Hey everyone I'm new to this board... I found it a few weeks ago while I was searching everything and anything about burning a wood stove efficiently and have read a lot of good stuff on here so I would like to thank you all...
Anyway when I was a kid my dad would have the stove lit on a somewhat regular bases and the warmth is ingrained in my memory and has left me extremely interested in wood burning stoves... I have lit it a few time over the past few years myself but I really wanted to get in to on a more regular bases... So last September which was almost 15 months ago(as to season it it) a tree guy offered me free wood i know him from where my brother works... He first dumped a load of cherry which i'm told makes good fore wood(is this true?) a few weeks later he gave me a load of what i believe to be ash... in all it split into about 7 face cords (i think that makes about 2 "regular" cords.) but in the spring i noticed the ash developed a whole bunch of powdery saw dust it was tons and i knew something i was wrong... so i googled it and it seems as if the wood has powder post beetles... im wondering if you think the spread into the cherry being i don't think ill actually know until spring when they make all the dust again.. im scared to bring it into house now but it becomes inconvenient to walk outside in the cold to grab wood every time i want to reload... but i need to get arid of it some how and i guess im gonna try and use it up asap.
Anyway the real question I had was about our Vermont Castings Intrepid (I) ... The stove is from the mid to late 1980's... I have read good things about the stove.. My dad never used a thermometer but that was the first thing i read about when learning how to burn more efficiently(what brad do you guys most recommend?) I ended up purchasing a Condar stove top it seemed to work well the other night for the first time... I was going to use a non contact thermometer to help verify its accuracy the next time i burn the stove. BTW I was told the Condar are made in the USA and Rutland are made in china i was wondering if that's true because that one of the reasons I went with Condar. The way I have best controlled the temperature is simply by the amount of wood i have put on the fire at any given time... Not real knowledgeable about how to properly use a damper but from what i have read its best no to ouch until you have 3/4inch bed of coals and the stove is about 450 degrees.. to be honest i alway thought the air inlet was the "damper" but realized that the area where i "close" chimney is actually the damper... so is best to leave the air inlet all the way open and just close the damper?? will that help me control it more? i have read that it is best to close the damper a little at a time but it is loose on my stove and i can only either have it all the way open or closed... i guess something needs to be tightened and when the fire is burning correctly is proper to close the damper 100%? I always read about burn times of 4 and 6 hours does that mean if i learn to use the damper correctly i can load like 4 or 5 nice pieces of wood on and have it burn at a steady efficient temperature and last me 6 hours before reloading? cause right now i toss one on about ever hour to one and a half hours to keep it steady... i guess ill experiment with the damper next time i light the fire. trial and error is ultimately the best way to learn but if you have any pointer to help me avoid obvious error i'll appreciate it. When inspecting it last night i could see that many of the gaskets need replacing looks like a somewhat simple job.. i hope so. i just need to find out where to buy new ones at. My goal is always a smokeless fire... one more question does anybody happen to know the efficiency rating on this old stove? seems to be a popular one.
Sorry I was so long winded and appreciate any shared knowledge!!
Anyway when I was a kid my dad would have the stove lit on a somewhat regular bases and the warmth is ingrained in my memory and has left me extremely interested in wood burning stoves... I have lit it a few time over the past few years myself but I really wanted to get in to on a more regular bases... So last September which was almost 15 months ago(as to season it it) a tree guy offered me free wood i know him from where my brother works... He first dumped a load of cherry which i'm told makes good fore wood(is this true?) a few weeks later he gave me a load of what i believe to be ash... in all it split into about 7 face cords (i think that makes about 2 "regular" cords.) but in the spring i noticed the ash developed a whole bunch of powdery saw dust it was tons and i knew something i was wrong... so i googled it and it seems as if the wood has powder post beetles... im wondering if you think the spread into the cherry being i don't think ill actually know until spring when they make all the dust again.. im scared to bring it into house now but it becomes inconvenient to walk outside in the cold to grab wood every time i want to reload... but i need to get arid of it some how and i guess im gonna try and use it up asap.
Anyway the real question I had was about our Vermont Castings Intrepid (I) ... The stove is from the mid to late 1980's... I have read good things about the stove.. My dad never used a thermometer but that was the first thing i read about when learning how to burn more efficiently(what brad do you guys most recommend?) I ended up purchasing a Condar stove top it seemed to work well the other night for the first time... I was going to use a non contact thermometer to help verify its accuracy the next time i burn the stove. BTW I was told the Condar are made in the USA and Rutland are made in china i was wondering if that's true because that one of the reasons I went with Condar. The way I have best controlled the temperature is simply by the amount of wood i have put on the fire at any given time... Not real knowledgeable about how to properly use a damper but from what i have read its best no to ouch until you have 3/4inch bed of coals and the stove is about 450 degrees.. to be honest i alway thought the air inlet was the "damper" but realized that the area where i "close" chimney is actually the damper... so is best to leave the air inlet all the way open and just close the damper?? will that help me control it more? i have read that it is best to close the damper a little at a time but it is loose on my stove and i can only either have it all the way open or closed... i guess something needs to be tightened and when the fire is burning correctly is proper to close the damper 100%? I always read about burn times of 4 and 6 hours does that mean if i learn to use the damper correctly i can load like 4 or 5 nice pieces of wood on and have it burn at a steady efficient temperature and last me 6 hours before reloading? cause right now i toss one on about ever hour to one and a half hours to keep it steady... i guess ill experiment with the damper next time i light the fire. trial and error is ultimately the best way to learn but if you have any pointer to help me avoid obvious error i'll appreciate it. When inspecting it last night i could see that many of the gaskets need replacing looks like a somewhat simple job.. i hope so. i just need to find out where to buy new ones at. My goal is always a smokeless fire... one more question does anybody happen to know the efficiency rating on this old stove? seems to be a popular one.
Sorry I was so long winded and appreciate any shared knowledge!!
