# Country Flame BBF experiences(Season 3, pg. 3)



## Chargerman (Oct 22, 2009)

Hello,

I have been visiting the site as a guest for a while now and my County Flame BBF fireplace insert is now up and running. Thanks to all that take the time post their experiences and knowledge. There is a wealth of info here and it has been very helpful to me.

The BBF is not mentioned much so maybe I can post some results over the coming winter months to give others some feedback. It is the largest model made by Country Flame and is a catalytic stove. I bought it locally used out of a shopper for a very good price. It was barely used by the previous owner and is in really nice shape. I did have to replace the combustor which is quite pricey compared to other stoves. It is a well built and heavy unit(600lbs.) that I installed myself. 

I will be heating a 2300 sq ft ranch home that has a fairly open concept design. Hopefully, it will be enough to heat our house through the cold Wisconsin winters.(if not I have a line on a free Yukon Jack add on furnace to use for back up) So far we have had several nights in the mid 20's and days in the low 40's and the house stayed above 70 on three small to medium loads of elm with the blower on medium. I do know for sure it has not consumed nearly as much wood as the Yukon Big Jack in my old house(which I loved) but it is not an apples to apples comparison yet either. The true test will come when the needle dips below freezing and don't come back up for a good long time.

Hoping for the best.


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## BrotherBart (Oct 22, 2009)

Hit us with some pictures of that good looking big bad boy. They are a bunch of wood stove.


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## Chargerman (Oct 22, 2009)

Here is a picture of the BBF and all my wife's lighthouse do dads on the mantle. I used some leftover glass tile from a bathroom remodel and some salvage Marble for a surround. I also installed 18" tile in front along the length of the fireplace. 

I have yet to fire it up real hot when I am not home as I am still testing the waters. At these outside temps(40's) the cat is idling away at 600 degrees down from 800 at noon today off a cold start with no visible smoke coming out the chimney. I had the 600cfm fan on high to bring the house temp up quicker and in 4 hours it dropped 200 degrees on 2 small splits and a 4" round of elm. The combustion was set about a 1" open on each side once it was up to temp. I probably should have opened it up some more though. The door glass hasn't been cleaned for a few days and it showing some black.


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## Chargerman (Oct 24, 2009)

A little update and on a somewhat good note the heat distribution through the house seems to be pretty good. At this point I only have 2 small fans that are moving the heat fairly well. From the room where insert is to the farthest bedroom it is a 4 degree drop and to the living room on the other end of the house it drops about 2-3 degrees.

Burned a slightly larger load today with a little more combustion air and the BBF kicked out some pretty serious heat. The cat lit off and ran up to about 1250degrees and leveled off. After kicking the fan on high it cruised at around 1100-1200 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours and slowly tapered off to about 800 degrees after four hours or so. Stove temp taken on the front of the insert above the right door corner was a little over 400 at its highest point. Not sure what the top temp is because it is not accessible to me.

It is going to take a while to get it figured out but everyday seems a little better.


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2009)

Thought I would add a few more pics of the BBF in action. I took some with the lights on and then some without to show the flames better. This is after bringing it up to temp and then shutting down the air for the overnight burn. The hardest thing this time of year is getting this hunk of iron up to temperature from a cold start when it is not being continuous fired day to day. Once the temps drop it should be pretty smooth sailing between loads.

So far heat output and burn times have been very good. I have been burning a mixture of elm and walnut.


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## Jags (Nov 2, 2009)

Ohhh Yeahhh.  That is one sharp looking beast.  That must be one big pit on the inside of that thing for 3.9 cu.ft. of fire box.


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## 53flyer (Nov 2, 2009)

Is this what you have?  I can't see most pics that people post in here so I'm usually guessing a bit...  If so, that's a beast!  A very large firebox and accepts huge cuts of wood compared to just about anything else (typically 16-20").  http://www.woodstoves.net/country_flame/bbf.htm

I don't know why but only about 5% of people's pics appear for me...


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2009)

Jags said:
			
		

> Ohhh Yeahhh.  That is one sharp looking beast.  That must be one big pit on the inside of that thing for 3.9 cu.ft. of fire box.



It is a rather large fireplace. I did take lots of measurements before I bought it. The guy selling it couldn't get it to fit in his pit so that is how I ended up with it.


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2009)

53flyer said:
			
		

> Is this what you have?  I can't see most pics that people post in here so I'm usually guessing a bit...  If so, that's a beast!  A very large firebox and accepts huge cuts of wood compared to just about anything else (typically 16-20").  http://www.woodstoves.net/country_flame/bbf.htm
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> I don't know why but only about 5% of people's pics appear for me...



That is the one except mine is a little older model. It does not have the optional gold trim which my wife doesn't like the looks of anyway. It will take quite an armload of wood to fill it up.


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## bren582 (Nov 2, 2009)

I like it in Black.. Man, that beast really fills up the fireplace.. I would imagine you will have no issue with overnight burns!!


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## Chargerman (Nov 30, 2009)

Just a little update on my experiences. 

Over the holidays I had the chance to play around with the BBF insert and have been easily getting 11-12 hour burns with excellent coals to start up off. The firebox has not been loaded fully(probably 3/4) and I have been using a mixture of splits and small rounds of walnut and elm. I have some oak splits for later this winter that should burn longer.

I noticed that shutting the fan down to low towards the end of the 11-12 hour burn it will still have nice coals well over 16 hours. Cat thermometer was still reading around 250-300 degrees once the fan was shut off. On one occasion I did let the stove run out for over 24 hours and still had coals to stir that did light off some pine kindling.

The only real complaint is the side glass does not stay very clean. I kinda expected that with the long burns but the door glass has stayed relatively clean with the airwash.


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## begreen (Nov 30, 2009)

Sweet deal on some serious heat. It looks great in that setting. Nice job.


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## tickbitty (Dec 1, 2009)

That does look nice.  And speaking of Country Flame, not trying to hijack the thread here but can anyone identify this model?
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Guy's ad says "It measures 36" wide and 30" tall and has an automatic three speed fan. "
but does not give model etc.  I wrote the guy to try to get more info, but he has not written back, which may mean it's sold, but figured it's worth a try.  I would have to see the manual and whatnot before I would have any idea if I could use it, but altough the pic is dark it does appear to be in real nice shape and be a fairly recent model.  These are made in PA right?


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## pgmr (Dec 1, 2009)

Chargerman said:
			
		

> Here is a picture of the BBF and all my wife's lighthouse do dads on the mantle.



Nice looking install.  Can't tell from your picture - is the mantle some type of stone?  If it's wood, it might be a tad too close to the top of the stove.

Do you have the blower plugged into a receptacle in the fireplace?


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## tickbitty (Dec 1, 2009)

That looks like an all stone mantel to me!  Matches the hearth.


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## Chargerman (Dec 1, 2009)

tickbitty said:
			
		

> That does look nice.  And speaking of Country Flame, not trying to hijack the thread here but can anyone identify this model?
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Is that a catalytic stove? I don't have any experience with anything except the BBF but Country Flame made a model R and a model E cat stoves that were smaller than the BBF and didn't have bay windows. I tried to buy one of the new left over model R's a couple weeks ago from a wholesaler but it was sold. There is also a model B but that has bay windows. My BBF is 36" wide so that stove is either quite large or the measurement is wrong.

Here is a link I found on some of the older models. http://www.fireplacespluscm.com/freewoodcountry.htm

Country Flame was bought out a few years ago by American Energy and all the cat stoves except the BBF were discontinued. I think they were from Missouri and now they are in Hutchison, Minnesota.


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## Chargerman (Dec 1, 2009)

pgmr said:
			
		

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The mantle is stone like the hearth so no problems there. I drilled a small 1/2" hole through the back side of the hearth and ran the cord down to a receptacle in the basement. I didn't really have room in the firebox and was worried that it would get too hot. I also didn't want a cord running exposed along the length of the hearth.


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## pgmr (Dec 1, 2009)

Chargerman said:
			
		

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Great idea.  Was the cord inside the masonry structure down in the basement?  If so, how did you fish it out?


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## Chargerman (Dec 1, 2009)

pgmr said:
			
		

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My stone hearth was elevated and open underneath originally. My wife and I did not like the look so we added the glass tile and 18" floor tile to get proper front clearance. I drilled through the hearth and then drilled down through the floor and mounted a receptacle on a joist. I had thought about dropping it down the ash dump in the fireplace and fishing it out in the basement but again I had concerns with the cord directly under the stove.


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## tickbitty (Dec 1, 2009)

Chargerman said:
			
		

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Thanks for the info!  I wish I could find out more about these stoves, because now there is an even cheaper one in my area, but again I can't identify the model.  I have already bought and sold one other craigslist stove because it turned out it wouldn't work with my hearth, so I don't want to get anything where I can't check out the manual and clearances, but it's a bummer when there is a decent stove for $200 to have to spend $1200 for something equivalent!
Here's the cheapie one in case anyone recognizes it!


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## Chargerman (Dec 4, 2009)

First real steady cold snap here this year.

High of 28 yesterday with a low of 18 degrees this morning. Put two splits and two 4-5" rounds in the stove at 11pm, got it up to temp, and shut down the air. Went to bed and the house was at 73, woke up at 6am and the house was at 71 and the cat probe was still reading at 400degrees with the 600cfm fan on high. Added a couple more pieces of wood and she shot back up to 1000degrees. Left for work and the house was back up to 74 already. Coldest room in the whole house is 68 degrees.

So far so good.


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## Chargerman (Dec 10, 2009)

Another performance update. We survived the 12" of snow and blizzards yesterday and now the cold has set in.  -7 degrees without the wind chill this morning with highs in the single digits today. Going back below zero again tonight.

I honestly wasn't sure how the BBF insert would do in these temps because my house is rather large, the insulation is not the best, and there are lots of big windows that are almost 40 years old. I loaded the stove at about 10pm last night, got it up to temp, and shut the air down completely because the draft was quite good. The room with the insert was at 72 degrees and the bedrooms were at 68 degrees. Woke up at 4:30 this morning and checked the stove. The insert room was 68 degrees, bedrooms were 65 degrees. The Cat thermometer was at 500degrees with the fan on high and went to 800 degrees when I shut off the fan. I then moved some of the wood that was left around and stirred the coals up to help burn it down. While messing with the stove the house had dropped to 67 degrees so I opened up the air some and got ready for work. I checked the stove again after about a 1/2 hour and the cat thermometer was at 700 degrees with the fan on and the house was up to 69. 

The bigger coals had burned down so I loaded it up again, let it burn hot for a few minutes, engaged the Cat, and shut down the air after a couple minutes. After 45 minutes the Cat thermometer was at 1100 degrees with the fan on and the house was up to 70 degrees.

At least that tells me it can maintain a comfortable temperature without needing to kick in the furnace. Now I just need to get my attic insulation up to par and get my other BBF set up down in the basement for these cold temps and in case of a power outage.


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## Rockey (Dec 10, 2009)

I like the updates and am very impressed witht the results your having. Do you load n-s or e-w? Whats the longest peice you can get in the firebox?


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## Chargerman (Dec 10, 2009)

Last night I loaded N-S as it seems to burn hotter. This morning I placed three small rounds N-S and the two larger splits E-W to see how that works. 

Manufacturer claims a 29" log capacity.  I have burned about 24" stuff without any problem so far.


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## Chargerman (Jan 20, 2010)

Update:

House is still nice and warm. Did have to use the NG furnace to take out the chill a couple mornings when I got lazy and didn't refill right before going to bed on a couple sub zero nights. Stove still had good coals in the morning though.


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## Todd (Jan 21, 2010)

Good to hear. That is a beast of a stove, I wouldn't mind sticking one into my fireplace. Have you filled that sucker up and gone for that Blaze King record burn?


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## Chargerman (Aug 26, 2010)

I am back. 

The weather is still nice but I hear a rumor that winter is coming in a few months.


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## Todd (Aug 26, 2010)

Welcome back. It won't be long, Winter will sneak up fast.


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## Chargerman (Oct 28, 2010)

Well, its on.

First official fire of the season last night. It was cold in the 30's and very windy last night. Loaded the BBF with some ugly walnut pieces at 11pm and woke up later than I should have at 7am to a 300 degree stove with the fan on high.

Tommorow my father in law and I are adding a foot of blown in insulation to the attic. That should help quite a bit compared to last year.


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## Chargerman (Oct 30, 2010)

Finished up the attic today with 32 bags of Certainteed fiberglass blown in insulation. Total depth is about 18" now. That should take some burden off the BBF in the cold months to come.


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## Todd (Oct 30, 2010)

Sounds like your ready to go. Extra attic insulation made a big difference for me. Keep us posted.


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## opt2bout (Nov 2, 2010)

Chargerman said:
			
		

> Well, its on.
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> First official fire of the season last night. It was cold in the 30's and very windy last night. Loaded the BBF with some ugly walnut pieces at 11pm and woke up later than I should have at 7am to a 300 degree stove with the fan on high.
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> Tommorow my father in law and I are adding a foot of blown in insulation to the attic. That should help quite a bit compared to last year.



Hi, I found your post on a search...I bought my bbf last fall...moving from a fireplace to an insert was an experience!  Can you tell me how your temp probe is working for you?  When my unit gets around 700 the fan kicks on...even though it is putting out heat, the temp never gets above 900 or 1000 with the fan on.  I've read others talking about their units getting up to 1500???

Any ideas or advice is appreciated.

Thanks


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## Todd (Nov 2, 2010)

What kind of temps do you get with the fan off? The fan will cool the stove temps down a few hundred degrees or more.


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## opt2bout (Nov 2, 2010)

Todd said:
			
		

> What kind of temps do you get with the fan off? The fan will cool the stove temps down a few hundred degrees or more.


I've had it up to as much as 1,300 with the fan unplugged (I wish I had a power switch on the fan controls!) My neighbor says I'm not burning the wood right  and the stove guy says that I need a new catalytic converter :$

I've not started it this season, and just wondered if I should expect this.  Last season I used it from November to April, 24x7.  I've read some posts that make reference to the fact that they fan can be too high and have an effect on the cat's efficiency.  The manual says to not engage the cat until the probe is up to 1100.  With the fan plugged in, the fan comes on automatically and the temp probe never seems to go above 700.


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2010)

I engage the cat on mine at 500 degress and it lights off fine. I usually let it get to 800 degrees this time of year before turning on the fan. If it is colder I let it get up to around 11-1200 degrees depending on the time I have available. I don't ever let the fan kick on automatically on the reloads. I am not sure why you don't have fan controls on the stove. 

The fan will knock the temp probe down a couple hundred degrees on the high setting. On the medium setting it will usually maintain the temperature that it is at for awhile and slowly come down. I have had it up to 1500 degrees last year without the fan on just to test it. IMO waiting that long just wastes the heat up the stack.

The BBF is around 600lbs and it would take a lot of wood to get it really cranking in the 1500 degree range all the time. I originally saw people talking about those numbers and wondered if something was wrong too. No other stove has a 600cfm fan that I know of and it will kick out some serious heat. I know it will get to 1500 degrees but I would be in my underwear most of the winter with that kind of heat.  :bug:


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## opt2bout (Nov 2, 2010)

Chargerman said:
			
		

> I engage the cat on mine at 500 degress and it lights off fine. I usually let it get to 800 degrees this time of year before turning on the fan. If it is colder I let it get up to around 11-1200 degrees depending on the time I have available. I don't ever let the fan kick on automatically on the reloads.
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> The fan will knock the temp probe down a couple hundred degrees on the high setting. On the medium setting it will usually maintain the temperature that it is at for awhile and slowly come down. I have had it up to 1500 degrees last year without the fan on just to test it. IMO waiting that long just wastes the heat up the stack.



Thanks so much...I was wondering if I was just crazy or had a defective unit!  My neighbors all have non-cat stoves and all had different advice.  One has a 30 y/o Kodiak that he can jam pack with wood and the thing can heat up his whole house.  He is the most critical of my BBF saying it should burn hotter.  I use oak railroad tie ends and can't use them until I get a good base of coals going....he can load hos Kodiak and open it up and they're lit in minutes.  I realize I'm comparing apples to oranges, so I wanted to find others with similar units.

Thanks again!

Kevin


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2010)

KevinB said:
			
		

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I heat my 2300 sq. ft. house with mine 24/7. This time of year it is 1 or 2 small loads per day. I am sure that Kodiak will burn hot if you feed it wood. The big gain with the BBF over your neighbors Kodiak are the long burn times and clean burning.  

I also wanted to add that both of my BBF stoves have a fan control switch and a on/off toggle on the front. Is your stack burning clean when you shut down the air supply? That catalytic will usually glow red for awhile during the burn if it is working properly.

BTW: Do those oak ties have any type of preservative in them? That will likely ruin the catalytic.


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## opt2bout (Nov 2, 2010)

Chargerman said:
			
		

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These are "raw" ends cut off before any treatment.

My BBF has a high/low dial, no on/off.  I called the local stove co. and he said they have a fan control with on/off.  When American Energy bought Country Flame (they used to be here in my back yard) I think there is a problem with kits being assembled differently.  I know I had problems getting the right trim pieces for my shroud.  I want an on/off switch!

Where am I supposed to look re. cat glowing red?  I mean, I know where the cat is...its hidden by the cover panel...I can look up there and see flames "floating" just below that panel is how I've been telling myself that the cat was working.


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## Chargerman (Nov 2, 2010)

KevinB said:
			
		

> Where am I supposed to look re. cat glowing red?  I mean, I know where the cat is...its hidden by the cover panel...I can look up there and see flames "floating" just below that panel is how I've been telling myself that the cat was working.



I can see the cat glowing through the bypass rod hole. I can also detect the glow looking up through the front of the glass. When I engage the cat at 500 degrees the temp gauge will start rising rather quickly. 

If you shut the air down and the stack is burning clean then you should be in good shape.


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## Chargerman (Nov 5, 2010)

Rockey said:
			
		

> Whats the longest peice you can get in the firebox?



Just a quick update to this question. I burned a 30-31" log in the BBF this morning. I started another thread about it with some pics.


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## Chargerman (Dec 8, 2010)

The attic insulation seems to be helping. We got our first snowstorm of 8" Saturday and now the last few days have been in the low single digits at night with highs in the teens during the day. I did not notice much difference in the milder weather but it is apparent now.

I loaded the stove about 3/4 full of walnut at 9pm on a hot bed of coals. I let it get to about 1200 degrees on the cat probe before slowly shutting it down. Went to bed at around 11pm and the house was at 73 degrees the cat probe was reading 1100 degrees with the fan on high. My wife got up at 6am to a 71 degree house and a 400 degree probe temp with the fan on. She threw 3 splits of elm in and it will be good until this afternoon when we get home from work.


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## Chargerman (Feb 6, 2011)

A little update. 

Just approaching 3 cords of walnut and elm this year burning 24/7. Managed to handle the -20 below temps a couple weeks ago and the -30 below wind chills from the last blizzard. 

All is well in BBF land.


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## BrowningBAR (Feb 6, 2011)

Chargerman said:
			
		

> A little update.
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> Just approaching 3 cords of walnut and elm this year burning 24/7. Managed to handle the -20 below temps a couple weeks ago and the -30 below wind chills from the last blizzard.
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> All is well in BBF land.




Do you have the second one installed in the basement, yet?


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## Chargerman (Feb 6, 2011)

BrowningBAR said:
			
		

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Unfortunately, no. 

I got it moved to the attached garage from the storage shed though. The basement really needs insulating and finishing from what I read on here. I also need to figure out exactly what I want from the space before installing the stove.


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## Todd (Feb 6, 2011)

Once you get that BBF installed in the basement with some insulation, I can see nice even heat throughout the whole house by burning both low and slow 24/7, maybe only reloading twice per day.

You may also get lucky and find the basement stove will handle most of the load for the whole house except colder days where you need to run both.


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## Chargerman (Feb 7, 2011)

Todd said:
			
		

> Once you get that BBF installed in the basement with some insulation, I can see nice even heat throughout the whole house by burning both low and slow 24/7, maybe only reloading twice per day.
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> You may also get lucky and find the basement stove will handle most of the load for the whole house except colder days where you need to run both.



I am hoping once the freestanding stove is setup in the basement it will handle most of the heating needs in the shoulder season or 30+ degree weather. With the insert I often run the fan on low or medium during those times to keep from getting the upstairs to hot or avoid having to refire the stove daily. Running the basement unit a little harder may be possible because it is large and open space. If this also heats the upstairs I will be very happy. It just seems like the extra radiant heat from freestanding vs the fireplace insert would use less wood for the heat produced but, the basement install is the only variable I am concerned with in trying to move the heat around effectively. 

The other "big" reason I want to get the freestanding stove working is to have sufficient heat in case of extended power outages without needing the fan running like the insert. So far power loss has not been a problem but one good ice storm could end all that.


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## Chargerman (Nov 3, 2011)

Season 3 is underway. Burning some boxelder I cut last fall for the shoulder season. This is the first time I have burned this type of lower grade species. I got the stove up to temp and now a little over 4 hours into a 3 split burn. Temps are in the mid 30's and the house is a comfortable 72 degrees. I'll load again before bed and see what the morning brings.


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## Chargerman (Nov 3, 2011)

Not too bad with the boxelder, 8 hour burn on two 5" rounds of boxelder and 3" round of walnut. The house was 73 degrees and still had nice coals to light off this morning.


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## Todd (Nov 3, 2011)

Sounds good chargerman. Nothing wrong with Boxelder, I've burned tons of it and it burns great in a cat stove for the shoulder season.


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