Broke College Kids Pt. 2

[MT-SEA]

Thanks again for the input.

Is there a setting I should use on the blower to get the fire started easier/faster (high, low, none, etc.)?

 

[Highbeam]

Thanks again for the input.

Is there a setting I should use on the blower to get the fire started easier/faster (high, low, none, etc.)?

No blower until the stove is warmed up. The blower is used to steal heat from the stove and send it around the house. Until there is enough heat for the fire to burn cleanly, you don't want to be stealing heat from the fire.

 

[MT-SEA]

It's so intuitive when you type it out. Thank you, it helped a lot.

 

[begreen]

How is the insert working out so far? Are you warming up? Any questions about burning so far?

 

[MT-SEA]

How is the insert working out so far? Are you warming up? Any questions about burning so far?

Everything is going great! Just been de-nailing the pallets so we can cut them into manageable pieces; they're burning like a charm. It's a lot of work, but we don't really have a choice and it's somewhat therapeutic to chop and saw the wood.

We also found a place to consistently find good pallets, which was half the battle.

Thanks for the asking!

 

[bmblank]

Don't forget to sit in front of it with a beer now and then. Between school and working to stay warm and working to pay the bills, you gotta remember to unwind occasionally.

 

[begreen]

What? They can afford beer but not heat?

 

[bmblank]

Gotta set priorities.. Besides, you can get a case of nati light for, like, $10.

 

[begreen]

Water is cheaper and about as effective. <ducking BB's bullet stage left>

 

[bmblank]

True
Boones farm then

 

[begreen]

PBR and Rainier are the college staples out here according to my sons.But given MT SEA's resourcefulness I would recommend homebrew.

 

[bmblank]

It was red dawg (the beer, not the malt) when I was in college. Got us drunk. Unfortunately the next morning was spent sitting on the pot.

 

[begreen]

OK, back to heating. Looks like we will be warming up a little overnight for the next few days. Time to start building a good wood stash.

 

[bob95065]

Everything is going great! Just been de-nailing the pallets so we can cut them into manageable pieces; they're burning like a charm. It's a lot of work, but we don't really have a choice and it's somewhat therapeutic to chop and saw the wood.

We also found a place to consistently find good pallets, which was half the battle.

Thanks for the asking!

You learned something through this that I hope you don't forget: hard work is therapeutic and satisfying. I am a mechanical engineer with a mostly desk job and I work with my hands over weekends to keep my sanity. Nothing helps the work week melt away like cutting and splitting firewood. Stacking on the other hand is no fun but that's a subject for another post. Stacking is still better than sitting at my desk.

I am fortunate to have a job with a 4x10 schedule so I can play weekend lumberjack three days a week. I wind up in water cooler discussions about the past weekend's activities and my coworkers think I'm crazy. They don't get it.

There is nothing like standing back after a day of hard work to see what you accomplished. Every piece of wood I put in my stove was cut with one of the chainsaws I bought dead and rebuilt, put on the beat and neglected truck I resurrected, split by hand with my maul or through the splitter I was asked to haul to the dump for a friend. I brought it home and rebuilt it. I have a lot of satisfaction in using firewood and free heat besides.

Don't forget the feeling of heating your home by your own means. When you get out of school and have a little more disposable cash get a decent truck, saw and splitter and save the money you would have spent on natural gas for more important things like diesel for the truck, gas and bar and chain oil for the saws and more logging equipment. IMHO it is much more satisfying than using the furnace.

Bob

 

[Highbeam]

Just think about how lucky you are to live in Seattle this weekend. Another challenge with wood burning is this odd government agency that decides to ban burning on occasion. Right now I am not allowed to burn my modern stoves and I live just south of you in Pierce county. So even if you're cold, you risk a 1000$ fine for burning those pallets during these occasional and usually unjustified county wide bans.

Oh and once you graduate from PBR and rainier, at least do yourself a favor and fill growlers at georgetown brewery. Manny's, Lucille, etc. Much cheaper to drink at home.