Wood stove run by a wall thermostat? What?

[Swedishchef]

It is a good idea! What a beast!

I think that eventually wood stoves will have options that will allow some models to become like pellet stoves to a certain extent....thermostats, blowers, etc. and this seems to be happening sooner than later.

Andrew

 

[begreen]

That is what Dan McFarland has worked out with the SmartStove. It works to control both the air supply and the blower. It appears that the Quad controller also controls the blower speed. Can't wait for someone to pick up one of these big boys and run it through a season. In the meantime I think I'll make a field trip sometime to a dealer that has one of this series in stock.

 

[Swedishchef]

Buy one and give it a try

 

[begreen]

LOL, I don't have a basement to hide it in.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Buy one and give it a try

I would but don't own the house I'm using the current quad 3100 in. That will hopefully change this coming spring though. Looking to build or buy something that has a 3 car garage and room to stack wood! As in acres instead of a .25 acre city lot. Hence the stove research!! It will definitely be interesting if any other stove makers follow suit or try to improve!

 

[ddahlgren]

Or you could have bought a coal stove with 12 hours easy and some go 30 a very low output. Thermostats common as well with no electrics needed. Sure the fuel is more but the work much less. Why does no one add their time in to cut split and stack into the cost of the heat? You chainsaws splitters and trucks to make it happen as well. I take it this way take a week off work there goes 700+ chainsaw 200 at least splitter 700? Truck taxes and gas/insurance 800 so how free is the wood? Some are fixed costs but the week off and truck expenses are recurring. I get 3 1/2 tons of coal for around 1000 delivered washed and bagged and season for 300 million years wet dry does not matter it is a black rock that burns between 1800 and 2200 degrees. Usually burn only 3 tons for 72 to 74 24/7 and 10 minutes of my effort a day. I suspect at 63 that wood is a young mans game or someone with a houseful of responsible teens that are willing to help to stay warm.

 

[bholler]

Thermostats common as well with no electrics needed.

What coal stoves run off of thermostats with out power? I am genuinely curious i have not seen one despite working on a hundred or so coal stoves a year. If they do exist many of my customers would be curious.

I suspect at 63 that wood is a young mans game or someone with a houseful of responsible teens that are willing to help to stay warm.

I have many customers much older than that that still process all of their wood themselves. I have nothing against coal but many prefer wood over coal it is personal choice. I have heated with both and will probably install another coal boiler once i have the funds but i will still have a wood stove.

I take it this way take a week off work there goes 700+

Hardly any of us take a week off work.

chainsaw 200

already had the saw for general cleanup ect.

splitter 700

Yeah many still do it without a splitter but they sure do make it nicer. I personally went in with 4 others and bought one so it was about $200 per person.

Truck taxes and gas/insurance

Already had the truck to

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Well with the money saved by using wood many of us have used that money to cover the costs of the equipment. Over time (I only have $1000 into a saw and splitter over two years) if taking care of they will last many many years and the cost will long be negated. As for the truck, I would have one anyway! I've got a boat to tow, hunting gear to haul around, ice fishing shack, snowmobile and trailer, on going landscaping projects that I haul stuff for, etc. So Im not counting that in my expenses other than the gas that is used to haul the wood.
Heck I've even sold some of my wood and recovered 2/3rds of that $1000. So I'm darn close to free! I'd be surprised if I had more than $30 into a cord of wood and I burn 3-4 a year. So for $120 to $150 at most a year with gasoline costs, Im keeping my house quite warm and staying in great shape! And my time in the woods is my therapy away from the daily grind. Its all a Win Win to me anyway.

 

[Highbeam]

Coal? The only coal we have here is on trains coming from the east to be loaded on a boat for export. You can always buy your wood cut, split, and even stacked.

 

[Swedishchef]

There's NO coal for sale where I live..we only have a few coal mines in Canada.
I don't cut my own wood so it is not very cost efficient. I do it because I enjoy it. BUt to be honest, I'd rather just cut it and sell it.

Andrew

 

[ddahlgren]

Coal stove with thermostat Hitzer comes to mind right away and believe DS Machine has a few as well. I have had the bad fortune of a used up back and arthritis early on mostly hereditary and no choice on it. Around here to buy wood it is a 2 years in advance deal as nothing is really seasoned no matter what they claim and we all know how miserable that is to burn in anything but a smoke dragon. Wood here has gone from outstanding to miserable if buying it and caused the change for me. For the price of the wood that would not burn and putting that up to the coal that would and selling the woodstove for pretty much an even trade for the coal stove it became a no brainer for where I live and the things I live with. The back is bad enough that much more than 25 pounds in the bucket a challenge so splitting wood out of the question. You younger and older tougher guys have my respect and no doubt out live me and it is all ok I have had a ball and used up too much too soon but a good time doing it as well. Everyone picks their own poison or task list mine is the best I could figure out where I live and what is available in cash and energy and local resources.

 

[bholler]

Coal stove with thermostat Hitzer comes to mind right away and believe DS Machine has a few as well.

Ok you are talking about a simple thermostatic air control. I have seen many of them and most i have seen are disconnected because they don't work worth a damn. But what we are talking about here is a totally different animal. Hitzler makes some decent caol units but ds units are designed horribly and dont hold up well at all. Coal is a good choice in some areas but others it really is not an option at all.

 

[ddahlgren]

All I know is the folks with Hitzers love them I never had one but have an old Crane 404 that does a fine job and I am is the thermostat.

 

[bholler]

All I know is the folks with Hitzers love them I never had one but have an old Crane 404 that does a fine job and I am is the thermostat.

Yeah hitzlers are good units nothing fancy but they work well. And yes if you are just talking about a simple thermostatic air control there are lots of wood and coal stoves with them. But this is a big step above that. Cranes are good solid stoves as well. There really hasn't been any new innovations in coal units in a long time so they are all still pretty basic stoves.

 

[Highbeam]

I was thinking about this stove over the weekend. If the stove is big enough to be adequate in the coldest part of the winter then it will be too large to run constantly, even on low (400 STT), for at least half (75%?)of the year. During that time this tech will still be a benefit since you can let the house cool, start a fire, and let the stat take over until the fuel load runs out. It won't be a constantly burning fire but rather just a more automated batch burner. That's not bad. It's not a pellet stove with high/low or on/off but it is a step in the right direction.

I hope that there is a way to manually adjust the draft. Just in case.

 

[begreen]

There is a manual override option. You pull the pin that connects the servo to the air control. Then it can be manually operated.

 

[ddahlgren]

Personally I am an off the grid guy and the less electricity the better. I cook with gas in the summer and yes the gizmo that lights it electric but can easily do it with a match if no power and in winter on top of the stove works just fine for most anything wanted. Only catch is use cast iron pans steel and aluminum with struggle with it. About every other year we have some silly storm blow though and last one no power for 13 days. I have a small generator and at that time of the year I buy 20 gallons of gas and rotate the cans out every week so never more than 4 weeks old. That gives me hot water dish washer washing machine clothes line is the dryer so life goes on pretty easy. I have satellite tv so get news and weather as long as satellite does not fall out of sky. I have heat with either wood or coal as well. Charge the laptop and cell phone so have phone and internet if wires not down for that. If they are a hot spot can be found in the commercial areas with buried cables. I have a bunch of friends and neighbors that think I am nuts for 2015 but when power out they are lost and for me a minor problem. Had one yuppie a couple years ago confused why I would tie the house to a tree in a couple places and was I worried about the house or the tree. What a moron should have filmed explaining what a clothes line was LOL.

In '95 spent 3 weeks in the Aussie outback about 400 to 450 miles from the so called real world and learned a lot about living off grid while the rest complained. Wood fired hot water camp fire to stay warm and water came from a hand pump. You could use a flush toilet as long as willing to pump a few gallons of water to flush it. Food cooked on a wood grill or campfire. No internet no phone and a very small amount of electricity from a generator for very essential things. Health care 3 hours or so away by small plane and in the meantime hope you don't bleed to death or heart attack does not take you out. I was fine washing up out of a bucket of water if did not feel like lighting the water heater.. We spent a few days in a medium sized city after flying in to decompress and searched out a grocery store to buy 10 rolls of toilet paper. By the end of week 2 could have traded for their dinner and a 12 pack of beer for 1 roll LOL. I was there to race a car and sent the owner what I considered essential things machete hatchet dust tape tiewraps a box of trash bags though would not put the shotgun in the container LOL. Oh well time for bed and end of funny story need to travel 5 hours tomorrow for work to do 4 hours then drive back the next day.

 

[bholler]

I am a little confused you are off grid except when the power is on and even when the power is off you still use a dishwasher and a clothes washer? And you are worried about a stove that needs a few batteries every few days for the controller?

 

[ddahlgren]

I am a little confused you are off grid except when the power is on and even when the power is off you still use a dishwasher and a clothes washer? And you are worried about a stove that needs a few batteries every few days for the controller?

I try to have things that don't need to be hooked to city power. Things that could run off solar and a battery bank. If I can finally move out of the house I am in now I would have solar and a windmill in a heart beat. My current backup is a generator with limited power.

 

[bholler]

I try to have things that don't need to be hooked to city power. Things that could run off solar and a battery bank. If I can finally move out of the house I am in now I would have solar and a windmill in a heart beat. My current backup is a generator with limited power.

fair enough but this stove really doesnt need much power at all but to each their own. I am curious to see how it works out

 

[hiimdusty]

Hi All,
I was very interested in this stove while evaluating a replacement for my Blaze King KTJ-304. I gambled and bought the unproven Adventure III. It was fully installed yesterday. I will be posting here on the experience of how it performs as we get into the winter. One thing right away that seems wrong is everyone assuming the firebox size is smaller than advertised. With a tape measure, I came up with a fire box size of 4.34 cu. ft - measuring to the bricks. I didn't include the entire lip in front of the glass door. If I would have done that, it would have come out right around 4.5 cu ft. Based on this forum, I thought it would be 4.0 cu. ft., so nice surprise.

I had this professionally installed. It's an 18.5' stack that now has a 6" insullated 316 liner in it with a cap. There is a double wall pipe out to the thimble and into the snout. I should mention that we do live on a heavily wooded lot with many trees fairly close to the house, one installer thought this could potentially cause a draft issue, but I doubt it.

I should burn my first fire tonight as it's supposed to get down to 38°F tonight. If anyone has any questions that I might be able to answer with no experience yet, shoot them my way.

 

[edyit]

i would love to see some pics of this

 

[Swedishchef]

I am anxious to see how the thermostat works. Quadrafire have some nice videos on YouTube about the design, details about the components, etc. I am curious to see how it works for the end user.

Keep the updates going!

A

 

[begreen]

Hi All,
I was very interested in this stove while evaluating a replacement for my Blaze King KTJ-304. I gambled and bought the unproven Adventure III. It was fully installed yesterday. I will be posting here on the experience of how it performs as we get into the winter. One thing right away that seems wrong is everyone assuming the firebox size is smaller than advertised. With a tape measure, I came up with a fire box size of 4.34 cu. ft - measuring to the bricks. I didn't include the entire lip in front of the glass door. If I would have done that, it would have come out right around 4.5 cu ft. Based on this forum, I thought it would be 4.0 cu. ft., so nice surprise.

I had this professionally installed. It's an 18.5' stack that now has a 6" insullated 316 liner in it with a cap. There is a double wall pipe out to the thimble and into the snout. I should mention that we do live on a heavily wooded lot with many trees fairly close to the house, one installer thought this could potentially cause a draft issue, but I doubt it.

I should burn my first fire tonight as it's supposed to get down to 38°F tonight. If anyone has any questions that I might be able to answer with no experience yet, shoot them my way.

That is a big beastie. It's amazing that if can work with a 6" flue. Looking forward to reports on how it performs in mild and in cold weather. FWIW, stats like firebox size, like sq ftg heated and max btus can be exaggerated for marketing purposes. Based on the firebrick configuration it looks like the cu ftg to the top of the firebrick is 3.1 cu ft., but that doesn't include the space above the firebrick or to the front of the firebox floor. How much higher over the firebrick sides are the burn tubes?

 

[mellow]

Would be interested in pics of the components on the air supply and how that works.