tcreeley
Elite Member
Having a stove made of 3/8 steel is incredible. Steel stoves on the market have always used 1/4". That stove will retain heat and is an extremely safe stove in that it won't burn through! The interior baffle makes the heat travel more, increasing the chance for the gases to completely combust- more heat per unit - efficiency design. Modern stoves just throw in epa stuff, stoves like yours are the good ones!
If the stove is airtight and all closed up, backpuffing can still push the smoke out between the joints in the stovepipe!
Before airtight stoves, the stoves were all cast iron plates bolted together. The joints held but air could leak by. When a fire was lit, the hot flames increased the draft and air was sucked into the stove through the inlet, but also through the numerous joints.
These stoves burned hot and fast because they leaked so much air. Unless you had a damper in the stove pipe, you couldn't shut them down. They required frequent feeding (same as a fireplace}. They were hard to heat with because they burned too hot, and too fast. A fire started in the evening would be out and cold by 2am. By 6 am the house is stone cold.
Air tight stoves (yours is an air tight stove- welded seams all the way around) did not leak air and so the rate of burn could be regulated by closing up the inlet (less O2 available). A fire started in the evening could still be giving off heat come 6am with a good bed of coals to throw some more wood onto.
Once we start, the stove does not go out until spring - unless we mess up and forget to put wood in. A 1/2 teacup of coals is all you need to get a roaring fire going in a 1/2 hour.
I always check the stove for safety, combustibles nearby, pipe connections. I always know the condition of the fire. I know how fast it is burning, the quantity, the quality and type of wood that is going in, when I last filled it, when I will need to fill it again. I got into the habit of always checking and double checking. Having a few thermometers in various places is handy was well.
With our stove- when I go to open it, I unlatch it and open it an inch. I wait a second or two to allow the draft to adjust - then I open it. If I open it too fast, I can get smoke in the room.
Again good luck. You have a lot of potential in your set up - solid 3/8 steel stove, solid steel chimney.
If you have money to spend- insulate your solid steel chimney by building a structure around it. I don't think you need to rush in that direction. If your temps were 0F and below all winter, then I would feel it was more imperative.
Good luck, enjoy your stove. (fans + floor registers are great ways to move heat around)
Your interior horizontal pipe might have some ash buildup that is restricting air flow to the chimney- might take it apart to clean it. Stove pipe joints are always screwed with 3 sheet metal screws to prevent them from pulling apart.
If the stove is airtight and all closed up, backpuffing can still push the smoke out between the joints in the stovepipe!
Before airtight stoves, the stoves were all cast iron plates bolted together. The joints held but air could leak by. When a fire was lit, the hot flames increased the draft and air was sucked into the stove through the inlet, but also through the numerous joints.
These stoves burned hot and fast because they leaked so much air. Unless you had a damper in the stove pipe, you couldn't shut them down. They required frequent feeding (same as a fireplace}. They were hard to heat with because they burned too hot, and too fast. A fire started in the evening would be out and cold by 2am. By 6 am the house is stone cold.
Air tight stoves (yours is an air tight stove- welded seams all the way around) did not leak air and so the rate of burn could be regulated by closing up the inlet (less O2 available). A fire started in the evening could still be giving off heat come 6am with a good bed of coals to throw some more wood onto.
Once we start, the stove does not go out until spring - unless we mess up and forget to put wood in. A 1/2 teacup of coals is all you need to get a roaring fire going in a 1/2 hour.
I always check the stove for safety, combustibles nearby, pipe connections. I always know the condition of the fire. I know how fast it is burning, the quantity, the quality and type of wood that is going in, when I last filled it, when I will need to fill it again. I got into the habit of always checking and double checking. Having a few thermometers in various places is handy was well.
With our stove- when I go to open it, I unlatch it and open it an inch. I wait a second or two to allow the draft to adjust - then I open it. If I open it too fast, I can get smoke in the room.
Again good luck. You have a lot of potential in your set up - solid 3/8 steel stove, solid steel chimney.
If you have money to spend- insulate your solid steel chimney by building a structure around it. I don't think you need to rush in that direction. If your temps were 0F and below all winter, then I would feel it was more imperative.
Good luck, enjoy your stove. (fans + floor registers are great ways to move heat around)
Your interior horizontal pipe might have some ash buildup that is restricting air flow to the chimney- might take it apart to clean it. Stove pipe joints are always screwed with 3 sheet metal screws to prevent them from pulling apart.
:laughing: