Dual purpose...wood fired heat/cooking stove

Who's using one and which one are you using? I've seen some really cool stuff looking around the net and I think we are leaning hard in that direction at this point. They can be very pricey but seem to be built for a lifetime.

 

We had an apocalypse themed Thanksgiving and cooked everything on the wood stove. I smoked a turkey in my wood smoker outside but everything else was on the wood stove. I love those cook stoves but I have never tried one, I always worried they would not stand up to 24/7 heating all winter. I love these Fishers, they don't make them anymore but you can pick them up on craigslist or FB marketplace for $500-800.

 

We had a Lopi wood stove for 25 years before moving back to town. I loved cooking on/in it and did it fairly often, not just for emergencies.

 

Problem is cooking and heating are two different objectives. Most cook stoves have fairly small fireboxes....yes you can feed them regular, but that makes it hard to get good night of sleep if you have to feed the stove every couple hours. Heating stoves, the firebox is often 2-4 times that of a cookstove (or more) so you can stock up 6-10 hours of burn time.

Ben....those Fisher type stoves were a leap forward in stove technology in the 70's.....went from leaky cast iron fireboxes to 1/4-5/16" plate steel with good doors, gasket and made a fairly airtight stove. Went from stoves that were maybe 30% efficient to 50-60% efficient.

Problem with them is unless you burn bone dry wood, (almost impossible to get even after a couple years of seasoning) it's easy to turn them into a creosote production machine by cranking the air down, and simmering the wood. ALL wood will produce about the same amount of creosote, it's a factor of moisture content of the wood, amount of air in the combustion process, and flue temps in that type of stove. Also, it was easy to oversize a stove for a given area, since you need to burn them fairly hot to keep creosote down.

The next generation of stove technology used catalytic converters to reduce emissions, AND the current generation uses gasification technology where the creosote forming smoke is re-burned thru some stainless steel tubing with holes in them in the top of the burn chamber. NOW you can crank the air down to lowest setting, and the exhaust is clean.....not only does it help air quality, but you pretty much end creosote....AND as a bonus, burn less wood since you're getting a much higher burn efficiency....in the 80-90% range. The way to go with these stoves is buy the one with the biggest firebox you can get so you get the longest burn time out of it.


I liked the old Fisher type stoves, but I sure like my new gasifier stove a whole lot better.

 

Federal Airtight in use here...catalyst, or remove the cat and burn coal.

 

Maybe build one of these yourself. A masonry small cabin stove. The Cabin Stove

 

Loved my Moma Bear Fisher stove! Heated for 18 years with it till we moved. Had a growth of trees in back yard growing so fast never had to leave yard to build a woodpile.
Next place we had a double walled secondary burn job that could cook you out of the house heat wise, but was no good to cook on... Living up in mountains where it gets cold! Put up 8 cord of half pine and half oak, all well seasoned. Only burn 1 1/2 cord a winter so lots of backup heat all under a snow shed storage.
Always wanted one of the wood cook stoves but couldn't justify it... Propane was just too easy and I could still move the 100lb tanks around (2 lasted more than a year, spare 20 lb just in case).

 

Been using my Lopi to heat the cabin for about 20 years.. Once I get it heated up good it will keep the place toasty all night..

 

Bought two of these back in 2008 Lowes had them on sale $150 per. Been heating and cooking with the one in the Cabin ever since. unlike many long box stoves it has a fairly big fire box. Burning well seasoned post oak it has a 8 hour burn time, hickory around 6 hours, red oak around 5-6 hours. If you don't don't know how to get the air flow adjusted right it will smoke you out 2 dampers on it, one at the pipe and the slide damper under the door and the air spinner give you a lot of control over air intake and draft. On a cold start up it takes it a while to get the heavy cast heated up and warming the cabin. Usually have a cast iron pot of something simmering on the front hole and reserve the back hole for boiling and frying. The front lip has plenty of room for my coffee pot and keeps it nice and hot. Not the most efficient wood stove ever made but far the least efficient . Sadly they discontinued making them in 2016 or so. When it is 20 degrees outside the cabin easily stay 80 degrees. Can find one on Ebay or Craiglist now and then. Rated at up to 106,000 BTUs My Cabin is 736 square feet and around 6600 cuft. ( when figuring heat needs I go by CUFT not SQ.) The second one I put in my wood shop 30x40 pole barn (Insulated) and it keeps it T shirt warm in there all winter. Reading the reviews about them they had a lot of complaints about them smoking through the top plates, which is not a stove design flaw it is the folks complaining not understanding airflow and how to adjust it for a slow constant burn and not a smouldering pile of charred wood in the box. Spring time rolls around and I spin the stove sideways against the wall and use it as a plant stand............. Course the reason I am not using a picture of mine right now is I have a pile of dirty jeans draped over it that I need to get tossed in the washing machine But it is a great heating and cook top stove and 90% of our winter cooking is done on it. Even made a metal box that slides under the stove that can bake a biscuits, cookies and small loafs of bread (It gets real hot under the stove when it is all cleaned out. Gets cooler as the ash builds up. Ended up putting a layer of fire brick under it as those heat shields made set box stoves on proved pretty worthless for this one and the carpet under the stove under the heat shield melted the first year I used it. Never had a box stove get that hot on the bottom before

US stove makes some that look similar to these but don't work or heat nearly as well, I got one of the US stove models to heat a 14x32 building and it just just does not do the job like the Voglezangs do.

 

Ours is a creosote producing machine as you described. It is not a big deal because the house is underground so I can walk up on the roof and knock the creosote down into the stove without much effort. However, I would like to have a more efficient stove if possible. I was looking at the Buck Model 94NC which seems to be what you are describing but I could not tell how much better it would work compared to a old Fisher from the sales material. What kind do you use?

 

We take the ceramic part out of our crock pot and put it on the stove with a corned beef brisket and vegetables for about 24 hours...tasty!

 

That box stove is ideal for most things I had used one for years ,lost it with the sale of the house.
2 things
A lot of folk run the pipe strait up ,it is quick and all but inefficient.
All of my installations have a dog leg in the pipe configuration that 1 prevents/slows down draft while not in use and acts as a damper while in use . Makes the stove perform more efficiently.
Every year the stove pipe needs brushed out so disassembly is required but the advantage of economy is worth it . I use an antique cook stove made by AUTO back in the 1860s ,I have restored it a few times . though the fire box is about the size of a loaf of bread It warms my 3 bedroom home just fine during the winter.
If you burn soft woods you will get a lot of soot ,however if you mix the woods for something hard, things don't soot up quite so bad.
I have packed off my stove at mid night and gone to bed and in the morning still had coals . Air in and dampening are key . hence the value of the dog leg configuration in the stove pipe.
The box or log stove is ideal for most situations in that 1. you don't need a big fire going on, and larger logs can be utilized than what go in my cook stove , and 2 you can open the door in the log stove and enjoy the flame .
Another thing you need to consider is with any flame you need air and providing a source is valuable not just room air ,unless the structure is not air tight. many new home are .

 

Ours is a Regency brand, made in Canada. It's the insert type, but they make freestanding models as well. Been very pleased with ours over 7 years now.

That Buck Model 94NC looks good....lots of weight (600lbs), 4.3gr emissions which is pretty clean (meaning it does use the gasifier technology), large fire box at 4.4 cuft......yeah, that looks like a good stove.

 

@TnAndy So how does one tell if their woodstove is using the new 'gasifier technology'? I purchase a new woodstove 2 years ago. They are made locally and everyone raves about them and, after two winters using it, I can see why. I'm very pleased. I basically bought the best they had. But, I am not interested if it is using this gasifier tech...how does one tell?

Meets Newest EPA Requirements...
Wood Length: 19"

• Firebox Size: 2.3 ft3

• Burn Time: 12 hours

• Cordwood BTU's: 70,000

• Efficiency (HHV): 73%

• Efficiency (LHV): 79%

• Particulate Emissions: 3.3 g/hr

• Heating Capacity: 2500 ft2

• Flue Size: 6"

• Width: 25"

• Height with Legs: 30-3/4"

• Height with Pedestal: 31-3/4"

• Depth: 25"

 

Answers to wood stove, gas stove, fireplace and chimney FAQs Neither here nor there but a good resource for anyone burning.

 

If you do your part with window insulation and attic and floor insulation It doesn't take that much to stay warm.
If you live in a severe cold climate the entrances to the house should have a enclosed porch for storing outer coats and boots and reducing the draft .

 

If you bought it new 2 years ago, it may very well have the re-burn 'gasifier' technology....(often called 'secondary combustion' by stove makers). EPA forced manufacturers to meet to emission guidelines couple years back, and they could do it either with gasifer, or catalytic converter. Notice the 3.3gm particulate emission.....that is pretty low, only way they get that is using one of the two. So you have one or the other. Old Fisher type stoves ran 20 times that or more.

The advantage of the gasifier method is catalytic converters tend to burn out after some years of use, and are expensive to replace. Of course you can NOT replace it, but then you're back to a creosote maker of the 70's.

Since you can actually see the stove physically, you'll see a couple of 3/4"-7/8" OD sized stainless steel tubes with 1/8" holes on about 1/2" centers, running left to right in the top of the burn chamber. Open the door and look in the inside top. THOSE are the re-burn tubes that burn secondary to the primary combustion. If you have a glass door in the stove, at times (usually when you crank the air down) you'll see a row of flame coming out of the tubes like you're burning natural gas or propane....and you are burning gas, but its methane/CO2 coming off the primary combustion of wood....'smoke'.......hence the higher efficiency as you're now burning stuff that used to go up the flue......less creosote, more heat.

For those that can't see the stove in person, look at a parts diagram online from the manufacturer.....you'll see the tubes in the parts of the blow up for the stove.

 

@TnAndy "... running left to right in the top of the burn chamber. . Open the door and look in the inside top. THOSE are the re-burn tubes that burn secondary to the primary combustion."

Yep! I got them. That is good to know. Thanks!

 

In a perfect world (ie, where I have the money) I want one of these.
Cooking, heats water and heats the home all in one and they will last forevvvvver. (They are cast iron so need to sit on a very solid floor base)
(You can also get versions that run off electric or gas or oil etc, or combos. the cream coloured one has a electric add on section on the left. Id want a gas add on but couldent find a picture)

 

I've looked at them and love them but $$$$$$$$$