Well WE Did it!

[wg_bent]

That's funny SCFA, it's probably something I will tell my husband to do....

Oh, and to add to the paranoia, brand new stoves smell pretty bad...like something is burning. After a few burns, I went back and touched up a couple places in connector pipe with some stove cement. That smells a little also. Most of the stove smell is from the paint curing, and even after a few curing fires, the paint will smell a little for a couple days. The other one that will get you from time to time is if someone sprays the stove with something like furniture polish or other household product.

 

[scfa99]

my tips for success:

1) pro install (unless you know what your doing).
2) don't deviate from manufacturer specs and make installer don't either
3) get permits/inspection
4) contact insurance company to note it in your policy
5) check/pipe (routine maintence)
6) when in doubt ALWAYS listen to ELK

 

[Jags]

7) Always make sure you have an established fire before lowering the air flow
8) Grab a glass of merlot
9) have minimal lights on for best viewing
10) hope it snows like He))
11) have the tunes of your choice playing in the background

 

[DonCT]

also, don't forget to follow the manufactures break in process. It's there for a reason and will make your stove a safer, longer lasting appliance.

 

[elkimmeg]

Got to ask why sharpclaws? if a fire place insert require a damper block off plate don't get talked out of it demand it.

30 years of burning and almost no help from the wife Lock in oil price $2.79 she wants instructions. Best feature I ever had with a
stove, top smokeless loading. Even the misses likes that feature.. Stove top thermo is the best learning tool. After 30 plus years of burning it is expected. My wife raised bread on the stove top. We have a mitten rack and use it to dry out gloves and mittens and scarf's. Not bad to dry boots either I figured I have saved burning 25,000 galons of oil by using wood one might say the styove paid for its self a few times over. I like the idea of Merlot wine one of my wife favorites. CAREFULL fire,a warm wood stove and wine can make for many romantic evenings, especially with dimmed lights just watching the flames dance

 

[Rhone]

Congrats You should celebrate by getting yourself a nice metal ash bucket, which are double-walled metal buckets with a lid. Don't do like my neighbor, and throw your ashes into a 5 gallon plastic bucket and put it in the garage next to leaves in paper bags. He was fortunate to only critically damage his garage and not lose the house.

Hmm... makes me wonder is burning wood more dangerous than the ashes created from burning wood? I've heard more stories of people getting in trouble from mishandling the ashes than I have mishandling their stoves/inserts.

 

[wg_bent]

Elk...uhhh..hmmmm... Hearthnet statistics tracking...higher percentage of Hearthnet members have children born in June than the general public. No analysis needed!!

Rhone, The bucket of ashes placement after emptying was one thing I learned from hearthnet...never really thought about it much, so I was putting my ash bucket (a large ceramic coated pot with lid) in the garage figuring all that wonderful heat would keep the garage warmer. Then I read and thought about how many gasoline burning things were in the garage, and how many peoples garages had caught fire from doing exactly what I was doing. Oh Crap!

The rest of the season those ashes went out on the front walk (thick peices of blue stone) after emptying.

Caution note here: For anyone who does not believe this point, a bucket of ashes WILL have red hot coals in it for days after you empty them from the stove. I typically clean out the stove some every day, but now and then it's a couple days. I'll spread the ashes out over the snow in the yard and I'm amaized how there will still be hot coals that sizzle when they hit the snow. So you really do need to be careful about where you throw ashes even if it's been a couple days.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. As I related last season, a young that worked for me's mom sat the bucket on the deck and went to work. Neighbor called her at work and told her the house had burned down. The deck caught fire and took the house with it.

 

[sharpclaws]

I never would of thought of that. Thanks for the info. I will go out and get an ash bucket.

 

[seaken]

I never would of thought of that. Thanks for the info. I will go out and get an ash bucket.

Someone else on the forum recently asked about accessories. It's important to know the difference between a simple metal can or bucket (such as a galvenized pail) and a specialized ash bucket. An ash bucket is made with a double bottom and is helpful in insulating the ashes and coals from the exterior of the bucket. You still should not set it on a combustible surface, like a deck, but it is less likely to cause problems than a simple bucket.

It is amazing to me that someone would do as described and ignore a simple rule of fire safety. But people do it. Becasue they don't have a grasp of what is really happening to the wood when it burns and how the wood progresses from splits to char, to coal, to ashes. It's a shame they had to lose their house while learning the lessons.

Sean

 

[BrotherBart]

Sean, measure the temp on the bottom of the fifty dollar double bottom ash can and the fifteen dollar hardware store galvanized bucket five minutes after dumping the ashes and coals in them.

I did. Not one degree difference. And the flimsy hinges on the side of the ash can broke and let the ash can dump in the floor after a few years. The connectors on the cheap ass hardware store can are built like a tank.

 

[kevinlp]

The stove is a HamptonH300 in the timberline brown finish with the side shelves. It looks sharp, and it should be just the right size for our house.
Our house is a 2100 square ft colonial.

So you are all saying it would be alright once we are used to it to light it before we go to work or are we better off to do it when we get home? And I'm sure my first night that it's lit will seem odd.

And I like the idea too of my propane bill going down this year. We will still use it of course but we are not going to lock into there ridiculous monthly payment
so I am excited by that. We will only pay for what we use when we use it. (hopefully we can cut this in half from last year)
Someone also told me that when you dont use a certain amount of propane that they will charge you more per gallon? Has anyone
else ever heard of this. It seems like when you try to get ahead they kick you back...oh well then we would burn more wood next year..LOL

Anyways, I will send pictures when its all done, is there somewhere on this forum that says how to do this?

Thanks

We just installed our first stove as well and we heat with propane. We ended up not prepaying for any fuel as it was 2.45 for more than 500 gallons and 2.75 for less than 500 gallons. Last year we bought 650 gallons and we expect our usage to be under 500 gallons with the stove this year. 2.75 didn't seem like much of a bargain to lock in at so we will just float and make the stove earn its keep!

 

[kevinlp]

Last year I installed my insert, and the first night it was going over night, I probably got up 5 or 6 times to go look at the stove. I remember thinking oh my god that thing is hot, the entire stove is filled with a fireball and the secondary burn tubes look like they're fired by propane. The livingroom was 80 degrees, and I couldn't believe the thing wasn't going to just melt.

Well, according to the manual, my stove was not showing any signs of being over fired, the primary air inlet was as low as it could go, so logically, I was thinking....Well, the stove manufacturer must have tested this thing with full loads of wood, it must be intended to do this. But I'll say the first few fires can make you pretty nervous. Well, now I've gotten used to it, but I can still say that when it's really ripping along, I still am just a touch nervous, but when it's cold out and I wake up at 3 or 4 am to toss a few more splits on, I'm very happy that stove is hot and keeping the house warm.

I do remember a few times when the coal stoves in my parents got cherry red because someone forgot to lower the air, and they seemed to be just fine. (I wouldn't recommend doing though) My insert with it's blower never gets that hot, and I'm glad the blower is there to get the heat out of the stove.

So the one thing I do think about sometimes is this: If I had to do it again, what would I do differently.

Options:
1. I might have removed the Majestic Prefab and built an alcove, but that would have been a serious amount of work, that would have included a complete chimney reinstall. but would have given me the flexibility of installing a freestanding stove instead of a an insert...much different look though.

2. I might have gone with a Lopi Revere which would have fit but has a larger firebox than my Osburn. Downside is the Osburn's view of the fire is second to none. It's a Very pretty insert once installed.

3. I might have removed the Majestic and purchesed a new prefab-fireplace that is made with more woodstove like technology. Again, the complete chimney rebuild.

In all I believe I made the right decision. The stove heats the house, It looks nice, and my wife is very happy with it.

I hope you enjoy your stove. You've made a life changing decsion that will have impacts that you never imagined.
People will not believe how well it works, you'll get in better shape gathering wood, You might even become obsessed with gathering wood...I think I have. If you have kids, they won't take it for granted that you just turn up the thermostat to get heat. They get to know that you have to care for and feed the stove. You have to bring in wood from where you store it, they get to know that you care about the whole oil situation.

You and your SO will like hanging out and chatting by the stove and just watching the fire. I can't tell you what a nice calming effect the stove has, and how many times my wife and I turn off the TV in favor of just sitting on the hearth being cooked by the blast of radiant heat and just watching the fire.

Enjoy!

I guess I'm not the only one... I find myself constantly looking for fallen trees and utility trimming crews to follow behind and pick up logs...

 

[sharpclaws]

They wanted 300 per month to lock in to our propane. They are asking 2.19 per gallon. Last year our budget was only 150 per month. I called
them up and told them that was ridiculous. the monthly payment doubled but the price increased only 40 cents per gallon. That's when
my husband decided that was enough and now we are getting the wood stove installed this year. The way things are going I think every type of fuel
is going to just go up. We debated wether or not to lock in at 300 a month but he figured we shouldnt use half of what we used last year if we burn
the wood alot. So hopefully we did the right thing. Why go broke all year just to pay them when we will pay for whatever we use as we go along.

 

[seaken]

Sean, measure the temp on the bottom of the fifty dollar double bottom ash can and the fifteen dollar hardware store galvanized bucket five minutes after dumping the ashes and coals in them.

I did. Not one degree difference. And the flimsy hinges on the side of the ash can broke and let the ash can dump in the floor after a few years. The connectors on the cheap ass hardware store can are built like a tank.

No, I haven't done a heat test. I guess it could be done scientifically with thermisters, etc. And I suppose it's possible to buy a peice of junk ash bucket. The ash bucket we sell comes with a liner. A cheaper bucket can certainly be just as good. I think most of the buckets that are more expensive are more designer style and intended to be more dressy. We've used galvenized buckets with an air space in the bottom. The most important thing is to undersatnd that ashes are HOT and don't set them on the combustible floor or deck.

 

[sharpclaws]

Can you put the ash bucket on the hearth? It will be made of brick and let it sit in the bucket a few days? And if this is ok what do most of you do with the ashes? Thats something I havnt thought about. Do you sprinkle it on your lawn, garden or just dump in woods, or the trash. It kind of scares me because I wouldnt know if there were any hot ashes left in the bucket before dumping.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

it might leak a little carbon monoxide..... dont dump it in the trash, just spread it over the lawn. That way you can watch it. If there is snow on the ground, then no problem.

 

[BrotherBart]

And don't sit them on deep snow like WillHound did:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/652/

 

[tradergordo]

I'm sure you could add your own non-combusible liner to your ash can for extra safety. I'm thinking a nice little circle cut out from the leftover micore 300 from my hearth build would be perfect. Maybe put a little thinset over it to keep it in place.

 

[Rhone]

I store my ashes in an ash bucket on my hearth. My ash bucket must be high quality, it's higher quality than a galvanized bucket and double-lined. Once I've filled it, I pour the ashes in a big metal trash can resting on concrete and come spring sift it and spread it with my lime spreader. It acts just like lime, and it's a great source of potash for your plants. However the potash leaches from it after the first big rain so, it should be spread around/on plants that are already established.

I prefer to sift because the little black unfinished wood burning pieces last for centuries. I've dug down and come across the black unfinished burning wood pieces from Native Americans probably centuries dead and sure don't want them accumulating in my garden for someone centuries later to find. After filtering them out, I throw them back in the stove/insert and they eventually burn and turn into powder.

 

[sharpclaws]

Would it be ok to put water in the ash bucket after you put the ashes in it and then dump it in the woods.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

If you have a bucket with a tight lid, it would be best to let it sit on a non combustable for a few days, without oxygen they will smother. A lot less messy then water and all that. But yea, if they were completly doused then you can dump them any where you like.

 

[seaken]

My favorite use for my ashes was to put them on my steep icey driveway. Excellent traction. But a little messy.

One recommendation is to dig an ash pit in the earth. Make sure there are no roots or other organic materials in the pit. You could water the ashes down after throwing them in the pit.

I always felt it was better to take the hot ashes outside immediately instead of leaving them on the hearth. No draft in that bucket, y'know.

Sean

 

[wg_bent]

it might leak a little carbon monoxide..... dont dump it in the trash, just spread it over the lawn. That way you can watch it. If there is snow on the ground, then no problem.

I wondered about the Carbon Monoxide, so I put the ash bucket I use near my detector for about 5 minutes in the garage...nothing. BUT...I still wonder about it. There is a lot of good heat from it. I usually put the bucket on the kitchen stove for 10 minutes in the morning to heat the kitchen a bit. Not sure it helps much, but I feel better. Don't want to waste a single BTU!!

 

[BrotherBart]

When my dad was growing up, close to a hundred years ago, the only heat the boys had at night in the leaky old farmhouse was a bucket of coals from the fireplace. Grandpa would scoop a bucket of coals and put it in their bedroom before going to bed.

Of course you could fling a cat through the air leaks in that old house so the leaks probably took care of any deadly gases.