ZZ Tom
Burning Hunk
It's 22 outside with 18 mph winds, feels like 8. Snow coming down. Got the stove loaded up with elm, silver maple and some mystery wood. Thermostat says it's 83 in the stove room.
What Is In Your Stove Right Now?
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well, i woke up the other day and the house was 54º. It turns out the furnace won't light, so i'm really glad I have the wood stove. I have been throwing in some huge pieces of boxelder, but i think it is sub par... either that or there is too much ash in the stove and the cat won't light off.
Todd67
Minister of Fire
Box alder is the worst burning wood I've ever used in my stove. It doesn't burn good by itself, but it burns ok (almost) if it's mixed with a good burning wood.
yeah, i need to do that. i did clear out some of the ash by the intake for the cat, and that seemed to help.
I never really liked burning box alder also known in parts of Canada as Manitoba Maple.
It dries fast but can quickly absorb moisture and retain it for long time......and it attracts water bugs.
It dries fast but can quickly absorb moisture and retain it for long time......and it attracts water bugs.
I burn it because it didn't have to travel too far (like from the back yard when it came down in a wind storm, to the wood pile, to the stove)
ZZ Tom
Burning Hunk
My wife came home from work the other evening and the house was 59* and county wide burn restrictions in place. The thermostat was calling for heat but the furnace wasn't lighting. When I got home an hour or so later I opened up the furnace, removed the flame sensor, cleaned it with steel wool and reinstalled it. Lit right up. Took longer to find a phillips head screwstick and steel wool than it took to fix it.
i tried the obvious trick of blowing it out with the compressor and changing the filter first. That seemed to help. I will put a note in my calendar to tear it apart and clean everything this summer when I don't need it
I loaded up a really gnarly piece of elm that has been burning for about 12 hours now...
MissMac
Minister of Fire
It's 20 out tonight with what looks like sleet coming down on about three inches of snow, more of the maples going in the liberty tonight.
It's 22 out tonight so we'll go with some sugar and red maple in the liberty,
ValleyCottageSplitter
Feeling the Heat
It has been mild here but starting to cool down into the 20's at night. Currently finishing up the last of my 2yr white oak. Actually nice for warmer weather because it can burn slowly and keep some nice coals going through the night.
Todd67
Minister of Fire
Todd67
Minister of Fire
Supposed to be -2 tonight. I hope it's the last night below zero for the winter... but I know that's not likely
A clear sky already, and it's time to snowblow the driveway again. Then load the Fisher with more mystery wood and go to bed.
A clear sky already, and it's time to snowblow the driveway again. Then load the Fisher with more mystery wood and go to bed.
They're calling for -4 here tonight so we'll get some yellow birch,sugar maple and some ironwood going with the pellet stove set so it kicks on when the temp starts falling in the basement.Supposed to be -2 tonight. I hope it's the last night below zero for the winter... but I know that's not likely
A clear sky already, and it's time to snowblow the driveway again. Then load the Fisher with more mystery wood and go to bed.
It looks like we have more ice & rain coming in on Thursday and again on Sunday so we're leaving the four inches of snow we received last night on the driveway, once it gets slushy I'll plow it off.
Todd67
Minister of Fire
Our -2 forecast was actually -10 this morning, with a -22 wind chill. We have a very similar forecast coming up. Our house and driveway face toward the south, so the driveway snow and ice melts/evaporates pretty good on sunny days, even if it's around 20* outside.
Edit: it's -11 with no wind now. Mystery wood in the Fisher is getting the job done nicely
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We had a temp this morning of -13, I shut the pellet stove off (82 in the basement) and loaded up the liberty with yellow birch and maple.Our -2 forecast was actually -10 this morning, with a -22 wind chill. We have a very similar forecast coming up. Our house and driveway face toward the south, so the driveway snow and ice melts/evaporates pretty good on sunny days, even if it's around 20* outside.
Edit: it's -11 with no wind now. Mystery wood in the Fisher is getting the job done nicely
Our driveway faces west and with all the big white pines, it doesn't get much sun so the sanding/ashing of the driveway will continue until mother nature brings in warmer temperatures daily.
Todd67
Minister of Fire
What kind of pellet stove do you have? I've had three different ones and they all failed miserably in the durability/reliability aspects. The aluminum auger broke in the first one (a $1,200 stove), but we replaced the auger. We had the stove about 2-3 years.
Some other issues made us buy our 2nd one, (a $2,800 stove) and the exhaust fan stopped working before it was a month old. It smoked up our house so bad that the fire department said our smoke detectors saved our lives (@ 1:00am).
Our third pellet stove was a top of the line Quadra Fire insert (cost over $4,000) that developed a short in one of the augers and ignited the pellets in the hopper. It was about 4-5 years old.
Bye bye pellet insert! Hello Fisher Mama Bear! I don't trust pellet Stoves after having two different stove develop possible life threatening issues. None of it was operator induced.
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