I finally got into my oldest wood--c/s/s January 2014. Hard maple, beech, red oak hickory.
What Is In Your Stove Right Now?
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stoveliker
Minister of Fire
It's a bit boring these days; after last night's oak was done, I added three uglies of oak. Then I used three 2" splits to burn down some coals. And now a reload of oak. All red. Not too packed; bit twisted pieces. But 33 now, 32 for a low, and 38 and rain tomorrow.
I never did look at the temp last night but since the ashes in the wood stove were going out this morning, we burned a bag of pellets. We had 13 this morning with the temp in the basement at 72, the living room 67 and the sleeper 66.
We're back to burning the wood stove and the ashes are in a metal garbage can near the outside fireplace.
We're back to burning the wood stove and the ashes are in a metal garbage can near the outside fireplace.
Does "What's in my furnace?" count?
24'' hickory split, two 14'' round uglies of red elm, chunk of hard maple, 6-8''x 40'' long round of black locust, chunk of barkless something I didn't recognize, and a couple oak uglies. Firebox has plenty room for more. I'm trying to conserve what wood I have.
28* and "fells like 1* " with the wind chill. Feels cold in the house. Glad Feb is about over. One more month to go ......
I miss running my All Nighter.
24'' hickory split, two 14'' round uglies of red elm, chunk of hard maple, 6-8''x 40'' long round of black locust, chunk of barkless something I didn't recognize, and a couple oak uglies. Firebox has plenty room for more. I'm trying to conserve what wood I have.
28* and "fells like 1* " with the wind chill. Feels cold in the house. Glad Feb is about over. One more month to go ......
I miss running my All Nighter.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Yes, it does 
Why are you switching from stove to furnace?
Here after last night's oak was done (at 2 pm if I remember correctly), I put 3 oak uglies in. That's done now. So a reload of oak. All red again.
Today was 37 for a high, 1/4" and icicles in the trees. Started thawing just before branches would come down. 30 now, a low of 20.
Tomorrow some (Ukrainian) friends over to distract them a bit. They like it warm, and I like to show flames. So I'll be running higher tomorrow, and on small loads of oak uglies with an inch of punky sapwood on the outside.
Why are you switching from stove to furnace?
Here after last night's oak was done (at 2 pm if I remember correctly), I put 3 oak uglies in. That's done now. So a reload of oak. All red again.
Today was 37 for a high, 1/4" and icicles in the trees. Started thawing just before branches would come down. 30 now, a low of 20.
Tomorrow some (Ukrainian) friends over to distract them a bit. They like it warm, and I like to show flames. So I'll be running higher tomorrow, and on small loads of oak uglies with an inch of punky sapwood on the outside.
Long story short, insurance company will not allow wood stoves. My hands are tied in regards to the stove until I either pay the house off, or refinance with different lender and new insurance agent.
The kicker is they will allow as many LP space heaters I want. As if they're safer .....
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I would have to refinance the house first. I'm on a land contract.
Strange as it sounds, I'm better off with a 5yr plan. Selling 40 cord each of those years.
Strange as it sounds, I'm better off with a 5yr plan. Selling 40 cord each of those years.
For giggles I loaded with "questionable" wood that I left indoor for about a week. What a mess. Reloaded on 1/2 stove of good coal, built up criss-cross. Caught on fairly quick but after about 30min of flames it was left smoldering. Had to push in a locust split to the bottom of pile to recover. Now living room is nice and toasty at 71F, outside 25F.
I have some red oak I split in July/Aug. It was a standing dead, then a log that sat for a year. Mid Oct I brought a bunch of it inside and stood them up on end behind the stove. It's a corner install with plenty of room behind it. I started lighting them off, here and there, on nightly cold spells starting mid Jan. No split smaller than a 4x4. They burn very pleasantly.
cottonwood from the pasture that was laying for a couple of years before I moved here. There's a standing dead one that I'm going to attack next until I get my chit together and source the better stuff around me
I'm in one of the colder areas of the lower 48 and it's been -20s for more days than I care to count this winter and I'm in a mobile home that's ten years older than me. Obviously not anywhere close ideal, but the stove is oversized and I jam it full and the cold wakes me up if I need more heat. The little bit of Boxelder and Green Ash I've burned has shown me how pointless cutting up another 5-6' across monster is, but it's going to fall in my pasture eventually and make a mess, likely taking out fencing if I don't take care of it. I want to buy the abandoned neighboring farmstead and its 11 acres that has more wood worth burning than my 500 acres. There are a bunch of useful buildings for storing wood, would make for a nice little firewood operation setup.
I would say the majority of firewood advertisements around here mention cottonwood because there isn't much on these plains. Market is small, but I imagine it would be easy to find repeat customers willing to pay to not burn cottonwood.
I'm in one of the colder areas of the lower 48 and it's been -20s for more days than I care to count this winter and I'm in a mobile home that's ten years older than me. Obviously not anywhere close ideal, but the stove is oversized and I jam it full and the cold wakes me up if I need more heat. The little bit of Boxelder and Green Ash I've burned has shown me how pointless cutting up another 5-6' across monster is, but it's going to fall in my pasture eventually and make a mess, likely taking out fencing if I don't take care of it. I want to buy the abandoned neighboring farmstead and its 11 acres that has more wood worth burning than my 500 acres. There are a bunch of useful buildings for storing wood, would make for a nice little firewood operation setup.
I would say the majority of firewood advertisements around here mention cottonwood because there isn't much on these plains. Market is small, but I imagine it would be easy to find repeat customers willing to pay to not burn cottonwood.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
After last night's oak was done, I added two big knotty (and slightly punky) oak pieces. Added two pieces of maple at 6 or so. Kept the home at 71 all day. We reached 34 for a high today, it's 32 now, and a low of 28 forecast.
Another load of red oak. The maple was not done yet, so only about 70 pct load due to not being able to play Tetris. But I'm tired, so it's bed time.
Another load of red oak. The maple was not done yet, so only about 70 pct load due to not being able to play Tetris. But I'm tired, so it's bed time.
It's 21.2 tonight with a load of ash going in the wood stove for the overnight load. The temp in the basement is 77 heading higher, the living room up here is 68 and the sleeper is 67.
Warmed up into the 30s today, so I let the stove cool off and did a quick clean out. Was able to burn down most of the coals from the last week but the mahogany coals will turn into rocks basically so I can never truly burn them completely; on the bright side they’ll coal and hold heat for days. Alas it reminds me that my softwoods aren’t so bad. Tonight’s lows headed for singles again, but we’re going to warm up starting tomorrow, hitting almost 60 again on Wednesday. Then another system coming through dropping temps and some precip. This has been the craziest weather year so far.
I got bored so here’s an evening reel…
After the clean out started back up with some mystery pieces. House was 69, outside in the teens.
Dorothy is warmed back up and ready for dinner, let this go for couple hours. House is 71.
A full load of pine for tonight’s fire.
Dorothy is cruising for the night. House is 72, outside is 12. Have a good night y’all.
I got bored so here’s an evening reel…
After the clean out started back up with some mystery pieces. House was 69, outside in the teens.
Dorothy is warmed back up and ready for dinner, let this go for couple hours. House is 71.
A full load of pine for tonight’s fire.
Dorothy is cruising for the night. House is 72, outside is 12. Have a good night y’all.
fvhowler
Burning Hunk
Burning old red maple and bradford pear scraps with a good piece of white oak. Rain and mid-40s today. I think my full-time burning ended last week. Day time temps trending warmer.
I have a mix of beech, maple, and ash in the stove. It’s 20 outside and 75 in the house. Supposed to get down to zero tomorrow, so maybe just a few more cold days.
It was 21.2 this morning with another load of ash going in the Lopi. The basement was 73 before our first fire, the living room was 67 and the sleeper was 65.
What a roller coaster ride Feb. has been! Just loaded up a load of locust and oak for a 24 hr. burn...going to be pretty mild according to the 10 day forecast...might be close to being done burning for the year.
Our outside temp is at 14.2 heading for a low of - 5 according to NOAA, we'll go with the pellet stove tonight for the constant heat.
The basement temp is 75, living room temp is 69 and the sleeper is 68.
The basement temp is 75, living room temp is 69 and the sleeper is 68.
Gearhead660
Minister of Fire
Elm limb wood. Makes for easy N-S loading.
Getting into a stretch of warmer weather, will only have the stove burning this week.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Goodlooking fires, @MMH and @Gearhead660 !
Here the oak of last night 22.30 was done around 17.30 - nice run ( 28 overnight low, 42 for a high today helped by the sun). I added two small pieces to keep some coals until now. Reload with... Red oak. A low of 21 predicted tonight, tomorrow 32.
Tomorrow night will be cold again (22, so yes all is relative...), and then Thursday night 17. But Friday night might be my last fire... The minisplit seems suitable for what's predicted after that. I have burned 4 face cord so far this year, at 17" long splits mostly, that's less than 2 cords.
We'll see what March brings (tho I'll be traveling for work one week, and my wife won't light up the stove...)
Here the oak of last night 22.30 was done around 17.30 - nice run ( 28 overnight low, 42 for a high today helped by the sun). I added two small pieces to keep some coals until now. Reload with... Red oak. A low of 21 predicted tonight, tomorrow 32.
Tomorrow night will be cold again (22, so yes all is relative...), and then Thursday night 17. But Friday night might be my last fire... The minisplit seems suitable for what's predicted after that. I have burned 4 face cord so far this year, at 17" long splits mostly, that's less than 2 cords.
We'll see what March brings (tho I'll be traveling for work one week, and my wife won't light up the stove...)
Starting to see comments along lines of "done burning for the year" or "last fire"... Do you plan to burn in Mar and April when it's still getting chilly?
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Given that my stove works best for continuous burning, and given that I have minisplits and solar panels, I made an agreement with myself that this year I will only burn if it was below 40 F for 24 hours or more. (So one 34 F night won't be a fire night; the minisplit can heat well down to 17 F, though at lower efficiency, of course.) I'm not sure whether that will happen again after this week. But if it does, I'll surely burn. (Or if I get the burning itch I'll also burn...
)I will do one last full firebox running as hot as I can to crust up all the creosote in the box so I can brush it out of the stove before the humid summer comes around. But I'll only do that when I'm absolutely sure that there won't be another fire for this season. I guess sometime in late April.
