Glenwood Baseheater-Specs, Photos and Performance

Even though I have already posted a lot about my Glenwood No. 6 Baseburner, I have been asked to do a more detailed description of it for further examination. It is therefore, my pleasure to do so. If I have skipped anything important let me know. Last fall I bought a two story log house up in the Pocono's of PA. I needed a stove to heat the house during the cold winters up here. I decided to buy a Glenwood Baseheater. I originally wanted a No. 8 but the stove dealer didn't have one at the moment so I bought the next size down which is a No. 6. I wanted the best, most efficient stove I could afford and the Glenwood fit the bill. After a winter spent with it I firmly believe I couldn't have spent my money any better. The Glenwood cost $2000, a price that is not much different than most new stoves on the market. My Glenwood was manufactured in June of 1909.
SPECIFICATIONS
Floor to top of Stove Body (not counting finial): 48"
Base: 24"X 24"
Flue Collar: 6' round, 29" height from floor
Baseheating tubes: 30" circumferance
Base heating heat exchanger in bottom of stove: 48" TOTAL HEATING SURFACE: 27 Feet
Grates: 12"
Grate Type: Rotating triangluar bars- 4 total
Firepot: 11" deep, Top diameter, 16" FIREPOT CAPACITY: 60-70 pounds
Barrel diameter: 16"
Combustion chamber (area above fire): 16"X 32"
Weight: God only knows
Coal sizes: Stove or Nut size

PERFORMANCE
Over the past winter I used both Stove and Nut sized coal. Both burn well, but; the Stove size seems to work better, respond quicker to changes in the draft and is easier to start than Nut coal. The Nut coal takes longer to reach optimal burning temps and is slower to respond to changes in draft settings. I didn't notice any difference in burn times with either size coal. Which size to recommend would depend entirely what the user prefers. I prefer Stove size in this stove.
The Glenwood is extremely easy to use and maintain. In warmer weather (temps between 25 and 45) the Glenwood can maintain a temperature of 350-400 degrees for up to 24 hours without attention on about 25 to 30 pounds of coal. One shaking a day is all that is needed. In the coldest weather, stove temperatures of 500 plus can be maintained constanly for about 20 hours while consuming about 50 lbs of coal. Shaking is still done once per day.
When the stove is running at high temperatures the stack temperature never goes higher than 140 degrees unless the stove is in direct draft mode, while in direct draft stack temps never exceed 225 degrees. This indicates an extremely high level of efficiency.
The ash produced is reduced to a fine powder. The grates are geared together in pairs and can be shaken separately. Clinkers are easily broken up. I did not have a single instance where the grates jambed or couldn't be shaken. If resistance occurs while shaking, I know that I have hit the bottom of the coal bed.
The firepot is lined with castable refractory cement. It is not necessary for the operation of the stove, but; the refractory lining insures the firepot will have an indefinite service life.
BASEBURNING MODE: Baseburner stoves are called such because they are designed to redirect the exhaust heat and gasses from the fire down behind the stove, then under the base of the stove, then back up the back of the stove then finally out of the exhaust collar to the chimney. A standard stove vents its gasses and heat directly to the chimney once they leave the Combustion Chamber. The Baseburning circuit adds about 12 feet of additional radiating surface area to extract as much heat out of the stove as possible. It almost doubles the total heating surface of the stove and this no doubt is what makes these stoves so incredibly efficient. A baseburner must have a good chimney to work at its best as the draft needs enough strength to pull the gasses through this long detour around the stove. It is incredible to me that they could pack 27 FEET of heating surface in an area that takes up 4 square feet of floor space.

In the photos above you can see the inside of the base heating tube that goes down to the bottom of the stove. In the next photo you can see the heat exhanger down in the base of the stove. If you look closely you can see that the intake is on the right and the gasses have to come to the front of the stove, then make a U turn to escape out of the exit at the left rear. The tubes and base are easily accessed for inspection and cleaning by removing the plates placed there for that purpose. The bottom of the stove collects fly ash and needs to be cleaned at the end of each heating season. The acces plate is found under the ash pan. Here are photos of the inside of the stove and the grates, etc.
The grates are heavy duty triangular bars. Each grate has 3 sides which can be turned toward the fire. The fact that each grate bar has 3 sides and can be turned means that you get triple the life out of them because you can change which side gets exposed to the fire.
One of the neatest contributions to the Glenwood's high performance is the controlled, secondary air that is heated first, then admitted right at the top of the fire bed. This insures that the gasses will burn off before they are lost forever up the chimney. The top of the firepot is circled by a heavy iron ring with little holes drilled in it all around the stove. It closely resembles a big gas burner on a cooking stove. Often after loading a fresh load of coal I can see blue jets of flame spouting from these little holes as the air hits the gas in the combustion chamber. The secondary air is admitted right under the loading door. See photos below

WOW!!! Great post! Boy was there a lot of thought put into the design of this stove! It looks like the old timers sure knew how to design and build an anthracite coal burning stove! Thank you for the more detailed information. After seeing your Glenwood Base Burner, it makes me want to get one too. Awesome stove!!

HOW BASEHEATING DAMPER WORKS
In the back of the stove there is a large flapper type damper that separates the draft passages in the rear of the stove. There are two settings for it. One is direct draft where the gasses exit directly into the flue and Baseburning Mode where when the damper is raised the gasses are directed down through the baseburning circuit. The big tube in the back of the stove that goes downward is really two tubes inside. When the damper is set, the rear tube directs the smoke down and once it has made its way down and around the circuit then it comes back up the front tube and goes out the pipe collar and to the chimney. I couldn't get a picture of exactly how the tubes are made so I hope my description is adequate enough to be understandable. See pictures below. I also want add a few pictures of the grate gears and how the bottom is put together. I forgot to mention that the grates can be shaken with the stove entirely closed. The shaker fittings are covered by a little flap which is raised when the grates need shaking. Almost no dust escapes into the house. Any excessive dust that gets into the house is soley due to the operator not the stove itself
I also want to describe the air intake dampers. They are of an excellent design as they are totally air tight. The dampers are held against the body of the loading and ash pit doors by strong springs which push them against the body of the doors. They still slide open and closed easily yet are totally sealed when closed.

Do you know and could you tell us how many versions of the Genwood Base Burner Stoves there are? You made reference to wanting to get the no.8 but settled for the no.6. I have seen a Glenwood Base Burner no. 116, what is the difference if any? Thanks.

There are several sizes of Glenwood baseheating stoves. I really don't know how many sizes that were made. It would be neat to come across a sales catalog that listed them. The No 8 and No 6 are the largest and the smallest is a Glenwood 109. They are all base burners and all are super efficient. Check out the Antique Stove Hospital site. He has most of the sizes available I think. I think the 111 is a nice sized stove for a living room and I would like to have one of those too.
I think the 116 is a Glenwood, "Modern Oak," they had the baseheating extra as an option. These are dual fuel stoves, you can burn either wood or coal in them if they are set up for it.

Wonderful revue, thanks very much.

You are quite welcome. If I have missed something here please ask.

I'll add in a couple things based on my experience. During this past spring, I was able to run the stove with surface temperatures at 225 to 250 just idling along. I had no problem with keeping a fire at that low temp, although at night when I filled it, I would give it a lot of air to get the fire running well again.

During the coldest weather, I was running my stove hotter, 650 to 675 maybe even sometimes around 700. I went through a lot more coal that way, probably 60 to 70 pounds a day. I might even have had days where it was pretty close to 100 pounds a day. I live with three women and they all like it warm...

There's another aspect of these stoves that I don't know how to measure. They circulate the heat better than any stove I've ever used. Somehow the way all the heat deflectors are designed on the outside of this stove causes heat convection to take place that is noticeably better. I think it might rival or even equal a fan driven system. My Glenwood heated my entire house this past winter better than my forced air central heating plant works... Go figure... I live in a one story ranch, the stove is in the living room on one end of the house, the bedrooms on the other end. The bedrooms were cooler but very comfortable. I used no air circulation system other than whatever the stove does through natural convection.

I definately liked stove coal better than nut. Another thing that wasn't specified: These stoves can burn anthracite, wood AND bituminous....

dj

dlj wrote:I'll add in a couple things based on my experience. During this past spring, I was able to run the stove with surface temperatures at 225 to 250 just idling along. I had no problem with keeping a fire at that low temp, although at night when I filled it, I would give it a lot of air to get the fire running well again.

During the coldest weather, I was running my stove hotter, 650 to 675 maybe even sometimes around 700. I went through a lot more coal that way, probably 60 to 70 pounds a day. I might even have had days where it was pretty close to 100 pounds a day. I live with three women and they all like it warm...

There's another aspect of these stoves that I don't know how to measure. They circulate the heat better than any stove I've ever used. Somehow the way all the heat deflectors are designed on the outside of this stove causes heat convection to take place that is noticeably better. I think it might rival or even equal a fan driven system. My Glenwood heated my entire house this past winter better than my forced air central heating plant works... Go figure... I live in a one story ranch, the stove is in the living room on one end of the house, the bedrooms on the other end. The bedrooms were cooler but very comfortable. I used no air circulation system other than whatever the stove does through natural convection.

I definately liked stove coal better than nut. Another thing that wasn't specified: These stoves can burn anthracite, wood AND bituminous....

dj

Hi dj;
I was hoping you would jump in here. I forgot to add that the nickle plated skirt is not just for decoration. It serves to create a convection current at floor level. Another thing to consider is that the bottom of the stove is radiatiing heat not just the sides and the top.

Hi wsherrick. Very nice job. When I read your description I fell like a kid. I have a business and I know that if a no more fabricated product was described like you do for your stove, someone would make it right now. I didn't find out yet why the anthracite stove makers still offer products like the one they have now. They must go back to the futur. I think the Chubby and Glenwood are the evident receipts to make the best stoves in the world. If anthracite burning is not on the down side, it is about time to wake up for different stoves.
Again, thank you for the great job
Salutations, nortcan

Hi dls, same comments as for wsherrick. These stoves are not just stoves, they are jewels. Yes, compared to the rest of the stoves on the market now, they are JEWELS .I think stoves makers are sleeping on the job and could improve a lot of things when we see what was done in the past with less of all.
Salutations, nortcan

Thanks Nortcan for the compliment. Here is a crude drawing I made to show how the Bypass Damper works. I hope it makes sense. I drew this real quickly on the dining room table.

DOUG wrote:WOW!!! Great post! Boy was there a lot of thought put into the design of this stove! It looks like the old timers sure knew how to design and build an anthracite coal burning stove! Thank you for the more detailed information. After seeing your Glenwood Base Burner, it makes me want to get one too. Awesome stove!!

Hi Doug:
I'm glad you liked it. Let me know if you are going to join dj and myself and join the Glenwood Baseburner Society.