New to wood burning. Please help!

[gyrfalcon]

So you are saying there is hope?

Quicker he knows what his options are and aren't, quicker he can get going on them.

 

[Typ0]

Quicker he knows what his options are and aren't, quicker he can get going on them.

I am having the same issues with wet wood...I need to hear some hope LOL. I'm working my way though it. I can do OK if I can babysit the stove and keep feeding it...I look forward to those days being over.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I am having the same issues with wet wood...I need to hear some hope LOL. I'm working my way though it. I can do OK if I can babysit the stove and keep feeding it...I look forward to those days being over.

Yeah, it's not a whole lot of fun, that's for sure. I went through it for two years before I was able to get things straightened out and a burnable wood supply. I split everything down to 2 or 3 inches, then stacked as much as I could loosely "log cabin" style on either side just outside the clearance zone near the stove, something most people would have trouble getting approved by the boss of the house.

That stuff -- mostly red oak and some beech -- dried very quickly, a week to 10 days to get it from high 20s to high teens or low 20s, which at least gave me some wood dry enough to mix in with the wetter stuff and keep a decent fire going most of the time. But wow, as you say, the baby-sitting requirement was intense. (And worse because I had such a small stove at the time, a Hearthstone Tribute, which has a very short burn cycle and was too small for my needs even running at its best.) I work from a home office, so it was doable, but a lot of anxiety involved in perpetually tending the stove to keep the house temperature bearable-- no "toasty" for me in those days.

Somewhere in there, I got so frustrated, I paid an arm and a leg for a cord of fabulous kiln-dried firewood in HEUUUGE "splits" from a lumber mill north of me, and experienced the nearly orgasmic joy of burning dry wood.

 

[Typ0]

it's very cold here right now with snow and wind....and I am warm. I have burned it hard tonight. My wood is getting better the stuff I first bought has been stacked for a good month and a half now. I just got two cords of ash and it's stacked in the garage. I have about a half face cord in the house priming LOL. I sympathize with the original poster I have been very shy and following directions but have gotten to the point of making adjustments that work in my situation and not being afraid to burn more rapidly. I'm sorry to the perfection pundit's that want me to do it right but I don't have optimal wood. I look forward to the day I do. I'm going to get at least two more cords this winter and get it stacked for next year and then some more in the spring. Next winter should be much better and I'm happy where I am at right now despite there being struggles.

 

[skysong]

A big fan on that 2 cords in the garage can help...did it last year. Then the warming in the house as you're doing is great. Adding a bio brick or 2 to the mix will also heat things up considerably. Be careful if you try it, start small so you don't over heat your stove.

 

[Dix]

So you are saying there is hope?

Yes !!

get ahead, get it seasoned, and never, ever look back !!

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

So you are saying there is hope?

Yes in 3 years if you start now......