Wood Stove Noob: What will my mistakes be?

[gibson]

I learned that the advice on this site when it comes to running a stove is top notch. Don't listen to the people that you know that tell you to burn green wood and not line your chimney, because "that's the way they have always done it". You gotta get seasoned wood for this year and your gonna have to pay for it and hit it with a moisture meter. It is also gonna take a long time to heat the bones of a cold house. That is my big lesson from year one. I let my stove go out way too much last year. Don't worry about the stove in the basement, many people that I know have their stove in the basement. My insert is on the main floor but most of my upstairs gets warm and the house layout is not ideal. Good luck.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hey Folks,

Great site. Just came over front he 'pellet side' after ruling out a pellet stove purchase. Wood stove, here I come!! My question is what are the most common mistakes new wood stove owners make. Or in other words, what would you do differently if you were to start over again?

I am most likely going with a Summers Heat (50-SNC13L) or something comparable. I'll gladly take recommendations for stoves, too. It will go in my unfinished but insulated basement. I have 1,500 square feet above the basement. I'll likely get a blower, and the stove will be at the bottom of my basement steps with the hope it will belch loads of heat up the steps. I may cut registers later if need be. My builder will be doing the install, so that is not an issue. I've got 8 acres of wooded property and years and years of fuel (this is a weekend home, so that will help).

Please help me get prepared for the newest addition to my family!

Cheers,

Chris

1) Get the stove you really want and ignore the price. You will have this stove for 10+ years (probably more like 20). Most people don't keep their first wife for 10 years so do not compromise.

2) There's no such thing as too much wood. Build a big woodshed and fill it. If it's June and you're still looking for firewood for that winter you are hosed.

3) The nature of woodstove heat is such that your house will be unevenly heated. The closer you are to the stove the warmer you'll be and vice versa so don't panic or be disappointed when you back bedroom is chilly.

4) Get a good chainsaw and learn how to file your chains. A good saw will last as long as your stove so don't sweat a couple hundred bucks.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Common Newbies Mistakes

* Burning unseasoned wood . . . I would wager this is the biggest mistake made . . . and many newbies don't even realize this since they've bought "seasoned" wood from dealers or have always cut wood in the Summer and burned it in the Fall without any real issues . . . but when they attempt to burn unseasoned wood in a modern EPA woodstove they can't figure out why the stove isn't very hot, why there's lots of smoke fouling up the glass and why the chimney is getting all kinds of creosote build up.

* Believing woodstove manufacturer's "dream" numbers . . . thinking that the Brand X woodstove which was tested in a lab will produce the same amount of heat and burn time in their own home as the specs listed in the brochure . . . and then being disappointed when the stove isn't quite large enough or the "burn time" doesn't last as long as they expect.

* Overfiring the stove . . . getting too complacent in using the ash pan (a big no no) or leaving the door ajar to get a fire going and then forgetting about it . . . until that new stove paint smell begins to permeate the house and they discover the stove temp is spiking into the Butt Pucker Zone.

* Not realizing that just buying a more expensive stove doesn't necessarily make the stove any better than another stove . . . and that buying a well known stove used may not make a lot of sense either . . . since a company's past does not necessarily reflect its current reputation for quality and moreover nearly every stove company out there is producing much better stuff today (in terms of burning cleaner and more efficiently).

* Buying a really nice stove . . . and then attempting to go cheap on the install or chimney . . . two other important aspects to using a woodstove. A proper install and chimney is just as important as the stove purchase.


Personal Lessons I Learned as a Newbie

* First . . . believing the manufacturer's brochure's stats for burn time . . . not realizing that the definition of "burn time" is very subjective.

* Over-firing the stove . . . once . . . when I negelected to stay near the open door . . . until I smelled the tell-tale burning paint smell.

* Not realizing that you shouldn't continually feed a woodstove with wood every 2 hours . . . as I did the first night I fired it up . . . stayed all night long in the living room, waking up every few hours to throw more wood into the fire . . . woke up to it being something like 86 degrees (thought I had woke up in Hell at first) even though it was only something like 42 degrees outside. I quickly learned to burn small, hot fires in the shoulder seasons -- and learned to let the wood burn down a lot more before throwing on more woodsplits . . . and adding several woodsplits at once instead of just tossing in one split and then tossing in another a short time later.


Things This Newbie Did Right

* I found hearth.com and a wealth of good information . . . and even if it meant a little more of an expense or hassle I took the advice to heart and I am happy that I did so.

* I built a hearth above and beyond what was required in terms of size and R value . . . something I am happy about when the errant ember slips out of the stove and skids across the now larger than code required hearth.

* I am glad that I went a size larger for a stove as doing so has met and exceeded my expectations for heating my home.

* I am glad that I went with a T-connection on my chimney since it makes clean out much easier without having to use a ladder . . . and by fluke or luck . . . having the outside chimney has meant no worries for clean up and cleaning the chimney is now a 5-minute job.


Things I Might Have Done Differently . . . or Will Do Differently

* I might have sprung for a few extra dollars and gone with the enamel finish on my Oslo . . . I like the black matte . . . but I often think how much nicer the enamel might be.

* Today I would reconsider cat woodstoves . . . at the time I was convinced these were evil . . . nowadays based on actual owners I do not view them as a bad thing and realize they have some benefits. I'm still not sure I would go with a cat . . . but I would be tempted and definitely not exclude them from my list of potential purchases.

* Today if I were to build a new home I would make sure the design I picked was set up for a woodstove . . . i.e. a more central location for the stove, an interior chimney, etc.

x10

This is exactly what I'm talking about. The enamel finish is what - $200-$250 more? And what's $200 over 10+ years?

GET THE STOVE YOU WANT!

 

[lexybird]

Many have made that mistake only to realize that free wood is a lot better than expensive propane (and a lot more comfortable and fun to watch, too!).

Hey propane can be fun to watch. My neighbor heats with it and I get a lot of fun out of watching the truck fill his tank. :coolgrin:

haha thats funny i dont care who you are

 

[oconnor]

* Not wearing gloves when you reload - good gloves are better than any tongs or poker, and way easier to use to grab the log that is falling out of the stove onto the floor. Get long ones to keep from burning your forarms on the top of stove opening - did that one.

* Reloading it at night and thinking all is good, only to be wakened by the smoke detector after the wet wood failed to light and smoke filled the basement - did that one too.

* Get a mosture meter (mentioned already I think) and a flue thermometer. Accuracy of the thermometer is always questionable, but it taught me a lot about what the fire was doing startup and after reloads.

* Spend too much time on Hearth.com - your significant other / boss / moderator will let you know. - Did this tooo....

 

[firefighterjake]

Just to echo some more comments that I strongly agree with . . .

-- Size of the wood. Sure your woodstove may take 22 inch splits or rounds . . . but life being what it is, things don't always fit in nice and easy if you cut everything to that max length. I tend to cut a couple inches shorter . . . yeah, that's a few inches extra that could be burning . . . but for me, life is much easier and simpler when everything fits in the firebox nice and easy.

-- Gloves. O'Connor is spot on . . . probably one of the handiest "tools" I use . . . although even with the longer gloves I somehow managed to get burned twice (almost in the same spot). That's part and parcel of burning with wood . . . there is always a good chance you will end up with a burn, splinter, mess in the house, etc.

-- Thermometers. I cannot believe I forgot this one since I am a big proponent of having both a stove top thermometer and a flue thermometer. Do you absolutely need a thermometer to run a woodstove? No . . . but it sure can make life easier as it can give you an idea of where your stove and flue are in terms of temp (i.e. avoiding overfiring and avoiding excess creosote production) and where you might be going in terms of the temp.

 

[OpenWater]

Hey Jake et al,

Going to fire the beast up this weekend, so thanks for the continued advice. I'm happy and relieved to say I have finally acquired all the things I need. I've got a thermo and will probably get another one; one for the pipe and one for the unit itself. I love feedback!!

Here's to a good start, and thanks again to everyone.

CB