Fargo Wood Stove - Any Info?

[Phil Cee]

Greetings and thank you for this forum!

I was hoping someone might be able to help me with any info on a "Fargo" wood stove. It was gifted to me and I plan to refurb and install, but can find no info on the internet. Picture attached - thanks in advance!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is there a tag on the back?

 

[stoveliker]

You could install but it'll eat wood and won't nearly give as much heat as a more modern stove.

 

[SwArMD]

You could install but it'll eat wood and won't nearly give as much heat as a more modern stove.

My experience with old stove vs new stoves is limited. But I own an old 1970s Woodsman that heats my house, and I also own a brand new certified, efficient stove at my cabin. The Woodsman is rated for 2200sq ft, and the new stove is rated for 2500sq ft.

As one expects, the Woodsman eats wood for dinner, but throws EPIC heat. The new efficient stove throws pretty good heat, but is super efficient.

I live in an old house built in the 1910s that leaks air like crazy in the winter. I would freeze if my new stove in the cabin was the one heating me.

I say, get an old beast if you live in an old house. Save the fancy stoves for the heat-envelopes

That has been my experience.

Also keep in mind you are on the "Classic Wood Stove" side of Hearth.com, a lot of folks here appreciate the oldies.

@Phil Cee Don't let him dissuade you! Enjoy the classics

 

[stoveliker]

I should have better phrased my remark: it won't nearly give as much heat *per pound of wood* as a new stove.

You are correct that they can put out a lot of BTUs.

 

[begreen]

I say, get an old beast if you live in an old house. Save the fancy stoves for the heat-envelopes

I say invest in sealing and insulating the old house. It makes a huge difference. Adding storm windows, even if plastic, also helps if there are single-paned windows. Otherwise, one is wasting a lot of time, fuel, and energy.

 

[SwArMD]

I say invest in sealing and insulating the old house. It makes a huge difference. Adding storm windows, even if plastic, also helps if there are single-paned windows. Otherwise, one is wasting a lot of time, fuel, and energy.

You certainly aren't wrong. I have considered whether I would want to invest in the heat envelope, and decided against it. Here where I live, we have 8 months of winter, and two months of HOT summer. In the summer months, the added air flow of our house helps quite a lot, in the hot season, without having to invest in air conditioning, or expensive air circulation systems. I mean, I know lots of folks with modern heat-envelope setups, and they spend thousands sealing the airflow, then more thousands making a machine to create airflow. My folks have a well-sealed home, and they spend thousands on AC each summer, whereas all I need is to crack the windows, and run a box fan in the attic.

I agree with you it is a huge waste of energy and wood, but we live in the Boreal. Lots of it to go around we are fortunate in that way.

 

[stoveliker]

I don't get it: cracking a window and a box fan can be done with a well-sealed home too?
Have better efficiency 8 months per year, and the same possibilities 2 months a year...?

 

[bholler]

You certainly aren't wrong. I have considered whether I would want to invest in the heat envelope, and decided against it. Here where I live, we have 8 months of winter, and two months of HOT summer. In the summer months, the added air flow of our house helps quite a lot, in the hot season, without having to invest in air conditioning, or expensive air circulation systems. I mean, I know lots of folks with modern heat-envelope setups, and they spend thousands sealing the airflow, then more thousands making a machine to create airflow. My folks have a well-sealed home, and they spend thousands on AC each summer, whereas all I need is to crack the windows, and run a box fan in the attic.

I agree with you it is a huge waste of energy and wood, but we live in the Boreal. Lots of it to go around we are fortunate in that way.

I'm sorry but wasting massive ammouts of energy for 8 months to save some energy on fans for 2 months makes absolutely no sense at all

 

[begreen]

Insulating and sealing a house has year-round benefits. The house is quieter, easier to heat or cool, and easier to keep the interior air clean with a filtration system (can be homemade) in the event of widespred wildfire smoke.

Airflow through the house has little to do with heat loss due to leakage and poor windows. That is more a cooling management issue. We do this without air conditioning by opening the house up wide in the evening, sometimes with a fan on the second floor blowing hot air out and sucking in cooler air on the first floor.

 

[bigealta]

.Airflow through the house has little to do with heat loss due to leakage and poor windows. That is more a cooling management issue. We do this without air conditioning by opening the house up wide in the evening, sometimes with a fan on the second floor blowing hot air out and sucking in cooler air on the first floor.

We do the same here in NJ. We are probably the only ones in our town that don't run A/C all the time. We only have 1 small 5000 BTU window unit in the house. I only run it when it's hot and humid and the night temps don't drop enough to cool the house.

 

[SwArMD]

Well, my experience has been quite different. My folks have a well sealed house, and their air quality in the winter time is very poor, and they are constantly battling mold. My wife finds it a bit uncomfortable to visit for long periods of time now that we live in a breathable house, the difference is very noticeable.

Stuffy, mold filled homes is what modern homes often end up being for 8 months of the year up here; pushing around stale air through musty, vents. It is not just summer cooling cost reductions that we benefit from.

And yeah look, I could engineer our house with all the nifty doohickeys and doo-dads to artificially modify my atmosphere to combat the obvious drawbacks of sealing off a living space, then spend time and money maintaining my artificially created atmosphere systems, but I'd rather not. I'll stick with my leaky house, heated by an old 1970s Woodsman stove, burning 1 cord a month.

And the "wasted energy" translates to virtually free, extra time spent out in the bush during my favourite seasons.... oh what horror.

 

[begreen]

We're in a 100 yr. old farmhouse that has been insulated, sealed, and good windows installed. Not a spot of mold but it's significantly easier to heat than when we bought it 30 yrs ago.

 

[bholler]

Well, my experience has been quite different. My folks have a well sealed house, and their air quality in the winter time is very poor, and they are constantly battling mold. My wife finds it a bit uncomfortable to visit for long periods of time now that we live in a breathable house, the difference is very noticeable.

Stuffy, mold filled homes is what modern homes often end up being for 8 months of the year up here; pushing around stale air through musty, vents. It is not just summer cooling cost reductions that we benefit from.

And yeah look, I could engineer our house with all the nifty doohickeys and doo-dads to artificially modify my atmosphere to combat the obvious drawbacks of sealing off a living space, then spend time and money maintaining my artificially created atmosphere systems, but I'd rather not. I'll stick with my leaky house, heated by an old 1970s Woodsman stove, burning 1 cord a month.

And the "wasted energy" translates to virtually free, extra time spent out in the bush during my favourite seasons.... oh what horror.

If your in a leaky old house the chances of sealing it up to the point of causing mold problems where you need an hrv system are slim to none. But you could easily seal it up enough to cut your wood use by 1/3.

For me that extra time is extremely valuable and there are many things I would much rather do with that time than spend it processing fire wood.