Russo C-80 Info? New Member

hello all! ive been lurking this forum for a couple years trying to decide what kind of stove I wanted to buy. I was realy leaning toward a keystoker with the direct vent. while saving up my pennies I came across a russo c-80 for cheap and am going to have someone build a chimney. right now I have the stove apart cleaning and inspecting everything. its FULL of soot, I think I made it 50 lbs lighter after cleaning it! I do have some experience using a Surdiac hand fired stove at the family hunting camp so I think I can get a handle on running this stove. does anyone have any info on this stove? I did a search and cant find too much other than places to get new grates. im wondering what the heat output is supposed to be. im thinking its about the size of the Harman mk3. what about coal size to burn? the Surdiac uses pea, but I think im gonna try nut in the russo. the grates look too open for pea. im gonna do bagged coal this upcoming season than go to bulk next year. thanks for any info!

oh, its going in an unfinished basement with the first floors joists exposed, do I need to protect the exposed joists from the heat? there is about 5' above the stove to the joists. I also have a concrete floor and the wall behind it is block. the stove will be facing stairs so im hoping the blower will push a decent amount of heat up the steps.

With that much clearance your floor joists will be fine, especially if the stove has a blower to distribute the heat. Floor joists five feet over the stove probably won't get much warmer than rafters supporting a black singled roof on a hot summer day.

One other thing, you might want to consider adding a floor grate at the other end of your house to help the cold air return to the basement.

Welcome......I don't have any information on Russo stoves but I have heard of them. As far as your set-up is concerned, if you have 5' you'll be fine. ( most installation requirement are 36" from a combustible surface) I may be tempted to cut a vent in the floor above, depending on what's there, to get some of that nice heat to the living areas above. (You may be violating a building code by doing this & I would definitely make sure you have working fire & CO detectors) You could even build a sheet metal hood above the stove & channel the heat where it will do the most good with a little ductwork. The cement floors & walls will make a nice little heat sink for you.

Coal is the way to go!

Good luck!

Edit: Good idea about a return air duct cut in the floor too

The Russo line is no longer produced but most parts are available. The manual with a parts list is available for $15 from the company, you just need the model number off the stove.
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thanks for the replys. im going to install some vents in the floor but im going to wait until I have the stove burning than decide where I think will be best. I already have a few ideas but want see whats going on before I start cutting holes in the floors.

im getting quotes for a chimney, they are for approx. 30-32 foot high 8" flue masonry. (its basically going up 3 floors) anyone have a rough idea what it should cost? I got 2 guys to look at it and they were way different on pricing.

Go to a masonry yard and get a material price for your chimney. The difference is labor and associated costs of doing business. Find out from the yard if they recommend anyone, ask friends the same thing and then go look at the jobs to see if it was done well. Good masons will still be busy. Get a few more bids, at least 5 total, then you will have a better idea if some one is high or low.

I just had a two story, two flue clay lined chimney built. $3800. I priced the material costs at less than $1000. I had three estimates. Highest was $6350. All masons were busy, wait time was 1-3 months. I though all prices were high and thought of doing the job myself. But after seeing it done I'm glad I didn't. It took 6-1/2 man days. Built in 2-1/2 days. A clay line chimney block design without brick facing would be less expensive.