We haven't received any heavy wet snow yet, just the sugar snow.
What Is In Your Stove Right Now?
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Hoping that some white oak will do the trick to get us thru the next little bit. Managing the coals will be the key to master. A small split will hopefully tame them. East wind yesterday and its been south/west all of today. Hydro flickered a few times last night,but in general it's pretty reliable around here.
Dieselhead
Minister of Fire
I just threw about 8 splits on top of this 36 hour old coal bed, was 50 today, going to be sub freezing for the next week at minimum. Load up boys it’s going to be a chilly one!
We'll burn some pellets tonight, saving the beech we have inside for the colder weather coming in.
Temperature steadily dropping, 35F now and will be down to ~30s by sunrise. The wind gusts are the main driver here - about 30mph.
It's currently nice and toasty at 70F inside, after 2 shoulder season fires throughout the day. All in all I probably burnt ~0.75 loads of oak, ash, and locust ugly.
I'm burning down the coals for a full reload overnight. Going to have to get into cadence of 4 full loads per day next few days if I want to avoid oil furnace kicking in.
It's currently nice and toasty at 70F inside, after 2 shoulder season fires throughout the day. All in all I probably burnt ~0.75 loads of oak, ash, and locust ugly.
I'm burning down the coals for a full reload overnight. Going to have to get into cadence of 4 full loads per day next few days if I want to avoid oil furnace kicking in.
It's 26.2 tonight, the pellet stove is being used for heat. The basement is starting out at 77, the living area is 71 with the sleeper at 69.
Jammed full with 3 ironwood, 2 hickory, 1 sugar maple & 3 ash on a good bed of coals. Wind chill advisory starts at 3am.
Dieselhead
Minister of Fire
I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some ironwood or osage, none native to my area as far as I know.
First year burning it. Haven't used much yet because it hasn't been cold, but it coals forever from the few chunks I've had in so far. Those "premium" hardwoods mixed with some ash makes a really nice fire.
mpaul
Burning Hunk
Going with full loads of hickory to keep the home warm during this cold snap.
Bobbob
Burning Hunk
18 out this am with temps dropping throughout the day. Filled the stove with ash to warm things up. Furnace kicked on last night and I'm going to try my best to keep it running to a minimum. That's not easy once it gets into the teens. Our home is brick and was built in the sixties. Once that brick gets cold our heat loss is pretty significant. We do have good attic insulation and replaced the drafty windows with quality replacements, but it still takes a lot of BTUs to keep it cozy during these cold stretches
ctreitzell
Feeling the Heat
yahoo sez 0C / 32F, but my mercury reads -2C/ 28F at 1400...my mercury has been planted at around 24F for over a week now and the terrible U value of our converted barn is gettin a bit tiresome with the kitchen mostly sitting at 53F and the bedrooms are 55F with the little electric heaters just barely taking the edge off
I've been loading mostly ash plus a bit of elm every 2-3hrs the past 18 or so hours. Just put in a big chunk of apple with some elm cuz the apple is very dry and I need to burn down these ash coals that have MC too high. It's all I can do to keep the salon around 17C/ 62.6F
I've been loading mostly ash plus a bit of elm every 2-3hrs the past 18 or so hours. Just put in a big chunk of apple with some elm cuz the apple is very dry and I need to burn down these ash coals that have MC too high. It's all I can do to keep the salon around 17C/ 62.6F
Gearhead660
Minister of Fire
A balmy -7* this morning. Will get up to 0* for our high. Woke up to 67* in the house. Insert and Myra chewing on some elm.
I'm in the tropics at -2...😜
Downstairs is 79, upstairs is 63 or so. About to load up with mostly ash.
I run 400 miles north every other week to where we moved from. A buddy owns a tree business and has a cord+ of hedge for me in his barn. I just need to run up with a trailer. I figure it will be rare down here I NEED those kind of BTU over red oak but will be nice to have as an emergency pile. It's not like it really ever goes bad.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Hard to need more than oak unless your stove is too small. The trick for me is to keep a pile of bark around to burn down coals when I need to push it. Works like a charm.
There were only a few coals left for me this morning so I resuscitated it with some thick kindling to make a coal bed and went to work. Wife will be loading it chock full of red oak and maple.
There were only a few coals left for me this morning so I resuscitated it with some thick kindling to make a coal bed and went to work. Wife will be loading it chock full of red oak and maple.
ctreitzell
Feeling the Heat
30F with high of 40F today, so just a no-frill ash + locust burning day.
I'm curious if anyone else make little voice overs when lighting your fire. This morning I caught myself saying in a robotic voice... "Primary ignition complete" and "Engaging secondary burn system!"
I'm curious if anyone else make little voice overs when lighting your fire. This morning I caught myself saying in a robotic voice... "Primary ignition complete" and "Engaging secondary burn system!"
Not lacking in stove size and I agree that oak is not lacking in BTUs. Having burned through many cords of hedge its also hard to deny the heat difference in other species when you move to ash after any entire winter of nothing but hedge.
Down side is the stove exploding like the 4th of July when you open the door and the candy coated flue.
Caw
Minister of Fire
People run into problems pushing their stoves with nothing but dense hardwood like oak because of the excessive coaling. The coal phase lasts a long time vs other woods so when you're ready to ask it for more heat there isn't room for a full reload. Bark gets you around that. You can rake the firewood into a nice pile then throw a bunch of bark on it. You'll get a nice BTU boost while simultaneously burning down the coals to make room for a reload.
When I'm in a red oak section of my wood pile during cold snaps here I often reload and hit it with bark 2-3x once the flames die down to accelerate coaling. Works great. I get more heat and I get rid of all my bark.
Wife monitoring the fire. Texted me "is 700 stt ok". Ab-so-freaking-lutely!
Nope.
We were building down here in the mountains across the last couple of years. Being open with the owners of the company I work for I was moving when we were done.
He made me an offer I couldn't refuse to come up for "at least a year" to train the guy taking over for me and manage a couple of big projects before I leave for good.
