Should I try this Hawk?

[Ty Grant]

Thanks for info. on the Hawk. Could someone tell me how much more efficient the newer stoves are and what it means to daily use. I'm sure they use less wood but are there other differences ? Are there draw backs to the newer ones?
I have access to all the wood I want, but mostly aspen and some spruce.The only thing is I don't want to have is a stove so inefficient that I have to cut and handle twice the amount of wood, which is why I wanted to try this stove and see if it cuts down on wood use.
The stove in our cabin is a Heritage, made in Utah 1985. it has a large fire box 32 W X 28 D X 12 T which can really put out serious heat which is nice when cabin is cold ( start up) I also put in a "Magic Heat" heat exchanger this summer and it really puts out lots of heat,so much that you can warm the place up too much for sleeping the first night we are there and that has never happed before. My local dealer didn't have much good to say about these but maybe because this stove is so inefficient that it has made such a increase in output. The 2 things I don't like about it is trying to get this to low burn doesn't work well, it either goes out or if you give it enough air yo keep going the wood is gone in 3-4 hours.The other thing is we go through wood like you can't believe.
We have a good strong draft,17-18 ft 8" steel pipe
The Hawk that I want to try has about the same size fire box but only half as deep,my friend claims it would burn all night if you loaded it up and cut back on the air, but he has only used this a few times and its been 20 years ago so I'm not banking too much (no pun intended) on his account of this. This was installed wrong and pipe was getting real hot where it went through an upstairs closet so he wouldn't use it.Smart guy If you cleaned out the ash this stove would pass for new.
Do you think its a good gamble to try this one?
Thanks For your great site and all the help Ty

 

[Gooserider]

Thanks for info. on the Hawk. Could someone tell me how much more efficient the newer stoves are and what it means to daily use. I'm sure they use less wood but are there other differences ? Are there draw backs to the newer ones?

Sounds like that's a pre-EPA airtight stove, probably not a huge improvement over what you have now efficiency wise, except that it sounds like it has a smaller firebox, so you will burn less wood per load, but also get less heat.

An EPA stove is claimed to burn about 30% less wood to get a given amount of heat, but arguably is a bit fussier about what it will burn (especially the cat models), and may be a bit more finicky about operation technique and install details. I'm still running a smoke dragon myself, so I can't speak from personal experience, but the money is the only thing thats stopping me from upgrading.

I have access to all the wood I want, but mostly aspen and some spruce.The only thing is I don't want to have is a stove so inefficient that I have to cut and handle twice the amount of wood, which is why I wanted to try this stove and see if it cuts down on wood use.

That's not as good as hardwoods (Oak, etc.) for heat value, but not that bad either, plenty of folks heat with that mix.

The stove in our cabin is a Heritage, made in Utah 1985. it has a large fire box 32 W X 28 D X 12 T which can really put out serious heat which is nice when cabin is cold ( start up) I also put in a "Magic Heat" heat exchanger this summer and it really puts out lots of heat,so much that you can warm the place up too much for sleeping the first night we are there and that has never happed before. My local dealer didn't have much good to say about these but maybe because this stove is so inefficient that it has made such a increase in output.

Magic Heat = CREOSOTE FACTORY = DANGEROUS They are a chimney fire waiting to happen! This is especially the case with the older smoke dragon stoves that put out lots of creosote to begin with. I agree that it hurts to see that heat going up the pipe, but your combustion gasses are full of creosote that will condense on any surfaces once it cools. You NEED to keep that flue HOT so that the gases will go all the way up and out without condensing.... Those MH death exchangers will cause you to have massive creosote buildup in your flue due to excess flue gas cooling. If you are lucky it will just clog up your pipe and cause your stove to not draw properly, at worst you could get a serious chimney fire.

The 2 things I don't like about it is trying to get this to low burn doesn't work well, it either goes out or if you give it enough air yo keep going the wood is gone in 3-4 hours.The other thing is we go through wood like you can't believe.

Sounds about right for a pre-EPA, or almost any stove. There is a fairly narrow band of "sweet spot" where the stove will work best, and you should try to run in that band. However many of the folks here get 8-10 hour or longer burns out of a full load on an EPA stove.

We have a good strong draft,17-18 ft 8" steel pipe

That sounds OK depending on the stove you are running, and if it's the right kind of pipe - ie a "Class A" chimney system, not just a hunk of single wall stovepipe... Some of the newer stoves will prefer 6" pipe, and a few might find that length a bit short depending on how many bends there are in the pipe, etc.

Note that we aren't the "Stove Police" here, and won't turn you in for an unsafe or illegal install, but we do have a strong belief in the idea that safety is the FIRST and most important consideration in doing an install, and will be insistent on telling you how to do it safely and per codes. We will even get downright obnoxious at times if we see something we think isn't right (and we will want LOTS of pictures as you go along) I mention this because some of the stuff you mention sounds like some of the stuff you've been doing or been thinking about isn't very safe, and don't want you to feel like we are dumping on you about it - we care about your safety or we wouldn't be here. Note that some of us (especially a fellow named Elk) do building inspection for a living, others are in various parts of the stove industry, so you are dealing with a lot of experts.

The Hawk that I want to try has about the same size fire box but only half as deep,my friend claims it would burn all night if you loaded it up and cut back on the air, but he has only used this a few times and its been 20 years ago so I'm not banking too much (no pun intended) on his account of this. This was installed wrong and pipe was getting real hot where it went through an upstairs closet so he wouldn't use it.Smart guy If you cleaned out the ash this stove would pass for new.

The stove may be in great shape, but it is also still a 20 + year old stove, made with 20 + year old technology, and as such hasn't benefited from all the enhancements in stove know-how that we've had over the last several years. A new stove will burn far more efficiently and with far less pollution than a new stove.

Do you think its a good gamble to try this one?

Technically it's not legal to install a pre-EPA stove in most places, old stoves are grudgingly grandfathered in. Many folks on this board basically won't advocate installing a pre-EPA stove anywhere, under any conditions. I can see doing it only under a very few cases - to replace another pre-EPA stove that is unsafe with one that is safer, or as a backup stove that would seldom be used in an existing reasonably safe location. Both cases I would only suggest the pre-EPA stove if it was free or close to it, and the people in question couldn't afford a modern stove.

Gooserider