Differance Between Base Burners and Parlor Stoves?

What is the differance between the two? Not being any kind of an expert I am curious as to what is the differance between the two?

Usually a parlor stove is a direct draft stove, so lot of heat go out in the chimney.
A base burner is the opposite. When the gasses exit the stove, they are directed to the back of the stove then toward the base of the stove, usually a chamber below the ash pit. There the gasses make a U turn and come back to a rising channel at the back of the stove and up to the exit flue pipe.
That long gasses path permits to release the heat from the hot gasses in the house instead of losing that heat out in the chimney.
A damper device permits to go direct draft or base burning mode.

Nortcan

THANK YOU!! Now the next question is could a person take his Parlor stove and turn it into a "baseburner"?

I love the old Parlor Stoves and Base Burners and I am INTENT of owning one. Sooner rather that later.

Read this thread below. It explains everything.

Glenwood Baseheater-Specs, Photos and Performance

wsherrick wrote:Read this thread below. It explains everything.

Glenwood Baseheater-Specs, Photos and Performance

Thank you for posting the link!

There are also different designs of base burners and they came in a jillion different sizes. There are also Oak stoves and Clylinder Coal stoves with indirect back pipes which are sort of like base heaters, but; are much simpler.
You should read up on them as much as possible and MOST of all determine the correct size to meet your needs. These stoves are classified by the diameter of the fire pot. They run in size from as small as eight inches up to monster sizes of 24 inches in diameter.
The average sizes to heat an entire house is from about 14 inches to 18 inches.

One of the more important pieces of information regarding the antique stoves is the BTU output. This is not often discussed because of the lack of information. I have posted the BTU ratings using surface area vs stove body temperature but have yet to calculate BTU's based on fire pot size.

It would be interesting to measure the coal usage of a Glenwood # 6 at full output during a 24 hour period during a cold night. And then we could extrapolate the BTU rating and develop a breakdown for potential stove buyers.

At one point I knew the fire box dimensions for a Quaker # 8. Possibly 20 inches?

A Quaker #8 is 18" firepot I believe.

A parlor stove is a generic term. It usually just meant that the stove was NOT a range or cookstove and was used as a dedicated heater (versus cooker/heater). A parlor stove could be a wood stove or a coal stove in any of 100s of designs.
Base Heaters and Base Burners are a specific kind of "parlor" stove that use a long flame path to circulate the exhaust down around the stove base before exiting into the chimney. The rest you can in Will's link.

EarthWindandFire wrote:One of the more important pieces of information regarding the antique stoves is the BTU output. This is not often discussed because of the lack of information. I have posted the BTU ratings using surface area vs stove body temperature but have yet to calculate BTU's based on fire pot size.

It would be interesting to measure the coal usage of a Glenwood # 6 at full output during a 24 hour period during a cold night. And then we could extrapolate the BTU rating and develop a breakdown for potential stove buyers.

At one point I knew the fire box dimensions for a Quaker # 8. Possibly 20 inches?

At 500 degrees for 24 hours, constant. My stove consumes 50 pounds of coal. That is plenty of heat to heat my house of 1500 square feet. Glenwood Base Heaters can be safely operated up to 700 degrees without damage to them. At 600 degrees and above the stack temperature never exceeds 150 while in Base Burner Mode.
I calculated the overall surface area of 27 square feet, but; I think that is a bit conservative. It probably is a little more than that.
If you can figure that out then you will have a base line to measure from.

I always thought the term "parlor stove" implied it was for "one room" heating(such as a parlor) and not intended for "whole house" heating.

My old WESO stove is what I considered a "parlor stove" even though in the warmer temps, it would heat the whole house.

You have to remember that these things were originally used in the Victorian era where the houses tended to be HUGE.

jpete wrote:I always thought the term "parlor stove" implied it was for "one room" heating(such as a parlor) and not intended for "whole house" heating.

My old WESO stove is what I considered a "parlor stove" even though in the warmer temps, it would heat the whole house.

You have to remember that these things were originally used in the Victorian era where the houses tended to be HUGE.

Not only HUGE houses but un insulated as well. Many homes also had several chimneys or fireplaces around the home as well. I see lots of homes like this here in Eastern MA.

I am with you Jeff I thought the term Parlor Stove was basically a unit big enough to heat a particular room and Base Heaters would throw more of punch and thus heat a larger area. You learn something new everyday.

A friend of mine has a home with 4 fireplaces with a central chimney. Each hearth is located as such that if properly used the entire home could be heated and at one time it was. The house was built in the late 1700's. Of course in the past 200 plus years a lot as changed in the house. Including making the doorways higher so people wouldn't have to duck to pass through them Seems we as humans have "evolved" a bit in the past 2 centuries and grown a few inches taller.

The Glenwood and the Quaker # 6 both have a 16" wide fire pot. Hence the number 6 in the name.

The Glenwood and the Quaker # 8 both have a 18" wide fire pot. Hence the number 8 in the name.

However, the Quakers are MUCH larger stoves than the Glenwoods of the same number. I can only assume the reason being that the Quakers have a deeper fire pot than the Glenwoods and a longer/taller cylinder as well.

EarthWindandFire wrote:The Glenwood and the Quaker # 6 both have a 16" wide fire pot. Hence the number 6 in the name.

The Glenwood and the Quaker # 8 both have a 18" wide fire pot. Hence the number 8 in the name.

However, the Quakers are MUCH larger stoves than the Glenwoods of the same number. I can only assume the reason being that the Quakers have a deeper fire pot than the Glenwoods and a longer/taller cylinder as well.

Quite right EW&F, The Quakers are both large stoves. Emery told me that you can just about fit a Glenwood #6 inside of a Quaker #6. I know that's an exaggeration but they are much bigger stoves and big time heaters.

EarthWindandFire wrote:The Glenwood and the Quaker # 6 both have a 16" wide fire pot. Hence the number 6 in the name.

The Glenwood and the Quaker # 8 both have a 18" wide fire pot. Hence the number 8 in the name.

However, the Quakers are MUCH larger stoves than the Glenwoods of the same number. I can only assume the reason being that the Quakers have a deeper fire pot than the Glenwoods and a longer/taller cylinder as well.

Yes, different companies had unique depths of firepots to go along with the diameter. Deeper fire pots are much better than shallow ones. In choosing a stove you need to consider the its total coal capacity to get one that can provide enough heat for the area heated during the coldest weather.
The fire pot diameter is a pretty good rule of thumb to determine that. A stove with a twelve inch fire pot can hold around 40-45 pounds of coal for example.
Germer Radiant Homes, have models with fire pots of up to 24 inches. I have seen one with a 22 inch fire pot. Its BTU rating would be well in excess of 100,000 BTUS per hour running at a normal capacity.
I don't know how accurate this is and I have no basis for it, but; I always would think that for every pound of coal you would get 1,000 BTUS per hour at normal operating temps. So a stove that holds 40 pounds of coal can, AT LEAST produce 40,000 BTUS per hour. I think that is pretty conservative guess. I have nothing to back that up so I'm wondering if that is way off base or is a good way to estimate.

EarthWindandFire wrote:One of the more important pieces of information regarding the antique stoves is the BTU output. This is not often discussed because of the lack of information. I have posted the BTU ratings using surface area vs stove body temperature but have yet to calculate BTU's based on fire pot size.

It would be interesting to measure the coal usage of a Glenwood # 6 at full output during a 24 hour period during a cold night. And then we could extrapolate the BTU rating and develop a breakdown for potential stove buyers.

At one point I knew the fire box dimensions for a Quaker # 8. Possibly 20 inches?

I think the most I've been able to push through my Glenwood over a 24 hour period is in the neighborhood of 100 pounds of coal. I recall a conversation on here some time ago where someone had said they could put either 125 or 150 pounds of coal through their stove so I tried to see what I could do. It was quite cold out and I'm not sure I made the 24 hour period running full out as it got very toasty in my house... But I guess the max amount of coal you could push through the Glenwood #6 would be close to 100 pounds a day if you need to use that for some kind of guesstimate of max BTU output. Although 75 pounds would be more reasonable to consider a throughput over say a week or more..

dj