What Is In Your Stove Right Now?

[Caw]

Absolutely nothing it's 100,000 degrees here in MA (60) in the middle of February. Already made maple syrup once this year the poor trees are confused. Going back to 35/15 cycles after Monday which is more seasonable.

 

[ozarkoak]

44 outside, headed down to mid 30's first night I have burned in 4 or so days. I built a nice coal bed of ash and small oak splits. Brought the indoor temps from 65 to 71. Now I stuffed the box with oak because I feel like sitting around in my underwear. Dogs will hate it. Don't care. They can move out if they want.

 

[ctreitzell]

No way to find a older stove in your area? Maybe fix it up? Crank that boy loaded with 60lbs of oak? Thats what I did here with my trucks. Found pre emission diesels and fixed them up. Import a giant pig from Russia? Instead of running AK47s you could be the Lord of Wood Stoves to the EU.

sure there is

but, say goodbye to efficiency and hence blasting thru the wood for very little heat gain in the house

the Panadero Delice does heat OK

and, again, the gov't wants us to run our stoves this way because- emissions

I have the old Esse. but that firebox is no bigger than the Panadero...and the Esse is essentially a perforated box...there is zero chance of sealing it up, simply not possible

 

[ctreitzell]

I tried to build a fire last night and could not do it...
Over 3 hrs I heated the flue for 10 min with a hair dryer 4 times!
from the firebox it would not draw much at all
wood would not light; I even used firelighters, no joy
this wood isn't wet...there was just no draft
Is it an inversion? I'm halfway up a hillside...we're kind of in a valley...

In the end I had to pull the smouldering wood out of the fire box and dump it in a galvanized tub
emptied the entire stove and set the pieces on the front grass to extinguish
all coals in a metal bin out side

I fear the 90 is already blocked, I gonna hafta dismantle it today and investigate...but it's still raining
and there is no way I gonna be able to tape up the connection if it's wet

I was shocked to see how much creosote has built up in the past 8 weeks since we swept
as I can see inside from the "cleanout"
previously we hadn't swept for 5 mos!

we might hafta buckle up and get ready to get hosed on elec prices cuz burning season is almost finished this year

 

[ozarkoak]

I tried to build a fire last night and could not do it...
Over 3 hrs I heated the flue for 10 min with a hair dryer 4 times!
from the firebox it would not draw much at all
wood would not light; I even used firelighters, no joy
this wood isn't wet...there was just no draft
Is it an inversion? I'm halfway up a hillside...we're kind of in a valley...

In the end I had to pull the smouldering wood out of the fire box and dump it in a galvanized tub
emptied the entire stove and set the pieces on the front grass to extinguish
all coals in a metal bin out side

I fear the 90 is already blocked, I gonna hafta dismantle it today and investigate...but it's still raining
and there is no way I gonna be able to tape up the connection if it's wet

I was shocked to see how much creosote has built up in the past 8 weeks since we swept
as I can see inside from the "cleanout"
previously we hadn't swept for 5 mos!

we might hafta buckle up and get ready to get hosed on elec prices cuz burning season is almost finished this year

sure there is

but, say goodbye to efficiency and hence blasting thru the wood for very little heat gain in the house

the Panadero Delice does heat OK

and, again, the gov't wants us to run our stoves this way because- emissions

I have the old Esse. but that firebox is no bigger than the Panadero...and the Esse is essentially a perforated box...there is zero chance of sealing it up, simply not possible

None of that sounds right at all. I sweep every year because I should not because I have to. I bet I could run for several years before I had problems. You need a stove you can add wood too. Splits not kindling. I loaded my stove at 8pm last night with 6 splits of oak. Woke up this morning like a lazy turd at 7AM threw in a few small splits and 2 6-8 inch splits on top and off she went. You either have a wood problem a stack problem a stove problem or a combo problem. Have you checked the moisture level with a meter? You should not have a creo build up after 8 weeks unless something is not right.

 

[Pinesmoke]

I miss the fire. Been waking up in the 50s.

 

[ozarkoak]

I miss the fire. Been waking up in the 50s.

Been like that here too. Supposed to be in the mid to low 30's here at night for the WeatherUnderground foreseeable future. What that means to me is a lot of kindling and a lot of fat wood. Stove goes cold, stove gets hot, stove goes cold, and on and on. Night time fires increases the labor at least for me.

 

[ctreitzell]

None of that sounds right at all. I sweep every year because I should not because I have to. I bet I could run for several years before I had problems. You need a stove you can add wood too. Splits not kindling. I loaded my stove at 8pm last night with 6 splits of oak. Woke up this morning like a lazy turd at 7AM threw in a few small splits and 2 6-8 inch splits on top and off she went. You either have a wood problem a stack problem a stove problem or a combo problem. Have you checked the moisture level with a meter? You should not have a creo build up after 8 weeks unless something is not right.

Well, EcoDesign2022 is what it is

I just checked; the 90 was packed with creo
Probably less than 8 weeks. No inversion here.

So, I swept the flue and put it back together

Currently just lit a top down of “kindling”

Um, absolutely there are many factors not right with my current situation. I’ve outlined them in detail on this forum over the past 12 weeks. Just my writing the number 90 is a clear indication things are not right. I can easily sweep every 4-6 weeks until this season is done.

No moisture meter yet…I gotta do that…I want a high meter for all the wood working well be doing too. All the wood stores need to be built from scratch. I did it wrong before…stacked wrong…I can handle it…I’m an old man now, but heck…I can own it when I’m wrong 🙃

clearly the American style and the European styles of wood stoves are different, with different regs. And modern times have ushered in new designs that have meant a lot of learning.

As for my usage, I would say is the reason for the creo build up being so quick. I’ve been splitting smaller for species mix reasons alongside the manufacturer instructions for use (tiny loads). That means not fully cured fuel can burn more easily.

I think the main reason is I’ve been running with the air intake at a very low setting to extend burn times, which has been working….equalling more creo as a negative side effect…
And my flue needs to be decommissioned. This will be the last year for this flue…just a month or two to go.

I’ve learned a lot on this forum, and will be on here specing my new wood burning installs for next year…plan is to do “back to bricks” renovations on my two houses here…which will mean all new stove/furnace flues

We were going to build a new house, but there are very good reasons to renovate rather than build new in France)

 

[stoveliker]

The wife had kept the stove going until Thursday morning when it got unseasonably warm here.
I came back Friday night. Saturday I cleaned out ashes.
I just restarted the stove; a 85 pct full box running high to clean out some gunk left from the wife's burning last week, and to heat up the basement.
Some pine, some cherry, some maple, and some oak.

 

[Wildflush]

Haven’t burned since last week. Crazy warm here. Nice weekend to resplit some wood smaller. I like smaller splits for my top down cold starts. Cleaned some ash out and staged some wood. Storm coming tomorrow night will have a fire again. Have not burned a cord yet.

 

[Bobbob]

Finally cold enough to burn again. I can say, however, I did enjoy those nice warm days. Got a few things accomplished outside. Have a nice mix of cherry, ash and maple burning now. Gonna sit by the fire, watch the superbowl and snack on some venison chops!

 

[bigealta]

Just put in 3 Sassafras splits on the coals. It's burning pretty well. Mid 40's here. Sun never came out today.

 

[Bobbob]

Had to fight with my youngest son to get a few chops on my plate. Can you guess which is mine? He is a senior in college and still thinks he's a growing boy. Best part of this time of year is sharing time with family sitting round the fire and enjoying good food. I count my blessings everyday

 

[all night moe]

Some sugar maple and 2 splits of BL. All burned down to coals .....still in log form though. One gnarly chunk of sugar is still roasting. I just added 3 splits of red oak. Keeping a slow burn cooking until the overnight load goes in.

 

[Wildflush]

Had to fight with my youngest son to get a few chops on my plate. Can you guess which is mine? He is a senior in college and still thinks he's a growing boy. Best part of this time of year is sharing time with family sitting round the fire and enjoying good food. I count my blessings everyday

View attachment 324632 View attachment 324633

😂 My Son was home for college and ate half of my wife’s venison Pastichio. Nice Greek dish and substituted venison instead of Hamburg. Delicious!

 

[stoveliker]

Yesterday after that mixed load burned on high, I reloaded with oak. It was 31 here this morning, 70 upstairs, cruising along.
Will bring in some wood from the shed before the rain/slush/snow tomorrow.

 

[ozarkoak]

6 large oak splits. This stove and stack combo is idiot proof to run, (thank goodness). 32 outside. 75 inside. STT of 510. I basically have to do nothing but air down. Colder it gets the more draw and hotter STT. Low teens and single digits same procedure gets me a STT of 600 if I want.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Quick top down of ash just to have something to look at while waiting on the sun to come up. Accidentally go the house to 79...... what an odd winter.

 

[Wildflush]

Just started the little Vista been out of action since last week with the warm temps. Quick top down of oak and cherry. STT 500 and rising.

 

[ctreitzell]

oak+ash+chestnut
yahoo sez 37F outside aright anow
I'm goin to sleep cuz it's 0150

 

[NickW]

Ash, cherry, sugar maple and ironwood on last night's coals from the same.

 

[stoveliker]

Red Oak on last night's coals of red oak....

 

[ctreitzell]

Yahoo sez feels like 37F
It’s around 60F in the salon (LR)
Just started a top-down of “kindling” before the rain starts

Just, no solar out here last couple days

Apple twigs on top
Poplar and elm splits cross crossed with some oak and ash on the bottom

I’ve been burning a bit hotter since sweeping this last Sunday. Normally when I remove the cap to preheat the flue, there are some creo flakes

Pretty much nothing now
It’s a fine balance on the air intake
between blasting through the fuel and running in creo temps

A thermometer might help 😐

 

[Wildflush]

Nothing like a hot fire during a storm. Snow and sleet coming down. Oak cherry and a redstone.

 

[NickW]

Only a high of 33 today. 2 cherry and 4 aspen on last night's coals right now. Looks like I'll get a little bit of filtered sunlight today so a bit of solar gains. Probably have another shoulder season fire this afternoon then a full hardwood load for the overnight.