Base burners

Other than a Glenwood what to look for and how to identify quickly?

There are many good base burners / base heaters out there. Glenwood was a major (and excellent) manufacturer so it seems you are more likely to come across one of those surviving stoves in the Northeast. They are clearly identified by the plumbing on the back of the stove that can route the exhaust (switchable) into the base of the stove and back up for exit to the chimney. Closely related are stoves that can route the exhaust up and down through some rear plumbing but not through the base.

Hi, just a suggestion but if you go to the Stovehospital web site, then you will see a lot of infos on many antique stoves and many other tricks on them.
Generally, many antique stoves are good working stoves if in good condition. One important thing to look at is the grates condition and how the grate works: prismatic, round , round with a prismatic one in the center or round with a dumping one in the center...The grate efficiency is one of the most important item when wanting an EASY and efficient burning stove. For me, a round turning outside ring and a prismatic grate in the center is among the most easy and efficient system. When shaking the outer ring, you make shure there is no bridging that keep the ash up and not falling down to the ash pan. Then you shake the center one just as you need to. Never bridging, never poking... ash building up is the worst ennemy in a coal stove
And many other things to consider like you heating needs so you can get the right stove's size: 12", 14", 16"... fire pot. An antique stove is best when you can have it dis-assembed to check every parts and see if some cracks are present, then re-assemle with new seals...Some peoples can and want to do that but others preffer have the restoration done from a pro.
OOps the question Base Burner: these stoves are very efficient cause the long gases path in the stove keeps the heat in the house instead of sending it in the chimney. But many other configurations can make you very happy, you must learn all you can on all the types of stoves available.

Check out this thread:

Base burner stoves

On page 3 there are some pretty good diagrams to explain the base burner and base heater.

Greg L