Wood cook stoves are a fanciful thing of the past that has seen some small amount of revival today. As times get harder for many, any kind of heat generating device that is capable of holding something larger than a dinner plate will be used.
Wood cook stoves are usually very large, very heavy, and VERY hot! A cook stove of that type has also used coal to burn, but it usually not advisable for many reasons. But like so many things of our past, even the old time cook stove has fallen into memory and its use requires some amount of knowledge and forethought.
Because I could in fact cover very many aspects of them, and take far too long to do so, I am at first providing a link to a blog that tells the story of wood stoves far better than I can.
There Are so many aspects that has to be considered as well long before a switch is made to wood stoves.
Some of them are safety issues that must be followed or otherwise have some very undesirable aftereffects.
Of these is that fire codes around the US typically call for 18 inches of clearance from the walls to the stove and some kind of fire proof (even heatproof) material between the stove and wall. This is also a requirement for insurance companies as well.
On the floor, brick, pavers or tile of some sort needs to be laid out first. With an 18 inch area fully surrounding the stove. Why? Because of sparks, burning embers and falling, burning material.
