Wood cook stoves for WA?

Hey  been looking for a wood cook stove.  Every site I have been to they say no legal in WA. Any one know of one that is or maybe where I could look? Thanks

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I've been looking at them too. In Oregon a wood cookstove is apparently exempt from stiffer DEQ  restrictions that are applied to newer wood heating stoves.

That's good for you. There are several out there that I would just love to have.  Maybe need to cross the boarder to live in OR.  We are just 20 min east of pdx.  Where are you at?

  I'm about 30  miles south of Bend.  My daughter lives in Woodland.

danelle wrote:
Hey  been looking for a wood cook stove.  Every site I have been to they say no legal in WA. Any one know of one that is or maybe where I could look? Thanks

Have any of them said why? From what I have heard wood cook stoves are exempt from epa testing.... and so would have no epa sticker. Are any wood burning appliances legal? If an old house already has a wood cook stove in it, is that legal to use? Knowing why would give you a place to start figuring out if it could be possible by changing something.

It seems that you can have a cook stove in WA.  It must have an oven.  I don't have permit in hand so we will see. Spoke with a guy that has been helping with verbiage and he said that they may pass laws on cook stoves but at this time they have not.  Will let all know if I get permit in hand.

danelle wrote:
It seems that you can have a cook stove in WA.  It must have an oven.  I don't have permit in hand so we will see. Spoke with a guy that has been helping with verbiage and he said that they may pass laws on cook stoves but at this time they have not.  Will let all know if I get permit in hand.

Hmmm, get one in quick   Do they specify what kind of oven? In the wood burning world there are two kinds (at least), the black oven and the white oven.

The black oven has flue gas going through it or may be used as the fire box in some cases. The food in these ovens is cooked after the fire has gone out with retained heat. All ovens were black ovens until only 100 to 200 years ago (even in North America). They were often built into the back or the side of the fireplace where the rest of the food was cooked. A second fire was built inside of it to warm it up. The firebox of any masonry heater is a black oven.

The white oven is sealed and may be cooked in while the fire is still burning... most wood iron cooking stoves are like this and some masonry heaters have them as well.

One could say a gas oven is black too.

I think whatever you call the oven it needs to be the only oven in the house and needs to be shown that it is designed to be used that way. The wood stove to be a cooking appliance, has to be the only one in the house. A cast iron unit, may be the best thing to put in just because it is what is expected... It gets the flue in place anyway.

I've seen cook stoves that are 4 burner gas with wood stove built in on the left side.

Danelle,

I live in WA too so I may be able to give some input.

The only restrictions in WA are the pollution output (check here http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/indoor_woodsmoke/wood_smoke_page.htm#Washingtons_wood_stove_requirements ) and there is leniency given if it is your only source of heat.  A well built and designed rocket stove would satisfy both as it could have a nice cooking surface and be low emissions.

I think though that there is a restriction in place that a stove cannot be the primary source of heat in new or vastly remodeled housing so you may run into problems there. 
Although you could always set it up as your "backup" heat and just use it all the time. (they burn so clean no-one would know unless they came over to say hello).

Hope this helps.

Apparently what makes a wood cook stove a "COOK" stove is that it has to have an oven.  After looking at several of them and days of shopping calculating what would have to be done in order to put one in Have decided to go a different way.  I really didn't want to do a remodel project in our kitchen and no way do I want to have to cook in the family room.  If I had gotten a cook stove it would have been something that I would use all the time.  By choice. I would not have gotten rid of the stove/oven we have now.  Adding the cost of every thing to make it legal.  Also you need to check with your insurance co. to see what they require.  If your house should burn down through no fault of the cook stove or even a wood stove and they find out you had one and didn't let them know they may not pay your claim.  Remember their job is to NOT pay out claims. 

What we decided to get was a soapstone freestanding wood stove.  Lighter weight than a masonry heater and a thermal mass rocket heater.  Again i did not have the funds or the desire to do a major remodel  to hold the extra weight.  I think that with the soapstone woodstove that I will be able to cook on top. Most likely not fry  but I don't fry a ton of things any way.  If need be I can always use a cast iron or soapstone dutch oven on the inside to bake something.    I think the soapstone wood stove will make the best use of the woods energy. Love the idea that the heat is stored in the stone.

Also will look at the possibilities of making an outdoor kitchen with a wood cook stove fewer hoops to jump through and lower cost.   So there you have it our alternative heat source dilemma solved. 

Now on to cutting down trees and planting some to coppice.  Oh we got our stove from Buck's Stove Palace in Portland Oregon   www.stoves.com   The soapstone wood stove is hearthstone heritage model

danelle wrote:
Apparently what makes a wood cook stove a "COOK" stove is that it has to have an oven. 

...

Adding the cost of every thing to make it legal.  Also you need to check with your insurance co. to see what they require.  If your house should burn down through no fault of the cook stove or even a wood stove and they find out you had one and didn't let them know they may not pay your claim.  Remember their job is to NOT pay out claims. 

Great research! Thank you for all that. I don't live in WA, or even the US, but Many of the things you mention apply here too.

What we decided to get was a soapstone freestanding wood stove.  Lighter weight than a masonry heater and a thermal mass rocket heater.

Soap stone stores more per pound than brick or cob. It also releases it faster. Those who have tried soapstone as a hearth for a wood fires oven or pizza oven have found it tends to burn the bottom easier. (just as a note... my RMH as it stands now is about the same weight)

  Again i did not have the funds or the
desire to do a major remodel  to hold the extra weight.  I think that with the soapstone woodstove that I will be able to cook on top. Most likely not fry  but I don't fry a ton of things any way.  If need be I can always use a cast iron or soapstone dutch oven on the inside to bake something.    I think the soapstone wood stove will make the best use of the woods energy. Love the idea that the heat is stored in the stone.

Probably will cook fine... may have to wait an hour or two after starting the fire before cooking, so plan accordingly. After the fire goes out, close the flue, sweep out the hot ash and you should be able to cook a batch of bread and maybe something slower like a casserole after that. Draping  a welders blanket over the top and front may help a bit. The one thing I don't like is the big window on the front... if it was me, I might call the side door the front and put a brick wall in front of the glass to catch the heat   But then I'm crazy and my Yf would prolly say NO! Anyway, leave the business side of the welders blanket as is, but put something nice in 100%cotton on the outside.

Also will look at the possibilities of making an outdoor kitchen with a wood cook stove fewer hoops to jump through and lower cost.   So there you have it our alternative heat source dilemma solved. 

cooler in the summer too. In the days of wood fired everything that used to be standard. In fact a small farmstead had lots of building for different uses and the family lived in a different home in the summer and winter.

Now on to cutting down trees and planting some to coppice.  Oh we got our stove from Buck's Stove Palace in Portland Oregon   www.stoves.com   The soapstone wood stove is hearthstone heritage model

That looks like a good model. The only heavier one (extra 100 lbs) is the Mansfield and I am not sure it is better either. It has no side door... an even bigger window to go with the even bigger fire box. You can burn for longer... The specs do not say on any of them what the burn time is based on. I was hoping to see a maximum temperature listed. The outside surface temperature is important to me as it determines air quality. However, I wouldn't have to burn as long as they say, I can determine how hot I want the outside to get and burn till it gets there and maybe have to do another burn sooner... but with a start of 12 hours I can loose some time and still be very comfortable.

One more thing. When you looked at the weight, did you include the hearth pad? (minimum 47"x37.5"... they don't say how thick) I don't know what that would weight, but think 100lbs or so as it has to be strong enough to hold the almost 500lbs of stove with only 4 small feet. (the feet on the stove allow air to move under it for more heat spreading) Anyway, the weight is about the same as a water tank full of water so it should not be a problem.

The hearth pad weight depends on the material it is covered with. The one I picked out was mika stone  very very heavy.  The 2nd choice was slate looking type of stone.  After getting the template home found neither of the ones I had picked out will work.  so will run back to the store today for the 3rd choice.  We are trying to fit everything into an very odd place.  It will almost be in the middle of the walk way.  People think I am weird they are right.  However the main purpose it to heat the house and the coldest part of the house is the part we are in the most.  So I am going to put that wood stove smack dap in the middle of the cold area so it can heat the area evenly.   

Great tip on the welders blanket.  I am sure with some practice baking inside won't be a problem as long as I take care not to spill inside. 

At one time we did use one part of the house in the summer and one part in the winter.  But have changed that because I turned one of the smaller bed rooms off the kitchen into a pantry 11x13 feet.    a very large pantry and I just love it.  I have even set up my food dehydrator and drying racks in there.  Very handy since it does have an exterior door right out to the garden.  If someday I decide to build an outdoor kitchen then I will build it right off the pantry / garden / indoor kitchen. 

Thanks for all your input now back to the store and then back to building a wood storage shed and roofing the barn.  so much work so little time.   trying to beat the rain and wind cold and snow. 

danelle wrote:
Great tip on the welders blanket.  I am sure with some practice baking inside won't be a problem as long as I take care not to spill inside. 

Very self cleaning. The next burn will take care of any spills.... at least thats what the brick oven guys say.

It seems the last two or three messages vanished from here.... read two... have you decided which stove.

Has anyone tried a modified rocket stove? Seems to me that a half drum could be mounted on top to make it into an oven, just slip the oven drum off when you want to use the combustion drum as a griddle.

Mark Anderson wrote:Has anyone tried a modified rocket stove? Seems to me that a half drum could be mounted on top to make it into an oven, just slip the oven drum off when you want to use the combustion drum as a griddle.

Making an oven as part of a RMH has been tried... I hear. It didn't look like a RMH and I didn't see how it was laid out inside. The comment was that it was good as a warming oven but not for cooking. I have an idea similar to what you have suggested ... mine will be really well insulated.... I suspect the cooking time (the right time for cooking after starting the burn) will be touchy. I don't know if I will be able to have much mass inside. I have not got that far yet... I am working on my bench right now.