Can anyone identify this stove

[nigtomdaw]

Hi I'm sorry no picture just a description from memory of a almond husk burning stove I saw in a Spanish home about 4 years ago. The unit stood about a 4 foot tall the majority of the structure was a 4 sided inverted slimline pyramid shaped metal hopper which fed in to a small maybe 8/10 inch diameter burning vessel directly below it. The hopper was full of almond shells and the unit was literally glowing red-hot at the bottom Th combustion stove part reminded me of a turbocharger for a large gasoline engine. It was elegant to look at from a simple engineering stance very much form than style and really kicked out some heat. It had a very small floor footprint. Ive searched the web with no success. I now live in Spain I would like to own one. I cant remember the flue at all or if it was electrically operated or gravity fed.

Strange first question ?

Thanks Nigel

 

[webbie]

Certainly is.......heck, I'll be amazed if we can answer this one.......and it is probably one of the first times we will be stumped.....

 

[GVA]

At least it sounds like a good reason to go back (on vacation) to check out the stove again and get some photos............
This could be your first assignment....

 

[Mike Wilson]

Sounds like a late model Vermont Castings unit... especially the part about the almond shells.

(popcorn... get yer free popcorn here!)

-- Mike

 

[MrGriz]

Sounds like a late model Vermont Castings unit... especially the part about the almond shells.

(popcorn... get yer free popcorn here!)

-- Mike

Yea, popcorn... you know... heat up the oil and stir the pot... ;-)

 

[Burn-1]

Nigel

(broken link removed to http://www.hipercass.com/ofertas.htm)

For it's apparent size and listed 14 kw, (~48,000 BTU/hr) output I'm not surprised that it glows red hot when fired up. When I first saw it, and the fairly low price I was trying to think of "What is Spanish for Vogelzang?" But, I would be interested to see one.

Good luck

Edit - It would be interesting to know if this could burn on dry wood chips as well. And, I'm imagining that the clearance to combustibles would be pretty big. Nigel, do you know if this is a batch fired stove or if there is some type of feed like a stoker coal stove?

 

[nigtomdaw]

Give that man a cigar!,

Thanks Id say that is about spot on thankyou !
I don't recognise the store or the area but a printout of the stove and a visit to local stores will be a start.
Criag It took your forum members less than 5 hours to come up-with the correct answer from a verbal description of a 4 yr old memory,Wow
My memory had the rear flu section and the burn box in reverse nobodys perfect...ah ! Except......
Burn-1..... if you don't smoke then have a drink on me,the cheques in the post, ;-) Thanks again ! Nigel

I know very little about the stove only how impressed I was with its output. As my spanish is poor the only thing I gleaned from the owner via interpreter was weight for weight almond husks had approximately twice the btu or heating power or calorific value as coal which ever is correct, but Im sure youll get my drift. Im going to locate and buy one and will update you when my search for the holy stove is complete ! Four years in and now living in Spain the search continues LOL.

Vogelzang ?

Nigel Sunny Spain

 

[Burn-1]

Glad to help Nigel. I really like European stove design and had a few links lying around. I put in estufa almendra as search terms into one and found it in about a minute.

If you're not familiar with Vogelzang, you're lucky. They sell a few really cheap, generally very dangerous wood stoves which have poor quality, virtually no combustion air controls and no Underwriters Laboratories listing. They throw out lots of heat but can easily burn your house down. 'Death-box' is a common moniker for them on the forum. So no disparagement meant to the almond husk stove but it was the first thing I thought of.

Good luck with your search, certainly looking forward to hearing more if you have some success.