General questions might be found below in our FAQ section. Questions about specific products, prices, specifications, etc can be sought by clicking on the "Ask a Question" button below. We check our questions box every day and can usually get back to you by the next business day. Thanks for visiting our web site and please come again. Information on new products is being added all the time.
What makes a stove mobile home approved?
What are the benefits of pellet stoves?
How often should I clean my pellet stove?
What are the benefits of wood stoves?
What are the benefits of gas stoves?
Can I install a stove/fireplace myself?
What about stoves on the Internet?
What makes a wood stove "efficient"?
What makes a pellet stove "efficient"?
What makes a gas stove "efficient"?
Are vent-free gas stoves safe?
What is the difference between a "stove", a "fireplace", and an "insert"?
What makes a stove mobile home approved? There are special codes that make a stove and/or it's installation in mobile and manufactured homes a little different than other types of homes. First, the combustion air must be fresh air from outside the house. For woodstoves and pellet stoves this is usually accomplished with a flexible aluminum ducting through the floor or outside wall. With gas stoves, those classified as "direct vent" have a special duct or vent pipe that breaths-in the combustion air from the outside of your home. Unlike other home installations the stove of a manufactured or mobile home must be secured/bolted down to the hearth. BACK TO TOP
Is my stove certified? Any wood stove manufactured after July 1st, 1990 is a certified stove. However, it still may not be up to code with respect to how it is installed in a home. In addition to the manufacturing date, a stove must have an identification plate attatched to it's body [recording Name, Brand, Serial #, etc.]. If it does not have this I.D. plate, then it is probably not certified...even if it is brand new. Gas stoves and pellet stoves are EPA exempt, and therefore they are certified according to clean-air laws. Again, however, they still must be installed correctly depending on the codes of your jurisdiction. BACK TO TOP
What about burn bans? Sometimes deteriorating air quality in a certain location will necessitate a ban on indoor woodstove burning. Thes bans are catagorized as Phase 1 and Phase 2. During Phase 1 burn bans (sometimes called Yellow) only certified woodstoves may be burned, or non-certified woodstoves if it is your only source of heat. On rare occassions, during Phase 2 burn bans (Red), non-certified as well as certified woodstoves are banned from use...except if it is your only source of heat. Gas stoves and pellet stoves are EPA exempt...therefore they're not subject to burn bans. BACK TO TOP
What are the benefits of burning pellet stoves? Most proponents of pellet stoves are those who have had enought of cutting, stacking, and hauling cord wood - but can't or don't want natural gas or propane. They find that the greatest advantages of pellet stoves are that they use a clean, dry, renewable fuel, they produce and even - steady heat, and most (depending on hopper capacity) can burn up to 50 hours without re-fueling. As a point of importance, it should be known that pellet stoves do require electricity to operate. Thus, in case of a power-outage one most hook their pellet stove up to a generator or a 12V marine battery and an AC/DC converter. BACK TO TOP
How often should I clean my pellet stove? The key to cleaning frequency is the quality of fuel you burn. Low quality pellet fuel costs less but produces more fly ash and leaves greater than average residue in the burn pot, combustion blower, and vent pipe. As a rule of thumb clean, if needed, the burn pot every 10 bags, the ash drawer every 50 bags, flue gas passageways every 50 bags, convection blower every 100 bags, and the combustion blower every 100 bags. Again, this depends on the quality of pellets, your particular venting environment, and stove usage. Refer to your owners manual for your particular stove. BACK TO TOP
What are the benefits of woodstoves? Fans of woodstoves will site many reasons why they love their stoves. Nothing can replace the romance of the real smell, sound, and glow of a wood fire. Owing a woodstove means greater independence with respect to the fuel source. . . scraps of wood can be found almost anywhere. In addition, higher BTU's can be achieved w/ woodstoves, they can be used in power outages, they can be cooked on, and the fuel source is often less expensive than propane, pellets, coal, and electricity. And for the environmentally conscience, wood fuel is our only renewable resource in comparison to gas, coal, oil, or propane. BACK TO TOP
Can I install a stove/fireplace myself? Yes, you may install a pellet, gas, oil, coal, wood, electric stove or fireplace yourself - and your manufacture's warranty is usually still valid. However, it is mandatory in most all jurisdictions to have the installation inspected. It is also highly recommended that you notify the carrier of your home-owners insurance policy of your plans in order to avoid any unpleasant future surprises. BACK TO TOP
What about stoves on the internet? There are numerous reasons why one should be very careful about purchasing a stove online. The biggest reason is that many manufacturers will not pay for warranty parts or service if the stove is bought over the internet. In addition, when one buys from a local retail hearth shop they have someone to talk to face to face if any questions or concerns arise about your stove. Most (not all) quality, high-efficiency stove manufactures will not allow their stoves to be sold on the internet. Therefore, the majority of these well-built stoves can not be found online. Besides, it is impossible to inspect quality of construction and many other features over the internet. And finally, when adding the extra amount of money for shipping and warranty work - one would be money ahead buying locally. BACK TO TOP
What are the benefits of gas stoves? Gas and propane stoves offer three advantages over other types of stoves: 1. They are the cleanest fuel source with respect to oil, wood, pellet, and coal - very little to no cleaning is required. 2. Well built, high quality gas stoves do not require electricity to produce heat - unlike pellet stoves. #3. Finally, they can be thermostatically controlled just like a furnace - but where a furnace is useless in a power failure, a gas or propane stove keeps on heatin'. BACK TO TOP
What does "direct vent" mean? The term simply means that the stove in question is a sealed combustion system that draws combustion air from outside the house [this is desirable in air-tight homes and code for mobile/manufactured homes and for bedrooms]. Typically this is accomplished with a co-axial or co-linear vent system in which one vent is for exhaust and the other is for fresh air intake. Do not confuse this with outside air systems for wood and pellet stoves - for these type of stoves/fireplaces are not sealed combustion systems. BACK TO TOP
What makes a wood stove efficient? The two things that make a wood stove efficient are thermal mass and the ability to re-burn "smoke". These two qualities are inter-related and are often measured by an EPA rating that measures the amount (in grams) of smoke a stove emits per hour. For simplification one can compare thermal mass to a sponge: the larger and denser a sponge, the more water it will absorb. This is partly analogous to a stove's thermal mass - the more there is the more heat the stove will absorb and not loose up the chimney. This is more easily understood when one considers the efficiency (or lack thereof)of an open masonry fireplace versus the same fireplace with a woodstove insert installed into it. It can be said, the higher quality (and typically more expensive) stoves have greater and better engineered thermal mass. One must also consider the technology to re-burn smoke. Typically smoke is diverted into and around jets of fresh air coming from secondary combustion tubes or filtered through catalytic combustors to create higher EPA efficiencies by igniting the leftover gaseous fuel (a.k.a. "smoke"). The most obvious thing that dictates the efficiency of a burn is the amount of air introduced to the primary fire. This differs from stove to stove - and some manufacturers do not have very low "low air" settings. That is, the primary air damper that feeds the stove does not close as low as other stoves. This is a quick way to ensure impressive EPA emission standards because their low burn is everyone else's medium burn. BACK TO TOP
What are the different ways of "re-burning" smoke in newer woodstoves? Generally speaking, newer wood stoves either employ catalytic combustors or secondary combustion air tubes to "re-burn" smoke in a woodstove. Catalytic combustors "re-burn" smoke by chemically altering the smoke so the remaining fuel will burn at lower temperatures [temperatures present in the stove's firebox]. Catalytic devises can clog up with contaminants...and thus may need to be replaced occasionally. In a catalytic combustor, smoke filters through a box similar looking to a honeycomb. This process creates both good and bad consequences. The "filtering" slows down a stove's burn process - which is good because longer "cleaner" burns result. However, this slowing down process drastically reduces the amount of visible flame viewable for the enjoyment of the owner . . the bad reult. This dual personality of catalytic combustors created the needed to come up with secondary combustion technology. Secondary combustion technology takes it's name from the fact that the primary combustion is on the floor of the firebox were the solid wood fuel is burning, and thus the burning of gaseous fuel ("smoke") is secondary. Secondary combustion technology typically employs front-to-back or side-to-side tubes residing in the firebox's baffle that introduce "jets" of air into the firebox environment. The air flowing out of these tubes provides the necessary oxygen to mix with the smoke in order for secondary combustion to take place. However, one more ingredient is necessary for this secondary combustion to take place. We already have the fuel (the smoke), the oxygen (from the tubes)...but heat is also needed for smoke combustion to take place. This heat is provided for in two related ways. One practice is to install a ceramic board in the baffle in lieu of firebrick. These ceramic boards act like mirrors that reflect upward moving heat back into the smoke and air mixture to aid in secondary combustion. However, the reflective nature of the ceramic board is also it's Achilles heal. That is, since the ceramic board is engineered to reflect heat it does not absorb heat to aid in secondary combustion long after the primary fire has begun to cool off. Stoves that employ a firebrick / ceramic blanket combination baffle are able to reflect and absorb heat. In this engineered system, the heat reflective ceramic blanket lays on top of the heat absorbing firebrick. The ceramic blanket reflects the heat being absorbed by the firebrick back down into the smoke/fresh-air mixture to aid in secondary combustion. The advantage of this system is that long after the primary fire has begun to cool off and provide enough heat for the ceramic blanket to reflect into the smoke/fresh-air mixture, the high-density firebrick "bleeds" heat that it has stored into the smoke/fresh-air mixture. High density firebrick / ceramic blanket combination technology more properly address "real world" burning scenarios than heat deflective ceramic boards because they provide a necessary heat storage system near the smoke/fresh-air mixture when the primary fire begins to cool off. BACK TO TOP
What makes a pellet stove efficient? As with gas stoves, when we address efficiency we are talking about two different measurements. One measurement is combustion efficiency - which measures how much of the fuel is completely combusted. This measurement of efficiency does not measure how much actual HEAT enters the home. The measurement of actual heat entering the home versus heat loss up the chimney is considered radiant efficiency. Radiant efficiency is dictated by the thermal mass of a stove's heat exchanger - which is best seen in the form of a series of steel tubes. The exhaust gasses produced by the burning of the fuel passes over and around the heat exchanger, but not through it. Like a sponge absorbing water, a heat exchanger absorbs heat. And like a denser sponge absorbing more water, the larger/heavier/denser the heat exchanger the more heat it will absorb before it escapes up the chimney. Every stove has some form of a heat exchanger - but some have very little absorbing capability. Thus, while shopping for a pellet stove or a gas stove the consumer should ask to see a cut-away of a stove or a sample of the stove's heat exchanger to see how heavy duty it is. Or, simply compare (if posted) the weights of stoves - with the heavier ones typically being constructed more efficiently [NOTE: one must not compare cast iron stoves to plated steal stoves - for they are constructed completely different. Only compare stoves of similar construction materials and within the same BTU class]. BACK TO TOP
What makes a gas stove efficient? Like pellet stoves, when we address efficiency we are talking about two different measurements. One measurement is combustion efficiency - which measures how much of the fuel is completely burned. This measurement of efficiency does not measure how much actual HEAT enters the home. The measurement of actual heat entering the home versus heat loss up the chimney is considered radiant efficiency. Radiant efficiency is dictated by the thermal mass of a stove's heat exchanger - which in its most efficient cases takes the form of a series of steel tubes. The exhaust gasses produced by the burning of the fuel passes over and around the heat exchanger, but not through it. Like a sponge absorbing water, a heat exchanger absorbs heat. And like a denser sponge absorbing more water, the larger/heavier/denser the heat exchanger the more heat it will absorb before it escapes up the chimney. Every stove has some form of a heat exchanger - but some have very little absorbing capability. Thus, while shopping for a gas stove or a pellet stove the consumer should ask to see a cut-away of a stove or a sample of the stove's heat exchanger to see how heavy duty it is. Or, simply compare (if posted) the weights of stoves - with the heavier ones typically being constructed more efficiently [NOTE: one must not compare cast iron stoves to plated steal stoves - for they are constructed completely different. Only compare stoves of similar construction materials and within the same BTU class]. BACK TO TOP
Are "vent free" gas stoves safe? Yes and No. Vent free gas stoves are perfectly safe or utterly undesirable depending on what type of home or room the stove is installed into. The crux of a vent free stove's duplicitous nature is that w/out a chimney the exhaust must be dumped into the home...albeit 99% or so of the remaining carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are filtered out through a catalytic filter. What is worrisome about vent free gas stoves is what passes through the catalytic filter...the water vapor. Every 10,000 Btu's of gas an hour produces approximately 1 quart of water vapor...that is exhausted into your home. Thus, is you plan on burning a vent free gas stove for extended periods of time...you must address a potential water vapor problem. Homes with a lot of cubic feet [high ceilings, lofts, etc.] will dilute this exhaust water vapor over a given area much more effectively [mathematically speaking] than a home with the same square footage but with less cubic footage [i.e. lower ceilings, etc.]. To make an analogy of this potential problem...create and compare a mental picture of the water condensation that occurs after a shower in a small air-tight bathroom versus a huge drafty bathroom. A given volume of air, at a fixed temperature, can only hold a certain amount of water in the vapor phase. At some point, as the amount of vapor increases, condensation is going to occur. Condensation is less likely to occur in larger spaces in which the same amount of water vapor is spread out amongst a larger volume of air. Condensation is also less likely to occur in drafty rooms and homes versus air-tight homes. These issues should be thought over and considered before buying a vent free gas stove. As a rule of thumb Wallace's typically only recommends vent free gas stoves or fireplaces to those homeowners who have older, draftier homes or those with a lot of cubic feet...or simply those folks who only plan to occasionally burn their stove during holidays, special functions, etc. BACK TO TOP
What is the difference between a "stove", a "fireplace", and an "insert"? A "stove" is any wood, pellet, oil, gas, or propane appliance that is installed out into the room on legs or a pedestal...with a traditional chimney stack coming out the back or on top of the appliance. A "fireplace" or "zero clearance fireplace" is a similar heating appliance that is installed flush into or slightly protruding from a wall during new construction or remodels when a conventional masonry fireplace is not used. A "fireplace" or "zero clearance fireplace" is usually a firebox with two or three protective layers of metal built around it that allow framing material to be built right up next to and around it. Most new homes come standard with a builders grade zero clearance gas or wood fireplace. An "insert" is very similar to a fireplace in looks, but is entirely different with respect to application. As the name implies, an "insert" can only be safely installed into a pre-existing cavity of a masonry fireplace or zero-clearance wood fireplace. Think of it this way...an "insert" inserts into a preexisting cavity...where as a fireplace or zero clearance fireplace is a self contained unit that is built or set in place and framed around. BACK TO TOP