Fisher Wood Burning Stoves: A Great Piece of History
Fisher wood burning stoves, although no longer manufactured or sold in most stores today, have become quite the collector’s items. Unfortunately, it’s also very difficult to find parts or accessories for these stoves, too, leading to even fewer fully working Fisher wood stoves. However, those who do have working Fisher stoves have a great piece of history.
Fisher wood burning stoves were designed by Bob Fisher during the mid-1970s. Fisher worked in Oregon, and he eventually licensed his wood stove design to 25 different steel fabricating companies. The Fisher wood stoves became very popular over the years, especially when oil was at a premium. Fisher himself manufactured the stoves up until the 1980s, when the various steel companies began producing them.
It was also in the early 1980s that the Fisher Stove International Organization began enforcing various safety regulations. While the previously released Fisher stoves did not meet those regulations, the redesigned stoves did, and many of the older Fisher wood stoves were replaced by these safer models. Today, most Fisher wood stoves do not meet emission standard, although most do meet all safety requirements. However, these older models produce a lot of pollution, and in some areas, they may even be illegal.
What made Fisher wood burning stoves so much better than the competition? It was Fisher’s discovery that the wide fireplaces that were so popular were quite wasteful. Heating wood in these fireplaces didn’t heat the room very efficiently. To fix this, he sealed up part of the fireplace and welded the iron in such a way that it left only a small six-inch opening for the chimney. This smaller fireplace was able to heat an entire A-frame home, and the fire could also be controlled more easily. In fact, these new wood stoves could easily be used for cooling.