We Have a New Wood Burning Stove

[scott_vt]

Lots of you folks heat non-stop with wood. Do you leave it burn while you are gone at work? I am a bit hesitant to do that.

Any thoughts?

Good Afternoon Moss,
Ive been doin it that way my whole life ! Heck whats the worse thing that could happen ?

Just make sure your homeowners policy is paid up in full !

All kiddin aside, if you have a safe installation and no combustibles near the stove, there shouldnt be any problems !

Enjoy and stop worryin !

 

[BigE_]

Yeah, we leave it burning while we are gone, but, if we know we are going to be going someplace, we don't fill up the stove before we leave.

With my old stove, we loaded it up so the logs went side to side (each end on a side), and every once in a while they would roll down against the glass door. That's not a good thing, because if the glass should break, you've got fire in places you don't really want it.

I used to have a fireplace insert that we loaded up the same way, and one day we came home to a house full of smoke. The alarms were going crazy, and there was a nice haze. Yep, the logs had rolled against the glass and broken the glass. The fire stayed on the hearth, but it did make a nice mess.

My new stove gets filled with the logs running front to back, and I prefer it that way. There is no easy way for them to roll against the glass.

-Steve

 

[MossRoad]

I load it front to back so the logs only roll side to side.

One note about this stove and log size. It says it will take 22" logs, but that is measured on a diagonal. Practically speaking, the unit will only take 16-18" logs front to back or side to side. It is a square. So, I may have to cut the ends from lots of that cheap load of firewood. That's O.K. as the 6" pieces will burn too.

 

[scott_vt]

One note about this stove and log size. It says it will take 22" logs, but that is measured on a diagonal. Practically speaking, the unit will only take 16-18" logs front to back or side to side. It is a square.

Good Mornin Moss,
Darn dont you just hate false advertising !

 

[dmccarty]

If its cold outside the fire stays going as best we can. I let the fire die out last night after midnight since its going to be warm for a few days. The fire ran 24x7 from Sunday morning until early this morning.

The only way I can see how the fire can escape the stove is if the glass front breaks. In our case with the concrete floor the glass would have to break, log roll about 15 feet to a couch and then it might burn down the house. There is some wood trim near two door ways near the stove but I don't see how the burning wood would get to the trim. And even it if did there is not much to burn.

Most of my wood ends up split into triangular or rectangular shapes. Very hard to roll. The maximum size on our stove is 18 inches. The air supply for the fire is in the middle front of the stove. After the fire is started and we have coals, I take the poker with the hook side down and move it lightly around the coal bed to knock off the ashes and pull coals up out of the ashes. Then I push the coals into two ridges perpendicular to the stove opening off to the side of the stove. Right down the middle of the ridges I move the ashes for a tractor path, err I mean, air channel.

The logs then go across the stove opening. Even if they are round they won't roll out from the first layer of wood. Our stove will take wood about 16 inches long if the logs are perpendicular to the opening. I try to cut wood to fit that size as well. These shorter pieces lay perpendicular to the opening on top of the wood laid down earlier. It would be hard for these pieces to fall against the door. If the pieces are just sized right I might be able to get a third layer of wood in the stove. The top most layer is angle so it can't easily roll against the glass or its a flat piece of wood.

Sounds a lot more complicated than it is.

That first layer is the most important since it allows the air to get to through out the wood pile.

I do try to cut and split the cord wood into 16-18 and 14-16 inch lengths to help this crossing pattern of wood int the stove. It would much easier if the stove box was 18x18.

Later,
Dan

 

[Greenmountain Farmer]

Congratulations on the new stove, the wood will warm you twice, cutting and burning. Nothing beats backing up to a wood stove on a cold day.

A word of advice, check with your insurance provider if you have not already. I ran into this problem myself, some insurance companies will not cover your home if you burn wood. My insurance company had to do an inspection and take photos before they would continue coverage. If you don't inform them and if you have a fire they would deny your claim. Not trying to put a damper (pun not intended) on your new stove experience but thought you should know.

The inspector from our provider told me to take my kindling wood out of the celler because of the wood frrance

 

[MossRoad]

Well, I've burned non-stop for three days. The house was up to 75 and my wife started opening windows, so I shut the air control on the stove down to low.

Saturday morning we had a power outage in the neighborhood.... hahahaaaaa!!!! Not that it was cold outside, but we had a heat source. I then powered up the generator so the wife and kids could shower (we have a well). Outage only lasted an hour and a half, but it was a nice feeling to know we would be O.K. if it was really cold outside.

I also started boxing in the chimney chae where it passes through our bedroom. Framed it yesterday and hung drywall today. We are going to cut large openings in the chase and put a louvered door panel on that side. It will let the heat out of the chase into our bedroom. It will be permanently fixed in place with screws, so it cannot be opened. They said that will meet code so that nothing combustable will be able to get within 2" of the chimney pipe.

 

[Highbeam]

I burn all day and night with no concern that the fire will leap from my stove. These new EPA stoves are a little different in the air control than the older airtights. The low low, zero, setting on the draft is not actually zero. A minimum amount of air will always pass through to keep pollution down. Also, the secondary air (those little tubes on the roof) allow full flow of air. These stoves are designed to be loaded and then have that air control set to zero for the longest and most efficient burn. That's what I do every evening before bed and every day before we leave so that I have a warm house and easy restarts when I return.

The stove glass of modern woodstoves is worlds different than before as well. It is now a ceramic glass that is very strong. It must pass a breakage test where a steel ball is dropped from waist high. I forget the ball weight but it was quite substantial.

A properly installed stove can be loaded to the gills, air shut off, and can burn clean for a long long time safely. Before you shut the draft to zero be sure that the fire has momentum and isn't going to be snuffed.

 

[escavader]

Lots of you folks heat non-stop with wood. Do you leave it burn while you are gone at work? I am a bit hesitant to do that. I guess it is just that you can see the fire VS it being hidden inside a furnace. I suppose I could get it going early in the morning and just shut the air control down to low before I leave. That is what I have been doing at night while we are sleeping, only I leave it on 2 or 3 depending on how well it is burning.

We have an automatic set-back thermostat on our furnace. I have it set to 65 or lower while we are away. Most times during the past winters if I come home for lunch the house is still above that temperature so I know the furnace never came on during the day. I was planning on leaving it that way and not burning while I am gone, but now wonder if it is common practice to burn when not at home.

Any thoughts?

MOSS,
I have an oil furnace ,but its back up,the wood is my primary heat.Ive burned wood in this home since i built it in 84.As soon as the temp drops for good [soon] the fire will burn non stop until the end of APRIL or so.We are all gone all day.Ifill the stove to the top at 4.30 am ,it burns all day ,and is still a good bed of coals at 5.30 when i get home.
If your confident your setup is super safe.and you know how to operate your stove well,and its quirks youll be fine.Burn 2 year old well seasoned wood,and you wont run creasote.In doing that you wont want your wood split small,or it wont last.
It is common practice for us country folk here in MAINE ,to burn while not at home.The biggest worry i have ,is did i put enough wood in it,or have i been gone too long

The best advice i can give you,is get your fire chief to inspect your system,and let you know of any issues.After his or her appoval,and a little burn time,to get use to it,youll get more comfortable.
ALAN

 

[mjarrels]

Moss, We used to have a Country Performer when we lived on Whidbey Island in Washington State... Heated about 1400 square feet... burned it wide open all the time and got about 8 hours of burn time... I went to the USS Carl Vinson for my last sea tour and the wife learned to fire the stove without me and burned for about two years with me only comming home once or twice a month for the last year. Always had a large supply of seasoned wood (dry) for her to burn and always had a coffee can of fire starters that I broke in half. Whidbey Island summers, burned about half the wood that you would burn in the winter!

mark