I'd like to see this heating season end. The more area I see in the wood shed, the more work I see coming. My son say's I'm crazy I have to much wood and I see the glass almost empty. Why does a wood heads mind do that to us?
Adios Pantalones said:I love seeing a good wood stack. It's natural to want to have your cake and eat it too I think.
Read an interview with Stephen King where he said his dog almost got killed by a falling icicle when they were walking one time. His comment was something like "I'm really rich. Why the hell do I live in Maine in the winter?". Now he's a seasonal snowbird in FL.
I'll stay in New England, thank you. No poisonous snakes, few hurricanes, fewer tornadoes, very minor on earthquakes
Tansao said:This is my first year (first two months, really) burning with my insert, and with this really cold harsh winter I'm going through a cord every 3 weeks or so.
Summer's almost here! (pic)
Tansao said:This is my first year (first two months, really) burning with my insert, and with this really cold harsh winter I'm going through a cord every 3 weeks or so.
firefighterjake said:Adios Pantalones said:I love seeing a good wood stack. It's natural to want to have your cake and eat it too I think.
Read an interview with Stephen King where he said his dog almost got killed by a falling icicle when they were walking one time. His comment was something like "I'm really rich. Why the hell do I live in Maine in the winter?". Now he's a seasonal snowbird in FL.
I'll stay in New England, thank you. No poisonous snakes, few hurricanes, fewer tornadoes, very minor on earthquakes
That's what I keep telling her . . . and adding that the crime rate is pretty low . . . figure about the worse we get up here are the occasional blizzards and once in 100 year floods (but no worries since I don't live anywhere near any running water) . . . I figure for now I can simply schedule a winter time vacation to somewhere warm and perhaps when we're retired we can go south to Florida . . . where I will no doubt either get mugged or even worse learn how to play shuffleboard.
gyrfalcon said:Tansao said:This is my first year (first two months, really) burning with my insert, and with this really cold harsh winter I'm going through a cord every 3 weeks or so.
You must mean face cords, not full cords, right?
Love the pic!
gyrfalcon said:firefighterjake said:Adios Pantalones said:I love seeing a good wood stack. It's natural to want to have your cake and eat it too I think.
Read an interview with Stephen King where he said his dog almost got killed by a falling icicle when they were walking one time. His comment was something like "I'm really rich. Why the hell do I live in Maine in the winter?". Now he's a seasonal snowbird in FL.
I'll stay in New England, thank you. No poisonous snakes, few hurricanes, fewer tornadoes, very minor on earthquakes
That's what I keep telling her . . . and adding that the crime rate is pretty low . . . figure about the worse we get up here are the occasional blizzards and once in 100 year floods (but no worries since I don't live anywhere near any running water) . . . I figure for now I can simply schedule a winter time vacation to somewhere warm and perhaps when we're retired we can go south to Florida . . . where I will no doubt either get mugged or even worse learn how to play shuffleboard.
Plus Florida is HOTTT and really, really ugly compared to New England except for the beaches. You literally could not pay me to live there. I might go for a visit if you paid me, though.
VCBurner said:All I can say is, thank God for wood stoves! With this much snow, I think I would have gone through a ton of oil by now. Although, my wood supply is also dwindling to nothing. Last Winter I wanted to get 10 cords ready for the next 2-3 years, until I got on a job with tons of overtime in February. It never really ended until November. I started on a job close to home in Worcester and ended up with over an hour commute each way into Boston. But I can't complain, because I'd rather be working in Boston than laid off like I am now.
All this snow has proven to be a lot to deal with for most people. Ice damning causing water to get into peoples houses, roofs collapsing etc... Some 80 buildings have collapsed in Mass due to heavy snow loads. And guess what! Tomorrow I get to go shovel off commercial roofs for a living. A roofing company from Framingham is hiring 40+ guys to go clear some commercial roofs and I'm one of the lucky ones to get the job!! The rate is the same I make with my regular job. Union rates and benefits. I was told to bring a hard hat and a shovel!! I don't see what could be falling on our heads on the roof though!! :lol: Good luck to me, I guess I'll just be ready to ride down if I hear the creacking.
gyrfalcon said:See if you can get her interested in bird-watching or something. Discovering birds totally changed my indoor/outdoor perspective back when I was living in the suburbs and commuting to town for an office job.
gyrfalcon said:Tansao said:This is my first year (first two months, really) burning with my insert, and with this really cold harsh winter I'm going through a cord every 3 weeks or so.
You must mean face cords, not full cords, right?
Love the pic!
Sounds like you need to start looking into a Blaze King stove for the higher efficiency and once a day loading. Wall and attic insulation will cut your wood consumption by over 30% too.Tansao said:gyrfalcon said:Tansao said:This is my first year (first two months, really) burning with my insert, and with this really cold harsh winter I'm going through a cord every 3 weeks or so.
You must mean face cords, not full cords, right?
Love the pic!
No, full cord.
Here's about my routine with my VC Merrimack, running 24/7. Tell me if I'm doing something glaringly wrong. I'll start when I load it up at night:
..Between 12:00 p.m. and 1 a.m. - load the firebox up (3 c.f.) until I can't fit any more. Probably fits 6-8 big splits and 2-3 smaller. I use oak, maple, ash that the guy I buy it from says it's been seasoned about a year. By this time, the fire is down to coals that I have to stir around to get have enough red to get going. I crank the air valve all the way to the end to open it all the way then close the air to the lowest setting for the secondary. So when I go to bed the fire hasn't started roaring yet and the air is all the way closed.
..My wife gets up first, about 6 am. She'll restart it by putting a few kindling pieces on then a couple larger to get us to 9 a.m. when we go to work, when we'll load it up again for the day the same as before we go to bed.
..When she or I get home from work about 4 or 5, we'll rekindle it and just keep it going enough with 2-3 splits at a time until loading it up at midnight.
..repeat.
There are exceptions, like I'll open the air all the way if the temp is really low and I'm having trouble getting the house warm. Or if it's warmer like yesterday's 35 degrees, I let it go out all day and the house stayed around 66-70. Or if we're home during the weekends I'll load it up a third time during the day.
Maybe the 3 c.f. firebox makes me use more, with the stove undersized for the uninsulated house. I dunno. I would think other 24/7 burners reload the stove at least 2 times a day?
Warm in RI said:gyrfalcon said:See if you can get her interested in bird-watching or something. Discovering birds totally changed my indoor/outdoor perspective back when I was living in the suburbs and commuting to town for an office job.
She was born and bred in NYC so I think the concept of having an "outside" to enjoy after work is foriegn. She does enjoy nature, we go on a fair number of hikes and observe wildlife, and we do have a new set of binoculars.....
Example, I'll go outside and sit under a tree in the yard to read on a nice day or nap on a lawn chair under said tree. She'll read at the kitchen table and nap on the couch. Guess I need to condition her. She doesn't know what she's missing.
Thanks gyrfalcon, it didn't help to watch the news. More roofs are collapsing on a daily basis and I get to be on them to try to rescue them tomorrow after another 1-2 inches of snow overnight. One small fact some people may not know is that union carpenters go all over the country and even the world to try to help with emergency situations such as 9-11, a lot of guys went there to search ground zero for survivors. We are kind of used to being in dangerous conditions every day, just another day in the office.gyrfalcon said:VCBurner said:All I can say is, thank God for wood stoves! With this much snow, I think I would have gone through a ton of oil by now. Although, my wood supply is also dwindling to nothing. Last Winter I wanted to get 10 cords ready for the next 2-3 years, until I got on a job with tons of overtime in February. It never really ended until November. I started on a job close to home in Worcester and ended up with over an hour commute each way into Boston. But I can't complain, because I'd rather be working in Boston than laid off like I am now.
All this snow has proven to be a lot to deal with for most people. Ice damning causing water to get into peoples houses, roofs collapsing etc... Some 80 buildings have collapsed in Mass due to heavy snow loads. And guess what! Tomorrow I get to go shovel off commercial roofs for a living. A roofing company from Framingham is hiring 40+ guys to go clear some commercial roofs and I'm one of the lucky ones to get the job!! The rate is the same I make with my regular job. Union rates and benefits. I was told to bring a hard hat and a shovel!! I don't see what could be falling on our heads on the roof though!! :lol: Good luck to me, I guess I'll just be ready to ride down if I hear the creacking.
Amen to all that. I've taken such a hit from the recession, heating with wood is the only thing keeping me remotely solvent.
Good luck to you for sure, and be careful!
In VT, we all have pretty steep roofs and most of us have metal of some kind, but man, it comes just roaring off in huge masses of snow and ice when it's ready to let go. I would not want to be under one of those roof avalanches when it came down. No point having gutters because they'd just be torn off every year. And no foundation shrubs, either, unless you build little sheds over them to protect them in winter-- which some people actually do.
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