Wood Stoves: what's new in the world of wood heat.

[Maggot12]

Originally Posted by Tobz

I found my Vermont Castings on craigslist years ago. It had definitely seen better days..


I dismantled , sandblasted, and repainted.


I've run a LOT of wood through it since!

Nice

[red450]

Very nice! I had to refinish my stove as well. I really like your recessed hearth pad. Very cool.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by red450

Is your firewood seasoned properly? From the looks of the "glass", it either has a high moisture content or you're letting the fire smolder.

Pick up a moisture meter ($10 @ HF) if you don't have one. Split a piece of wood and see if it's below 20% mc. A stove top thermometer helps a lot too. If you have any questions, PM me.

I struggled with our wood stove the first year because of unseasoned wood.

Right you are. I had a problems getting wood delivered this summer and it didn't show up until late October. My previous attempts at creating heat with this stove weren't great. Christmas day I fired it up to warm the downstairs area for guests. The wood I used was quite a bit drier than before. By the time we were finished supper, the entire house was warm enough that the wood furnace shut off and went out.

That little stove warmed up the entire house. All it needed was drier wood. I'm throughly impressed.

[red450]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

That little stove warmed up the entire house. All it needed was drier wood. I'm throughly impressed.

Glad your stove is keeping you toasty.

Check out http://www.woodheat.org/ for a lot of good tips and tricks.

[IDScarecrow]

Someone in another thread asked me to post here about my Tulikivi. I didn't post when I first saw this thread as it wasn't a "wood stove" and the idea isn't exactly new.

The idea is that it is neither a stove nor a fireplace, but a "masonry heater." The unit is a large mass of soapstone with a convoluted flue. You burn a hot, relatively short fire to heat up all the soapstone, and then the soapstone radiates heat over an extended time.

So here it is freshly installed:



And here it is in use:



Ours is the 2200 series with optional top-venting. It weighs around 2.5 tons with the built-in benches. When it is cold I burn in it for about 2.5 hours in the morning, and it heats our approximately 1400 sq foot main floor very well for the day. The stones are still warm to the touch when I build a fire the next morning. On very cold days I will build a second fire in the evening.

The heat is somewhat different from a traditional woodstove - it is less immediate, more diffuse, and much longer lasting. I really like it, though it does also have some disadvantages. Some days when the sun comes out the temp in the house really goes up, and I can't "shut off" the Tulikivi after I have built the fire. That's ok, as I can always open windows. Somewhat more annoying is the time lag from building a fire to warmth. A woodstove will give you immediate results; since the Tulikivi is heating all that stone, it doesn't warm the room nearly as quickly.

We really like the Tulikivi, and sitting on the bench with one's back against the warm stone is the most popular place in the house on a cold winter evening.

[MeanMoe]

Originally Posted by IDScarecrow

When it is cold I burn in it for about 2.5 hours in the morning, and it heats our approximately 1400 sq foot main floor very well for the day. The stones are still warm to the touch when I build a fire the next morning. On very cold days I will build a second fire in the evening.

The heat is somewhat different from a traditional woodstove - it is less immediate, more diffuse, and much longer lasting. I really like it, though it does also have some disadvantages.

We really like the Tulikivi, and sitting on the bench with one's back against the warm stone is the most popular place in the house on a cold winter evening.

Similar situation with our Crossfire heaters. It takes a minimum of 45 minutes for the heat to build in the brick and masonry core. A longer fire will keep the brick warm for a longer period but it doesn't hold the heat as well so two firings are required to keep the house warm on very cold days (<20• F).

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by IDScarecrow

Someone in another thread asked me to post here about my Tulikivi. I didn't post when I first saw this thread as it wasn't a "wood stove" and the idea isn't exactly new.

The idea is that it is neither a stove nor a fireplace, but a "masonry heater." The unit is a large mass of soapstone with a convoluted flue. You burn a hot, relatively short fire to heat up all the soapstone, and then the soapstone radiates heat over an extended time.

So here it is freshly installed:



And here it is in use:



Ours is the 2200 series with optional top-venting. It weighs around 2.5 tons with the built-in benches. When it is cold I burn in it for about 2.5 hours in the morning, and it heats our approximately 1400 sq foot main floor very well for the day. The stones are still warm to the touch when I build a fire the next morning. On very cold days I will build a second fire in the evening.

The heat is somewhat different from a traditional woodstove - it is less immediate, more diffuse, and much longer lasting. I really like it, though it does also have some disadvantages. Some days when the sun comes out the temp in the house really goes up, and I can't "shut off" the Tulikivi after I have built the fire. That's ok, as I can always open windows. Somewhat more annoying is the time lag from building a fire to warmth. A woodstove will give you immediate results; since the Tulikivi is heating all that stone, it doesn't warm the room nearly as quickly.

We really like the Tulikivi, and sitting on the bench with one's back against the warm stone is the most popular place in the house on a cold winter evening.

Added pics from IDScarecrow

Sweet BTW! Frickin love it... except you have to start it once a day... I actually don't mind running ours 24-7 for 6+ months straight...

[IDScarecrow]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

Added pics from IDScarecrow

Sweet BTW! Frickin love it... except you have to start it once a day... I actually don't mind running ours 24-7 for 6+ months straight...

Thanks for the pic help.

I don't mind the fire-building process. I have some good dry wood that, split into kindling, lights very well. The Tulikivi has a good strong draw so that it gets plenty of air. It is a morning ritual of sorts for me, and I rather enjoy it. (I think my wife though, who gets up to go to work before me, would prefer that there was already a fire when she woke up. )

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by IDScarecrow

Thanks for the pic help.

I don't mind the fire-building process. I have some good dry wood that, split into kindling, lights very well. The Tulikivi has a good strong draw so that it gets plenty of air. It is a morning ritual of sorts for me, and I rather enjoy it. (I think my wife though, who gets up to go to work before me, would prefer that there was already a fire when she woke up. )

No issues with draft in a brand new house??? I have heard that is an issue in the new breed of super tight houses... so much so that people have make-up air systems...

[IDScarecrow]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

No issues with draft in a brand new house??? I have heard that is an issue in the new breed of super tight houses... so much so that people have make-up air systems...

We do have (Tulikivi requires) a make-up air system. That little circle in the floor in front of the ash door at the bottom of the fireplace is connected to a pipe that runs outside. I can open or close it as needed.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by IDScarecrow

We do have (Tulikivi requires) a make-up air system. That little circle in the floor in front of the ash door at the bottom of the fireplace is connected to a pipe that runs outside. I can open or close it as needed.

Like a Webber charcoal bbq....

That is great....

It actually looks great...Those crazy Scandinavians have the touch.....

Once again: very cool!

[RumRunner]

IDScarecrow, can you tell us about the homes construction. I'm noticing the walls being a good 12-16". Are they ICF or some sort of double stud? The biggest gain in energy efficiency is a near net zero build system and it looks like to went that route.

DW

[RumRunner]

BTW, for those interested in masonary heaters, these folks have an excellent product and a useful website...

http://www.tempcast.com/

DW

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Looks like you're getting a bit of creosote buildup on the glass. If that's an airwash stove, try opening up the air feed to full open for about a half hour. You'll get a nice, hot fire, and it will burn off the creosote.

I was doing that with my Jotul 3. I was making medium/small slow fires to make the wood last. Then I read the instructions. Running full blast occasionally helps keep the glass clean, makes lots of heat, and reduces ash. Wood consumption went up a bit, but not nearly as much as I'd feared.

[SourKraut]

Originally Posted by Dave

Looks like you're getting a bit of creosote buildup on the glass. If that's an airwash stove, try opening up the air feed to full open for about a half hour. You'll get a nice, hot fire, and it will burn off the creosote.

I was doing that with my Jotul 3. I was making medium/small slow fires to make the wood last. Then I read the instructions. Running full blast occasionally helps keep the glass clean, makes lots of heat, and reduces ash. Wood consumption went up a bit, but not nearly as much as I'd feared.

That's why going bigger with a stove is usually a mistake. Ours runs flat out much of the day and only gets metered down overnight when we sleep so that we have a nice bed of coals in the morning, no kindling required to keep it going for weeks on end. A small stove running at full throttle is waaaaaay better for the flue than a large one smoking at idle. I do have oil fired boiler and cast iron baseboard heat as a backup though.