Got any recommendations for a good cast iron wood fired stove?

[7Acres]

My wife and I recently agreed that our house needs a cast iron wood fired stove. We've got an excellent place to put one and it would save a lot on our winter heating bill. I've done a little Googling only to find cheap stoves from big box stores and luxury high end stoves for expensive homes. Not much in the middle. We want to be able to cook on it and heat the house with it. We will put it in a central location in a location that's smack dab in the middle of 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, plus the dining room and kitchen. I think it would be ideal if it had a glass front so we could enjoy the beauty of the flames.

We also want to supplement the other end of the house where our master bedroom & bath is with a smaller pot belly wood fired stove. There's a great place in our bedroom for one that will help heat that end of the house nicely. Do any of you have opinions on the best brand & design of stoves that we should consider as we research this?

[North_of_60]

We have a Blaze King Princes that we supplement our heating with. I didn't light our boiler until November 2nd this year. At -40 it keeps our 2400 Sq Ft main floor and up stairs nice and toasty. The boiler wouldn't have to run except for the basement, garage and water heater.

It is not cast iron but is a good looking stove with a glass panel in the door and it works great. It is a safe wood stove when installed and used properly. I have never talked to anyone who didn't like their Blaze King.

Al

[7Acres]

Thanks! We're checking it out now...

[Wag]

Google for Franklin stove. Also, Google for Magic Heat heat reclaimer. You can't go wrong with that combo.

--Wag--

[7Acres]

Wag, that Magic Heat is an interesting product. The Franklin stove is worth learning from its design also. Interesting.

[ShooterAZ]

Vermont Castings and Waterford Irish stoves are the best CAST IRON stoves. There are a lot of really good STEEL stoves out there too...like Lopi, and Regency. I have a lot of experience in this area...so feel free to PM me if you'd like.

[357mags]

I had cast iron wood stoves my whole life. Look for older, used stoves, without fire bricks and catalysts. My 1975 Vermont Castings Defiant heats our 2,000+ sq ft house. When it's real cold I crank up the Jotul. Both are old, cast iron stoves. The old ones are best, you won't be sorry! The Jotul, while smaller, burns hotter and more efficient than the Vermont Castings.

[Wag]

Wag, that Magic Heat is an interesting product. The Franklin stove is worth learning from its design also. Interesting.

When I was a kid, we were dirt poor and our ONLY heat in a drafty old house was that old Franklin stove and that Magic Heat disperser.

To this day, heat from a Franklin stove is the ONLY way to fly, in my never-to-be-humble opinion. :D

One comment, though, is that you need to make sure to get the right stove if you want to cook on it. Google for pot-belly stoves and you'll come up with things like this which are purpose-built for cooking:

89430

The Magic Heat can attach to it just as easily as to the Franklin.

--Wag--

[Rick Hodges]

I have a small Jotul woodstove at my cabin. It is cast iron with a glass front. You could cook on it but all we do is heat water. It is not inexpensive but it is very well made and does a great job of heating the place. It is a small stove and only burns for about 5 hrs. (they claim 8 hrs. and it is still warm but not giving off much heat). Watch what your homeowners insurance charges. I pay a premium of over $100/year for the woodstove....many companies will not even insure a place with one.

[geargnasher]

I personally have found the Franklin stove to be an absolute engineering disaster and waste of money. This is with two different widths of them (18" and 22" IIRC). They smoke with the doors open, regardless of outlet location, method of pipe insulation, whether freestanding or mounted through a wall. With the doors closed they don't draft well enough to put out much heat.

We use a cheap, Asian made reproduction parlor stove and it works fine even with 32' of un-insulated, single-wall flue, most of which is outside. The only problem, and this is common with all the cast-iron, free-standing designs, is keeping it going all night. Most we get out of it is about four hours without tending.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Blaze Kings, we are looking into one for next year.

Gear

[starmac]

The number one sought after stove in Alaska is the blaze king, there are different models for heating different size areas.

[historicfirearms]

We had a lopi leyden in our old house. The thing was dangerous. The bypass damper would occasionally pop open on its own and the fire would run away. I cought it once where my chimney was glowing bright orange, I'm sure the house would have burned down in a couple more minutes.

[TreeKiller]

Most new stoves now are sheet steal with cast doors. Any good airtight will work well If you can find a older Earth stove or a Timberline they are good stoves. A Magic Heat on the pipe will plug up if you forget to move the rod in the front back and forth at least 1 time a day then you have to take to out to clean to or it will plug up.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Like the ones in the "box stores" I have a Century 'Air tight' made of 1/4" steel plate, cast iron door with window and has fire bricks. It is made in canada and rated CSA and UL...your insurance company will want to see that documentation.
I bought it used in 2002 for $400, It looked like they only fired it up a half a dozen times...it is about a $800 stove New. I've got 12 years of heavy use out of it, it still looks and burns great. If I have a 4" deep bed of coals and then add a large chunk of wood at bedtime, I still have one inch of hot coals 8 hours later...But, if I have a fire with very little coals, the fire will burn out in 4 hours and the stove will be cold in the morning.
I have a 2 story 24x32 house. This stove heats the whole place even when it's -20º, If I am home to keep the stove fed.
Jon

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I have been using a railroad caboose stove manufactured by Estate. It is solidly made out of cast iron and burns either coal or wood. It does better with coal as the heat output is greater. Superior air/fire controls. Flat top that can be cooked on. Heated a 2000 square foot house. It came off the Great Northern Line. Seven inch oval flue that can be adapted down to 6 inch if you want. Anthracite or hard coal works best, either chunks or pea coal. With chunks it will hold a fire all night. Sooty and dirty but keeps you warm in any kind of winter. LLS

[waksupi]

I've had a Lopi for years. Burns less than half as much wood as my old Earth Stove did. Heats a lot better, too.

[Just Duke]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/category_heaters-stoves-fireplaces+wood-stoves+4294932544_0_0_P-Price?

[retread]

I have a Pacific in the house and a Blaze King out in my shop (which is almost as big as the house). I love them both. Both are EPA approved catalytic stoves. That's the law here for new installations. Great for heating but not for cooking. The heat transfer is done by heating air forced through the double wall construction of the stove by a fan.
No fan, little heat. The top of the stove stays relatively cool. Hot enough to burn your hand but not hot enough for cooking. Maybe if you shut off the fan and forced the whole stove to heat up you my be able to cook on it. We have a kettle with water on it to add humidity to the house. On my old Blaze king I used to fill the kettle each day, or more often if burning hot. The new stove will not empty the kettle in a week!

[square butte]

We have a Lopi and its a great and clean burning stove with an air wash system that really increases efficiency - No catalytic converter. I would buy another one after our experience with this one.

[reloader28]

I've ran wood stoves for heating for the last 18 years. Our old stove was a plain jane, heavy steel sided, Blaze King style that worked awesome.
We bought a new Earth Stove for our new house (we couldnt put the ugly old stove in our new house). We have'nt used the furnace in 5 years, but I would not buy another Earth Stove. I've modified it to get way more heat and added a 4 hole Magic Heat.
Those are very nice. Well worth the money, especially if you need more heat. Almost double your heat output. Its AMAZING how much heat you lose out the chimney. A Magic Heat will cut down on your wood cosumption by quite a bit. It actually blows warm air before the stove itself is throwing off any heat.

[Col4570]

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/020.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/livebattery/media/020.jpg.html)
This little stove in my frontroom puts out a lot of heat using Wood or smokeless fuel or a combination of both.When it gets going we can turn off the central HeatingIt is a Firefox Junior.I do,nt know if it is available on your side of the Pond.

[quilbilly]

They may not be available in your area but we have put Country Stoves wow burners in our homes twice and have been extremely happy with them. Our current one not only gets the house up to 80 degrees without effort but we have used it to cook on (stews and coffee) during power outages.

[w5pv]

Look At the Buck Stoves Had one for about 35 years heats great,my house is about 2800 down stairs with 3 bed rooms and two baths upstairs.keeps everything good and warm,Down here our extreme lows will not get below 17 degrees.One time it got down to 7 degrees.That was in 80-91.

[jonp]

My family has used wood all of our lives. A vermont soapstone is quite the thing if you can swing it

[NWPilgrim]

Vermont Castings and Waterford Irish stoves are the best CAST IRON stoves. There are a lot of really good STEEL stoves out there too...like Lopi, and Regency. I have a lot of experience in this area...so feel free to PM me if you'd like.

We have the Waterford "Ashling" model. It is very well made and beautiful. But in reality our cheaper but well made Country welded steel stove was more efficient.

I recommend getting a larger stove than what you think you need according to it rating. A smaller firebox needs to be reloaded more often and can't take the larger pieces.

[Wag]

Wag,
That is not the Franklin that most people know of as a Franklin.


Yes, I wasn't exactly clear in my comments but that picture is of a pot-belly stove rather than a Franklin. The point I wanted to make is that a Franklin isn't always good for cooking so if you want to use it for that, it may not work as well as you want. Hence, the pot belly as an alternative!

--Wag--

[Circuit Rider]

7Acres, Do you have a basement? Also, what part of the country do you live in? CR

[7Acres]

We have no basement. But we do have a 2nd story. 800sq ft on 2nd, 1400 on 1st floor. Planning on putting the stove centrally located on 1st floor. There's a perfect spot for one there.

[Circuit Rider]

7Acres, PM incoming CR

[steg]

Wag that is one pretty stove, I can smell the pot of soup on it now!

[MT Gianni]

Napoleon 1450 is the least expensive stove of good quality we could find last year. It has firebrick, holds heat and has no converter if that is legal where you are. We have 1500 sq ft upstairs and I start the stove with 3 1/-1/3 pieces of split pine 16" long from a 15-18" log. After it is warm one stick per hour of split 1/3 or 1/4 round pine log keeps the upstairs warm. You can cook on it but it is not designed for it, just use flat bottomed cookware.

[Iowa Fox]

Mine is a Nashua but I'm pretty sure they are no longer made. Its a good stove going into its 33 season for us. The house is 1750 sq ft up & down and it heats the whole house. Its a good looking stove with glass door front, takes 24" logs, jacketed steel construction with a 2 speed squirrel cage blower for the jacket. Once you get spoiled with wood heat its hard to be without it. Sounds like we are really going to need it starting Friday morning here.

[BD]

We've been using a Vermont castings catalytic Defiant for the last 10 years or so. It was pricey, but I'm really happy with it, with one exception; we bought the green enamel version which looked great for 7 or 8 years, then the enamel started going away on the top, so now it looks pretty bad. I'd recommend plain black iron as you can always re-black them and keep them looking good. I see these used locally for $600 - $900 depending on the condition.
The best deal for the $$ right now is probably the cast iron stove at Home Depot, (NC 30?). Some friends of ours just put one in as the only heat source for a 2,000 sq ft house in northern Maine, and they are very pleased with it. I think it was $950 out the door.
BD

[jonp]

Enamal stoves look great but are more for decoration than long term use. We always called them Flatlander Stoves because all of the people from the city and mass, ct, ny etc that just had to move to Vermont bought them cause they looked good.

My dad heated his house with an oil drum stove he made himself. It would get the house so warm you'd have to open the windows in January.

[WILCO]

My wife and I recently agreed that our house needs a cast iron wood fired stove.

Whatever you get, make sure it's libtard compliant:

http://www.epa.gov/burnwise/

[dragonrider]

Look for Harmon stoves. Very well made and efficient. Mine is a coal stove with a magic heat reclaimer on the pipe.

[dragon813gt]

Has anyone put an older one in lately. I'm wondering what your insurance company said? I have an all fuel chimney and will be installing direct vent furnace and water heater soon. I want to install a stove but there is no way I'm going w/ a catalytic.

[TCFAN]

We have been using a Woodstock Fireview stove for the last 7 or 8 years.It is a very good burning wood stove with a catalytic combuster. It is a cast iron frame with double walled soapstone sides top and back. Burn time runs around 8 to 12 hours on one load of wood with plenty of coals left to fire up the next load.This stove is our only source of heat in our house which runs about 1500 sq. feet.
Here is a photo of what one looks like and some info...

http://www.woodstove.com/fireview

[smokeywolf]

Can anyone enlighten a neophyte on how effective and efficient one of the old wood burning cook stoves are if used as either a primary or secondary source of space heating.

smokeywolf

[Duckiller]

They work! In the Army in New Hampshire (1967-68) a group of GIs rented an older farm home. We had a furnace but fuel was expensive and we we gone most of the day. We had a wood burning cook stove in tne kitchen that provided more than enough heat for breakfast and in the evening . Ran the furnace to keep the chill off at night. Also had camp cabin that a drive stove for heat and cooking. Worked very good to dry thing out and warm the cabin. Just have to haul out ashes.

[waksupi]

Can anyone enlighten a neophyte on how effective and efficient one of the old wood burning cook stoves are if used as either a primary or secondary source of space heating.

smokeywolf

I've got one. Stoke it up, and it sure puts out a lot of heat. You are dealing with fairly small pieces of wood, and need to stoke more often. It wasn't all that cold on Thanksgiving here, but I had my door open to cool things off.

[Just Duke]

It's in the same corner of the room 130 years ago as it is now.

Are you that old Bill? ;)

[Just Duke]

Can anyone enlighten a neophyte on how effective and efficient one of the old wood burning cook stoves are if used as either a primary or secondary source of space heating.

smokeywolf

Very! :drinks:
We had a dealer account with http://www.enterprise-fawcett.com/ foundry and were wanting the Monarch Cook Stove.
89659
Only some idiot left something on and the place burnt down after 125 years of operation recently.
I checked goggle earth and the place is leveled.
I have a list of reviews from the other stove companies if you would like to contact me. I believe you still have my number.

[Just Duke]

Ha ha. I have a photograph taken back then of that front parlor, showing bay window, plants, kerosene ceiling lamp, furniture, and that stove............


:kidding: I'm a lot older than you. ;)

[waksupi]

If you use coal in them, you need special grates, that burn out in short order, so plan on having spares.

[smokeywolf]

Wow DUKE, that's purty.

Are there any other hard woods that come close to having similar burning characteristics to those of oak.

Both Mrs. smokeywolf and myself, have been trying to get up to speed on the tried and true methods of maintaining a farm and being as near 100% self reliant and self sustaining as one can possibly and practically be.

When we move, in our kitchen we're figuring on having both propane and wood burning stoves. And, in addition to a dual or multi-fuel furnace, probably 2 wood burning heat stoves with, -thanks to this thread- Magic Heat reclaimers on the chimneys.
In a climate such as that found in southern Missouri, would 3 to 4 cords of mixed, predominantly soft woods get you through the Winter?

smokeywolf

[jonp]

Like others have said, they work great. We have one.
The draw back is small pieces of wood. Hard wood is what you should put in them and Oak is the best. I suppose coal is better but I have never had any to use.

Ahem..I think that Maple is better than Oak as a heat source. If you have it.

[Col4570]

Hi,can someone enlighten me regarding Magic Heat Reclaimers ?

[Wag]

In a climate such as that found in southern Missouri, would 3 to 4 cords of mixed, predominantly soft woods get you through the Winter?

When I was a kid, we burned primarily oak. We lived about 60 miles West of St. Louis and it was readily available. Once in a while, we'd get some other hard woods in the mix. Since our only heat source was wood in a big ol' drafty house, we burned about 7 cords every winter. When we cut wood, we cut it to stove lengths, then split and stacked it and then we let it season for at least 12 months before burning it. It was simply mandatory or it wouldn't generate the heat we needed.


Hi,can someone enlighten me regarding Magic Heat Reclaimers ?

89688

It's the box in the smokestack. You plug it into the wall and when the pipe heats up, a fan inside kicks on and blows the heat out into the room. That way, more of your heat is yours instead of going outside.

--Wag--

[Col4570]

Thanks Wag,You know I have,nt seen one of those before,must be this side of the Pond has,nt caught up with stove technology yet.

[Col4570]

Does the Box just encase the Pipe.I am just wondering if I could make one in two halves bolted together and a fan directing the heat out or is it more sophisticated than I imagine.i was thinking on the lines of a simple on off switch for the Fan.

[7Acres]

My research has continued heavily this week. Watching all of your posts here as well as lots of googling, reading and visiting local Jotul distributor. I'm really taken with the F 55 at the moment.

I have been researching how to install the chimney pipe, single wall vs double and the clearances I'd need around the stove, etc. I called an installer today to schedule a consultation and estimate.

The girl on the phone volunteered that since I don't already have a chimney the installation cost is likely to be in the $2000 neighborhood. I didn't react on the phone; but that was way more that I was expecting.

It's a straight shot from the stove up through the roof. I don't need a fancy brick chimney. Just a simple chimney pipe is what I had in mind. So 2 questions, 1) I'd like to hear from the proponents and opponents of just doing this myself (it is legal in SC) and 2) $2000 totally reasonable?

[ShooterAZ]

Our firms labor charge for installing a wood stove into a single story structure is $400. This does not include the pipe. Pipe generally runs around the same amount for everything. So... figure around $800 plus the cost of the stove. 2K does not seem unreasonable, if it includes the stove! Doing it yourself will save you $400, and is not difficult to do.

[7Acres]

The guesstimate the lady offered is for installation only. I'll buy the stove separate.

I just swung into another patio/grill store and the man shared a wealth of knowledge with me. Showed me all the different types of pipe and chimney components an installation requires. Gave me a booklet that helps you design the system your house requires. I'm going to absorb all of this and go from there. Still learning and researching!

[waksupi]

You will want triple wall pipe where it goes out of the house. Mine starts about four feet below the roof line, and continues the rest of the way up.

[AK Caster]

Make sure you contact your insurance company. When I had a stove installed in a previous house our insurance company had a few rules of there own plus my policy went up a little bit.

[7Acres]

Good point AK Caster.

[labradigger1]

I use an old timberline steel plate stove in the house with cast iron doors, darn near indestructible. I have a small home so we leave the doors and windows open just about all winter and the stove drafts jut barely cracked open. I have an old warm morning upright in the garage from the home i grew up in, i burn wood and coal in it. Insurance co has no complaints about either one. I also have an old burnside no 5 potbelly for decoration on the covered porch. Always liked the potbellies as they remind me of my grandparents home, they would have it glowing red and the wood cook stove going in the kitchen. Some of the soapstone stove from hearthstone stoves are beautiful albiet expensive.

[jonp]

My house is still heated by the original 1880's Forest Oak cylinder stove that was put in the house when it was built. It's in the same corner of the room 130 years ago as it is now. I recently lined the chimney with 8" round. Before that it was just the masonry.
I added a Magic Heater in the pipe about 15" above the stove. I bet the old timers would have loved it.
So if you keep the rain off them, and don't run them run glowing red they can last hundreds of years.
Magic Heats work fantastic. I haven't thought of one of those in a long time

[jonp]

I was thinking of this when I was working the other night. I bought a house in the far NE of VT a number of years ago on a lake. It was a 3 Story old fishing lodge with curly maple floors, exposed ceilings, 12 wide pine plank walls, 2 wrap around porches..just a neat old house. In the bottom floor was an All Nighter Woodstove. They don't make them anymore but this stove was something. Took 2 ft wood and if you filled it it wood last a couple of days damped down. Built in blowers. I heated the whole 3 floors with this stove at -20 or -30 for the several years I owned it with no problem.
Great stove if you can find one.