wood burning stove

**Momto5RN** · 01-26-2011, 06:00 PM

We have a smallish vermont castings wood burning stove in our family room - use to have a large one that made things much hotter ( sometimes too hot as there was no real way to control the temo ) but it not only was illgeal by new EPA standards but it wasnt working properly - leaked etc due to age . Now its a lovel addition to our front garden .

The new one is safer and nicer to look at and easier to clean but doesnt produce as much heat .

So i noticed that when i start a new fire there is all this wonderful heat that comes out the doors that is warmer than what radiates out from the stove when it closes.
I google to see if there is some sort of a fireplace screen and sure enough you can buy one so you can leave it open .

sooo vermont castings wants over 100$ for a "custom" spark screen for our Wood burning stove ..

I say no way , go to home depot buy a 21$ fireplace spark screen - use my cut anything scissors and custom make my own screen ....yeah !!! and have enough screen left to make a second one in the future . ( saving it in case i want to tweak a few things to work differently with the new one )

its working great !!! best yet we are expecting up to 15" of snow so we are prepared in case we lose electricity since its icy rain right now which usually brings the lines down !

**madhen** · 01-26-2011, 06:15 PM

My woodstove (also small) actually heats better when the doors are closed.

**Momto5RN** · 01-26-2011, 06:21 PM

our old one did too - i think because heat radiated out from all sides with that one - this one mainly top and front . back and sides have some sort of insulation to prevent it .
the pipes leading out of the house are very hot because of what they are made of .

It has ceramic coating as compared to our old cast iron one too which may have something to do with it .

i have closed it now again so the wood in it burns slower- but the first 15 min or so after putting fresh wood in it definitely heated better with doors open .
so at least now i have an option for alot less then 100+ $$

**madhen** · 01-26-2011, 06:28 PM

Nice. I wish mine heated better with the doors open, because I like to watch the flames and also know when to throw some more wood on there!

**Momto5RN** · 01-26-2011, 06:49 PM

does your have glass doors ?? it was nice to see the flames all open like that but we also have glass doors so if i clean them you can see whats happening in there .

Its so damp and windy and wet out i let dh turn the heat in the main house back on but still have it going down here so i can watch AI with the kids tonight LOL

**ravenmaniac** · 01-26-2011, 09:27 PM

I was not very happy with a cord of supposedly seasoned oak and hickory we purchased. The wood must have been cut early this season. It is not dry, seasoned wood.

What I'm getting at is, could your wood not be fully seasoned? We find that different types of wood do burn differently. For example: Poplar burn hot but quick, Locust burns nice and hot but lasts longer.

It sounds like you have a lot of experience with wood stoves. I was just trying to think of why your stove might not be heating up.

We have been burning seasoned Poplar and the wood we purchased mixed together in our stove. Hubby keeps checking the chimney for build up.

I hate that we had to purchase some wood this year. My husband helped his friend cut and split wood and the offer was suppose to be reciprocated. The offer never was. That makes me mad when that happens.

**madhen** · 01-26-2011, 11:18 PM

No, solid cast iron doors.

**freebs** · 01-27-2011, 07:14 AM

I would set some fans up to blow across your stove, that will help move more heat around! I run 2 fans on mine, one that blows across the top and one that blows across the bottom! I just added the bottom one this season and man it sure made a difference!