Fireplace advice, Part 2

[EddieWalker]

Today we had a cold front come through. Temps have been dropping into the 30's and tomorrow night, should go down into the 20's.

I started my first fire tonight in my stove. At first, it just smoked and smoked. It was crazy to see how the smoke washed over the glass. I read the comments here about it, but to see it for the first time was really something!!!

Then the flames took off and it got real pretty. Then it got warm in here. I was wearing a beanie, sweatshirt and my boots. I didn't check the temperature in the house when I started the fire, but after an hour, it's 76 degrees in here off of the first load of wood, and I'm not going to add any more. I'm in my tshirt, shorts and bare foot.

Outside it's 38 degrees and inside it's 76!!!!!

Thank you everyone for your advice.

Next is my wood shed.

Eddie

 

[westbrooklawn]

Eddie -

Looks great (as all your projects do, by the way!)... there is nothing more warming than wood heat. A couple of questions... I have always been told that stove pipe should be installed with female end up. That way any condensation or creosote drips inside the pipe wouldn't seep out at the joints. It appears you have yours installed the other way around... what made you decide to go that way? Also, I'm about to install a woodstove in my shop... all metal building with ribbed metal roofing. I am concerned about being able to effectively flash the chimney because of the ribbed material on the roof... how did you do yours?

 

[Egon]

Looking Good!:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Eddie -

Looks great (as all your projects do, by the way!)... there is nothing more warming than wood heat. A couple of questions... I have always been told that stove pipe should be installed with female end up. That way any condensation or creosote drips inside the pipe wouldn't seep out at the joints. It appears you have yours installed the other way around... what made you decide to go that way? Also, I'm about to install a woodstove in my shop... all metal building with ribbed metal roofing. I am concerned about being able to effectively flash the chimney because of the ribbed material on the roof... how did you do yours?

You need the male end up so the air always goes UP from the outside of the pipe to the inside of the pipe. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

My parts for my pipe came in from Lowes two weeks ago. I was able to install it last weekend. All in all, it went in pretty easily. The real trick was getting it lined up so that the pipe would be straight. I had to slide the stove forward a little bit so the box would clear my ceiling joists.

Eddie

Today we had a cold front come through. Temps have been dropping into the 30's and tomorrow night, should go down into the 20's.

I started my first fire tonight in my stove. At first, it just smoked and smoked. It was crazy to see how the smoke washed over the glass. I read the comments here about it, but to see it for the first time was really something!!!

Then the flames took off and it got real pretty. Then it got warm in here. I was wearing a beanie, sweatshirt and my boots. I didn't check the temperature in the house when I started the fire, but after an hour, it's 76 degrees in here off of the first load of wood, and I'm not going to add any more. I'm in my tshirt, shorts and bare foot.

Outside it's 38 degrees and inside it's 76!!!!!

Thank you everyone for your advice.

Next is my wood shed.

Eddie

Those boxes sure make it easy to keep the pipe centered away from combustible material, don't they? Our stove is in the basement and we have one box going through the ground floor and then another going through the first floor ceiling and a third going through the roof. Of course, floor joists were going north/south, ceiling joists were going east/west, and, since this was a "handyman special" the roof rafters were not even close to being over the ceiling joists! :laughing: It was well worth the $500.00 I paid for installation. :thumbsup:

That smoke washing down over the glass is kind of mesmerizing, isn't it? :drool:

I have an old rocking chair that I sit in while the fire starts up. I sit there and stare at it as the flames grow and the smoke turns into flames. What's really cool is to get it going good and then throttle it back so the blue and yellow flames just dance around on top of the wood near the top of the stove. I think it is the combustible gases burning. Anyhow, you know you got it right when the flames move around really slowly more like clouds VS the roaring bright orange flames that you see at start up. One thing I would suggest is to get one of those long lighters that has a flame like a match at the end (not one of the wind proof torch-type lighters). When the fire is going good, shut the air control all the way off, light the lighter and move it around the edges of the door. If the flame gets sucked towards the door you may have a leak in the door gasket and need to replace it. That happened to our stove this year and I need to replace the gasket now. So I am not burning when I am not home. How I found it was usually when I get the fire going how I like it as described above, I shut the air control all the way in (off) and then crack it open back out to #2. Well, this year when I did that, the fire kept growing and getting hotter and I was worried about a runaway. The stove top started getting up towards 500 really fast, so I opened the door to get a rush of air in there to let the heat go up the chimney for a few minutes. That got rid of the concentration of heat. Then I shut the air control off, threw in another log and shut the door. The way I figure it is that the new log, no concentrated heat and diminished air flow took away a lot of the energy of the existing fire. I then monitored it closely and the fire did die down to a crawl. I called the fireplace store the next day and they suggested the door gasket was leaking and told me about the lighter trick. Looking back on it, I probably should have stored the stove with the door open all summer. It sat there cranked shut all summer and probably flattened the gasket. Anyhow, they say it is an easy replacement that I can do myself. We shall see. :laughing:

Eddie, your installation looks great. That stove will serve you well and you will be warm and snug all winter long. Good job! :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Also, get yourself two of the magnetic stove thermometers like these (cheaper than this, too).
Chimgard Stove Thermometer magnetic : Wood Heat Stoves and Solar, Gas, Wood & Pellet Stove, Sales, Parts and Service

Keep one on the stove top in front of the top vent or under the trivet and put the other one directly on your stove pipe about eye level. Once you get used to how you like your fire, you can note the two thermometer temps and adjust your air control to keep it at that temp. It is kind of fun to see how things like different wood types, outside and inside temps, humidity, etc... affect the stove and comfort level in the house.

I learned over the last two years to not start a fire on Thanksgiving morning because the turkey in the oven for three hours, four burners on the stove and a dozen people will heat the house quite nicely. Add the wood stove to that and it just causes everyone to drink more and open the windows! Then they fall asleep and never leave! :laughing:

 

[srs]

Great thread! Really enjoyed reading this one. MossRoad, excellent advice you've given here and I'm sure appreciated by everyone who heats with wood! Two thumbs up sir.

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie -

Looks great (as all your projects do, by the way!)... there is nothing more warming than wood heat. A couple of questions... I have always been told that stove pipe should be installed with female end up. That way any condensation or creosote drips inside the pipe wouldn't seep out at the joints. It appears you have yours installed the other way around... what made you decide to go that way? Also, I'm about to install a woodstove in my shop... all metal building with ribbed metal roofing. I am concerned about being able to effectively flash the chimney because of the ribbed material on the roof... how did you do yours?

Thank you.

The pipes have arrows on them and the adapter that goes onto the stove is male side up. There really isn't any other way to install the pipes. My pipe from the stove to the celing is a double wall pipe without any sort of liner. It's just hollow between the inner and outer pipe. The guy that I bought it from had that pipe, so it's just what I used. Everywhere I looked, there was just single wall pipe available, so this might be a bit different then most. The adapter box kit from Lowes came with the box, a fitting that the inside pipe fits into, then it fits into the box, and then the exterior pipe attaches to that. You need this adapter for the two different types of pipe. And the kit included the rain cap. I bought a two and a three foot section of double wall pipe from Lowes. I put the three foot section inside the box, and it comes out of the roof about a foot and a half. Then I added the two foot section to that to give me about 3 1/2 feet of pipe above my roof. Everything that I read said to have 3 feet.

My metal roof is from Muellers. They are a metal building manufacturer that has locations all over this part of the country. I went to them for the rubber flashing boot thing that goes around vent pipes. They make a larger one for chimeney pipe that you have to cut to fit. Its base is soft, flexible metal with a rubber seal. It folds over the ridges of the metal roof for a perfect fit. I then screw it down with gasketes metal roofing screws. I use lots of flashing sealer on it too. Then the next day I went over all of it with flashing sealant just to make sure. It's not pretty, but it will never leak!!!!!

Let me know if you need a picture. I can get the ladder and take one for you.

Moss,

Thanks for all your advice. I will check for a leak at the door. This is so new to me that every day is a learning experience!!! That smoke at first had me nervous because it was so intense. I'm glad that you mentioned it because I was tempted to try and start the fire again. Then after a little bit of that, it just went away and I had the nice fire going that I took a picture of.

It's supposed to get even colder tonight, so I'll play around with the air flow some more when I get the fire going again.



I've been posting and asking questions about doing this for years now, and to actually have a fire going and heating the house with wood from my land is such a great feeling. Thank you to everyone for your advice and assistance.

Eddie

 

[Egon]

they say it is an easy replacement that I can do myself. We shall see

I've done a few times so it can't be difficult!:thumbsup:

Leave a little extra when you cut the gasket as the corners take up more than one realizes. Also tape the ends when you make the 45 angle cut's for the joint.

 

[MossRoad]

I've done a few times so it can't be difficult!:thumbsup:

Leave a little extra when you cut the gasket as the corners take up more than one realizes. Also tape the ends when you make the 45 angle cut's for the joint.

Thanks! :licking: (that's Thanksgiving gravy I'm licking off :laughing: ).