Jump to content

Recommended Posts

After lots of thinking and research, think we might be going to get one of these in autumn.

 

photob_b.jpg

 

http://www.rika-japan.com

 

Decided we didn't want a wood stove for a number of reasons.

Want a modern looking one rather than antique looking.

The Rika ones seem to give a very natural looking flame and aren't noisy either.

 

If we can negotiate the price down a bit ;)

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 71
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Looks good! 225Kg(!) plus 32Kg when loaded, so do you have to reinforce the floor?

 

Stick it in the middle of your house if you can, especially if it's got all that stone as thermal mass.

 

(our woodstove isn't antique looking either)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Good question Mr Wiggles and actually the one thing we are knd of waiting on to find out.

But apparently if we need to, it is fairly simple. Would like to believe that.

 

If stories of a possible 50,000 yen from the town are true, I am hoping that we might be able to get it done installed and up and running for around 60 man. Still a lot, it's a luxury, but I think a nice one.

Link to post
Share on other sites

That does look good.

 

Where does the chimney thing go? Just straight out the back? The one thing I do not like about stoves is the great big unsightly tube that you see coming up from their behinds. Not into that look.

Link to post
Share on other sites

No, I'm not keen either.

 

You can choose to have the 1m or so of pipe inside or outside, here's when it goes directly outside

 

zumen.gif

 

If inside, the pipe has insulation (?) in it or something and doesn't get hot, so there's no heat lost by doing the outside version. Apparently.

 

If you have the pipe on the outside as well, you can get the stove closer to the wall rather than sticking out.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

If inside, the pipe has insulation (?) in it or something and doesn't get hot, so there's no heat lost by doing the outside version. Apparently.

 

If you have the pipe on the outside as well, you can get the stove closer to the wall rather than sticking out.

 

With woodstoves, insulated pipe is used outside to keep the flue hot so it produce an updraft that pulls air into the fire. Insulated pipe is not necessary for an indoor part of the flue in a heated space, but is often used because it allows smaller clearances from stuff that might catch fire. The part of our flue from the stove to the ceiling is single-wall, uninsulated pipe.

 

An indoor flue radiates heat into the room, giving you free heat compared to a flue that just goes outside. I'm not so keen on flues with bends in them, but ours just goes straight up from the top of the stove to the ceiling with no bends or connector thingys. It also means that on the outside of the house, we just have a little chimney at top of the roof.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, only saying what the showroom guy said, and he seemed to be generally well up on things.

 

Basically, I'd rather not see a great big huge pipe in the room, i think they are ugly, so the pipe in the outside would be my ideal choice.

Link to post
Share on other sites

That does look good.

 

Where does the chimney thing go? Just straight out the back? The one thing I do not like about stoves is the great big unsightly tube that you see coming up from their behinds. Not into that look.

But a lot of the heat generated by the fire goes up the chimney. So, it makes sense to have that inside the house, with a decorative cover if necessary. Ours goes out of the top of the firebox, and the radiated heat from the flue is part of the added benefit from burning olive tree prunings and press waste. Looks like this inside.

674092236_tp.jpg

The flue itself is polished stainless, takes on an attractive patina after a bit of use, and radiates heat into the room additional to that from the firebox.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I had one very similar (nearly the same) as JA. IMHO, this is IT. Can open the front door and you get REAL open fire. You can put a kettle on top and make a cuppa plus acts as a humidifier ! :thumbsup:

Link to post
Share on other sites

If JA and Jynxx thing you should have your great big pipe in the house, then you should definitely change your mind mina2 -- while it's not too late!

 

:grandpa:

 

Personally, I don't like those pipes. I'd have it outside. If there's a choice, you can do which you like can't you? :thumbsup:

Link to post
Share on other sites

That does look good.

 

Where does the chimney thing go? Just straight out the back? The one thing I do not like about stoves is the great big unsightly tube that you see coming up from their behinds. Not into that look.

But a lot of the heat generated by the fire goes up the chimney. So, it makes sense to have that inside the house, with a decorative cover if necessary. Ours goes out of the top of the firebox, and the radiated heat from the flue is part of the added benefit from burning olive tree prunings and press waste. Looks like this inside.

674092236_tp.jpg

 

 

Looks like this on the outside... :wave: JA's one of them rugged Aussies.

40625746.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

JA is lucky (well, he worked on them) to have stuff to burn. Firewood is expensive - you gotta have property with trees growing and falling and time to dry them. I would put a ceiling fan (revolution both ways for summer and winter) to keep the walm air down ... I guess with low ceilings it doesn`t matter ....

Link to post
Share on other sites

JA is lucky (well, he worked on them) to have stuff to burn. Firewood is expensive - you gotta have property with trees growing and falling and time to dry them. I would put a ceiling fan (revolution both ways for summer and winter) to keep the walm air down ... I guess with low ceilings it doesn`t matter ....

 

In inaka in Japan, there is hectare after hectare of jinkorin with no economic or obvious use for the thinnings. So if you are in inaka and prepared to burn softwood (some people aren't), you should be able to collect logs for free. Well, at the expense of your own time, effort, and gasoline for the kei truck. Just contact your local shinrinkumiai or anyone who knows someone doing ringyo.

 

Even in built-up areas in Japan, you may be able to get free firewood in the form of offcuts and scrap from local carpenters and builders. With the gomi rules, wood is now treated as industrial waste so they either have to pay to get rid of it or burn it off themselves. I know someone in Ibaraki ken would burns exclusively offcuts. They even get them delivered every couple of weeks!

 

Obviously if more people fitted stoves, both supplies would dry up, but woodstoves are expensive in Japan and seen as a luxury. At present, low quality (i.e., fast burn time) firewood in particular is not hard to obtain if you ask around.

 

We've got a ceiling fan (double height space) and yeah, its good advice.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't know about where mina2 is, but here in Minamiuonuma they will give you 50,000 yen if you install a pellet stove.

There's no such payback if you do a wood stove.

Got a friend who was thinking about this that's why I know, though this was a while back and so not sure if it's still happening.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I dunno now, but five years ago you could get a rebate in Nagano if your pellet stove was made in Nagano. 10% max or something.

 

There are other ones like 10% off the frame of your house if its local wood, and even 10% off home renovations if you use a local firm. That last one has a set budget, so you've got to get in quick.

 

There are also tons of rebates, sometimes at both town and prefecture level, for solar panels.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Problem with pellets is that they have to be fed the "pre-made" pellets of fuel. Making the pellets is not trivial (I have tried to get a pellet maker to use Olive press waste as feed and produce burnable pellets as output, to no avail so far!) and the manufactured ones are not (in Aus at least) cheap to buy.

 

Add the higher cost of the stove to the ongoing cost of the pellets and the result is a less than exciting cost/benefit analysis.

 

TBH, if I could, I'd make pellets and burn the mothers in my current heater. Unfortunately, the pellets stop airflow in the combustion chamber unless it is specifically designed for it (and this is part of the cost of the burner system) and extinguish the fire.

Link to post
Share on other sites

So you don't give olive press cake to animals as feed like oily seeds. You learn something new every day. Keep the ol' homesteading tales a comin!

Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...