Is bigger better?

So sitting on the couch last night, I notice my cousin inquiring about a decent Baker just a few miles from me (on social media site). So I messaged him and we worked out a deal. I ended up picking it up today and he is going to buy my smaller stove for the same price. So this is a free step up to a larger stove for me. I've been looking but not hard. This should extend my burn times allowing less frequent trips down the steps to fill.


Here's the ad:

And mine for reference:



Hard part is done. I phoned a friend for help getting it into the basement. Tied the utility cart to my truck and slowly lowered it down steps.


Now I just have to move some splits to get it to the other side. More pics to come.

 

Congratulations. To me that is a handsome looking stove. Is bigger better? Depends on how much stove you need for your space. A bigger fire box means more to feed it at one time, but if it lasts longer then it would be a good thing. Wonder how that will do with coal?

What did you get rid of to make room for this new one?

 

I didn't see that...damm print is too small....I am not getting older, the print is getting smaller....need to check my screen setting.

 

New one is just taller. So the goal is longer burn times and less trips down to the basement to feed it. I tried coal once. I wasn't experienced so it was meh. When I got it hot, it sure pumped out heat! Bout ran us out, lol.

 

Anthracite aka... “clean coal”...hard coal. You will likely burn nut size coal.

Forget what you know about burning wood. Coal is completely different.

Join the coalpail forum if you want to learn how to burn coal correctly in it.

 

No intentions of burning coal. It’s not free.

 

Runway is clear. Time to get the old one moved.


And the new one in.

New fire brick.


Couple noodles for a test.


So the top door decorative plate was loose. I removed its rear brackets and put some fiberglass door gasket material between them and made it tight.

And ignition.


So far so good.

 

Are you going to cover the grates with firebricks for your wood burning?

 

Too bad. With that deep bed she’d be a coal burning beast! Likely would hold close to 80-100 pounds. Learning to burn it right and with mild outdoor temps she might go 3-6 days on one load.

I have a wood/coal stove, different brand. I am told by coal burners to cover the grates with thick steel plate or fire bricks, close under-fire air, and open over-fire air and they will burn better with wood. I’m going to find out.

Love that square fire-box. Would be fairly simple to add secondary air tubes. Already have over-fire secondary air. Mine will be slightly more complicated because my stove has a shallow fire-box and is more rectangle. Those Bakers are sweet stoves! Would love to see pictures of the grates removed to see how heavy they are.

 

Oh...’bout forgot...great swap. You certainly got the better deal with the bigger stove it looks like. I’m sure the other guy is glad to have that beast gone and having your smaller stove.

 

Not at all. I've been burning wood with my other Baker for 10 years. I love the ability to shake the grates and have all the ash fall into the pan, remove pan to empty, rinse-repeat. There is zero issue closing airflow from below. Shoveling ash out of this firebox (if you put a piece of metal or firebrick on the floor) would be an absolute pita.

The guy I bought it from isn't getting the smaller one, my cousin is. He wanted it for his garage and didn't mind the size differential. He is definitely getting a good deal. Mine is in better condition. So it's a win win for us both.

 

Bigger is better imo. Can always load it part way if you want less heat. Pretty hard to extend burn times or throw more heat if a small stove is maxed out.

 

So far so good! One day this week I loaded the stove at 7am and it wasn't checked again till my wife got home a little after 8p. She sent me a vid:

 

So I’m getting 12 hour burn times easy. One thing that has surprised me is my ash production has decreased by a very significant amount. Could be the wood as I’m burning a lot of shagbark hickory. Typically don’t get much of it but my stacks very shaggy this year. And boy does it ever pump out the BTU’s!!!

Almost like having coal in there! Got it a little too warm in the basement.

Doh!

So in the end, for me, this was a win win situation. I’m only feeding this new larger stove two times a day. Sure is nice! Hasn’t gotten crazy cold here so I’m sure that will shorten those times a little. I’m a happy camper no matter how you look at it.

 

How do you heat the whole house if the the stove is in the basement?


I'm a woodstove newbie so forgive me if this is a stupid question

 

Heat rises Steve Billak . You keep the basement warm and the heat will radiate to the rest of the house. I have a 975 sq ft ranch with a full basement. I have a coal stove in the basement and it keeps my house in the mid 70s. The floors stay nice and warm. You open cabinets and it's warm inside. That's burning 3 ton of coal a year in Upstate NY.

 

Not a stupid question at all.
My wood burner is somewhat beside my forced hot air oil furnace. I remove the blower access door and put a filter there. Then I leave my basement door open and run that fan. It circulates rather well. I do use a floor/box fan sometimes to help move hot air in that part of the basement. The draw pulls from across the room so it worked out great. Been pretty much heating the entire house like this for 10 years. When it gets bitter cold, the oil can still run but it rarely needs to. I think this bigger stove will all but eliminate the need. When my house temps are about 73 and above, the furnace fan gets turned off and I use 2 floor fans to blow hot air across the basement and let it radiate through the floors. Definitely not the most efficient, but considering I’ve never paid for wood, it suits our needs.

 

Wow didn't know it would radiate that much heat. It might be something to consider for my set up