New forum user from NH

[Pyro]

Hi Folks,

This looks like a great place to hang ones hat. I just found the site while looking for Bio Brick info. (I just read that thread!) My username is Pyro. It's not connected to the fact that I like to heat w/ wood, but rather it's because I'm a Professional Pyrotechnician. (Fireworks)

I have 3 wood stoves & one nat' gas (fake woodstove) The gas sure is easy on fuel splitting, stacking, storage, & labor, but it still isn't a real wood stove. Not as green to the envrionment either. But I sure do like the thermostat control.

The Morso 2b is my most unique sove. I use that to heat a camp up in Mid-state Maine.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the folks here as well as the info you all share so easily.

Joe

 

[webbie]

My wife and I are fans of the 2B, having had one operating in our sunroom (last house).

Welcome to the Forum!

Also, you're going to make all our other users jealous.......giving away the New Englanders secrets. Not only do many New Englanders live in beautiful places, but they also own "camps" (others call them second houses) even further up in the woods or on the coast. Now that's living!

I used to cruise the NE when I sold boilers, and would often meet with the buyers in wholesale plumbing houses....regular joes, for sure! We'd get to talking and they would tell me they lived 20 miles away on a lake, and took their boat out fishing every night after work. Then they would tell me they leave on thursday eve in the summer and go to their "camp" for a long weekend.

Being from NJ, this was hard to accept. In NJ we run ourselves into the ground just trying to buy a house anywhere. Houses on lakes are for people who screw other people for $$, and second houses.....well, start at about $750K for something even 1/2 decent down the shore.

I want a camp myself....now where do I get one?

 

[Pyro]

Haha!

You are dead on with your thoughts!

The camp is on the water, but it's a 100+ year old fishing camp that we have fixed up (quite a bit) ourselves. The floor joists are old cedar tree trunks & I've found written notes onthe walls that date back to 1918. I have to jack it back to "level" once every three or four years due to frost heaving. I'll post a pic when I have a few extra minutes later in the day.

When I installed my 2B, it was right next to the fridge. So I built a half wall that is hollow & allows the warm air inside that wall to raise up & escape out on the stove side. Cool air comes in from the bottom on the fridge side of this wall. The Pine wall on the fridge side never gets warm, the wonder board & marble on the stove side gets tooooo hoooooot to touch. But the 2B's clearances are very good & I'm just a bit on the safe side of compliance.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Joe

 

[youngstr]

Hey Pyro,
Welcome to the forum, this place is a great resource. I'm from NH as well, I've been running the fireplace on and off for the past 3 weeks.....looks like it's gonna be cold later in the week.

BTW my 2 tons of Biobricks were just delivered this past weekend. I'm hoping to make it through the heating season on just wood but it's nice to have some backup......

Y

 

[DriftWood]

A real expert Pyro , we never want to see sparks fly above our homes, you launch them into the sky!! Great Welcome Aboard!!

 

[begreen]

Welcome Pyro. Sounds like you've solved the age old Morso question, 2B or not 2B? Nice stove.

 

[WILDSOURDOUGH]

Welcome on in...
So you say your'e a Pyro, and you've got a camp in Maine ?

Guess that makes you a PyroMaineyaic ! (Now that's scary)
Really, we northern new englander must stop bragging about the most beautiful, uncrowded, green area in the US.
We will soon be overrun with strip malls, graffitti artists and 'New-River's Edge III' housing developments.
Best to You !

 

[jpl1nh]

So you say your’e a Pyro, and you’ve got a camp in Maine ?
Guess that makes you a PyroMaineyaic ! (Now that’s scary)

Good gawd Actually that was pretty damn good! I love puns but never saw that one there nice work! Any Pyro, welcome aboard. Quite a few of us NH guys here, sure are a lot of wood burners in NH too. I went up to Whitefield for a friends wedding this past October, love looking at wood piles, up there their are a lot of em, went to Washington NH 6-8 weeks ago, soon as you get off the main road, wood stacks all over the place. Come to think of it, there are trees all over the place too. Maybe the two are related? enjoy! pyroMaineyiac...yeassh!

 

[Pyro]

Wow! Warmth from the fire today is matched by the warm welcome youz guyz all have to offer. Thanks.

Hey, Burning Chunk, who did you get your BioBricks from? There is a dealer in Bedford that I bought the "try it out" pack from. I also found it tough to start, so I poured just enough lighter fluid into the pressed in lettering to fill the letters. It soaked in quickly, but when I lit it, it burned nicely & caught all the other Biobricks in the stove.

Being a Pyrotechnician is fun. It's a seasonal career. I'm a commercial woodworking supply saleman for my full time job.

Now, I gotta try my luck at posting pics.... these are of the old Morso 2B in my Maine camp. The camp is quite old, but I've put a new roof on, installed the stove & trimmed the inside walls with Knotty pine. The second to last picture is a rendering of what it's going to look like when I find the time to finish this project up. The last pic is the outside ofthe camp. Can ya smell the smoke from the woodstove??? <grin>

Joe

 

[Pyro]

I was too.

It also has the cement board & marble backing, but lacks the open venting. But the best thing about the Morso 2B is that it only needs 8" from the back wall. I have it at 12", so I "think" I'm good. It still gets too hot to touch that marble back there, but before I installed the pine on the fridge side, I heated the stove to max for a while & although quite hot, I could hold my hand on the inside of the cement board inside the half wall. Since that is the broad side of the stove, it gets hotter than the back does. I think the photo's above make it look closer than it actually is.

 

[Xena]

Welcome Joe! Cool stove, awesome looking camp.
Looks as if you're gonna like it here. Enjoy!

 

[webbie]

Really, we northern new englander must stop bragging about the most beautiful, uncrowded, green area in the US.
We will soon be overrun with strip malls, graffitti artists and 'New-River's Edge III' housing developments.
Best to You !

You don't have to worry about that. That is why we designed "winter" - it keeps the riff-raff out.
I do notice that I am finding the weather I used to think was cold (like 46 during the day) "just right".

 

[DiscoInferno]

Also, you're going to make all our other users jealous.......giving away the New Englanders secrets. Not only do many New Englanders live in beautiful places, but they also own "camps" (others call them second houses) even further up in the woods or on the coast. Now that's living!

I used to cruise the NE when I sold boilers, and would often meet with the buyers in wholesale plumbing houses....regular joes, for sure! We'd get to talking and they would tell me they lived 20 miles away on a lake, and took their boat out fishing every night after work. Then they would tell me they leave on thursday eve in the summer and go to their "camp" for a long weekend.

I feel funny calling my place in Upper MI a camp, since it's a 2000sqft modern home. But that is the lingo of the UP as well.

In the UP, "camp" is often 10-30 minutes away: less than my current commute. Mostly minimalist shacks through modest cottages, usually on a body of water and often with only seasonal road access. If only they had an economy...

 

[Pyro]

Is that your camp in your avatar? That looks great!

My camp is better than a plywood shack, but it's no modern home either.

It was built as a mere fishing camp over 100 years ago. It didn't even have electricity until 2 years ago.

Up until 2 months ago, the outhouse was our only comfort. But I've recently installed a Biolet toilet & no longer have to schlep thru the woods for that early morning outhouse visit.

I still have to use smoke signals up there to communicate. Well... No internet, but at least I have cell phone reception.

I get washing water from the lake & clean drinking water from an ancient hand pump well. The close setback from the water is no longer an option when building on lakefront. For the rare winter visit, I boil lake water or snow for drinking. (just to be safe)

Worst part? It's a 4 hour drive to get "thee'a from hee'a." (That endearing Maine accent)

Joe

 

[DiscoInferno]

Yes, that's it. It's a modular, and not really as fancy as it looks. Vinyl siding, asphalt shingles, trex decking - I wanted minimal maintenance. We have electric, a well, septic, land-line phone, and even DSL showed up a couple of years ago. Our road is unpaved but maintained year round and it's only 2.5 miles to a main road.

We're only about 60 ft from the water (Lake Superior), I think the setback is only 35ft (surprisingly close). If we weren't so sheltered from the open lake it would be foolish to build that close because of erosion; we also left most of the trees between the house and the water to hold things together and to camouflage the house from the water. The view of the lake and Grand Island is still excellent.

I'd kill for a 4 hour drive to camp. Mine is about 15 hours (took 17 this summer). Usually over two days. West Virginia would make more sense living in DC, but the UP is home.

 

[Pyro]

I loved it until you said vinyl siding! eeeewwwwww, How do you sleep at night? hahaha. (just kidding)

Great spot! Love the pics too. Can I assume you took those 2 pics from the same spot? Judging from the way the house sits, I assume you turned 120 degrees (one third of 360) to your right to snap the second photo.

Even though it's so far away from you, there's no place like home. I'm sure your visits to the UP are one of the things that keep the daily grind from driving you nuts.

I'll keep the Maine camp well after I retire to Florida for the winters. (still 10 to 20 years away)

Joe

 

[DiscoInferno]

Well, it's wood-grained vinyl siding, if that makes it any better... It blends with the surroundings a lot more than my neighbor with the red-painted house and clearcut yard.

The two photos were taken in the same batch and the same distance from the house and water, but I think I'm standing off the other corner of the house for the lake shot. Because of the trees there's only a few spots where you can get a relatively unobstructed wideangle view of the lake.

My hope is that telecommuting becomes commonplace enough (I do some now) that I can work primarily from there in 13 years when my daughter goes to college. The plan is to retire there eventually. I like winter, so no Florida for me.

 

[youngstr]

Pyro,
I checked out the place in Bedford, Fireplace Village. They wanted like $300+ for a ton(not delivered).....I almost hurled. I ended up buying mine from (broken link removed). They have an office in Manchester and were friendly. I ended up paying $550?? or something for 2 tons delivered. I waited way too long, if I'd have ordered them a couple of months ago I could have gotten them a lot cheaper.

Y