Pellet stove/wood burning stove

[Lostranger]

This is our third full-time winter heating with wood. For the first two years we used a homemade stove with a firebox that took 12" logs. I built my own insulated collar to pierce the roof and used 6" double wall insulated stove pipe inside the homemade collar. Bought the pipe, cap and fittings from McMaster Carr at a considerable saving compared to the stove shops. The chimney works great. The stove not so much. It kept us from freezing, but it used a tremendous amount of wood, made dense clouds of smoke, and generated gallons of ash mixed with live coals every day. In extreme cold, feeding and cleaning it was almost a full-time job.

This past December, I bought a new Morso 1410 Squirrel. Cast iron, secondary combustion, made by a 150-year-old Danish company. This stove is wonderful. Only takes 10" logs, and that requires a bit more wood working time, but that's the only down side. It's a small stove with a small firebox, but I've worked out getting a four-to-five-hour burn with plenty of live coal left to load and leave. At my age, I'm up once or twice every night anyway, so tending the stove is no problem. We love this little sucker:



This stove requires some fabrication to bolt it into a moving vehicle, but it's no big deal. We looked hard at Kimberly, and that would have been our choice if they were reasonably priced. I think it's a wonderful product, but the fact is that we could not afford one. I'm happy for those of you who can, but it's out of our league.

Compared to our homemade stove, the Morso burns dramatically less wood, produces little-to-no smoke after warmup, and generates about a quart of ash each day. The ash drops into a removable pan through a riddling gate, so ash does does not fly everywhere as it would while shoveling. Best of all, it was $950 tax included. I picked it up at a dealer about 18 miles away. They set it in my van, and I installed it in my bus. My chimney required no modification. We do not use the stove while traveling. The SS chimney cap unscrews with about 1/8th rotation. I replace that with an 8" rubber cap (also from McMaster Carr) when we are moving.

I've heard all the arguments against wood heat in a motor home and against wood heat in general. Truth is that it's a great and sustainable source of dry heat and is not more dangerous than other heating options IF INSTALLED AND USED CORRECTLY. Those who don't want to heat with wood shouldn't. We can't imagine our bus without it. What some consider trouble we find pleasurable. I'm sitting beside the stove as I write, and the kettle is almost hot enough for tea.

Best to all,

Jim


moderator edit - fixed the rotated photo

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Many of you may not realize this, but my first camper had a Kimberly Stove in it.  It heated the entire rig very well.  As you can see in this old photo I just dug up, I placed it in the rear corner and it heated up the entire rig very well. A lot of great roadkill was cooked on this great stove and the still attachment allowed me to make my own spirits so I was always happy. But from what I understand, this option is no longer available. Roger told me that it sold too well and he couldn't keep up with the demand.  

[digesterman]

Love that windshield visor

[Lostranger]

moderator edit - fixed the rotated photo

I'd love to know that process.

Jim

[lostagain]

Gary, I don't see any dents or scratches on it. Quite remarkable, given that the time was before safety cameras on vehicles...

JC

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Back then I didn't need a good backup camera.  I had a wife.  She was great at backing me into those tight spaces in the woods, especially with my large sun visor and high roofline.  She was a great cook as well.  That Roadkill Helper sure does make Possum taste delicious.  But eventually she left me to go with a guy with a larger truck and two Kimberly stoves.  Couldn't blame her I suppose.

So I either needed a new wife or a good backup camera.  So I bought an Omniview 360 degree – Zero Blind Spot camera system.  I thought it might be less expensive.  Check it out here https://youtu.be/rDUmM9OcDiY  What do you think?  Good choice?

[luvrbus]

The EPA has new regulations coming on wood stoves next month it won't be long before they are banned or have catalytic converters and using DEF,it's really getting bad in AZ and here in the west with all the EPA BS on wood burning fire places by the time I get ours burning here comes a friggn no burn day

[Lin]

When we lived in North Monterrey County, near Santa Cruz, we had a wood stove which we dearly loved.  We were probably one of the few in that neighborhood that had one, so I never considered whether it was causing pollution or not.  However, one coldish winter day we went driving up Hwy 9 into the Santa Cruz mountains where everyone used wood stoves.  The air was thick with smoke and smog.  It was enough to actually form a film on the windshield combining with the ambient moisture.  If one considers second hand smoke a problem, this was certainly a lot worse than cigarettes-- especially if one were to include particulates.

I continued to use our stove for a couple of years until we sold the house, but was well aware that, as great as it was as a heat source and contributor to a home atmosphere of peace and will being, it really was capable of seriously degrading air quality.  As the saying goes, "There is no free lunch"; everything we do is liable to have some impact on the environment and therefore others around us.  Unfortunately, there are just too many people living relatively close together to avoid general regulation.  If you are out there alone on the prairie with your boom box dialed up--who cares?  But if you are next door to me fifty feet away, I very well might.

[unforgettablefire]

The EPA has new regulations coming on wood stoves next month it won't be long before they are banned or have catalytic converters and using DEF,it's really getting bad in AZ and here in the west with all the EPA BS on wood burning fire places by the time I get ours burning here comes a friggn no burn day

I'm not sure where you are getting this information, there is much dis-information even in publications such as the Huffington post. As a manufacturer of wood stoves I am often updated directly by the EPA as new requirements force our compliance. What we know today is that our Kimberly model is certified for all 50 states and 13 provinces of Canada. I can tell you that Catalyst equipped stoves have been banned in much of Alaska due to the short life cycle in that environment, the Air Quality agencies there prefer non catalytic units as replacement of the cat is expensive and rarely gets done.

Our Katydid stove is also non cat and has recently been awarded (by the EPA burn wise program) as one of the few non cat stoves meeting the 2020 clean air standards today at 1.9 grams of particulate emissions per hour. By comparison before regulations in the late 80's stoves were pumping out 80+ grams per hour. Our Kimberly model runs at 3.2 GPH.

Lastly there have been some states, counties or "air standard" activity that supersedes the EPA standards. This is something that should be fought tooth and nail in my opinion, many states are battling it out with groups who have little understanding of the capability of new stoves, nor the comparison to burning gas as an example. Just one fracking well fire s far worse on the environment than all the wood burning stoves combined. All we need do to fuel a wood stove is harvest a tree. Compared to burning gas there is nothing cleaner in the big picture.

Just my thoughts and what I know from the EPA

Roger Lehet
inventor/CEO

[luvrbus]

The EPA has new regulations coming on wood stoves next month it won't be long before they are banned or have catalytic converters and using DEF,it's really getting bad in AZ and here in the west with all the EPA BS on wood burning fire places by the time I get ours burning here comes a friggn no burn day

I'm not sure where you are getting this information, there is much dis-information even in publications such as the Huffington post. As a manufacturer of wood stoves I am often updated directly by the EPA as new requirements force our compliance. What we know today is that our Kimberly model is certified for all 50 states and 13 provinces of Canada. I can tell you that Catalyst equipped stoves have been banned in much of Alaska due to the short life cycle in that environment, the Air Quality agencies there prefer non catalytic units as replacement of the cat is expensive and rarely gets done.

Our Katydid stove is also non cat and has recently been awarded (by the EPA burn wise program) as one of the few non cat stoves meeting the 2020 clean air standards today at 1.9 grams of particulate emissions per hour. By comparison before regulations in the late 80's stoves were pumping out 80+ grams per hour. Our Kimberly model runs at 3.2 GPH.

Lastly there have been some states, counties or "air standard" activity that supersedes the EPA standards. This is something that should be fought tooth and nail in my opinion, many states are battling it out with groups who have little understanding of the capability of new stoves, nor the comparison to burning gas as an example. Just one fracking well fire s far worse on the environment than all the wood burning stoves combined. All we need do to fuel a wood stove is harvest a tree. Compared to burning gas there is nothing cleaner in the big picture.

Just my thoughts and what I know from the EPA

Roger Lehet
inventor/CEO

I got the info from a letter sent to me by our local fire dept on Tuesday.Now I cannot even burn brush,limbs or trees they want me to haul it off to a place that charges 10 bucks a pickup load to chip it.None of the crap makes sense to me, like our place in Idaho dead trees on the ground but you need to buy a permit so you can cut down  live trees to burn in your stove when ever they allow it. BS I am getting to old for all the rules and regulations imposed on people today

[unforgettablefire]

Yes sir....we are all getting tired of the "Nanny State". It would be interesting to know if this was a burn ban due to dry weather conditions or an air pollution agency overstepping their boundaries. Again EPA is a national thing and not often on a state or county level. This is the sort of ur eroding rights that in my mind must be stopped......the "government" should be working for us and not the other way around.

God Bless America

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me Cliff.  Just take all of that dead wood to the chipper mill in your dump truck and come back with a truck full of wood chips.  Then buy a Kimberly stove to heat your bus, house, and garage with.  Or buy yourself a used wood chipper for about $1,500 and chip up your own fire chips.  It should pay for itself in no time.

Just be sure to wear your hardhat so this doesn't happen to you.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

The other thing you will need is a good chainsaw. I don't know much about using a chainsaw but I can see right off the bat that this guy is not wearing the proper safety equipment.  Seems like he is missing his hard hat and gloves. 

[luvrbus]

LOL I don't need a chipper Gary we have a Mighty Mac that we have had for years not one of my favorite toys I can tell you for sure 

[unforgettablefire]

Wow.....I can't imagine trying to start a chain saw with the business end stuck tween my legs, what a buffoon.