Print

[jack1243]

I have in the past few weeks installed a Hick's Water Stove. I have a few questions and an appointment with the maufacurer after Christmas. The manual says you should only have to fire the stove 2 times a day to keep a temp of 180. I load it around 4am when I get up and it takes several more loads to reach 180. It has a blower that blowes into the firebox and cuts off at 180 degrees. It also has 2 door dampers that I keep open about 1/2 way so it does not smolder and smoke once we reach 180. Over night my temp drops to almost 150/140 and I have a good bed of coals to start a fire with. Any suggestions on better fuel consumption? I'm burning Red/white oak that has been cut about a year and a half at 25" lengths. The firebox is 2'x2'x3'deep and it is a side flue with 6 4" flue tubes venting to a cleanout box to the stack into a brick lined chimeny.  Any thoughts and ideas will be breatly appreciated. Stove stats, 500 gallon capacity. Side load with DHW as well.

[jerkash]

Not familiar with your stove, but I would think you leaving your damper doors open is why your wood is burning up so fast.  When the temp reaches 180 degrees (cut off point) you WANT it to smolder.

[Scott7m]

That's a hicks for you.  Had a guy at my shop last fall bragging about his, said he burned like 40 loads of firewood.  I was like, and your happy?  He was like oh yea we love it!  Blew me away, I showed him my wood pile which I figure will last me 2-3 seasons heating 2200sq ft, he said that might last him 2 months and said no way would my stove do that lol.

[jack1243]

I also know we are fighting the lack of insulation in the outer walls of the house. It was built in 1880 and has firebrakes in the walls. We could tare out all the plaster and insulate from inside but that is a headache and the plaster is in great shape. If we were to bun 40 loads it would still be cheaper then what we paid last winter in electic bills to attempt to heat the house. I"ve got a pretty good "free wood" supply so that doesn't bother me. I'm just trying to learn the best way to fire this thing. If I completely shut off the door dampers it will just smolder and lose the heat from the wood...correct? or should we leave the dampers closed and let the blow be the only intake care to the firebox. I'm looking for help here from folks that have used OWB before. The manual is nice but can't teach everyday trial and error.

[MattyNH]

Few houses down the street from me..Guy owns a Central 6048..Heats apts with it..Burns 50 cord a yr..He has unlimited wood..

[victor6deep]

Insulate house first then get wood stove. Check

[Scott7m]

From what I've seen of hicks they aren't like most wood boilers.  Just not sure about them.  You can also insulate your walls from the outside in, there are companies that can drill a hole between studs and do spray foam from the outside

[jack1243]

The way the house is built it is almost impossible to drill from the outside. There are firebrakes between the studs that run criss-cross of the studs. It's an old constuction technique that was designed to keep a fire on the first floor from spreading to the 2nd floor thrugh the walls. We have done the floors and added insulation aroudn all 36 windows when we changed them out. There are no drafts and the system is heating very well. I've got wood out my nose so wood is not an issue and if the temp is above 60 it holds nicely around 175 with a good bed of coals in the firebox. It's a learning process and it may take me a few weeks/ month to figure out what works best for our set-up. I've got a friend with a Taylor and his eats wood like crazy and he's heating less then I am.....and he's using ash, oak, hickory all seasoned atleast 2 yrs.

[baldwin racing]

I have in the past few weeks installed a Hick's Water Stove. I have a few questions and an appointment with the maufacurer after Christmas. The manual says you should only have to fire the stove 2 times a day to keep a temp of 180. I load it around 4am when I get up and it takes several more loads to reach 180. It has a blower that blowes into the firebox and cuts off at 180 degrees. It also has 2 door dampers that I keep open about 1/2 way so it does not smolder and smoke once we reach 180. Over night my temp drops to almost 150/140 and I have a good bed of coals to start a fire with. Any suggestions on better fuel consumption? I'm burning Red/white oak that has been cut about a year and a half at 25" lengths. The firebox is 2'x2'x3'deep and it is a side flue with 6 4" flue tubes venting to a cleanout box to the stack into a brick lined chimeny.  Any thoughts and ideas will be breatly appreciated. Stove stats, 500 gallon capacity. Side load with DHW as well.

try turning the door dampers all the way closed and give them 1/4 turn just to give it a little air...to smother until fan kicks back on when it shut down mode may even try just one and leave one closed and see what happens then go half turn if it goes out and so on....

[RSI]

I have no idea how a Hicks is setup but if it has a solenoid that opens when the fan kicks on you want the air completely shut off when the blower isn't running. Only open it up at all if the fire goes out between cycles.

If you are still having to fill it that much, the simple answer is that you need a larger stove that can hold more wood.

[Scott7m]

 http://www.hickswaterstoves.com/Graphics/No.2/IndexNo2.html

These are pics of the hicks, all pumps, fans,  electronics aren't protected and are exposed.  They to me work more like a batch burn by having multiple drafts, just dont understand why they build them that way

[dwneast77]

http://www.hickswaterstoves.com/Graphics/No.2/IndexNo2.html

These are pics of the hicks, all pumps, fans,  electronics aren't protected and are exposed.  They to me work more like a batch burn by having multiple drafts, just dont understand why they build them that way

That is a strange setup esp. if it is meant to be installed outside.  Kind of looks that way.  Almost forces you to put it inside or shell around it outside.  I see a lot of heat loss with that setup.  And no way it's good to expose that backup oil burner or aquastat to the elements like that.  Doesn't make any sense.

[victor6deep]

I sure wouldn't ever leave the house LOL it might freeze

[fryedaddy]

Scott7M they are designed that way because they aren't designed to be out in the weather.
Hicks stoves are designed to be in a shop or inclosed building.

It's kind of funny how someone can look at one version of someones stove and determine
that their entire lineup is the same.

Hicks waterstove started in the early 80's, many of their earlier model stoves are still around today.
Until this year I was running a 1984 model and decided to upgrade.

When you purchase their stove you understand it will need to be inclosed and account for it.

[fryedaddy]

Jack,

None of the previous comments made apply to your style of stove.

They are commenting on the #2 stove (States that in the link). From what I can tell
you have the #1 stove which has the fan and fire tubes before a back box.
The link supplied is an older model stove copied from "Carolina Wood Stove".
I asked Mark why he still makes them, he said because of customer request.

In your case I would close the damper all the way then turn it back just so it turns free 1/4".
I'm able to load mine twice a day during the peak season and still have coals to start another fire.
I added a timer to mine and set it before I go to bed or before I leave to work. When I wake
up it's normally around 160-170 degrees. I know your situation may be different insulation, sqft
etc..