Insert questions and possibilities for a newbie

[begreen]

Thanks for the update. I'm curious about the cool little camper on the trailer. Did you make it? Can you make a posting in the Inglenook about it with some more pictures?

 

[Match Girl]

Sure! Is inglenook just another Forum on the homepage?... Yes! Thank you!! I built that for my kids and I on an old 5 by 8 trailer. It bumps out to 6 wide so we can sleep sideways and we have hammocks hung as well!. We are quite the scene, because I fit me and four kids, plus three dogs! I will take some good pics in the daylight tomorrow and post it! And I just literally got off the phone with the stove store! I've got to get myself into gear and finish that tile, because I am scheduled for installation this next Tuesday a week from now!

 

[RickBlaine]

Subscribed! I like the story here.

I am new-ish to wood burning but a great teaching tool here for me was to deliberately burn the same type of wood but with different moisture content over a series of fires within one week. With wet wood, my stove struggled to get to 350 degrees. With seasoned wood- I could hit 700 degrees without worry.

When we host a dinner, friends don't bring wine- they sometimes bring wood to burn! I bust out the moisture meter like a snob and if needed, pull a switch-a-roo while the wife distracts them so as to not hurt feelings.

I really love this forum.

 

[Match Girl]

That is a great idea RickBlaine! ... I'm starting to feel a little nervous that I won't be able to start a good fire, now that I'm only a week away from getting the stove! I think the wood that I got was good... But I had a bit of a trouble getting all the wood that I purchased... Long story... The second load I got to complete my order doesn't seem quite dry and was at the bottom of a pile... Huge pile of dirt leftover. Not sure if that is normal or not.... So I'm thinking maybe I should get a moisture meter, but I'm afraid if I test it I'm going to find out I don't have any dry wood!

 

[wooduser]

Last question is, do you think the blower fan is absolutely essential? I am not sure if aesthetically i like it... Also, the dealer is talking about finding me one of those radiant heat activated stove top fans, but in reading about how they sit on the stove, I'm wondering how that would work in this situation?

Personally, I'm negative on fans mounted in stoves and the Eco Fan.

My preferred and recommended option is a box fan, which can doe a fine job of breaking up convection temperature layers from many different places, is cheap to buy and operate, quiet, and easy to clean.

Also, a fan mounted on a stove can cool off the firebox too much. You want a hot stove but still want to break up those convection layers.

And you are LUCKY to have that 1920s home, which was probably designed for a coal furnace in the basement, which exhausted heated air into the main floor which then drifted up to heat the second floor!

Those of us with post WWII ranch style houses can find it difficult to heat remote parts of the house.

 

[wooduser]

. Yes, get the blower, it will help improve the insert heat output and circulation. You will appreciate this on those sub-zero nights. Skip the stove top fan.

I just read this after posting my negative recommendation on stove fans.

But you make a useful point about a fan with a fireplace insert. That might be useful.

Still, as a gas fireplace repairman, I found stove mounted fans often noisy, expensive and cooling off the stove too much. And usually hard to clean ----I very often found them so plugged with dust as to be useless, and often very difficult to clean. But my experience with fans on wood inserts is negligible.

 

[begreen]

Still, as a gas fireplace repairman, I found stove mounted fans often noisy, expensive and cooling off the stove too much. And usually hard to clean ----I very often found them so plugged with dust as to be useless, and often very difficult to clean. But my experience with fans on wood inserts is negligible.

The noise level depends on the stove. Some are fairly well isolated and have a variable speed motor. On low speed these can be quite quiet. Cleaning is important and a good stove will make it reasonably easy to access for this.

 

[Match Girl]

Thank you so much @wooduser for your insight! I went ahead and purchased the blower, hoping that I can use it on low, and also play around with fans.

I do feel very blessed with the floorplan on this house! And yes, it was a coal burning furnace at one time! There is still a big metal imprint or something where it once Sat. I love that the chimney runs up the center of the house so hopefully any warm air lost up the chimney will be a warmth added to the rooms above. My regular furnace is pretty old and isn't very efficient. My kids are hoping to have cozy rooms with the wood, so I'm hoping I'll be able to circulate the air adequately.

2 of the bedrooms sit above the fireplace. Do people ever make ceiling vents still to let the warm air rise right into the rooms?

 

[blacktail]

----I very often found them so plugged with dust as to be useless, and often very difficult to clean.

The lopi blowers are very easy to clean. The whole assembly is held on with 2 screws and can be blown out with compressed air.

 

[wooduser]

The noise level depends on the stove. Some are fairly well isolated and have a variable speed motor. On low speed these can be quite quiet. Cleaning is important and a good stove will make it reasonably easy to access for this.

I agree that cleaning IS important, and my experience is that it is often difficult and neglected. When you are shopping for a stove ask the salesman to remove the fan so that you can see how it's done and how easy it is to do ----you may get a good laugh out of watching the result!

 

[wooduser]

The lopi blowers are very easy to clean. The whole assembly is held on with 2 screws and can be blown out with compressed air.

Delighted to hear of a manufacturer who makes this task easy to do.

My, I found LOTS that were buried in the back of gas fireplaces, behind the gas valve and assorted stuff. A big pain for me to do, and not a task homeowners were at all likely to dom on their own.

Perhaps wood stove manufacturers are less likely to burden their customers ----but best to check is my suggestion. Make those sales reps PERFORM!

 

[bholler]

Delighted to hear of a manufacturer who makes this task easy to do.

My, I found LOTS that were buried in the back of gas fireplaces, behind the gas valve and assorted stuff. A big pain for me to do, and not a task homeowners were at all likely to dom on their own.

Perhaps wood stove manufacturers are less likely to burden their customers ----but best to check is my suggestion. Make those sales reps PERFORM!

Honestly the majority of wood stove blowers are fairly easy to access.

 

[Match Girl]

Hey Fire lovin’ friends,

I am so thrilled to show you the transformation of my fireplace area! To really see the difference, you will have to look at the pictures in the beginning of this post thread. But I am so happy with the results! My new little Lopi 1750i insert was installed this Tuesday… But we are back from Thanksgiving break and my kids and I have slept in the living room to enjoy its warmth two nights! I am just amazed, even as a complete newbie, the warmth I am getting from this wonderful stove! I am sure I will have tons of questions about fine-tuning my skills, but I can tell you this, I am very happy I got the blower! For anybody wondering about a good blower that makes a clean sound, with complete ultimate variable speed’s, the Lopi fan is awesome!… Of course, I am coming from the noise level of four kids and three dogs and a small house With scattering feet, barking, legos clacking, toy drones flying over my head… LOL!… But seriously, the fan doesn’t bother me one bit!

So in honor of a new wood-burning stove, I ended up redoing the whole fireplace area as it hadn’t been touched since the early 40s. I painted the brick, took off the old mantle and made a fun mantle out of a rough hewn log… And recycled some old pallets I had weathering in the backyard to make a nice break up of texture and color above. I braved it, busted out the old hearth, and poured my own new concrete pad to extend from the fireplace box… And then tiled with slate for the extension.... - both things I have never attempted before! ...So for a completely unprofessional job, and the pride of knowing I did it on my own, I am delighted with the space, And thankful for it every time I look at it, or feel the warmth on my skin! It’s truly amazing, that different feel that the wood fire can give to a person!

Thanks to all of you for your great advice, and time in responding to all my questions! And I’ll take all the advice you have for me!

Oh, and as a bonus, the fireplace store gave me a free wood moisture meter to go along with my install!

Also, at the request of @begreen, I am going to write up a little ditty about my trailer that can be seen in one of the photos in a previous post, Which will go in that Inglenook(?) posting area soon!

Thanks again!
-Matchgirl

 

[blacktail]

That looks great!

 

[begreen]

Now yer cookin'!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Looks great, Matchgirl. I’m impressed that you did all that yourself. Good job! I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor. Our kids didn’t usually sleep in the room with the stove, but I remember when we’d start it up for the first time each year, the kids would ask to have their homeschooling moved to the basement. I was reminded of that the other day when the sun came out after some cool cloudiness, and my two middle ones huddled up at the far end of the long table to bask in the heat through the south-facing window.

If you’re having trouble finding the Inglenook, it’s probably because you just use the “Main Hearth Forums” menu. You have to go all the way back to include the “Non-Hearth Forums” as well. I have to make a point to get there because my computer points me only to the Hearth Forums by default.

 

[Match Girl]

Thanks @blacktail, @begreen and @DuaeGuttae!
The house is quiet with sleeping children and sleeping pups and I can’t help but to linger by the fire, Feeling the warmth, and watching the flames dance back-and-forth.

And the warmth of the sun through a bright window is also cozy, @DuaeGuttae ! My kids would love to be homeschooled!… And I would love to not be in a car by 7:10 AM driving people to schoolbus stops on the other side of town! Especially now with winter settling in... I wish you could still have a fire down there in Texas!

 

[wooduser]

. I love that the chimney runs up the center of the house so hopefully any warm air lost up the chimney will be a warmth added to the rooms above.

You raise an interesting question: WHY are chimney often centrally located on older homes?

Personally, I have my doubts that doing that provides much heat to upper floors, but that's a guess.

I would further guess that the reason is that centrally located chimneys stay warm for their length longer and thus draft better, That may have been more important for older fireplaces.

But frankly I don't really know.

 

[begreen]

https://woodheat.org/locating-chimney.html

 

[wooduser]

https://woodheat.org/locating-chimney.html

Thanks for the reference begreen.

Of course, while improving the draft, an inside chimney also increased the standby heat losses, since heated room air was exhausted up the chimney to be replaced by cold outside air infiltrating the house.

But, that was the technology of the day.

After all, the fireplace and chimney were the technological marvel of about the 12th century!

 

[begreen]

Whether it is an interior or exterior chimney, both will suck heat out of the house. Thus the damper was invented.

 

[prezes13]

It looks great you should be proud of yourself. My wife and daughter love to sleep in our leaving room by the stove. My daughter calls it camping.

 

[weatherguy]

I'm way impressed by what you did. I assume the wood was dry enough since it sounds like you're getting good heat.

 

[Match Girl]

It looks great you should be proud of yourself. My wife and daughter love to sleep in our leaving room by the stove. My daughter calls it camping.

Thank you so much! We have a hard time going to bed on time, bc we love it!

 

[Match Girl]

I'm way impressed by what you did. I assume the wood was dry enough since it sounds like you're getting good heat.

Thank you so much! For the most part, the wood is pretty dry! And we gleaned 3 tubs of birch scraps off the ground so that is what I have mainly been using to start my fires.