For those who have a wood burner in the front room, Best accessory?

[ruffdog]

I took a metal ash scoop and drilled a bunch of holes in it to make a sifter. About once a week, I scoop everything to the left side, sift out the coals and charcoal from the ash, toss them to the right side, then shovel the ash down the chute to the bin below the stove.

Then I move the charcoal and coals back to the middle, stack new wood in the stove, open the dampers and wait a few minutes.... POOF! Fire starts right back up.

Worst winter we had, the stove ran non-stop from Oct 1 through April 1 and we only used 4 matches! That was only when we'd leave town for several days.

Ah yes, I forgot about my homemade rake thing to separate the coals from the ashes....it sure helps starting the next fire.

 

[CalG]

Last year we only burned about a week.

I've just throttled down the stove for the evening. 36 degrees outside. The radiant heat is warming my back side as I type. ;-)

eta

earlier this evening, when the air was a balmy 43 degrees, I turned on the outdoor shower for a wash down and a shave. Brisk, and refreshing.

It's all drained down now. we expect a freeze.

 

[MossRoad]

I've just throttled down the stove for the evening. 36 degrees outside. The radiant heat is warming my back side as I type. ;-)

eta

earlier this evening, when the air was a balmy 43 degrees, I turned on the outdoor shower for a wash down and a shave. Brisk, and refreshing.

It's all drained down now. we expect a freeze.

About an hour ago I was standing barefoot in the driveway with my wife waving goodbye to my mother in law after dinner.

It was about 40.

I used to walk barefoot out to the end of the driveway in the snow in winter to get the mail. Now the rocks hurt my feet. Ahhh, it's only November. I've ridden motorcycle on Christmas Eve before. Maybe we'll get snow. Who knows.

 

[bmaverick]

Do the math on that one. Convection moves 10X, maybe 100X times more air than a fan.

BTDT not for me. But I do run the ceiling fan nearly constantly. We have cathedral ceilings and an open floor plan.

Convection is very slow. And each stove configuration is different from the next. Most convection rises, so the heat moves upwards more-so. With the thermo-fan, it will send the heat across a room and down a 30FT long hall easily. In 20mins, those rooms off the 30FT long hall begin to receive the heat as well. Been doing this for 12 years with great success.

True convection is when the stove has vertical rails or fins. The cool air from the floor will rise, fill the open spaces between the fins, rapidly heat and rise.

Stove pipe fins work too.

Some of the stoves work well with the aluminum side wall heatsink fins.

This is the same low tech as base board heating, but for stoves.

Base boards sit too low and collect all kinds of crap. Not so with the stoves using them with fans.

 

[CalG]

About an hour ago I was standing barefoot in the driveway with my wife waving goodbye to my mother in law after dinner.

It was about 40.

I used to walk barefoot out to the end of the driveway in the snow in winter to get the mail. Now the rocks hurt my feet. Ahhh, it's only November. I've ridden motorcycle on Christmas Eve before. Maybe we'll get snow. Who knows.

I used to take my BSA 441 Victor out each Christmas holiday and do "sno laps" around the football field late at night. What a roar! but cold, and dicey.

that was North Dakota winter , and it was COLD!

 

[CalG]

Convection is very slow. And each stove configuration is different from the next. Most convection rises, so the heat moves upwards more-so. With the thermo-fan, it will send the heat across a room and down a 30FT long hall easily. In 20mins, those rooms off the 30FT long hall begin to receive the heat as well. Been doing this for 12 years with great success.

True convection is when the stove has vertical rails or fins. The cool air from the floor will rise, fill the open spaces between the fins, rapidly heat and rise.

Stove pipe fins work too.
View attachment 1899163
Some of the stoves work well with the aluminum side wall heatsink fins.

View attachment 1899164

This is the same low tech as base board heating, but for stoves.

Base boards sit too low and collect all kinds of crap. Not so with the stoves using them with fans.
View attachment 1899165

Oh! You heat air! sorry,

I like to heat objects. Hot air just flies out the open windows upstairs at my house.

It has taken three days to heat up the basement after starting up the down stairs stove. It's a very small flame, and takes some time to heat up all the machines and such. It's the FLOOR that I most enjoy being warm.

 

[jyoutz]

These are a must for wood stoves and fireplaces. No more ash bucket and shovel mess. You can vacuum hot ashes with these.

Amazon.com

 

[CalG]

These are a must for wood stoves and fireplaces. No more ash bucket and shovel mess. You can vacuum hot ashes with these.

Amazon.com

140 degrees F may be heat resistant, but it's not hot coals.

Fahrenheit 451 my friend, Fahrenheit 451!

It takes a full 18 hours to cool off coals in either of the stoves in my house. And that is with the use of the poker to bring the "bio-char" to the top.

 

[jyoutz]

140 degrees F may be heat resistant, but it's not hot coals.

Fahrenheit 451 my friend, Fahrenheit 451!

It takes a full 18 hours to cool off coals in either of the stoves in my house. And that is with the use of the poker to bring the "bio-char" to the top.

I have used these for years. I vacuum the hot coals, then go dump them in a dirt pit outside in the garden. The canister is steel and the filter is made of non combustible fiberglass. I wouldn’t leave coals in the vacuum. Maybe the one I linked isn’t as durable as mine. They do make them.

 

[5030]

For Amy and I (and the dog as well), the best accessory to the biomass stove is a large humidifier. Keeping the RH up keeps the heat feeling more comfortable. Only issue is, we have hard water so we use store bought distilled water in it.

68 feels better with humidity in the air than 75 and drier than a desert.