Can anybody help me identify this wood stove, or estimate its output/efficiency?

[EthanWakefield]

A little background: I bought a house with the wood stove pictured below. I have very few details about it. The wood stove was installed many years ago, before the previous owner bought the house. So the exact origins are gone at this point. There are no labels, name plates, or other identifying marks on the stove.

I've used the stove a bit, and it's a little frustrating. I can only get it to about 250F, measured by both an IR thermometer and a magnetic stovetop thermometer. It just doesn't get as hot as I expect it to. I'm burning kiln-dried oak, so I don't think it's a fuel issue.

When I bought the house, the previous owner had it cleaned as part of getting the house ready for sale. So it's been looked at and was cleaned by a professional who didn't say there were any obvious problems. I can verify visually that it has an insulated liner.

My big question is, how much heat should this wood stove put out? It's pretty basic, but I bought it with the house so I'm not exactly looking to replace it for thousands of dollars. But at the same time, it just doesn't get that hot. It warms the room that it's in okay, but it doesn't get much more above maybe 10F over the normal room temperature. I was expecting a lot more. But maybe that's unrealistic for an older wood stove insert? I don't know.

Can anybody help me to identify this wood stove, or give me any advice on whether or not it'd be worth the money to have it replaced with a new, modern stove?


ody

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Do you have a blower that pushes warm air out?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Looks like it might be more of fireplace doors than a full insert.

Maybe some interior pics could help once the fire is out.

 

[EthanWakefield]

Do you have a blower that pushes warm air out?

No, there's a damper controlled by a push/pull rod, but no blower. I point a fan at it to get some circulation in the room.

My main reason for thinking it's an insert is because there's an insulated liner. I don't know why a fireplace would have one.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Maybe some pics from further out, and of the inside could help. Is the damper in the flue or on the intake side?

 

[EthanWakefield]

Maybe some pics from further out, and of the inside could help. Is the damper in the flue or on the intake side?

I'll try to add interior photos when I get a chance. The damper is on the outside of the unit, just out of frame in the photo I posted earlier (to the right of that air intake at the top). It's accessible while I'm burning wood.

 

[EthanWakefield]

Here's a photo of the interior. You can see the damper in the back. It rotates open/closed when the control rod is pushed in/out.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ok. I think you’re looking at a fireplace with doors. Your liner is insulated to improve performance and to help keep creosote from condensing onto the walls.

As to whether to replace it, it depends on what you want out of it. If you want ambiance, you’re likely fine. If you want heat, you’ll most likely want to replace it. You’ll get much more heat with much less wood with a new stove/insert/ZC fireplace

 

[EthanWakefield]

If this is a fireplace, not a wood stove, how am I meant to operate it? So far what I've done is get a fire going, close the doors, and close the damper. There's plenty of oxygen flow to keep the fire going, so that's not an issue.

If this is a fireplace, should I be running it with the doors open and the damper open as well? How do I get the maximum heat possible?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

By their design, fireplaces move a lot of air. You’ll probably want to keep that damper open as you don’t want to get any carbon monoxide backing up into the house.

All of the air going up that chimney has to come from somewhere, usually other rooms of the house. Those rooms need makeup air and that is usually cold air from outside. I’ve seen some estimates that they pull in so much air that the heating benefit is negative. Doors closed, limiting the amount of air that can enter the fireplace will give you the most efficient operation. But efficiency is relative here.

 

[john26]

I think that is a Fuego Flame fireplace or El Fuego. They were originally designed and manufactured in the late 70's and marketed to be as or more efficient than a stove. I have heard claims up to 80% efficiency but never seen any real test proving it. A dealer in Clinton Missouri used to drive around with one burning in the back of his service van for advertisement. I think they still sell them.

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[bholler]

I think that is a Fuego Flame fireplace or El Fuego. They were originally designed and manufactured in the late 70's and marketed to be as or more efficient than a stove. I have heard claims up to 80% efficiency but never seen any real test proving it. A dealer in Clinton Missouri used to drive around with one burning in the back of his service van for advertisement. I think they still sell them.

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This website is for sale! actionfireplace.com is your first and best source for all of the information you’re looking for. From general topics to more of what you would expect to find here, actionfireplace.com has it all. We hope you find what you are searching for!

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There is no way that's 80%. 50 to 60 at the most.

 

[john26]

Oh I know that some of the old post and youtube videos on them is quite comical. I think 50% would be a stretch.

 

[EthanWakefield]

Suppose this unit is around 40% efficient. I could believe that. So if I buy a new unit that's in the ballpark of 70% efficient, I'm almost doubling my efficiency. So I'd cut my wood use down about half for the same level of heat? Or I could look at it as 2x as much heat for the same level of wood. Right?

I've gotten 2 bids from local companies. They both are saying it'll be in the ballpark of $6,000 to replace the unit with a 2020-compliant one. I don't know. That seems like an awful lot of money. I'd have to burn through a LOT of wood before a new wood stove would pay itself off.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

There’s numerous things to consider when working the finances for a new stove. The obvious ones are cost of fuels. What is your main fuel for heating your house? You’re burning kiln dried oak. If you switched to regular air dried wood and gave it the time to dry you could cut costs significantly.

How do you like the temperature in your house? Many find they keep the house warmer with a wood stove. Since it’s a space heater, you may find that the stove room warm and the rest of the house cooler is preferable.

A lot of people really like having the fire and the security it brings if there’s a power outage or heating fuel costs spike, etc.

If you’re just looking to save money, it’s hard to beat the cost/value of adding lots of blown in cellulose.

There’s a lot of things to consider and I don’t think there’s a wrong conclusion to come to.

 

[EthanWakefield]

There’s numerous things to consider when working the finances for a new stove. The obvious ones are cost of fuels. What is your main fuel for heating your house? You’re burning kiln dried oak. If you switched to regular air dried wood and gave it the time to dry you could cut costs significantly.

How do you like the temperature in your house? Many find they keep the house warmer with a wood stove. Since it’s a space heater, you may find that the stove room warm and the rest of the house cooler is preferable.

A lot of people really like having the fire and the security it brings if there’s a power outage or heating fuel costs spike, etc.

If you’re just looking to save money, it’s hard to beat the cost/value of adding lots of blown in cellulose.

There’s a lot of things to consider and I don’t think there’s a wrong conclusion to come to.

I live in a suburb with an HOA. It's pretty unlikely that they'd let me build a wood shed, and it's not practical for me to cut wood and transport it in my Prius. I'm buying kiln-dried wood because that just happens to be the cheapest available hardwood. The kiln-dried stuff is just as expensive as air-seasoned if you buy it by the cord. What the local company does is, they cut the wood to-order and kiln-dry it on demand. That way they don't need the land for letting wood sit out for 2-3 years.

My primary heating is actually natural gas. I just run this wood stove in my living room because when I work from home (which I do 2 days out of the week) I'm the only one here in the daytime. So I don't need to heat my whole house. I just heat the one room I'm in, so the wood stove is great. And I just like the wood stove. I like the smell. The heat somehow just "feels" different, partly because it's more evenly distributed through the room instead of being blown in from the vents in the floor. I dunno. It just feels cozy.

But I dunno. It's tough. I really want a new wood stove, but it's so expensive I just don't know if I can justify it. Honestly, for that money I could just heat the entire house with natural gas for years and years and years.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If you’re handy, you could install the stove and liner yourself and save a good deal on labor.

 

[EthanWakefield]

If you’re handy, you could install the stove and liner yourself and save a good deal on labor.

Ha, ha, ha. I wish I were! I'm not handy at all. There's a zero percent chance I could do this by myself.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Well, if you had $6k of cellulose blown into your attic and walls, you could heat the place with a candle.

What stove were you looking at stalling? Maybe there’s a less expensive alternative?

 

[EthanWakefield]

This is the cheapest insert the local place installs:

Small Wood Insert | Alterra CI1150 | Regency Fireplace Products

The Regency Alterra CI1150 Contemporary small wood insert is a modern, flush insert with a built in blower to help distribute heat more effectively.

www.regency-fire.com

I've gotten a bid from one other company that was even more expensive ($6,500).

 

[john26]

I live in a suburb with an HOA. It's pretty unlikely that they'd let me build a wood shed, and it's not practical for me to cut wood and transport it in my Prius. I'm buying kiln-dried wood because that just happens to be the cheapest available hardwood. The kiln-dried stuff is just as expensive as air-seasoned if you buy it by the cord. What the local company does is, they cut the wood to-order and kiln-dry it on demand. That way they don't need the land for letting wood sit out for 2-3 years.

My primary heating is actually natural gas. I just run this wood stove in my living room because when I work from home (which I do 2 days out of the week) I'm the only one here in the daytime. So I don't need to heat my whole house. I just heat the one room I'm in, so the wood stove is great. And I just like the wood stove. I like the smell. The heat somehow just "feels" different, partly because it's more evenly distributed through the room instead of being blown in from the vents in the floor. I dunno. It just feels cozy.

But I dunno. It's tough. I really want a new wood stove, but it's so expensive I just don't know if I can justify it. Honestly, for that money I could just heat the entire house with natural gas for years and years and years.

This Is my shed I am in a St Louis suburb with an HOA, but we do have lots around 1/2 acre plus many are wooded. So far no neighbors complained in fact many ask me if I want to cut and haul off fallen timber on their property.