DISASTER Wood Cook Stove questions

joekan

joekan

Veteran Member
I'm thinking of getting a backup plan to heat and cook and I've just starting looking into getting a wood cook stove. There's so many of them so I was hoping to get some first hand information from folks here who have one. Can you tell me if the older ones are just as good as the newer ones? There is no way I can afford a new or newer one, I don't have 1k to spend on one but would like to get something for around $400. Also, where do you find used ones at? I've seen one stove (sold at sutherland hardware) that didn't have a flue. Is that normal or even safe?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Joe
 
A

Adino

paradigm shaper
if all you are looking for is emergency/camping use i'd recommend these

http://www.cylinderstoves.com/stoves-c-21.html?osCsid=4a1ac0d5f3287ef5cb1bd1ad2bdf1279

i have an outfitter and they are great (cabelas used to carry them)

no matter what you want air tight unless you have unlimited wood and means to split

greater air control = greater efficiency = less wood needed

the assembly line of wood needed takes learning curve to cut/cure/chop/burn the most efficiently

cast iron box stoves aren't bad either but they aren't very mobile and take up more space

vogelzang makes some decent ones http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_796_796

i use a regency hearth heater as a primary heat source and love heating cooking with wood (cast iron and trivets are essential)
 
C

CAgdma

Veteran Member
go to Lehmans.com. Then check out (google) the brand names of the less expensive ones. Lehmans tend to be a bit pricey. You MUST have a flue. that is how fire works.

Alternatively, think of building an outdoor grill/fireplace with firebricks...not red ones. You could pipe the hot air back into the house, and cook outdoors.

But...you get what you pay for. We have a Findlay Oval. It was new in l976, but the model it copied was the last wood stove before gas was introduced, so it has all the "bells and whistles" as such.

I can heat hot water, control the draft, regulate the oven temperature, raise bread dough, keep meals warm, and cook on six burners. and it heats the house.

It takes a dry 2 foot 3" diameter log about every 15 minutes. Remember you have to cut that wood and keep it dry. smaller wood gives a quick hot fire for frying eggs.

People used to cook the weeks meals on one day, and refrigerate for the rest of the week.

In states, like CA, where they have silly "no burn" days, it is legal to burn wood if you are cooking.

But it sure gives a whole new meaning to "slaving over a hot stove all day."
 
jehu

jehu

Mapper of Landmarks
go to http://hearth.com and go to the forums and start researching.

You are in the middle of winter. Don't make a decision right now due to immediate urgency.

Do your research.

Wood heat is not an immediate $$ saver.

It is an INVESTMENT that saves you $$ over the long/short haul (seeing what heating $$ are doing) and will save your BACON in the immediate term should you have a black-out in the middle of winter.

Due to the inherent risk of a catastrophic event should you install one incorrectly, you need to research very carefully the clearences and materials necessary, and give yourself even more of a buffer for your own peace of mind.

It is WELL WORTH the investment, but if you are looking for an immediate cost savings, go to Goodwill and buy some wool sweaters, fleece sweatpants, and wools socks with slippers.

When you do it correctly you will be so addicted to wood-heat, that any other type of heat feels cold.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
To clarify terminology, a cookstove is a wood stove with an oven, stovetop burner/lid surface, and probably a warming oven. Like this one:

https://www.lehmans.com/p-2303-blue-porcelain-stanley-wood-cookstove-with-warming-closet.aspx


I prefer the old ones (antiques) because you can get a better price on a good practical and often very attractive cook stove. The drawback is that they are HEAVY and hard to move, you have to go over them with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that there are no cracks or leaks. Make sure all of the parts are there and in good shape...grates, clean-outs, lids, etc. Also, it's likely that your homeowner's insurance company will want to inspect both the stove (not UL approved) and it's installation before giving your policy the okey-dokey.

I see them here all the time on Craigslist. Another place to find them is at the little hole in the wall auction houses - give them a call and leave your number that you are interested. When old farmhouses and cabins are cleaned out, the cookstoves turn up.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
The old cook stoves are ok but getting parts can and or will be a problem and the advice of going to lemans is good and can be pricy unless to can track down the manufacture and buy direct from them you may save a $1000 on the cost. Look to see who has coal to sell in your area and you can use just wood to heat with, coal has its advantages when it comes to baking or wanting an all night fire to heat with cook stove. Buying two tons of hard coal at a time is the norm, but having a box or outbuilding to store more is good.
 
K

kendwell

Inactive
Wood cook stoves

Company in Maine, Bryant Stove Works, has parts, and the moulds for several of the
better stoves. Home Clarion, Glenwood, Queen Atlantic are three. They also do complete rebuilds, and sell them.

Check that spare parts are available before purchasing , and that oven top, sides, and bottom are tight, and firebox area not nearly worn through or cracked.

Dry hardwood, at least two years, helpful in heat, and much kinder on the stove: green wood makes water vapor, and hard on iron life.

A 3-4" dry 16-24" long chunk has @ 20 minute +/- 350-375 oven in well set up stove.

Previously posted info on setting up a range boiler on this site.

Cooking, heating, hot water: now two places here getting started on gravity spring
feed, one has @ 35# pressure in 1" feed line!, 2nd has 14# 3/4" feed line, but needs to be cleaned out and re-rocked top 4', is 4' diameter inside diameter, and about 6'
of mud, leaves, ect from many years neglect.
 
Kathy in WV

Kathy in WV

Down on the Farm...
Love looking at the old stoves but love the safety of having a new stove. I sleep better not having to worry about a house fire...
 

Attachments

  • 012.jpg
    012.jpg
    24.3 KB · Views: 294
joekan

joekan

Veteran Member
Thanks for all the great input! This wood stove will be used only for emergency backup...like when/if the grid goes down. If I go through with this purchase, it will proably be stored in the garage until we lose total power (if that does happen). I've got very elderly and very young living with me so that's my concern. I looked on the Northern site and they had new stoves for within my price range. Are these very good? Does anyone have a review on any of the ones they sell?
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Are you looking at this one:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=northern%20wood%20stoves

or this one:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=northern%20wood%20stoves

from Northern Tool?

Neither are "Approved" stoves..your homeowner's insurance company might have a problem with them, and best to make sure, because if you burn your house down with it, they may not cover your loss. These stoves aren't "airtight" and are not "cookstoves". (They have no oven). You don't say where you live, so not sure how cold it gets. Around here, where it routinely gets -20 to -30F and it doesn't get above freezing for months even in the middle of the day, you will go through a LOT of wood with one of these. They aren't sealed well and don't damper down well enough to hold a slow fire and not burn wood like paper. On the other hand, many folks use them in cabins and garages, or to space heat a rec room, etc.

Don't forget that your chimney construction is by far the biggest factor in wood burning safety.
 
M

Marthanoir

TB Fanatic
WalknTrot said:
To clarify terminology, a cookstove is a wood stove with an oven, stovetop burner/lid surface, and probably a warming oven. Like this one:

https://www.lehmans.com/p-2303-blue-porcelain-stanley-wood-cookstove-with-warming-closet.aspx




I prefer the old ones (antiques) because you can get a better price on a good practical and often very attractive cook stove. The drawback is that they are HEAVY and hard to move, you have to go over them with a fine-tooth comb to make sure that there are no cracks or leaks. Make sure all of the parts are there and in good shape...grates, clean-outs, lids, etc. Also, it's likely that your homeowner's insurance company will want to inspect both the stove (not UL approved) and it's installation before giving your policy the okey-dokey.

I see them here all the time on Craigslist. Another place to find them is at the little hole in the wall auction houses - give them a call and leave your number that you are interested. When old farmhouses and cabins are cleaned out, the cookstoves turn up.
Click to expand...

I have a Waterford Stanley Super 90, I use it for everything, we only use the electric oven as a back up,
Highly recommend them, the majority of ranges here will be Stanley's , mind you Waterford is only down the road
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
I suspected that there was a terminology mix up here. If I gather correctly from his latest post, Joekan is looking for a simple wood stove with a cooktop or flat cooking surface.

A big ol' wood burning cookstove (like we've all earlier linked to and posted pics) is not the type of thing that you store in the garage and move into the house for power outages. ;)
 
jehu

jehu

Mapper of Landmarks
joekan said:
Thanks for all the great input! This wood stove will be used only for emergency backup...like when/if the grid goes down. If I go through with this purchase, it will proably be stored in the garage until we lose total power (if that does happen). I've got very elderly and very young living with me so that's my concern. I looked on the Northern site and they had new stoves for within my price range. Are these very good? Does anyone have a review on any of the ones they sell?
Click to expand...

NOt to throw water on your idea, but you are not lugging a wood-cookstove into the house from the garage and firing it up to cook chili or pizza in a "grid-down" situation.

Is your emergency back-up for HEAT or COOKING?

If you are in any climate that gets down to freezing at night for any regularity during the winter, than HEATING should be your main priority ESPECIALLY with elderly and young-ones.

You can operate a wood-stove safely with little ones in the house.

Consider, what if the grid goes down for 1 - 3 months?

That is not the time to figure out how to install a wood-stove/cook/stove

If you are looking just at cooking, than consider getting a coleman camp-stove, or one of the little camping wood-burners that have been mentioned.

If you are looking just for a heating back-up than consider a kerosene heater with 20 gallons or so of stored kerosene.

If $$ is the biggest issue, then go that route for now, HOWEVER you need to consider that should the grid go down for an extended time, kerosene and heaters are going to skyrocket in cost.

With a wood-stove you have your initial investment, and then you pay yourself every single time you start burning wood that you cut or purchased cheaper than nat gas or electric heat, and you don't need the power to be running to crank up the stove and start a pot of stew and enjoy the warmth.

They are safe to operate, clean, and if you are getting any smoke inside the house, something has gone wrong.

You have to have a proper chimney system to utilize anything wood-burning inside, and if you are going to go through that trouble, you might as well throw a stove under it and enjoy the heat and cooking all the same.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
WalknTrot said:
Are you looking at this one:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=northern%20wood%20stoves

or this one:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...cm_pla=Google&cm_ite=northern%20wood%20stoves

from Northern Tool?

Neither are "Approved" stoves..your homeowner's insurance company might have a problem with them, and best to make sure, because if you burn your house down with it, they may not cover your loss. These stoves aren't "airtight" and are not "cookstoves". (They have no oven). You don't say where you live, so not sure how cold it gets. Around here, where it routinely gets -20 to -30F and it doesn't get above freezing for months even in the middle of the day, you will go through a LOT of wood with one of these. They aren't sealed well and don't damper down well enough to hold a slow fire and not burn wood like paper. On the other hand, many folks use them in cabins and garages, or to space heat a rec room, etc.

Don't forget that your chimney construction is by far the biggest factor in wood burning safety.
Click to expand...



The wood stoves at the links in the above quoted post, are ok for cheep heat and I can't go into detail here on how to seal them up so it may hold a fire for 4 to 5 hours and it just a matter of time the EPA bans these stoves as they are allowed under their rules for now. Careful they make the rectangle box stoves in two sizes and the biggest one is rated at around 50,000. BTU and thats allot heat and may be way more than you want, the square top stove with the four removable lids is modeled after the old laundry stoves from the past, but obviously can do stove top cooking too.
 
M

momof23goats

Deceased
I have a home comfort, the last one they made, so it was built in the late 40's, looks sort of like a 50's roper. it is large in size and has a great firebox. IT heats about 10 gallons of water at a time, has a warmioing oven, and cooks wonderfully.
it has an oven gauge. and really heats.
It also burns wood and coal. It will heat the main part of the house with no problem, and a couple of rooms upstairs.

I usually start out with wood, then add coal. it will hold a fire all night. It is a great stove. when the temps drop down, I usually run it al night, just bank a good fire and it will go most of , if not all night, holding a good coal fire.
I have one of the larger fans like what lehmans sells for wood stoves, it runs with out electricity. and really puts the heat out into the room.

IF the power goes out , from a blizzard, we are good to go with that and the wood furnace.
 
A

Adino

paradigm shaper
that's a beauty bbl

joekan you are still going to need a chimney setup professionally installed (even for emergency) to vent

you'll just have to leave the stove uninstalled and be familiar with setup for emergencies

i have brainstormed on a way to modify a window but never executed a plan because we got a decent stove installed

they have a kit from northern to go thru the garage roof if/when it ever gets desperate enuff

the vogelzang cast iron box stoves are gtg
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
Adino said:
that's a beauty bbl

joekan you are still going to need a chimney setup professionally installed (even for emergency) to vent

you'll just have to leave the stove uninstalled and be familiar with setup for emergencies

i have brainstormed on a way to modify a window but never executed a plan because we got a decent stove installed

they have a kit from northern to go thru the garage roof if/when it ever gets desperate enuff

the vogelzang cast iron box stoves are gtg
Click to expand...


Well yeah, A Class A stainless steel flue and their easy to install and in the case to a two-story building he can go with the threw the wall kits and have it attached to the outside with 3' foot clearance over the roof and he's good to go and I recommend going with an 8" inch flue kit and get the adapter to take it down to 6" inch for inside the house.
 
M

momof23goats

Deceased
http://us.yakaz.com/posts/000051fvbolo236i
this stove looks exactly like mine, except it has no gas burners it is all wood. the door on the right, is the warming oven. on top of the stove directly on top of the right hand door, is a lid you lift up and that is my water catch. it holds a few gallons of water, and keeps it hot.
the door on the left when you open it, there is the fire box. I couldn't find a picture of anyy thing but this one. but my stove looks just like this except no gas burners, it is all wood /coal. and is great cooking. it is a homecomfort built i nthe 40's.
 
M

momof23goats

Deceased
that is a wood stove, but not a cook stove, yes you can cook on the top, but it isn't a cookstove. but it will heat your rooms, well, a couple probably.
 
Last edited:
Ravekid

Ravekid

Veteran Member
I have a Regency wood stove insert. It is their smallest model, except my doesn't have any legs or base since it sits in my old fireplace. Wood stoves are not something you just haul from the garage to the home. With your price point, I would strongly advise on going a different route. For example, invest in some things like base layers, thick sweaters, wool blankets, foil emergency blankets, sub-zero sleeping bags, air mattresses, etc.. I don't know where you live, but if extreme cooler temps are an issue, then consider some sort of space heater. Just take all the precautions that need to be taken. For example, with a portable kerosene heater, store the kerosene away from the home (buy or build a storage unit to put outside the home). If you decide to use a Buddy Heater with a propane tank, consider storing a few 20 pound tanks and find a way to run the hose from the tank outside the home to the heater (numerous connecters and hoses). Read up about leaks, how to seal connections well, and of course other safety issues. Buy two carbon monoxide detectors to help with possible incomplete combustion issues. Between good clothing and a good heater, one should be able to survive. Now with the food issue, get some camping stoves that also use propane. One person can cook outside if need be. Also, there is nothing wrong with buying a used charcoal grill and using that outside on a porch, or maybe an outdoor patio (consider building a wind block wall due to the cold air).

You may have to go the above route because $400 won't cut it. My Regency insert was $1,400 installed. This didn't include a stainless steel pipe that had already been installed for the previous wood stove. One suggestion is to maybe call a few wood stove installers and see if they can give you a call if they come across an older stove that really is still usable. My old stove was an insert and was from the 80s (original owner put it in I believe). The fireplace/stove guy said there was nothing wrong with it, it was a good unit, but it had just been used improperly. The prior owner of the home said her husband had used it once and it warmed up the entire house. When I decided to upgrade to something newer, they took the old stove. I don't know if he sold it, scrapped it, or just tossed it away. I've heard there are always older stoves coming up for sale on Craigslist and what not. Even with a prior used working stove, you are likely still looking at $1,500 for installation, if not more.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
joekan said:
This is the one I was thinking of.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200393570_200393570
Click to expand...


Good price, but 110,000. BTU output would heat a 3,750 square foot home in 10F degree weather, thats if the heat from that central location can make its way to every part of the home and many homes are not built to allow for that.

I have a Vermont Castings Duchwest large (weighs 400 pounds) and its rated at 42,000 BTU and it will heat 1,500 square foot. There are other wood stoves on the market thats sized closer for your needs and cheeper than any Vermont Castings, just saying.
 
Last edited:
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
Good thread it reminded me to get a few arm loads of firewood, its supposed to go down to the low 20s tonight. At this time of year we run the wood stove 24/7.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Joekan,

Those Century's are pretty decent stoves. I think Menards carries them up here and I've looked at the model in the store. Thing is, you won't be doing a lot of cooking on it...maybe keep a water kettle hot or a bean pot steaming, but probably not simmering. The top is sheet steel, and not meant as a cooking surface-doesn't get hot enough. Stoves like this are built to heat the room, not the top for cooking.

As you can see, there aren't any one-size-fits-all answers. And actually, that's why so many of us are in love with our wood cookstoves, like Berta and Kathy's above pics. They are huge and heavy, with a small firebox, but direct the heat to the top burners and around the oven. The way the heat is baffled, with a quite small fire, you can be frying eggs in no time. But, because they are such huge heat sinks, they also will throw off a LOT of heat to a room. I don't have one in this house right now, but have a place ready for it when my Mom is done with the family's old nickel decorated, blue porcelain beauty. For now, it's my elderly parent's back-up heat and cooking. We always had a wood cookstove in the house growing up, as did both sets of grandparents.

Frankly, for your purposes, as last gasp back-up, stored in the garage until TEOTWAWKI sorta deal, I'd go with the smaller cast iron boxwood stove like the one in the Northern ad. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_796_796

Just my take.
 
Last edited:
M

momof23goats

Deceased
mine is porcelain inside the oven too. it has a bigger fire box than most, it also burns coal. i can bank a fire and it last all night.

I bought one of those amish fans, the larger one, [lehmans sells them], and I put that on my cookstove when I am through cooking . it really throws the heat out into the room.
 
Carl2

Carl2

Pass it forward...
Please see that your wood stove is installed correctly for fire safety: clearances from walls / floors; heat shields and underlayment, etc. Give thought to making it easy to clean the chimney. Flues should be checked every month or two during the heating season. A chimney fire is no joking matter.

Young children should not be left alone around wood stoves. I knew someone who was doing chores outside while her son was alone indoors. The kid did something with the wood stove that set the house on fire. It was costly and traumatic for the boy, who escaped but whose dog died in the fire.
 
BertaBurtonLake

BertaBurtonLake

Inactive
Young children should not be left alone around wood stoves. I knew someone who was doing chores outside while her son was alone indoors. The kid did something with the wood stove that set the house on fire. It was costly and traumatic for the boy, who escaped but whose dog died in the fire.

Sometimes bad things can happen to children even when a parent is right there. During my Peds rotation in Nursing school years ago, I had a 3 year old patient with full thickness burns on both palmar surfaces of his hands, including the fingers. He had tripped and put his hands out to catch himself and his hands went right on the side of the woodstove. The father was standing right there when it happened.

Better for people with small kids and woodstoves is firescreens around the woodstove.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
BertaBurtonLake said:
Young children should not be left alone around wood stoves. I knew someone who was doing chores outside while her son was alone indoors. The kid did something with the wood stove that set the house on fire. It was costly and traumatic for the boy, who escaped but whose dog died in the fire.

Sometimes bad things can happen to children even when a parent is right there. During my Peds rotation in Nursing school years ago, I had a 3 year old patient with full thickness burns on both palmar surfaces of his hands, including the fingers. He had tripped and put his hands out to catch himself and his hands went right on the side of the woodstove. The father was standing right there when it happened.

Better for people with small kids and woodstoves is firescreens around the woodstove.
Click to expand...


We were all kids at one time and we learn the hard way all to often and if we go threw life worrying about every little detail that can go wrong to the point it makes you do things that makes life harder on you and everyone in the home as a consequence to that thinking and worries. I grew up around wood and coal stoves and told not to touch it and what do kids like me do? Dam right we had to find out the hard way and same to for the hot iron on the ironing board )))OUTCH(((.
 
BertaBurtonLake

BertaBurtonLake

Inactive
Publius said:
We were all kids at one time and we learn the hard way all to often and if we go threw life worrying about every little detail that can go wrong to the point it makes you do things that makes life harder on you and everyone in the home as a consequence to that thinking and worries. I grew up around wood and coal stoves and told not to touch it and what do kids like me do? Dam right we had to find out the hard way and same to for the hot iron on the ironing board )))OUTCH(((.
Click to expand...

Well, duh. I am not talking about going through (no threw) life worrying about every little detail. I am talking about major accident prevention. Touching a hot stove to see if your parents were telling you the truth when they told you not to touch it because it is hot is hardly the same as taking some minor steps to assure your kids don't have a major accident.
 
W

WalknTrot

Veteran Member
joekan said:
What about the "Lil'House outside wood heater? I don't know if one duct would be enough to heat an entire house and it wouldn't include a stove.

http://www.outsidewoodheater.com/index.html
Click to expand...

Sadly, those outdoor wood furnaces all require electricity, either from the grid or a genny. Electricity runs the blower (to get the heat to the house through the duct) and automatic damper (controlled by the thermostat to regulate heat output) on the ones I've seen.
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
BertaBurtonLake said:
Well, duh. I am not talking about going through (no threw) life worrying about every little detail. I am talking about major accident prevention. Touching a hot stove to see if your parents were telling you the truth when they told you not to touch it because it is hot is hardly the same as taking some minor steps to assure your kids don't have a major accident.
Click to expand...


Sorry my goal was not to upset anyone. But I had my experiences with worry warts in my life.
 
joekan

joekan

Veteran Member
WalknTrot said:
Sadly, those outdoor wood furnaces all require electricity, either from the grid or a genny. Electricity runs the blower (to get the heat to the house through the duct) and automatic damper (controlled by the thermostat to regulate heat output) on the ones I've seen.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top