How long have you been operating the same stove?

[Highbeam]

What do you think you might try when it rusts through?

I would buy another one the next day. It’s not the prettiest but nothing comes close for performance.

 

[Corey]

Finishing out the 18th year on my $350, 1980's smoke dragon. I burned two seasons as the OEM intended 'slammer' install, then it got a re-fit for secondary burn... a fire brick baffle and iron secondary burn tube...and an actual connection collar for stove pipe / liner.

Burned 5-6 years as this 'Mark 2' version while I came up with a better secondary design. Somewhere in here, I got a good deal on liner insulation and covered the bare stainless liner with a full insulation blanket. That made a notable change in burning, so I consider that the Mark 3 version.

Then one summer I tore into it again and installed a full secondary burn system with 4 stainless burn tubes, stainless manifold system and upgraded ceramic board baffle insulation. Been burning this Mark 4 ever since.

Mark 5 (catalytic combustor) is out in the workshop. Been debating on whether I want to install it as an actual stove modification (ie part of the firebox) or as an 'add-on' box at the flue collar.

Mark 6 is half built / half concept at this point. Idea being to take some key temp measurements (stovetop, flue, secondary, catalyst (if equipped), room temp, etc) and pipe those into an arduino. This part is essentially done. Then the arduino decides if you need a bit more/less air to keep the room at the desired temp, an runs a servo drive system for air intake.

Don't know if this will come to pass as it needs to be 'failsafe' and easy to manually override, not look like an ugly hack bolted to the stove, etc. Plus, after 18 years, I've become pretty good about knowing how much wood, what kind / size / shape to stuff in for the expected overnight temps, to get a warm house in the morning!

 

[JVB]

We bought our Jotul F600 new in 2004 & used it for 10 years to heat our 270 year old home. Burned an average of 7 cords a year heating the house. When we bought a Hitzer 50-93 anthracite coal stove for the house I moved the Jotul to my 20' X 48' shop. Just rebuilt it last Fall & expect to keep using it for many years to come.

 

[bcrtops]

As it says below. 32 yrs. on a Fisher burning 6-8 cords/year. Had a little hinge wear & couple broken fire bricks, otherwise good as new. Had to replace SS chimney, so saved enough going from 8" to 6" to pay for 1/2 of the Alderlea. Sometimes wish we still had the Fisher. House is tighter, as replaced all the windows. We burn about 5 cords a yr. now & doubt the Alderlea much more efficient than the old Fisher. Nice to see the fire though. 12+yrs. on the Alderlea & intend to keep it as long as possible.

 

[Southwestpaburner]

Year 4 here. But found its heating so well with so little wood Im planning an upgrade to a BK this spring/summer. EAB will keep me in wood for an untold number of years.

 

[Woody Stover]

Finishing out the 18th year on my $350, 1980's smoke dragon.....Mark 6 is half built / half concept at this point. Idea being to take some key temp measurements (stovetop, flue, secondary, catalyst (if equipped), room temp, etc) and pipe those into an arduino. This part is essentially done. Then the arduino decides if you need a bit more/less air to keep the room at the desired temp, an runs a servo drive system for air intake.

Wow, that's some extreme tinkering over the years!
I do some of that, and it's fun, but I'd probably say to myself as some point "No need to re-invent the wheel, just find a super deal on a used, current high-end stove."
Keep havin' fun though...I know you will.

 

[molly1414]

I am on year 7 with the Jotul Oslo. No problems or issues. We burn 24/7 in the winter so I have put a lot of wood through it.

 

[begreen]

Don't know if this will come to pass as it needs to be 'failsafe' and easy to manually override, not look like an ugly hack bolted to the stove, etc. Plus, after 18 years, I've become pretty good about knowing how much wood, what kind / size / shape to stuff in for the expected overnight temps, to get a warm house in the morning!

Still working professionally in the field?

 

[Dix]

Season 11 with the PE, added the 13 two years later (which now sits idle, using oil to heat that zone, and using an average of 1 gallon a day during heating season, 1/2 gallon a day when it's just for HW ).

If I were to switch, it'd be to an Englander 30 for the main portion of the house, and still run the oil for the other zone (includes an accessory apartment), keeping the 13 for back up during power outages, etc.

 

[drstorm]

5th year on my Blaze King Chinook 30.
Burned anthracite coal for a few years in an 30 years+ Keystoker.
Cat still glows at times but the smoke out of the stack seems more than when new, may be picking up a new cat next season.

 

[Corey]

Still working professionally in the field?

All this is amateur tinkerin' ! The only 'in the field' work I do is sawing through hedge rows and locust groves... but that's amateur work, too!

 

[begreen]

When you're tinkering with stoves, it's anything but amateur.

 

[Mark N MO]

We're in our 12th season with a Buck 91. Does the lions share of heating our 1800 sqft home.

 

[firefighterjake]

Year #12 with my Jotul Oslo pretty much burning 24/7 . . . I've replaced a few gaskets and the blanket above the baffle, but that's about it. Wicked reliable stove.

Started heating with this stove in 2008 when heating oil prices were $4/gallon plus . . . I had always wanted to have "back up" heat and the heating oil prices were just the incentive I needed to make the purchase.

 

[JotulOwner]

Wondering how long people have held on to their stoves, and maybe the reasons for changing. I bought my VC CDW Seneca cat wood stove for the winter of 1995/96, and it has been in use every heating season since.

My only wood burning stove is now 12 years old. Still working like it was new.

 

[fire_man]

I had to rebuild my WS Progess Hybrid after 7 years but mine was practically a prototype since it was one of the first Progress stoves ever built. The rebuild included upgrades to protect thermally stressed areas which were identified in the early stoves.

 

[begreen]

I had to rebuild my WS Progess Hybrid after 7 years but mine was practically a prototype since it was one of the first Progress stoves ever built. The rebuild included upgrades to protect thermally stressed areas which were identified in the early stoves.

Can you post some detail about what was updated and the process doing this?

 

[1967Goat]

My 11th year on my early 80's Big Buck Buck Stove. I bought it used of CL in 2009. Replaced the fan, 3 speed fan thermostat and converted it to glass door inserts at that time as well. Fan is starting to make some noises and I found a Quadra Fire Voyageur Grand on CL this week, so the Big Buck is being retired. I'll throw it up on CL cheap so someone else can get some more years out of it.

 

[fire_man]

Can you post some detail about what was updated and the process doing this?

The Combustor Plate (entire cast iron plate that the catalytic converter rests on) was replaced. The new plate has a heat shield in the thermally stressed area under where the cat rests. The original cracked base plate did not have this heat shield.

You can see the crack on my base plate. The cracked area warped so badly that I could not fit a cat inside its chamber.
I also attached the procedure to replace this plate.

I hired the head Progress stove builder from Woodstock to rebuild it in my home - he did a great job.

 

[danthe]

Wondering how long people have held on to their stoves, and maybe the reasons for changing. I bought my VC CDW Seneca cat wood stove for the winter of 1995/96, and it has been in use every heating season since.

I just removed a Napoleon 1500 with pedestal and outside air combustion after 28 years. We burn 5-6 cords of hardwood per year as our only heat source for a 2700 sq ft house. Stove top was starting to deform and track to install brick was twisted to prevent normal brick installation. I has been a great stove, burn really well. We switch to Pacific Energy for the EPA 2020 certification.

 

[fire_man]

As it says below. 32 yrs. on a Fisher burning 6-8 cords/year. Had a little hinge wear & couple broken fire bricks, otherwise good as new. Had to replace SS chimney, so saved enough going from 8" to 6" to pay for 1/2 of the Alderlea. Sometimes wish we still had the Fisher. House is tighter, as replaced all the windows. We burn about 5 cords a yr. now & doubt the Alderlea much more efficient than the old Fisher. Nice to see the fire though. 12+yrs. on the Alderlea & intend to keep it as long as possible.

Fisher stoves were built like tanks. Too bad they don't make a modern EPA compliant version.

 

[bholler]

Fisher stoves were built like tanks. Too bad they don't make a modern EPA compliant version.

Yeah but it is pretty easy to build a durable stove when you are just making a steel box. It gets much harder when you have to deal with different expansion rates of internal air passages etc

 

[venator260]

Ok if they do that's great. They do for some. But I see hundreds of stoves a year and most that are used as a main heat source don't last that long. I would say an average is 20 to 25 years unless they are abused.

I suppose my dad should feel lucky. This is winter number 33 for his Alaska Kodiak. The front glass cracked out (replaced with diamond plate), and he's on baffle number 2, but the stove body is in good shape still. In that house, that's where all the heat comes from. Growing up, touching the thermostat for the baseboards was absolutely forbidden. Outside of their bathroom, I don't think the baseboards have been used more than a handful of times since they built the house in 1986.

I have an old stove in my basement that's retired. A coal stove that burned wood for most of its service from the early 80s until the Spring of 2016. I used it one winter, and am not sure if I burned it too hot and cracked the grates or if I was just the final straw. I did burn anthracite in it during cold snaps, and I'm not sure that my grandfather and great grandfather(who bought it new) did that. Perhaps I burned it too hot and cracked them. I've thought about trying to fix it somehow, but I think that my only option would be custom cast grates, as I've never found any parts, and only 1-2 references online for the particular model. It would be just a sentimental repair; it doesn't have the best shaker set-up for coal, and it's not exactly an efficient wood stove either.

 

[Sawset]

We burn 3+ cord a year.

Is that factoring what the burrowing neighbor took down his tunnel.

 

[Sawset]

11yrs on an Oslo.
4-5 cord / year, no tunneling neighbors
Keep the hinges lubed with graphite.
Replace the rope seals every so often.
Wipe it down, keep it looking new.
So far, no other signs of wear.