Does wood stove venting really have to cost so much?

[EddyKilowatt]

Glass in that porch and add some thermal mass... or some kind of solar idea in that general direction.

Wood stoves need to get up to a minimum temperature to work... below that you get things condensing on the walls like water, soot, creosote, or some unpleasant combo of the three. Stoves come in sizes and the one you have looks like it has many cubic feet of firebox and many many square feet of heat-radiating area... all of which need to run *above* the soot-condensing temperature. LOTS of heat. It is tempting to think you can just burn a handful of wood at a time to get the heat you want, and in fact you can... but the stove will not be happy and will gunk up and/or rust inside. Meanwhile it will be using up a lot of living space in your cabin.

You are headed in the right direction in looking to swap that interesting old stove for something better suited to your heating needs.

You wouldn't use a 400hp diesel to run a 10hp water pump... it'd work but the rings would clog solid with soot in no time... this situation is similar.

Eddy

 

[dougand3]

This area is the high desert? I remember a movie where Dugie Howser, MD was a Spec4 in the Army - car broke down, then he walked thru northern NV blizzards and lost toes to frostbite. Does it get super cold in your area? If so, I'd look at the small stove with 6" pipe option. Lowes has class A chimney for less than half of dealer or internet price (shipping is killer there). $67 for 3 ft of class A chimney and has single wall stove pipe for $8 per 2 ft. Generally, to be in code, you need 18" clearance from the single wall pipe to combustibles - so, theoretically, you could have a 42" diameter hole in floor of 2nd floor, centered on the stove flue - and run stove pipe all the way to cathedral ceiling, then adapter, then class A chimney to raincap. I would bet 6 ft of chimney would satisfy the 3ft/2ft rule. Now, a 42" hole in the floor may be problematic for you - LOL.

I'm sure they make thru the floor transition kits....but when they say "kit", they charge more for it.

 

[ajonate]

This area is the high desert? I remember a movie where Dugie Howser, MD was a Spec4 in the Army - car broke down, then he walked thru northern NV blizzards and lost toes to frostbite. Does it get super cold in your area?

I wouldn't call it super cold, but we do get a few sub-zero nights each year. I think the low last year was 10 below. We spend a good part of January getting down to single digits at night.

 

[SaratogaJJ]

.

This is my new stove.

I believe I shall name him Brutus.

 

[glacialhills]

I admire you for your self sufficiency. That cabin looks awesome and pretty remote. I bet you have some great views and spectacular sunrises/sunsets. I agree with all the others that that stove is just too big for the size cabin you have. But you are on the right track if you want to be off the grid and yes, a tiny little wood stove is the way to go. That and since you are out in the land of constant sunshine some passive and active solar would help you achieve your objective.
This little stove is sold at tractor supply and likely some big box home stores(I think also harbor freight online) and is about as inexpensive as they come at 149.95. Can be used to cook on also which would be another benefit that you did not have with the big one you were considering and any stove you do consider should have that capability, given your goals(can taste that big pot of beans and rice right now, while the world goes to H*** in a hand basket all around you). This one is rated for up to about 800sf. Much closer to your ballpark sq. footage. I think if you add a good hearth and shielding you can cut your clearances to acceptable levels. Good luck and keep us posted.


http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...0551_10001_28665_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1#

 

[thebeatlesrgood]

If you want a 'backup' for hard times.......listen to what BeGreen has told you about finding one of the REALLY SMALL stoves that meet todays emissions standards with 6 inch pipe.

Yes, I'm looking at small stoves now. It's too late to do anything abut it this year, but I'll try to work it into the summer improvements next year.

maybe that is a good thing. if you guys have lowes/ home depot or the likes around there, i would look around late january to february to finds good deals on an epa 13-nc Englander. as nice as that $150 stove would be, i dont think its epa certified and you might run into big clearances again. ive heard of some people being able to find the 13-nc for about 300-400 dollars. oh and the lowes supervent is a great buy, i did my setup for about $400 and it was mostely special order too.

 

[glacialhills]

I agree the clearances are gonna be 36" to any combustibles with the little boxwood... or any non epa cert. stove for that matter BUT...With good hearth and heat shielding, That can be reduced safely for the back/side walls or corner wall.I also agree that a small epa cert stove would be great in this application, and reduce clearances even further,plus be more miserly on wood consumption although be hard to cook on, but I was trying to show an option for the big one he was considering that also was non epa cert. and was not a good fit for the cabin. And do it for as little money as possible(you did say getting plenty of good seasoned wood was no problem?) . A lot of people living up in the U.P. of Michigan heat their hunting/summer cabins with these stoves and love them for their simplicity and small size. And at a fraction of the price of a epa stove that has no cooking option. Here is a link to some of the other stoves they offer and could be just what you are looking for at a reasonable price. He Is looking to be self sufficient and be fully off the grid for little $$$. I would think if installed yourself, you could do the whole thing for less than a grand(prolly closer to 500 if you can scrounge, which it looks like you can)and that's including the stove, and you will have an awesome setup that would be plenty safe and do exactly what you wanted.You only need class a on second story and can use single wall for the first floor with 18" to ceiling. I would have no problem having one of these in my cabin, properly installed with plenty of shielding and clearance, but that is the key, SAFELY. Dont know what you do now for kitchen duties but This is a link to one of their cook stoves that would really fit nicely and serve both as heat and kitchen with an oven(mmmmm..nothing beats homemade bread baked in a real wood fired oven).

http://www.vogelzang.com/hh005.htm

 

[deadon]

I agree about not using the stove , it is to big for the application. Using smaller flue pipe and throttling down is not the answer. I feel this will cause a creosote build up. Try and sell the stove and look on ebay or what ever sales flyer you have locally and try to purchase a used smaller stove. Maybe even a small wood burning cook stove then you could even cook on it further reducing your need for outside utilities.. The pipe you have looks like a collection of odds and ends not a complete system. As mentioned before the super vent from Lowes is a good system. I just installed a stove and used this system in my sons home. I installed a 21' flue using super vent and spent about $930 for the flue and $1500.00 for the Ashely stove. All new items.

 

[ajonate]

This little stove is sold at tractor supply and likely some big box home stores(I think also harbor freight online) and is about as inexpensive as they come at 149.95.

Yes, I've been looking at the Vogelzang Boxwood stove. We don't have a Tractor Supply around here, the closest would be in California. Vogelzang does list Ace & TrueValue hardware stores as dealers, which we do have locally, so I'll check them out. I hate to get into shipping on a cast iron product, since I'm guessing it will just about double the price.

 

[dougand3]

I bought one of those Vogelzang Boxwood stoves at Harbor Freight for $89 (they run sales ALOT)....THEN read the clearance of 36"...the workmanship was shoddy - one leg was an inch higher than others due to miscasting. I broke leg pushing on it. (Vogelzang was nice enough to send me another free). I sold that stove on craigslist and found a used VC Resolute Acclaim - REALLY GLAD I did.

Now, this stove may work for you. 1. Can you devote 36" in all directions to air? (the manual said NOTHING about reducing clearance with a non-combustible wall - as in - pull sheetrock, put metal studs in for 1" air space, then cement board - air gaps at top and bottom, then tile or brick).

Another option - scour craigslist for a small used stove - a 200 mile drive to pickup would be cheaper than shipping.

 

[firefighterjake]

Another vote for "Good idea . . . but way too big of a stove."

I learned a long time ago that size really does matter . . . at least when it comes to woodstoves. At the same time I also learned that just because something is free doesn't always mean it is good.

Right after college I was living in a small camp across from my parent's place . . . to heat the place I had an old Miller trailer furnace installed (illegally incidentally) and I had a woodstove that was given to me by a friend of the family. The woodstove was a nice Shenandoah woodstove built similar to the old Ashley woodstoves that were so popular here in Maine back in the 1970s and 80s. The woodstove was nice . . . but way, way too big for my little ol' camp.

In the winter or two that I ran that woodstove I ended up killing my girlfriend (now my wife's) fish when the water got too hot and they basically boiled to death (well it didn't get hot enough to boil . . . but it was too hot for the fish), the door to my bathroom became horribly warped from the high heat (bad enough tht you could just about stick your head through the top of the door when it was shut) and pretty much I spent the entire winter with the door and windows wide open in an attempt to stay warm but not overheated (and I have to tell you there is something surreal about having every window and door open in a place in middle of a January snowstorm.)

There are a lot of other suggestions here . . . I personally like the idea of being as independent as possible . . . however I would look around for a small woodstove if you're really stuck on the idea or look at some solar options.

 

[ajonate]

I was living in a small camp

What's a camp?

 

[deadon]

Ajonate,

In the East we call them a camp. In the West you call them a cabin.

 

[firefighterjake]

Ajonate,

In the East we call them a camp. In the West you call them a cabin.

Camp = Cabin

Snowmobile = Snowmachine

Water Tanker = Water Tender

Potato = Po-ta-to

 

[trouba]

I have been looking at this small stove for my rv. I like you would like to stop paying the propane bill.

(broken link removed to http://www.dickinsonmarine.com/NEW-SF.html)

better price

 

[trouba]

Heres one that's a little more traditional but also more money. One nice thing is the really tight clearances.

little cod

halibut