The Kimberly Stove, round two

   

            Five years ago, we purchased a Kimberly stove. My partner was intrigued  because it was very cool technically and, because it is highly efficient, it could be installed in our basement using the existing chimney without interfering with the fireplace upstairs. Mark wanted to heat the basement and his little office space with scrap wood; I was hoping to dry the laundry in less than a week in the winter.

                The first winter was a disaster. We purchased the stove in November, and what with one thing then another, it was not installed until late January.  Once installed, it did not work. Mark tried and failed. I read the directions, tried, and failed. We tried different wood—no luck. Finally, we gave up. Come June, and the Mother Earth News Fair, we found the manufacturer in his booth and complained. He came out the next day, pronounced the stove flawed, and replaced it.

                The next winter, we had no trouble with lighting the stove, but it did not heat the basement. It is a full basement, surrounded by wet fifty degree clay soil, with a serious seepage problem when the rains are heavy. Nothing will heat that basement! We tried for several Saturdays, even boiling water for tea on the top, but it raised the temperature about two degrees. Mark was disappointed; I knew that it was only a matter of time before it moved upstairs.

                The stove sat, unused, in the basement for two winters before I raised the issue. We have a garage converted into dining room that we have been heating with an electric space heater. All of the literature for the Kimberly stove suggests that it was designed to heat a small cabin, or tiny home, or RV…which is about the size and shape of the dining room. Why not move it up, where it will be VERY useful, rather than keeping it in the basement, unused? Mark saw the logic. We contacted the stove company.

   

             In January, we moved the Kimberly upstairs. It looks lovely tucked into a corner of the dining room, against the old wooden wall. The stove pipe climbs up, bends around the rafters, and shoots out of an old roof vent. It sits on a grey stone pad, which protects the floor from embers. We hang our clothes on the rafters above. On Saturday morning, Mark starts the stove while I make breakfast. It warms the room quickly. If we turn on the bathroom fan, warm air moves through the entire house. When people come over, they can take off their coats. When we sit down for dinner, the candles are not wavering in the breeze from the space heater. Our pile of junk lumber has gone way down.

                We are, finally, very happy with the purchase. It was more expensive than a traditional stove, so I cannot recommend it for everyone, but it does work as promised—when it is in the right space. 

Kimberly Stove Installation Fiasco

            We have a Kimberly Stove in our basement. We bought it to heat the basement—and Mark’s new workroom—help dry clothes, and preheat, or even heat, the air flowing into the rest of the house. We were pretty excited by the purchase and had high hopes for its performance. However, we have NO IDEA how well it works, because of a series of unfortunate events. It is sitting in our basement, non-functional, four and a half months after purchase.

            For those of you who do not follow wood stove technologies, the Kimberly Stove is a fairly new design. It is a small, highly efficient, gasifying stove, which means it burns off the carbon produced by the first round of burning in a secondary chamber, thus increasing the amount of heat produced and reducing particulate pollution. It is so cool that you do not need a special chimney or chimney liner to install one, which is what drew Mark to the design. About 500 have been sold so far. They are built in Medford, Oregon, a couple of hours down the highway from our house. This is relevant to our dilemma.

            Mark purchased the Kimberly stove from Viking Vacuum, Sewing, Spa, and Stove, in Eugene Oregon, on October 25, 2014.  Because they were reluctant to drive from Eugene to Corvallis (about 40 miles), Mark sent them photos of our basement, where we wanted to install the stove. 

            We sent the photos on November 2^nd. Our stove arrived in Eugene on November 14^th, and we learned that the specific piping needed for installation was backlogged and hard to obtain, but it would be there shortly on November 25^th. Still, we were not scheduled for installation for another two weeks.

            On December 18^th, two months after the purchase, the installer arrived with stove and pipe. However, he discovered that he did not have the tools he needed to cut through the brick chimney, and was unable to install the stove. He was out a day’s work, as was Mark, who had taken the day off to be around for his new stove. Neither was pleased with the turn of events. We had to re-schedule.

            It took several weeks for the installer to come back to town. Finally, around January 8^th, the stove was installed. Mark noticed that the glass was cracked when he lit it the first time. We attempted to start a fire in the stove over the weekend several times, but, when I read the instructions, it was clear that the stove would not function properly with cracked glass. Fair enough.  We contacted the stove distributor once again on January 20th, and the distributor told us that he had contacted the manufacturer that day.  As it was coming from Medford, we expected it to be here within a week.

            After several weeks, nothing had arrived. We emailed on February 1st. Nothing. Emailed again. (Perhaps the contact person had the nasty flu that was going around?) Nothing.  On February 16^th, I was home for a phone call from the stove distributor. He assured me that he was on the part, that he was going to contact the designer/builder that day, and would let us know the next day when to expect it. The next day, he had talked with the manufacturer and would be back within the next day or two.

            It is now February 27^th. We still do not have the needed piece of glass to make our very expensive stove functional.  I am very glad that we are not relying on the stove to provide heat for our home. However, after four and a half months of run-around, we are very frustrated. It may very well be the most amazing stove ever—but we have no idea. We have been able to use it.             It is my hope that someday I can add onto this piece, talking about how much we love our stove. Right now, I cannot recommend this very expensive piece of equipment to anyone. If fact, I would seriously discourage anyone from making the purchase.


The glass finally arrived on March 3rd. We have not installed it yet. More to follow....