Brand new Century Hearth for...

[TexasAgs]

Brand new Century Hearth 2,000 Sq Ft Wood Stove: model FW300010 from Vermont Castings for $215.00 with the optional blower from Lowes (last one) Made in the USA (so they say)

I bought this stove today.

I have not yet decided to use it at my house, but at that price I did not want to pass it up. My brother told me he would buy it from me for his deer cabin if I decide to go in a different route.

Leaning towards using it, but first I wanted to see if anyone else has used this stove....

Looking for information , Good, Bad, Ugly, and any install tips before I get started... something I can change at this point BEFORE I get started

I did not see any reviews in the archives so don't be shy...

Got to get a quote on a wood box around free-standing steel chimney, installed. (mat'l and labor). I am told that the most common here.

I suppose the Chimney must run as straight up as possible.

I am gonna show my ignorance here .... Is this something I can do myself?

The builder I talked to said I can use double wall steel 6" stack stovepipe. I saw the pipe at Lowes, but they did not have any straps for this. Do they use regular metal strap for this? is this over kill

 

[kevinmoelk]

Do a search on chimney install and you'll bring up lots of good articles. I wrote one myself that may be of some help to you. It's a job you can do yourself if you feel comfortable with doing it. That all depends on your experience and skill level. You can use single wall stove pipe inside, but I'd recommend using a double wall interior pipe. For the chimney portion you need to look at "Class A" chimneys. Common brands are Metalbestos, Duravent, and Excel to name a few. Again, lots of good articles here. First thing is first, you need to decide on where you want to put the stove, what kind of floor and wall protection you will require and then take some measurements to determine what parts you will need. I wrote an article on hearth building too. Some of the pictures may not pop up for you, but just PM me and I'll send them to you if you're interested. If you are using an existing fireplace then you'll need a different set up, which I'm not terribly familiar with, but other members have done many installations and you'll find good information on that type of install as well. No worries, Hearth will guide you every step of the way, lots of good folks here.

Pictures are always good when trying to explain your particular situation. So fire up that digital camera and be prepared to answer the pros questions. Good luck. Glad you didn't get a Vogelzang. Sounds like you got an excellent deal on the stove.

-Kevin

 

[elkimmeg]

since it is going in an existing chimeny See if lowes has a chimney liner kit for 6" stainless steel pipe.
You received bad indo on double wall connector pipe
Cconnector pipe is the exposed pipe used to cinnect the stove to the chimney Many use linner pipe connected directly to the top of your insert possibly an adjustiable elbow to help line things up and center the connection. Many have been sucessfull at installing it themselves. There is a skill level needed, plus the ability to get to the top of the Chimney to feed it down

Pictures of your firbox and chimney would be helpfury

not a bad stove for that price ,people sitting on the fence deciding would love to get theirhands on what you have

 

[bruce56bb]

congrats ags, welcome to the "cult" of wood burning be prepared to start obsessing over .........
spotting dead/fallen trees in your neighborhood
which chainsaw to buy
heat movement throughout the house
etc....
agreed elk, now is the time to buy if on the fence. i've a BIL who is looking but can't find a "firesale" priced insert. at that price he should just go the stove route.

 

[TexasAgs]

[quote author="elkimmeg" date="1168968943"]since it is going in an existing chimeny See if lowes has a chimney liner kit for 6" stainless steel pipe.
You received bad indo on double wall connector pipe
Cconnector pipe is the exposed pipe used to cinnect the stove to the chimney Many use linner pipe connected directly to the top of your insert possibly an adjustiable elbow to help line things up and center the connection. Many have been sucessfull at installing it themselves. There is a skill level needed, plus the ability to get to the top of the Chimney to feed it down

Pictures of your firbox and chimney would be helpfury

[/Pics of existing hearth

That is just a stone box built into the side of the house.

The box is 48" tall 38" wide and 48" deep

I will be cutting the hole in the stone myself...No hole exist as of now....

The back of the stone box protudes from the house 24”. No flue etc… Nothing

There is a BIG (room sized) box that will house my pipe what ever choice I make..

Can I 90 degree off of the top of the stove, go out of the box and then up ...?(like a pellet stove)

Or must straight up?

Both options will place the pipe on the outside of the house

I will be send you some pics in several s

quote]

 

[kevinmoelk]

Texas, please measure out the hearth dimensions so we all know what is actually there. All dimensions in all directions. Also, perhaps the total chimney length, estimate at this point is okay. Are there any other appliances venting through that chase (forced air furnace perhaps)? Where does that door go?

-Kevin

 

[webbie]

I think wrench has turned red with jealousy. Well, the squeaking wheel gets the grease - I should take a ride to the local Lowes and see what they have!
THAT IS A HECK OF A DEAL - A BARGAIN - A STEAL - OR WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANT TO CALL IT......

 

[begreen]

Dunno, but I am having a hard time figuring how that pedestal stove is going to fit into that opening and work, including mantle clearances. Heckuva deal, but will it make your wife happy (the motivator behind this movement)?

 

[elkimmeg]

The hearth appears to be an add on fake fireplace appearance. I would be real cautious about setting a stove in there. In all probability
there are combustiable wall behind that stone work. It might just be a thin stone facing behing a wood frame
If all concrete and real stone, then what is supporting that much weight?

 

[TexasAgs]

It is a real hearth on concrete slab. Real stone. Cinder blocks and crushed stone inside bottom of the box. Solid...Real Solid

No 2 x 4's anywhere until you get to the ceiling (10' high). Exterior walls are concrete (ICF)

The opening in the box is 38": wide 48" high and 48" deep.

The chase / chimney box / store room behind is 7' wide by 3' deep. The only thing in it is my ladder and push broom. The builder built it for looks more than anything else.

The door is for getting in and out of the room.

 

[begreen]

That's a huge opening. Pictures are deceiving. The builder made it Texas style . Sounds like it should swallow up the stove pretty easily.

 

[TexasAgs]

Dunno, but I am having a hard time figuring how that pedestal stove is going to fit into that opening and work, including mantle clearances. Heckuva deal, but will it make your wife happy (the motivator behind this movement)?

The Stove is 31.5" and has about 10" of clearence top to bottom.

I have been doing a little looking and I think it is basically a DUTCHWEST Plate Steel CDW300007

(broken link removed to http://www.vermontcastings.com/content/products/productdetails.cfm?id=322)

Maybe someone knows more about this than me...

It already made my wife happy.. I was just hopig to squeeze a little heat out of the deal..

Funny thing is I thought I bought a USA made stove but it looks to be a Canadian product. now I may have to put it in the garden and use it as a flowerpot...

 

[begreen]

Far better Canadian than the Chinese Vogelzang the other thread started out at.

 

[TexasAgs]

Far better Canadian than the Chinese Vogelzang the other thread started out at.

Thanks to all who steered me away from that mistake...

 

[TexasAgs]

Say I noticed the manul (some of us reead them ) talked about keeping the temp around 250 degrees for 20 minutes for the first couple of fires to "cure" the paint

Is that for real? (don't worry.. I'm gonna)

What is a easy way to do this ?

Is there a "better" way to measure the temp ?

 

[begreen]

You'll probably be wanting a magnetic stove top thermometer soon. In the meantime, the easiest way is to burn a small fire or two with just some kindling and then a couple small splits. Let them burn out and then let the stove cool down completely before doing it again. Open a window too. Painted stoves can be a wee bit smokey for the first few burns.

 

[elkimmeg]

That's right t Vermont castings is doing away withthe Centry line and calling it Dutchwest they are simmilar stoves They expanded their steel fabrication plant in Indiana where most of them are made they also have another plant in Canada their casting plant is in Vermont. Vermont casting was bought out by CFM who's corporate ofice is located in canada
All boxes list their corporate office as there address I think yours was made in Indiana. The only Pacific Basin Imports, are the gas grills, sold at Home Cheapo.
Everything else is made in North America

I repeat that is the best deal I have seen this year money wise for a new stove.

My prior post was to make sure that all was ok with your clearances. Pictures do not always tell the complete story I'm glad you clarified the stone and masonry construction

Most local hardware storew and the Box stores have magnetic thermometers place it dead center top of the stove a goor opperational range is 400 to 650

Since you found us, I hope you stay around and tell us how that Bargin preforms.

 

[TexasAgs]

I think I will be staying a while...

I did see some some requirements for chimney requirements in the manual

15' from the bottom of the floor the stove sits on

2' above / 10' way

no more than two 90 degree elbows

male ends down (should I seal those?)

anything else?

BTW ... Snow and Ice on the ground again today

This just might kill some of our , not so desirable, bugs...

 

[elkimmeg]

After you exit the rear wall and get into that chase, you could attach a tee. It would make cleaning your chimney a breeze

Excuse me if you have a masonry chimney. Please fill us in on how you intend to vent this stove. I would not want to give advice, till I have the whole picture .
We need more info

 

[BrotherBart]

I woulfd not to give bad advice till I have the whole picture .

Ok. I want to nominate that for the Post Hall of Fame. ;-P

 

[Roospike]

I woulfd not to give bad advice till I have the whole picture .

Ok. I want to nominate that for the Post Hall of Fame. ;-P

;-) At least he is getting all the information first before hand.

<BB , if a big yellow backhoe shows up in your yard , dont be suprised>

 

[Gooserider]

TexasAgs has several threads going, which makes things a bit confusing. (MSG is it feasible to merge them?) If I remember from some of the others, that "chase" is just a wooden box at present, and the hearth is a concrete box with no vents. - Is that correct TA?

What I'm not clear is what is above the concrete box towards the back - Does it stick through the wall into that closet so that you can go through the top of the box and up, or is there house over the box so that only the back wall is in that closet?

I think his best bet would be to get one of the metal prefab chimneys (Metalbestos?) with minimal clearance requirements and run that down the middle of the chimney box until it either:

1. runs into the top of the hearth box (best) and goes straight down through it into the stove, or:

2. comes down behind the hearth box and ends in a cleanout "T" so that the stove pipe would come off the top of the stove, go into a 90* elbow, through the backwall of the hearth box and into the "T".

While I think #1 is the better option from a draft standpoint, and might be better from an aesthetic viewpoint, either should work OK and the choice is probably going to be determined by just what the structures make easiest.

What I don't know, and need Elk and others to advise on is the exact requirements from a code standpoint, what products are best, and the actual mechanics of putting in the hardware.

Gooserider

 

[TexasAgs]

TexasAgs has several threads going, which makes things a bit confusing. (MSG is it feasible to merge them?) If I remember from some of the others, that "chase" is just a wooden box at present, and the hearth is a concrete box with no vents. - Is that correct TA? Gooserider

A stone box... But that is correct

What I'm not clear is what is above the concrete box towards the back - Does it stick through the wall into that closet so that you can go through the top of the box and up, or is there house over the box so that only the back wall is in that closet? Gooserider

the back of the stone box is far enough outside of the house (about 22") that I can go up or out the back of the box. I can chose. I am leaning on going out the back with a 90* elbow and once outside of the box, a "T" and then going up to the top of the box which is about 18' high I have enough room inside of the "chase" that I think I can just use standard double wall stove pipe to the top. Is there any reason to spend more?

I think his best bet would be to get one of the metal prefab chimneys (Metalbestos?) with minimal clearance requirements and run that down the middle of the chimney box until it either:

1. runs into the top of the hearth box (best) and goes straight down through it into the stove, or:

2. comes down behind the hearth box and ends in a clean-out "T" so that the stove pipe would come off the top of the stove, go into a 90* elbow, through the back-wall of the hearth box and into the "T".

While I think #1 is the better option from a draft standpoint, and might be better from an aesthetic viewpoint, either should work OK and the choice is probably going to be determined by just what the structures make easiest.

What I don't know, and need Elk and others to advise on is the exact requirements from a code standpoint, what products are best, and the actual mechanics of putting in the hardware.

Gooserider

I can"cut" a hole in the stone box with mu hammer drill and a long masonry bit without too much trouble. I prefer to go out the back instead of the top (I worry about moisture finding its way down the hole onto the top of the stove) for several reasons.

My stove onlt has a 6" hole out the top and I wonder if it is okay to 90* off of that to go out the back and then a "T" and then up for 18' and out the top to vent. is that too many turns?

I have read y'all say that every 90* is like taking 5' off of the chimney.

 

[TexasAgs]

One more thing ...

On the length of the chimney... what is the maxium distance you can run the stovepipe horzonatil on a through the wall setup like the one in this diagram...?

This is the kind of setup I am thinking of...

Any pontential problems to watch out for?

 

[elkimmeg]

that stone wall you are cutting a hole threw there is no combustiables on the other side?

One can not use double wall connector pipe for the chimney. It has to be Class A
thate are different types if yours is enclosed in a chase then one can use the cheaper galvanized outer layer Class A and not the more expensive
stainless steel.

You will soon find out the cost of class A pipe If you use the right pipe it will last a life time. See if Lowes has some hopefully at clearance sale pricing