Cast Iron Stove-emergency use

[Icemancometh]

After suffering through a 10-day power outage last winter I have been considering alternative heating methods. I have a kerosene heater (10,000 btu) and a wood-burning fireplace. These two items worked marginally at best, temps were in the single digits and low teens. I have been toying with the idea of purchasing a small cast iron stove to set in my fireplace opening and running the vent up through my existing flue. Does this sound doable or is it a bad idea and potentially dangerous? My flue is wide enough to accept a 4” pipe.

[Rick]

That's basically an insert isn't it? I would think you would need to seal around the stove to prevent warm air in the house from being drawn up the chimney along with the smoke from the stove.

[Icemancometh]

I was thinking of a free standing stove, not an insert. I could fabricate a seal out of sheet metal to seal around the flueGuests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[Rick]

I know. I just meant isn't that what you'd have if you slid the stove in there? About the same thing. I'd think you'd still need to seal around it some how. My damper will come out of my fireplace. If yours will perhaps you could install one with a round hole for a pipe. That would let you close the damper around the pipe and still exhaust the smoke from the wood stove. Then you could exchange it with the standard damper when you weren't using the wood stove.

[Ole WV Coot]

Remove the fireplace damper. Get a simple metal insulated square or rectangle to more than cover the fireplace. Stainless pipe inside to firebox. Round damper inside the pipe about 1 1/2' from the stove outlet. Have the stove 3'min. from combustables and buy a metal insulated square made to sit the stove on. I would seal around the fireplace and fasten with tapcons in the mortar joints. Should work fine.

[Icemancometh]

That was kinda what I was thinking. Thanks for the input guys.

[cowgirlup]

The house we bought had a fireplace hat the previous owners converted to a gas fireplace with the fake logs. We took that out and closed off the gas line. Got a wood stove off Craigslist and my husband ran a new insert up the chimney. Closed off the extra flue space by taking a thick metal sheet and cutting enough of a hole for the stove pipe to go through. Then we sealed around the edges. We use the extra space on the sides of the wood stove to stack wood that needs to dry out a little more before burning.

It works great! We use it to heat the living room. We had a small power outage not long ago and I finished cooking the pizza in it.

[LowKey]

Much as I hate to say it, you have to check what the local law is. All growing up we had a wood stove with a pipe up through the damper (but not all the way up the flue). Worked fine. Last summer I wanted to have the same thing done and the guy at the woodstove store 'suggested' that I might need a flue liner to go all the way up as according to town bylaw...and insurance purpose.
Turned out we needed it anyway as the upstairs chimney didn't have the height for a good draft.

[Icemancometh]

sjj:
Thanks for the detailed info on the gas insert. I had thought of that but was trying to go as inexpensive as possible. I had a Buck stove insert that I got rid of several years ago. ( wife hated it for some reason). It had a blower that would heat the house more than she liked. Still kicking myself for getting rid of it. I sold it to a friend of mine that I felt needed it more than we did. You are correct on the kerosene heater, it is the rectangular one. I too use the high quality kerosene, virtually no odor at all. I had thought about getting a semi-circular one, but the reviews I read weren't that great. If I recall correctly it had to be lit and extinguished outdoors. Wasn't crazy about that option. I may have to look at the gas insert again. I have also thought about just having my furnace wired so it can run off my geny.

[cowgirlup]

sjj:
I have also thought about just having my furnace wired so it can run off my geny.

Just a thought. Last year we had an ice storm and power was out in some areas for weeks. After a few days most of the gas stations in the hardest hit areas were running out of gas and there were huge lines for premium which was all that was left since people were all using generators. Plus they jacked up the prices and at one station put signs up that they were out of the lower grades when they actually weren't. PITA to deal with!!!!

We got our wood stove from a guy who replaced it with a pellet stove....which needs electricity. The wood stove has been great and no need for power.

[hunter63]

sjj:
I have also thought about just having my furnace wired so it can run off my geny.

By far the cheapest, easiest option.
I did this and installed a double pole switch, to cut powder to the furnace from the grid, and connect the genny to the furnace, by way of a line in wired to an out side outle for the genny plug.

[Rick]

I would suggest a true transfer switch.

When my BIL built his first house we installed a wood burning stove in the living room, which was in the middle of the house. Directly over the stove was one of the air returns for the electric furnace. We installed a thermostat inside the air return directly above the stove and wired it to the blower on the furnace. When the temperature reached the setting it kicked the blower on and distributed the heat from the wood stove throughout the house.

If you had something like that then the only thing you would need to power would be the blower, not the heater elements (if your furnace is electric). That would reduce your electrical requirement on your geny considerably.

[Ole WV Coot]

I am a fan of surge protectors on an outage, especially at night I use a small generator I keep in the garage, gassed up, Sta-Bil in everything that uses gas. I have a 10' section of electrical conduit which a heavy extension cord brings it into the dryer vent. Surge protector gives me power for fridge, some lights & blower. Next AM if power is gonna be off I start the big generator after I throw the transfer switch. Before I installed a semi-permanent generator I pulled the meter to prevent feedback. When I worked and used my truck Onan to power equipment I pulled the meter and placed it on top so the power co. guys didn't have to check when they saw the lights and the meter out.

[Rick]

Around here pulling the meter will get it a steel collar and a lock. (shaking head - sigh)