What Is In Your Stove Right Now?

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Your west coast hemlock must be different density from ours in the east. Using my eastern hemlock I will have zero hot coals once the cat enters the not active zone. I use hemlock a lot especially in shoulder season, can go a week or more without having to empty the stove.

Not familiar with east coast hemlock. Don't know that there is any difference. I sure envy your hardwoods, though.

The PNW is in shoulder season for half or more of each year. Ran around 1/2 loads on minimal air (cat always active), reloading twice a day for about a week, and had a lot of ash to remove. There were probably a few alder splits, and might have been an occasional cherry. None of it over 15% MC.

NOAA shows overnight temps in the low 40s dF and daytimes in the high 40s to low 50s for the next few days. Dry Monday, rain Tuesday and Wednesday, dry again Thursday-Saturday. Overnight temps dropping to around freezing on Thursday. Once I get the Auber flue thermometer installed I'll probably run some small daytime fires.

Still have a few more weekends of bucking and splitting that pile of hemlock. Got about 3 cords for myself so far. I've been giving about 1/2 of what I process away to neighbors who are older than I am.
 
Been working our way through some very punky spruce from an old dead tree I needed to dispose of. Not much weight to it and just crumbles everywhere but it does give off heat! Looking forward to having that stuff gone. Next up in the stack is about 1/3 cord of Ash, then the rest of my wood for this year is a mix of 70% oak, 30% silver maple.
 
-11::C this morning with a wind chill of -19::C
darn cold for Nov.20
Fired up the wood furnace and charged it with
hard maple (MC 16%) house is now a nice comfortable 22::C
Snow tomorrow they say 10 to 12 cm. looks like the whole
week will be cold and white
 
Just got stove again. 32 outside temp and dropping. Had to close to air. Draft sounded like a jet engine. Secondaries like an inferno! Looks like this load going over 650 STT. Crazy thing is not a large load but some 12-14% MC oak.

If my stove takes off with a 90 and a T with 2x 30’s elbows hate to see what it would be like without them.
 
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Just got stove again. 32 outside temp and dropping. Had to close to air. Draft sounded like a jet engine. Secondaries like an inferno! Looks like this load going over 650 STT. Crazy thing is not a large load but some 12-14% MC oak.

If my stove takes off with a 90 and a T with 2x 30’s elbows hate to see what it would be like without them.
Sounds like you've got an air leak somewhere
 
Just got stove again. 32 outside temp and dropping. Had to close to air. Draft sounded like a jet engine. Secondaries like an inferno! Looks like this load going over 650 STT. Crazy thing is not a large load but some 12-14% MC oak.

If my stove takes off with a 90 and a T with 2x 30’s elbows hate to see what it would be like without them.
Darn near sounds like a chimney fire!!
 
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I let the stove go out today while I was at work so I could shovel it out. Got home around 7:00 this evening shoveled it out and got a fire going again. Took a minute to get the draft going, but it's cruising along at 660°F now on the Auber, 410°F STT. More short ash from a pile I have set aside for shoulder season. They are around 10" - 12" long on average. I cut most of my wood to 16" - 17" for NS burns and some at 18" - 22" for EW burns
 
Darn near sounds like a chimney fire!!
Yah chimney fire with the flue swept in the spring and burning 12-16% wood 🙄
 
Hey I'm not there just saying your description sounds like a chimney fire
No just a bunch of smaller dry oak splits and some shorties. This was also a cold start. If I mix in larger splits it won’t happen. Did this last year also. Also have a tall chimney that drafts great especially with temps under 30. I cut my wood back on the reload with some larger stuff and back at 600 STT.
 
We're at 17 tonight heading for a low of 9 according to NOAA. I'm burning down some coals with five pine splits :oops: the basement is 77, the floors up here are between 70 to 75 depending on how far away from the stove in the basement U R, the sleeper is 68 and the temps here are 69 & 70. The overnight load will be all ash.
 
livingroom at cozy 68 all evening, so the focus was burning down coals all night.

now that I’ve made some room in firebox, I’ve reloaded with locust splits for the 22F low tonight.
 
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Drizzly, windy 38 degrees going down to 32 tonight. Full load of ash with 2 splits of sugar maple in the NC30. High of 37 tomorrow with off & on rain.
 
Loaded some larger oak late last night. House was 67 at 7am and had some coals and VODA fan still spinning. 24 outside temp. Reloaded with a piece of fatwood and some kindling, smaller splits and 2x biobricks. Main floor 73 now.
 
Mixture of Pine and Ash. Reload last night was early so just a few coals this AM. Grabbed some of the pieces I saved from splitting the beech (all the little pieces that broke off the main splits) and some of the Beech Bark. (Wife put those in the bin). Got those going. Added in the few pieces of ash still in the house while I pulled more wood from the outside bin. My ash is from a Dead Standing so it has a Balsa like punky edge on some of the pieces, but then has good heartwood. That punky part catches real fast.
 
Beautiful pile of coals this morning 12 hours after last night's load, 68 upstairs and 70 downstairs. Will have a shoulder season fire or two today seeing as I'll be around...
 
We had 17.4 this morning, the basement was 72 with the temps up here 66 & 67. I took some ashes out and then headed to town so I just started the first fire about 30 minutes ago, all pine.
 
Up and down temps here so back to the mini split. 50’s tomorrow with high winds and rain.