Use of Wood Fines in Gravity Feed Stoves

The use of chipped wood in gravity feed stoves is satisfactory when the chips are cubical, less than 1/4 inch in size, and made up of a good percentage of fine material which has desirable flow characteristics. Stoves with grates over 10 inches wide, such as a furnace unit for a six-room house, will feed much larger chips, but at least 25 percent of the fuel volume must be small fines that can impart good flow characteristics to the large chips. Machinery and screens are available to produce the desired fines for feeding gravity feed systems; these are inexpensive and have large capacities. The most difficult problem is to promote the use of the gravity feed stoves in the home. The continual hopper cleaning and polishing, the space needed for storage, the insects, the smoke, and blow-backs, and the nuisance of filling the hopper tend to overbalance the saving on the fuel bill for the American home owner.

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