# Rainey’s home (homestead rescue) burns to the ground



## Dieselhead (May 14, 2021)

Anyone watch Homestead Rescue Raneys ranch on Discovery channel?  I was watching it last night and the fathers house had a bit of a chimney fire that got out of hand and they completely lost their cabin on the homestead they have been working on for most of the show for the last few years. Not too many details as it was the season finale I believe. Anyhow here is/was their setup. It was designed to maximize the amount of heat being transferred to their home.


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## MongoMongoson (May 14, 2021)

That's a shame... I haven't seen the show, but that setup is designed to make as much creosote as heat.   They are pulling heat out of the exhaust gasses with a coil, and then intentionally reducing velocity of the gasses with the Tees.  

If that is single wall pipe, it looks too close to the combustibles behind it... Supposed to be 18", but perspective of images makes it difficult to tell clearances.   I have seen that in some of the pictures I have taken of my setup.


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## PaulOinMA (May 14, 2021)

Methinks they really did maximize heat transfer to the house.


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## Rearscreen (May 14, 2021)

Ratings.


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## begreen (May 14, 2021)

That setup was posted in another thread in the Inglenook. Looks like a creosote trap.


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## nortcan (May 14, 2021)

That set up looks like what some anthracite burners make to keep as much heat as possible inside of the house , also many anthracite stoves are called * base burner* cause having long flue path under the firepot to keep the gases heat as long as possible inside of the house. 
But anthracite burning doesn't produce creosote so no danger like when burning wood.


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## bholler (May 14, 2021)

nortcan said:


> That set up looks like what some anthracite burners make to keep as much heat as possible inside of the house , also many anthracite stoves are called * base burner* cause having long flue path under the firepot to keep the gases heat as long as possible inside of the house.
> But anthracite burning doesn't produce creosote so no danger like when burning wood.


No but it produces lots of CO through  the whole burn and if you take to much heat off the exhaust draft will stall.   Yes it can run much cooler than wood but it isn't without it's dangers.


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## nortcan (May 14, 2021)

All burning applyances produce CO, reducing the heat from the flue exit usually doesn't affect the draft if the chimney is adequate for the job. I did burned anthracite with as low as 150* F on the top of the stove without problem and many anthracite burners did low burning too.  Some anthracite burnershave problems with low draft as some wood burners have with wood burning. So many things to consider both combustibles. Generally speaking, anthracite stoves keep more heat inside of the house than wood stoves can do.


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## Dieselhead (May 14, 2021)

The stove looks like an antique blaze king, so already low flue temps coupled with a home made magic heat box seems like a recipe for disaster. Most if not all Alaska shows I watch on TV drop standing dead trees and then burn them the same season.


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## Todd (May 14, 2021)

Bummer, I watch the show once in awhile, seems they cut some corners and aren’t all that safe at times.


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## bholler (May 14, 2021)

nortcan said:


> All burning applyances produce CO, reducing the heat from the flue exit usually doesn't affect the draft if the chimney is adequate for the job. I did burned anthracite with as low as 150* F on the top of the stove without problem and many anthracite burners did low burning too.  Some anthracite burnershave problems with low draft as some wood burners have with wood burning. So many things to consider both combustibles. Generally speaking, anthracite stoves keep more heat inside of the house than wood stoves can do.


That is all true but coal produces more co than others.  But otherwise I agree completely


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## ABMax24 (May 14, 2021)

Dieselhead said:


> Most if not all Alaska shows I watch on TV drop standing dead trees and then burn them the same season.



What's wrong with that? I do it all the time, very rarely do I find a standing dead tree >20% MC.


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## Ctwoodtick (May 14, 2021)

ABMax24 said:


> What's wrong with that? I do it all the time, very rarely do I find a standing dead tree >20% MC.


Maybe it’s a matter of location. Lots of standing dead wood in New England is way too wet to burn right away.


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## Dieselhead (May 14, 2021)

Ctwoodtick said:


> Maybe it’s a matter of location. Lots of standing dead wood in New England is way too wet to burn right away.


Correct for my region. If it’s less than 20% moisture it’s been dead so long the wind has already blown it down. Hardwoods are abundant around here too. Maybe your softwoods are different compared to hardwood? If so that answers my curiosity as to how they get away with it and I can’t.


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## ABMax24 (May 14, 2021)

Dieselhead said:


> Correct for my region. If it’s less than 20% moisture it’s been dead so long the wind has already blown it down. Hardwoods are abundant around here too. Maybe your softwoods are different compared to hardwood? If so that answers my curiosity as to how they get away with it and I can’t.



Many parts of Alaska will have similar softwood trees and climate to what we have here. Our softwoods dry fast and easily, and our low humidity climate speeds the process. Now if it's only been dead a year or two you will likely still be over 20% MC. I would also imagine that more humid areas, like near the ocean, may not have very dry standing timber. Around here Birch is our only hardwood, and if it's dead and standing it's likely half rotten or more, and rarely cut for firewood that way.

I was actually up in the Yukon for work this week, and one notable factor is tree size, trees simply don't grow as big in those harsh environments, making the drying process still possible while standing when considering the shorter summers. The irony of the whole thing is Whitehorse is surrounded by forests, hundreds of miles in every direction, and yet the current trend is to replace wood heat with resistive electric, which is generated by diesel or LNG which is trucked in from 18-23 hours away, or hauled in by barge to Skagway AK, then trucked the final distance.


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## nortcan (May 15, 2021)

Actually, all what is not Électrique seem  outdated, few yrs ago, here in the Province of Québec the government gave subventions to switch from burning appliances to electric heating mode. The next years, many realised that heating a house with electricity was very expensive and not so confortable  : ON/OFF/On/OFF and so on/off with the heat. And we are in Province having lot of electricity production at low price. Many came back to wood heating mode.
And what will be the cost of electricity when the majority of what we use will be running on electricity, will the Leaders keep the price for the Kw/h as low as possible or make as much profits as possible ?


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