Upgrading

Another rainy day here in the woods.  But over the weekend The Fuzz and His Sweetie cut down a nice (mostly) dead oak by the neighbor's trailer.  There is still a bit of the trunk left.  The Fuzz is hoping to get to that soon when it's not so rainy.

But Our Fuzz has not been idle.

The other day, he and His Sweetie stopped by an old country store* just over the county line.  While they were perusing the various "Old Timey" goods, this little wood heater caught The Fuzz's eye.  

It is well known to all faithful followers of Kinda Fuzzy, that our Home in the Woods is heated by firewood, in a rather Low-Tech sort of stove.  While this arrangement has done the job, it does have it's problems.  One being that there is no way to slow things down quite enough on those kinda-warm days.

 This little jewel is one of those fancy Down-Draft-Type-Airtight-Models.  The Fuzz figured it might be worth upgrading things.  And His Sweetie agreed.

Seeing Our Fuzz's interest, the proprietors offered him a deal.  It seems that while it is our peak heating season, it is not peak wood stove selling season.  Most folks took care of that detail before cold weather set in.

An so The Fuzz took the plunge. 

With unseasonably warm weather, the fire in the old stove had been alowed to die down.  So The Fuzz, with the aid of His Sweetie, and Young Daughter, brought the new inside for the swap out.

Of course there was some minor assembly required.  After adding this bit of gasket,

the collar for the smoke pipe was bolted in place.

Note some of these cool features.
At "A"- airtight seals
At "B"- interior firebrick lining  
At "C"- blower (not visible)
At "D"- rear baffle (forms air chamber for blower- which also works by natural convection when blower is not in operation)

And Voila!

It is cool to be able to watch the fire inside.

Even the dogs are enjoying it.

*Nestled in the Foothills of North Carolina, Washburn's General Store is recognized as the oldest continually run, family owned & operated business in North Carolina.