Incredible and Satisfying Rusty Wood Stove Renewal

Throughout last summer, my wood stove was inexplicably getting rustier and rustier. It was only about 4 years old, but it was starting to look like it was 20. I decided to make it a late summer project and with a little elbow grease the rusty wood stove underwent a transformation and renewal to almost like new. Here's how I did it.
#woodstove #woodheat #castironstove
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[@JoelLackey]

Wild guess but I'm thinking you don't have a damper in your chimney? When the stove isn't being used, cold outside air might be chilling your stove. If the air around the stove is cooled below the inside dew point, condensation will form. Not unlike a glass of ice tea in Florida. ;)

[@mikeycbaby]

What he said👆🏻

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I wonder if it's actually the opposite...that it's warmed during summer and it's cooler inside. This happened in summer and it wouldn't be cooler outside than it is inside the house. But then again hot air would rise, not sink, so the inside of the wood stove, even though it's directly connected to the outside air, wouldn't be hotter at the bottom. I usually open all the windows at night to draw in cooler air. I'm thinking that whatever was spilled on the floor might have spilled on the stove and done the same kind of catalysis for condensation. But the floor is almost always cooler than the ambient air, so moisture would most likely condense there. The stove might be cooler than the ambient air, especially if the AC is blowing on it, but only for a while after that's running. And that wouldn't explain why it hasn't happened in past years.

[@JoelLackey]

@@HardcoreSustainable Hugh - I guess the future will be telling. If it doesn’t happen again the maybe the spill was the cause? Regardless, I’m loving the mystery- second only to worms in the rain barrel!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@JoelLackey Ah, yes a throwback. I think people had good answers for the worm mystery.

[@andrewwilmoth7384]

Bacon grease works just as well as “cast iron polish”. Clean the rust off, build a fire and rub it down while it’s hot AF.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Probably smells really good too. I use that for seasoning my cast iron skillets sometimes.

[@jimbanda]

Hi, my family have had solid fuel stoves for generations. Any metal, and in your case its cast iron.. will rust in a hot/cold enviornment. When the stove is not lit, especially in summertime, it is prob the coldest surface in your house and this attracts moisture from humid air. Occasionally the humidity will be soo high that the unlit stove will attract moisture to such an extent that it will accumulate and then drip to the floor. Moisture causes Iron to oxidize 😢 which is rust. Stoves with a matt paint/polish finish are ripe for small amounts of rusting and it accumates over time. Stoves which are enameled have a greater resistance to moisture in the air and will generally not rust. Ashes and dust can also accumalate in the form of a micro thin film on the surface and/or all those little joints and lettering etc forming a perfect spot for moisture to rest. I could go on but their is no need. A matt finished cast iron stove which is left unlit for days at a time will rust and just like an piece of wooden furniture it will need a polish from time to time. Brush off the stove every week , polish twice a year and you will find that the need to use a wire brush will lessen or cease. An enameled stove just needs a wipe of a cloth, takes years before little specks of rust appear at handles , knobs , door hindges etc. Generally cast iron is also more likely to retain moisture, but its little to worry about really. There is a certain joy in giving the Stove its biannual session of TLC and those Iron miracles will likely outlive us when it gets that love....awe ❤. Peace and good health to everybody reading and beyond 🙏👍✌️

[@HardcoreSustainable]

The only reason I questioned whether something else was going on was that I'd never noticed so much rust forming in the past 4 summers I'd had the stove. Also, there was water condensing around the stove on the floor, not under it. After I mopped the floor in that area, there was no more condensation around the stove. It could be that ash film was on the stove and creating a catalyst for condensation. Thanks for your input!

[@willowlaken6303]

Gotta love the Jotul. Your stove is the best stove ever made. Can't comment on sudden rust other than maybe there is more contamination/particulates in the air these days.

[@tracyvernon9467]

Good job, Looks almost new!

[@magesalmanac6424]

What a beauty!

[@johnhill1629]

I think the Beatles sang about this little furnace: Isn't it good, Norwegian wood (stove).

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Great song!

[@ateamofone]

The stove draws the cool room air at the bottom and then it gets flung upwards and heated at the stove. Plus you cook with it which pushes a lot of humidity in the air. That air cools and settles at the floor then is drawn towards the wood stove. Put a hearth under the stove and get a dehumidifier or ceiling fan if it continues.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

Thanks for the ideas. Do you mean put a pad under the stove? Although it's hard to see, my floor is earthen, so there really isn't a need for a pad. It's like having stone under it. I have a ceiling fan and use an AC in the summer, so those help with moving air and dehumidifying. The stove only operates in the colder, dryer seasons, so that's not when moisture and rust are a problem. It's actually incredibly dry in my house when the stove is in operation and I always have a pot of water boiling on top. The problem with dehumidifiers is in such a small house they will heat it up a lot while dehumidifying. The window AC dehumidifies without heating the space.

[@ateamofone]

@@HardcoreSustainable Try boiling less water. That might be the problem. I use to do that and i found a light coating of green mold at the lower 4 inches of a room with no fan. I stopped the boiling of water and it never came back. You need to run the ceiling fan constantly day and night and make sure every room has a small fan.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

@@ateamofone I suppose, but I can't imagine there being enough humidity in the house in winter to grow mold. The humidity is around 25-30% in winter with the wood stove going, and I'm fighting to keep it around that. The moisture and rust was happening during summer.

[@ateamofone]

@@HardcoreSustainable That is how i was letting in humidity in the summer and the mold would begin. So i switched to a dehumidifyer and stopped opening all the windows in the summer and use a small window AC for my house. I agree, it starts in the summer months. Collecting humidity. Boiling water in the winter was no help.

[@colbolt54]

​Wood sometimes if not given enough time to season will drop water and rust out

[@wobdeehomestead1464]

Is your stove on top of a cement slab? Mine is and I’ve noticed rust like yours. In the summer I get some moisture on the slab and I’m thinking that’s the culprit?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It's on an earthen floor made of sand, clay, and straw. I'm pretty sure that something was on the floor that was condensing moisture. After I mopped the area, it no longer condensed water.

[@barnabyvonrudal1]

I'm surprised it rusted in the first place. I would have thought the coating the manufacturer would apply would be rust resistant. Otherwise I've started using a digital humidity sensor - useful to know what the humidity is and if its high you can react accordingly.

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I do have a weather station that always tells me the humidity and temp inside the house. It's high in the summer, but the AC lowers it.

[@logan6685]

Hi Dan. Is it possible the tenants boiled something over onto the stove and floor, and in the process of cleaning it up they scrubbed off any protective finish that it had?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

It's possible. I don't know what protective coating it might have had, but might have had something.

[@simplisticvitality2359]

What are you using in the tube?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3fcqZRtjpqAbZo I show the stuff at this point in the video.

[@colbolt54]

Bad humid wood, tends to drip water or creasol

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

Is your wood stove approved by the government? Have you tried auto engine paint? Thank you for sharing informative videos!

[@HardcoreSustainable]

I'm using stove polish that is made for exactly what I'm using it for. I wouldn't use auto engine paint for this. The polish worked fine. I don't know what you mean by approved by the government. You mean as far as emissions? It was sold in the US by a reputable seller, so yes it is legal.

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

@@HardcoreSustainable So far all I can understand about government codes on indoor wood burning stoves is the possibility of fumes. I do not know if there is some way to know if a wood burning stove is in compliance with the government. Presumably the government is primarily intent on protecting the women & children - at least. Of course, I am just making an educated guess.

[@willowlaken6303]

Fumes? Protecting women and children? What are you talking about? I'm sorry but your comment does not sound like it was made by someone with the experience to make an educated guess about wood stoves.

[@dandavatsdasa8345]

@@willowlaken6303 EPA Burn Wise "Ordinances and Regulations for Wood-Burning Appliances" (These EPA standards govern the manufacture and sale of wood stoves, and certain wood burning fireplace inserts, built after 1988.) (April 2021): (This report describes existing policies that employ a range of strategies to advance two complementary goals: changing how and when wood is burned in homes; and replacing existing wood-burning devices with lower-emitting alternatives.) Look up EPA publications.

[@objektivone3209]

Sorry if I hurt somebody's feelings, but don't you think that your latest handful of uploads have been a sloppy pease of job and without any public interest?

[@HardcoreSustainable]

What are you saying? I don't understand.