Newbie questions

Roofer wrote: ↑

Tue. Jan. 15, 2019 4:57 am

Wow GGordonWoody ! Thanks . It will have a glass window , have to see the fire , and I do see some frustration coming .

I rent during the week in Bucks County, near work, but my stove (with a home attached) is in the Poconos. Every Friday night, in Winter, when I could get there, I would try firing the stove. For four years I fought to start it and keep it going. Not knowing about this site, I failed. This year I resigned to buy a wood stove, maybe a pellet stove. But affordable pellet stoves need A/C power, so I ruled that out (Poconos not exactly friendly to power lines in winter). I started reading forums to find out which log stove was best, and that lead to reading about problems people had with log stoves, namely, smoke, creosote, puff backs, and ... going out! There it was, wood stoves go out too. Draft! All at once, the information I absorbed observing failure coalesced in my brain into an understanding that my stove was simply too cold during start up, and then losing draft on Saturday night. Pinching down the dampers during startup, and then backing off late Saturday was the ticket. "Presto-chango", success! But I got cocky and over-fired it, warped the grates, and lost the stove (Penn Royal Dutches I, 44, 1974:2018 RIP). So now I have a brand new Hitzer 50-93 B (blower) from Lehman's in Ohio ($1849+$125 to ship to Bethlehem PA). I love that store. Dealers in the Pocono area wanted $500 to $1000 more, and that was after I explained I would be installing it. The stove was back ordered, but for only 2 weeks. Oh, they don't drop ship. They receive the stove, check it over to make sure it's perfect, and then reship it to you! Did I mention I love that store? Ask for Amanda in the Stove Department. My Fields Controls RC baro damper from Zoro, however, arrived bent, so I just got the flue connected last week. MPD (stove to manual pipe damper to baro damper, and two clean outs). Next time I'm there will be our first time firing the BIG BOY Hitzer. You should see the size of the glass on that stove - it's like a movie screen. Can't wait to see what's playing.

LOL, I know what will be playing and it will be beautiful. I keep reading about MPD and I said to myself , I’m going to have to ask somebody what the hell that means . Couldn’t figure it out . Not sure what the right stove to get is but I love the look of the coal chubby and the old school simplicity . I’m sure there are easier stoves to use and bigger stoves that hold a fire longer but I have a small house and this thing will be in the corner of my living room , and I just want a small stove that will hold a fire for 12 hours . honestly I love my wood stoves but I don’t like the new ones with all the secondary burn and technology and mine don’t hold a useful fire long enough . I like the north south load stoves and no one makes one worth anything so coal it is . I was thinking about the Keystoker HF70/90 or the Hitzer 254 but much prefer the look of the chubby .

MPD manual pipe damper. sometimes doing a search here will answer any questions. good luck. tom