Rare 1890's Wood Stove Heats Entire House

2006 - Volume #30, Issue #6, Page #35

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"It's beautiful and highly functional at the same time," says John Mahowald, Broomfield, Colo., who converted a rare 1890 wood burning stove to heat his entire ranch house.
    The"Elegant Universal" cast iron stove measures 5 ft. 5 in. high by 22 in. sq. It was originally designed to burn either wood or coal and had a nickel-plated base, with ornate foot warmers and several big gargoyles on it. Mahowald designed a closed loop system that allows the stove to pump heated water to a heat exchanger in the plenum of the furnace in his basement. He also modified the stove to burn wood pellets by mounting a hopper along one side.
    "This stove is quite rare - most people have never seen one," says Mahowald. "I paid $2,000 for it more than 30 years ago, but I think it would sell for about $10,000 today.
    "I tried using the stove as it was originally designed in my living room for a few years, but the room got so hot I couldn't even sit in there. I had to find a way to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the entire house."
    So he and a friend built a copper box - mounted inside a wooden enclosure on the ceiling - that collects heat from the top of the stove through the flue pipe. An electric fan, hooked up to a thermostat, is used to transport heat through a copper tube that goes across the ceiling and then down into the plenum of the furnace in the basement.
    Next, he installed an open loop water pumping system. It includes copper coils inside the firebox and a pair of copper tubes that lead from the stove, down through the floor, and into the basement. Hot water is pumped into a heat exchanger that mounts inside the furnace's cold air duct. A stainless steel tank serves as a water reservoir and has a pump attached to it.
    Once the water temperature inside the coils in the firebox reaches 110 degrees, the pump and furnace fan start up at the same time. Cold water is pumped back up to the stove.
    The hopper on the side of the stove holds 60 lbs. of wood pellets. A small electric motor drives an auger, which delivers the pellets to the firebox.
    "I use it every day and really like it. It warms things up fast. The outside temperature can be 14 degrees and the inside temperature can be 69 degrees, yet the stove can heat the house back up to 74 degrees in only about two hours," says Mahowald. "It took me three winters to figure out how to get the right combination of coils, relays, and temperature sensing units to coordinate with the furnace fan.
    "It also looks nice and is quite a conversation piece. The box has paintings and metal sculptures on it, and the top part of the box has louvers on it that are just for show," he notes.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Mahowald, 160 Hemlock Way, Broomfield, Colo. 80020 (ph 303 466-0924).

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Rare 1890's Wood Stove Heats Entire House ENERGY Wood Burners (65) 30-6-35 "It's beautiful and highly functional at the same time," says John Mahowald, Broomfield, Colo., who converted a rare 1890 wood burning stove to heat his entire ranch house. The"Elegant Universal" cast iron stove measures 5 ft. 5 in. high by 22 in. sq. It was originally designed to burn either wood or coal and had a nickel-plated base, with ornate foot warmers and several big gargoyles on it. Mahowald designed a closed loop system that allows the stove to pump heated water to a heat exchanger in the plenum of the furnace in his basement. He also modified the stove to burn wood pellets by mounting a hopper along one side. "This stove is quite rare - most people have never seen one," says Mahowald. "I paid $2,000 for it more than 30 years ago, but I think it would sell for about $10,000 today. "I tried using the stove as it was originally designed in my living room for a few years, but the room got so hot I couldn't even sit in there. I had to find a way to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the entire house." So he and a friend built a copper box - mounted inside a wooden enclosure on the ceiling - that collects heat from the top of the stove through the flue pipe. An electric fan, hooked up to a thermostat, is used to transport heat through a copper tube that goes across the ceiling and then down into the plenum of the furnace in the basement. Next, he installed an open loop water pumping system. It includes copper coils inside the firebox and a pair of copper tubes that lead from the stove, down through the floor, and into the basement. Hot water is pumped into a heat exchanger that mounts inside the furnace's cold air duct. A stainless steel tank serves as a water reservoir and has a pump attached to it. Once the water temperature inside the coils in the firebox reaches 110 degrees, the pump and furnace fan start up at the same time. Cold water is pumped back up to the stove. The hopper on the side of the stove holds 60 lbs. of wood pellets. A small electric motor drives an auger, which delivers the pellets to the firebox. "I use it every day and really like it. It warms things up fast. The outside temperature can be 14 degrees and the inside temperature can be 69 degrees, yet the stove can heat the house back up to 74 degrees in only about two hours," says Mahowald. "It took me three winters to figure out how to get the right combination of coils, relays, and temperature sensing units to coordinate with the furnace fan. "It also looks nice and is quite a conversation piece. The box has paintings and metal sculptures on it, and the top part of the box has louvers on it that are just for show," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Mahowald, 160 Hemlock Way, Broomfield, Colo. 80020 (ph 303 466-0924).

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