# Franklin heater



## Jojo69 (Aug 13, 2013)

Montgomery Ward Franklin heater KMF - 22017

I am required by my insurance company to provide a UL number for my Franklin heater.  Have been unable to find one and they have threatened to drop our insurance.  This heater is in a cabin built about 1970. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Jojo


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## pen (Aug 13, 2013)

We are going through the same thing with our cabin.  The only options are to find an insurance company that is OK with a non-UL approved stove (very few anymore) so long as the old stove follows all NFPA-211 installation guidelines (36 inches clearance to combustibles, 18 inches to ceiling from stove pipe, proper floor protection etc, etc,  or upgrade your stove to a modern unit.

About 7 years ago I went with Travelers insurance because they were OK with the non-UL approved fisher I had in the house.  Since I've upgraded the stove so I'm not sure if they are still OK with the pre-UL stoves or not, but it's worth a phone call.

Good luck.


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## BrotherBart (Aug 13, 2013)

You aren't going to find a UL listing for it. I bought one new from Wards in 1977 and it wasn't UL tested or listed. UL didn't even create a draft standard for wood stoves until January of 1978.


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## firecracker_77 (Aug 13, 2013)

Time to upgrade.  From what I hear, the Franklin doesn't throw as much heat as the wood stoves do.


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## pen (Aug 13, 2013)

firecracker_77 said:


> Time to upgrade. From what I hear, the Franklin doesn't throw as much heat as the wood stoves do.


 
I've seen them throw a TON of heat, it's the efficiency that's lacking (and safety in many cases).

pen


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## mepellet (Aug 13, 2013)

pen said:


> I've seen them throw a TON of heat, it's the efficiency that's lacking (and safety in many cases).
> 
> pen


 Very true!  The one I just removed threw a TON of heat.  Would roast you out of the area in less than an hour with no slowing it down. 

Reasons for removing it:
1. Safety - installation was not up to code. Clearances, floor construction, chimney installation all were not acceptable.  Also heard of logs falling out the front and onto the floor.
2. efficiency - can't keep a good fire going more than a couple hours.
3. controllability - read of many franklins running away on the operator

Needless to say, I now have a Franklin complete with chimney (minus thimble because one was not installed) for sale.....  Would be nice in a camp. WHEN INSTALLED PROPERLY


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## Jojo69 (Aug 13, 2013)

Thanks for the info. Being new here it took me awhile to figure out how to reply. Our Franklin throws out a ton of heat, but it is only used occasionally as we have baseboard heat and the cabin is not used in the winter.  The distance to the wall is more like 24" thus not meeting modern day code. Might try Travelers to see if they will insure.

Jojo


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## begreen (Jan 19, 2014)

Sorry, the old Franklin heaters were not efficient and not very controllable either. Most of their heat went right up the flue. There is a major difference in efficiency in new stoves. It is not uncommon for folks here to report back that they are using 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of wood the used to use with their old heaters.

FWIW, it's very common for a new stove to heat a full house on 3-4 cords of wood in northern latitudes. This sounds like a lot of opinion and little experience.


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## webbie (Jan 19, 2014)

smokey joe said:


> I would not be in too much of a hurry to throw that stove out.  The so-called new "efficient" stoves have serious issues and are nowhere near as efficient as claimed.  The cats burn out of them and are costly to replace.  The non-cats don't always go into secondary burn and smoke anyway.  And most of them don't heat worth a darn.
> 
> that's why so many of those new stoves are for sale now, dirt cheap.



My goodness...we may be incompatible here joe!

Between these falsehoods and your new posts promoting burning plastic and garbage, I'm thinking maybe we aren't on the same page - or even in the same book or language.

BTW, the original Franklins were nothing like the ones of today. They were down draft stoves....whereas the ones today are updraft. Completely different animals. Also, not sure if you are aware, but we've come a long way since Ben proved lightning was electricity. Now we use the stuff to cycle in BILLIONS of times per second and make these computing machines work.


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