Glenwood 6 vs mica baseburner

Been meaning to ask this question for awhile - what's the differences between a Glenwood 6 and a big mica baseburner stove. Obviously there is a size difference but where does each excel? Different applications?

Both are baseburners...right?

-jim

Kinda but not quite. The #6 is a base heater, the exhaust leaves the main stove body and travels down to the base chamber then back up and out

The mica stoves exhaust goes down between the outside of the burn pot and the inside of the body to the base chamber then up and out

The mica stoves release a lot of radiant heat through the windows, the exhaust path also helps burn efficiency. Beyond that many of them have what is known as a double heater feature that picks up cool air near the floor and draws it up through sealed passages heating it to over 200* and sending it out the top of the stove

Originally the double heater output was sent by pipe to the next floor above it

Both are neat pieces

KingCoal wrote: ↑

Sat. Oct. 03, 2020 2:04 pm

Kinda but not quite. The #6 is a base heater, the exhaust leaves the main stove body and travels down to the base chamber then back up and out

The mica stoves exhaust goes down between the outside of the burn pot and the inside of the body to the base chamber then up and out

The mica stoves release a lot of radiant heat through the windows, the exhaust path also helps burn efficiency. Beyond that many of them have what is known as a double heater feature that picks up cool air near the floor and draws it up through sealed passages heating it to over 200* and sending it out the top of the stove

Originally the double heater output was sent by pipe to the next floor above it

Both are neat pieces

Thanks for the reply and excellent description.

It would seem then that the mica baseburners would then be the most efficient and producing heat then?

While the the cozy glow of a mica stove is bar none, keeping all those windows clean must be quite the chore. Also, in my little knowledge, most base burners are huuuge - way bigger than i would need.

My baseburner double heater does produce a lot of heat , but it is a pain to keep all the windows clean .

They make nice smaller sizes also. The smallest is an 8 inch fire pot.

Pot sizes from 8 inch to 20 inch.

They can be bought as cheap as a used Oak stove or cheaper.

"They can be bought as cheap as a used Oak stove or cheaper."

I've never seen one for sale anywhere except at the restorer's shops. If you're finding them for cheap MB you are a lucky hombre.

mntbugy wrote: ↑

Tue. Oct. 06, 2020 7:19 am

They make nice smaller sizes also. The smallest is an 8 inch fire pot.

Pot sizes from 8 inch to 20 inch.

They can be bought as cheap as a used Oak stove or cheaper.

What size firepot would I need to have in order to keep the fire burning for once a day tending ? Ive seen where members have indicated the Glenwood 6's only need tending once a day which would be ideal for me during the week with my work schedule!

A once a day tending schedule of any stove has more to do with area heated, interior layout, Outside air infiltration, insulation level and outside air temp than stove type and size

If you want / need low tending intervals you might want to look at stokers there are some very good ones

On the other hand there are some very large hand fired units that could be idled down significantly if the pre mentioned items were all positive

There are a lot of qualifiers

Just a small point , if you fancy a baseburner and are lucky enough to find one with the coal magazine, your tendering could exceed 24 hrs easily .

You can always over size your stove and idle it down.

As has been mentioned to one degree or another, how much space intend to heat, how well it's insulated, how warm you like it, and what part of the country your in, are what.

If you need the stove running near maximum, the amount of coal isn't always the time-limiting factor. Even a big stove in very cold climate.

My #6 base heater heats the front half of my house - a large drafty house here in central NY. It will run 24 hours after filling the magazine. But I have to shake down the ash every 12 hours or the heat output starts to drop off noticeably. So, in the morning it gets the ash shaken and refill the magazine (about 25 pounds of nut coal). That's about a 5 minute job. Then, before bed it gets ash shaken again, it's once-a-day ash pan emptied, and then magazine refilled (about another 25 pounds). That's about 10 minutes.

If I idle it back in warmer weather, then it can go 24 hours without having to tend it at all.

So, because I run them near max, it's ash buildup not fuel that is the limiting factor for when tending is needed with both my #6 and my kitchen range.

As Tcalo said, a bigger stove will just run longer if you don't need it to run at max.

Every year we hear people posting about complaints of their stove is too small, but I can't remember the last time someone complained about having too big of a stove.

Paul

Come on U, ya got the info now get off your butt & make a decision.With the info above ya can't go wrong in doin what ya do.

I ran a G109 a few years back. It was pushed hard and did a decent job, but I needed to tend it 3 times a day. I now heat with a Crawford 40. HUGE difference. I can easily go 24 hours on a load of coal and all the heat I could ever need. It idles really low too. Like SB mentioned, it's usually the ash buildup that chokes the stove and impedes output. When in doubt...go bigger!!

Thanks for all the input. The house is 1400sq ft and well insulted. The rooms are small and certainly not an open floor plan - obv ideal for airflow . I wouldn't need max heat, rather the ability for the stove to run at least 12hrs between tending. Figure I could get up and ready for work and tend it. Then come home and tend it after supper and leave til morning and repeat.

freetown fred wrote: ↑

Wed. Oct. 07, 2020 11:00 am

Come on U, ya got the info now get off your butt & make a decision.With the info above ya can't go wrong in doin what ya do.

I was actually looking 2 years ago at a very very nice Red Cross base burner. After speaking with a few members here, the consensus was that it was just too big of a stove and would need to be at idle all the time thusI wouldn't be able to enjoy the glow