I think the only thing that would worry me is the insurance issue of no outdoor air. The repair costs as most us said is really minimal.
The question is what is the lumber that was used for your roof and walls and what insulation type is used inside. From that you know what your R value of the roof and wall insulation is.
What are these costs. It needs new firebrick; there were only two pieces included with the box and as you can see in the photos, there are several that are cracked and will fall out in time. Then there is the cost of the baffle, just pushing something through the flue collar is not really a fix; it is a bandaid that may or may not work. In order to make an informed decision, I need figures. Taking it to a shop and having that baffle removed and a new one constructed along with the requires holes won't be cheap; labour charges alone will ensure that.
Firebricks crack, it happens. I replace mine when they fall apart and fall out. Besides that the bricks are cheap 3 or 4 bucks each at Tractor supply etc. As for the baffle, anyone with a portable welder should only need 5 minutes and a $10 piece of metal to scab a new piece right over top of the bad one. The stove you have is in no way ruined, just needs a little maintenance, which any stove will need on a long enough time line.
You know of anyone in my area? The only friend I had that could have done this work for me was murdered by a crazy druggie several years ago. If I can not do it myself, I have to hire someone. Not trying to be negative but I doubt if I could get anyone to travel to my home with a welder to make the repair. I can grind out the welds, I have an angle grinder but that is as far as I could go. That piece of sheet metal has to be bent in a brake as well and the holes drilled in.
Kimberly if you are going to replace and weld a baffle in with the same design as the original, your expense will go up. That's not what I was referring too. If it were me, a couple fire bricks (something that gets replaced even on newer stoves) a damper and a couple pieces of plate steel "placed" in, would be my route on getting this up and running for a year or maybe two. Then a newer stove with OA kit would be on my Christmas list to Santa. If you aren't comfortable in that route just shelve the idea until finances allow.
They would not fit in through the flue collar, or would you try to screw them in place from inside the stove?
It's your call. The damage pictured coupled with his assertion that he ran that much wood through it in 6 months screams repeated over fires to me. I wouldn't waste my time or money with it, it's not worth the risk.
no September to june... I don't think I over fired stove.. steel stove thermo magnet.. on top never usually around 500.. how you do this is dislocate a knee on ice and work on laptop in stove room for 90 days and put 4 to 5 splits into stove every 2 hours ... sleep from 12 to 4 am and cold re- light and 4 gallon bucket of hot coals in morning... 14 month seasoned sugar maple .. when i got moisture meter after joining FHC wood was 25 to 30 percent moisture content.. 26 foot exterior chimney with draft measured measured in pascal at 60 plus in may... in short I kept 3 inches of hot coals in bottom.. add 4 to 5 splits.. do taxe preparation check FHC load stove repeat..
Since the baffle was gone there was no secondary burn so yes, I can see that stove eating through some wood; too much of the heat going straight up the chimney.
A couple layers of that blanket would be better than steel (more insulating value for below the blanket in the firebox). But the no OAK thing still gets me..