I just picked a big moe, It was supposed to be a little mo, Big moe literature says it will heat a 7000 sq ft home. mine is only 1100 or 1150. I s this usable? How do I change the firebricks? Thank You Brian
Brian C , welcome to the club. I had a mid Moe, it was quite a heater. It kept a poorly insulated 1500 sq ft house in eastern WA quite toasty. That big Moe will be a lot of heater for that house, but you can just do smaller fires if needed. I would suggest installing a baffle in the stove, which should help efficiency. I am sure there is a thread here somewhere. The bricks on mine were easy to change. They were standard size, and I just removed the old and put the new in. I think I had to cut one or two, which I did with a masonry blade in a skillsaw.
See this thread Baffle in my All-Nighter - Improved design and thoughts from 1 year after Calling Razo ...
1. What is the principle of the baffle? The example I read was with a smaller stove heating a house still bigger than mine. My home is very well insulated. What are the disadvantages of a baffle? Does it change the safety rating of my stove? 2. I can get the bricks out but they wont slide down into the slots on the sides. Is the bottom supposed to come out first?
I never had that exact stove but had one of that vintage. Can't help much with the bricks other than to say if you can't get the sides out then you probably do need to take the bottom out first. No magic to the bricks just have to try different ways until they come out and member the order to reinstall. As far as the baffle the benefit is that rather than all the heat just going up the chimney the baffle slows that. Think of it this way, the air enters the door drafts, it is drawn through the hot coals and fire then goes up the chimney. With a baffle in place the air hits the bottom of the baffle and rolls back down with the smoke to be reburned again. More heat stays in the box longer and the emmisions are burned again......win, win
My dad has a big All Nighter...not sure exactly which one. He put a baffle in it per my advice and it really cut down on wood consumption. As for being too big, that's going to depend a LOT on the layout of your house. If the stove room is small and has poor airflow to the rest of the house it could easily cook you out of the room. If it is open and/or has good flow it could be fine. Keep in mind that the sq ft ratings are what it can theoretically heat running full blast. You may very well be able to run it less often or at a lower temperature and be comfortable.
As others have said bricks are easy. I had a midmoe that was a great stove and never had a problem holding a fire overnight. It was touchy on the air controls and difficult to hold a steady temp range. I would still have it except I had a hearth built and the rear exit flue made it take up too much room. Burn soft wood in it and smaller fires to hold the temp down.