 

[begreen]

Pre EPA stoves were commonly in the 5-6 range and some even larger. My old Nashua was around 5.5cuft and I considered it normal. Stoves IMO have gone like everything else, smaller and more efficient.
Currently there is a stove made that is right there called the ELM. The 38" model will have a firebox larger than 6cuft. I have the 30" and its over 5 cuft. It is nice to be able to put in whatever I grab from the pile and not have to worry if it is split down far enough.

I knew you would chime in on the Elm, but wasn't sure how large he makes them. Seems like a good solution here for smokey. Not a great fireview, but a big log heater. Or maybe a Caddy furnace?

 

[SmokeyCity]

yeah I knew about the furnaces (see end of my orig post) but they dont have 2ndary burn or cats

You can never have too much stove

They do... they're called wood burning furnaces. (broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100185844&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100185844&ci;_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-28-_-100185844&cipa=pla&locStoreNum=6209)

I think once you get much above 3 cubic ft of firebox, you need some sort of central distribution system (ducting, water/radiator system) in order to make it work. You start to exceed the ability to efficiently circulate the heat from a single source like a stove.

If that's not feasible (the furnace), then you are probably better off looking at 2 different stoves.

 

[snowleopard]

You mean like this?

(broken link removed)

 

[SolarAndWood]

yeah I knew about the furnaces (see end of my orig post) but they dont have 2ndary burn or cats

BK Apex is a 5.7 cu ft cat furnace. It is fairly new, but if you do a search in the boiler room you will see a few reports on them.

 

[skinanbones]

The Caddy furances are Epa rated with a secondary burn tube system. First furnace to market that did that and was about 5 years ago that they came out with it on the whole line of caddy furnaces. As for a stove that big it's allot harder to past the epa testing once over 3 cubic feet and it's a very limited market. We sell maybe 4 PE summits a year but closer to 40 super 27 a year.

 

[Fsappo]

yeah I knew about the furnaces (see end of my orig post) but they dont have 2ndary burn or cats

WAAAAT?

 

[jebatty]

Been around for a long time; goes by the name of "campfire," and no chimney needed.

 

[joefrompa]

Market segment size and logistics of heat distribution. If a 4 cubic foot firebox in an efficient stove can pretty much heat 3000 square feet from a single location without serious ducting, what more do you need for residential ends?

And if you aren't going after residential, do you have commercial customers who are going to throw 2 cords of wood in there a month to keep it burning? What type of location are they heating?

Seems to me like a 5 cubic foot firebox would put off so much radiant heat you wouldn't want to stay near it long, while being a bear in other ways.

Joe

 

[SmokeyCity]

yeah I knew about the furnaces (see end of my orig post) but they dont have 2ndary burn or cats

WAAAAT?

i stand corrected - they have cats and 2ndary - now for a giant viewing window

 

[ddddddden]

(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/hoebt.htm) According to Oyen, it's not as simple as superSizing an existing design. . .harder to control the burn in a larger non-cat firebox with EPA-mandated mimimum air intake, hence PE's addition of the EBT gadget to their 3-cu-ft stoves, while their 2-cu-ft stoves seem to do fine without EBT. The mfrs who want to make 4+ cu fters are using cats, namely BK and Buck. Controllability seems to be where cat stoves shine, and most mfrs are not interested in building cat stoves, large or small. Oh yeah, Buck has released a non-cat version of their biggun, the model 94. I haven't heard anything about the performance of the 94.

 

[laynes69]

There are many woodfurnaces that have fireboxes in excess of 6cu.ft None are Epa Certified and I think thats due to a large firebox. It would be difficult to produce a clean enough burn for lower emissions. The Caddy only has a 3.5 cu.ft firebox but puts out alot of heat. The Max Caddy which is its big brother is around a 4.5 cu. ft firebox. The Apex made my Blaze King is one of the largest fireboxes, but its clean burns are due to the Cat. I was able to heat the same area with my 3.5 cuft firebox as my old 6.5 cuft firebox. The difference was the secondary burn system. A more even heat over a longer period with less wood. I couldn't imagine a 6 cu.ft secondary burn stove or furnace. The Max Caddy furnace is a secondary burn furnace, and from what I hear it can pump out massive amounts of heat.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

3.5 and 4.5 Cubic Feet firebox available at Caluwe, Inc. - Hydro-to-Heat-Convertor

 

[MishMouse]

I know you are looking for either a 5-6 but how about a 4?
If you are looking for a 4 cuft the Hearthstone Equinox woodstove looks like a very good stove.

 

[FyreBug]

Well the actual reason is the EPA mandate itself... If you think about it, it's easy to meet EPA if you design a stove so small you can only put one small stick in. No Cat or secondaries needed. You will pass the 7.6 gram per hour with flying colors!

Now try this, build a large 5 or 6 cu ft firebox and put over 50-80 lbs worth of wood in there and try to meet EPA. Cat or Secondaries. Big challenge.

That's why EPA phase 2 will change the rule for Central heating (furnaces) to grams per BTU. Note there is no time baseline involved anymore. However, this will not apply to wood stoves. It will likely be coming down to 4.5 g/Hr. Which will make it even more challenging for large wood stoves.

 

[North of 60]

Well the actual reason is the EPA mandate itself...

Now try this, build a large 5 or 6 cu ft firebox and put over 50-80 lbs worth of wood in there and try to meet EPA. Cat or Secondaries. Big challenge.

BK has already done this and passed with flying colors. 80lbs worth of wood can be done in a 4 cubic ft fire box.

 

[FyreBug]

Yes & so have we. Not impossible but difficult. The question was: why don't Mfg make a '5 or 6 CU ft' EPA stove? Even with CAT or secondaries even more difficult.

 

[Todd]

They Probably figure there's no market for it. Why build it if very few will buy?