Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

How come wood stoves don’t have a combustion air intake outside? Seems not very efficient to use the already warm inside air for burning then sending it up the chimney then replacing it with cold dry outside air. Do they make a stove or kit that solves this problem?

 

Some of the newer ones do. Never made a big difference back before the era of super tight houses, but a lot of the newer stoves come with the option of an OAK. Mine is a late 90's model that did not, but the new ones have them. So I custom-fabbed one up myself.

 

I did not mean to imply 'ONLY' coals. I meant having coals, and wood that has been 'lit' so to speak.

I should add that my wife taught me that the ash box, with ashes, makes for 'banking' of heat. When I empty the ash box, I have to adjust the damper to keep heat in the firebox.

I have a 'well ventilated' log cabin. I do not need to open a window, I need to seal a few more spots on eday.
Our stove is seriously over rated for the cabin size.

Ken in NC

 

I asked the stove guys about doing that when we replaced our wood stove last year. They said they almost never have to install an outside air supply line, and that it really didn't make a lot of difference in terms of efficiency. I was kind of surprised to hear that, but maybe the new stoves don't use much air.

 

Shrug. Combustion is combustion; the new stoves would probably use more air than the old ones because they're burning the gases and not just the solid wood. Odds are most of the houses they're in have enough air leaks (or an air exchange system) that they don't need it. The biggest advantages to an OAK, I believe, is that it frees up a lot of draft if you've got a 'weak' chimney with a tight house and it cuts down on drafts from windows & doors if you don't.

 

Thats not right , especially in new home construction . Our current code requires a fresh air / exhaust calculation and installing a wood burning appliance that consumes inside air triggers arequirement for an HRV system and leans towards make up air , installing one with an outside air supply does not

 

Getting started on my firewood for next year. Got permission to cut on a property down the road from me that was logged last year. Will be a nice winter project.

 

I see you have a Husky and a Sthil. Favorite? Reasons?

The Husky 365 is going to be discontinued, I'd like to keep a dumb saw, not have to get a microchipped one for my next unit. Jump in now and get one of the last 365's?

Thoughts?

Ralph

 

If your asking me I am running Sthil and Echo. I love my sthils but was wanting another saw a couple years ago and for the price point I just couldn't pass on the echo. I had heard a lot of good things about echo and I have to say I have been impressed with the performance. I actually just bout a smaller lighter limbing saw this week and went with echo. Have run sthil all my life and I still will. But echo saws have grown on me and actually I find my self using the echo much more. In the picture my sthil is a 362 and the echo is the 590. I would give a slight edge overall to the sthil but at half the price the echo is a great saw.

 

Thankss for the reply. It looks like a new Husky is for me. I use mine mostly at my daughter and son in law's farm...15plus cords per year and my 5. A way of paying me for some of the work (lots) that I do there...mostly to keep busy and out of trouble. SIL really likes my 365, so we're going to go with what we know. There's a Stihl at the farm, never gets dull, uses next to no gas. Hasn't been used in 10plus years. Maybe I'll borrow that for a project and do a rebuild/teardown on it just for fun. Put to use some of the hours of you tube videos I watch where others are doing the wrenching.

Ralph

 

Husky is a great saw as well. Haven't run them much though. It was hard for me to give the echo a try after only ever running sthil but I'm glad I did. Even with all the praise I give the echo I would never fully switch I like my sthils to much and am comfortable with them.

 

I'm the same, but from the Husky side. I've used Stihls and they cut well but I've always owned Husky saws and after the run of luck I've had with my 51 I had no reason to try another brand when I bought a newer saw (a 455) this summer. The 51 still runs and cuts great after 20+ years but is (and always has been) a little down on power for cutting large-diameter stuff so I wanted a bit of an upgrade since most of what I cut these days is cordwood.

 

I have a stihl ms250 and have used it more than most, and have even milled with my Alaskan sawmill attachment. For the price it’s a good saw, but still only a homeowner grade saw.

I recently picked up a husqvarna rancher 460 for a ridiculous (used) price and have 20” and 24” bars for it. It is nice to have the extra power and length. With a 20” bar and ripping chain it is a world of difference on the Alaskan sawmill compared to the ms250.

Overall I’m very happy with both of my saws.

 

It's funny what we all get used to. Whatever brand we use is the best to us I guess. All of the major brands are good saws I suppose each with their own set of good and bad issues. One thing brought up in the above post is the chain. I use full chisel chains and they make a world of difference. Get rid of the crappy "safety chains" that typically come on the saws and you can really cut some wood. Another item I picked up about two years ago was this sharpener. Best thing I've bought saw related ever. Really gets the chain sharp and holds and edge. Sharpens and files down the depth guides at the same time. Other brands make it as well. I am probably late to the game on this sharpener and you have all been using it for years but just thought I would share.

 

Favorite place in the house this time of year.

 

IMO Stihl makes the best saws, but thats IMO, I know alot of professional guys that have Husky's that swear by them I just dont like the engines and the configuration of them.
I've got an MS 170 for small stuff, the MS 362 is for mid range and the MS 661 is the big boy which has a wrap around handle so I can notch from either side of a tree.
Now that I live in FL though they dont get the use that they used to when I was living out west.

 

I went with the Husky 365. Husky is a known quantity with me. The engine is 71cc now, so more power and a bit more weight. And the son in law's farm paid for it. I spend a lot of time using my saw there (3x my own use). Fair deal I thought. 3 litres of Husky pre mix/engineered gas at $11 each bought 2 extra years of warranty. A good deal.

Someday maybe a Stihl, but not yet. Thanks for all the comments directed my way.

Ralph

 

So who here cleans their own chimney?

I was looking at the brush kits and then found this -

$68 SootEater Rotary Chimney Cleaning System - Gardus RCH205-B Chimney Sweep Kit, Cleans Open Chimneys up to 18' with 6 Flexible 3' Rods, Chimney Cleaning Kit with Trim-to-Fit Spinning Chimney Whip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010H5JXA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has a lot of good reviews and pictures of peoples chimneys before and after. Figured I’d give it a try. Just burned one of those “creosote sweeping logs” to hopefully make it easier.

I also just installed a damper plate in the stove pipe about 18” above the stove. In the summer I get hot air coming down the chimney and causing condensation on the cold stove in the cool basement, so hopefully this will help with that.

In the spring I’ll be remodeling my living room and building a hearth to move the wood stove to from the basement. I’ll need to install a new chimney for that too.

Anyone have an opinion on those stove pipe thermometer/burn indicators? I have to get my stove roaring and crack the door open to get the temps in the mid/high range. Normally the needle is midway through the low section. I don’t know if it’s that the fire isn’t hot enough to warm the stove pipe enough, or if since it’s a newer stove it has a more efficient design that keeps the stove pipe cooler. The stove has some tubes running across the top of the inside which I think I remember reading something about it recirculating the exhaust to burn off the smoke more? I barely ever notice smoke coming out the top of the chimney.

Stove is a hearthstone heritage - https://www.hearthstonestoves.com/en/Appliance/Cast-&-Stone/Wood/Free-Standing-Stove/Heritage/Enamel/Seafoam-Majolica/Manufactured/HERITAGE/p/8023-4110L


Edit: just ordered a stove top thermometer for soapstone wood stoves. That should give me more information

 

I don't think much of them, personally. A modern stove doesn't send much heat up the chimney, if it's well-designed and burning correctly. My Hearthstone soapstone stove will read around 300 degrees six inches up the flue pipe but has enough heat in the firebox to burn the gases from the wood and curl your eyebrows when you open the door. Same with the cookstove; by the time the smoke has circulated around the oven and cooktop it's not carrying too much heat up the flue. I only really have them on there because they were one the old pre-epa stoves that were in the house when I bought it, so I put them on the new stoves because I already had them on hand. I guess if nothing else they'll be a handy indicator if I ever have a chimney fire for some reason.

I clean my own chimneys, but I haven't needed to brush them since our first winter in the house (when I had to buy 'seasoned' wood cut, split, and delivered because we bought the house in October). I burn some creosote destroyer in the spring before the end of the season and let them sit all summer, then collect a shovelful or two of creosote from the bottom of the flue and that's all they need. But, since that first winter everything I burn has sat at cordwood length for at least a year, then been cut, split, and in the woodshed under cover for at least 4-5 months before we start burning for the season.

 

I clean my own pipes. I use a brush. I have no experience with that product.

On another point.
My wood this year was purchased in Aug/Sept. I waited too long this year to get wood, I know. This is the first year in many that I have not cut most of my own wood.

Obviously not as 'Seasoned' as they said.
I have seen accumulation of creosote on the inside of the stove, all of this season, like I have never seen. We cleaned the pipe some time in November. And we are watching it.
This morning as I was letting the flame get going, to raise the temp to 500° for the catalytic combuster, like I always do, just a few minutes, I noticed that the pipe was way hotter than it had ever been. I went outside and looked at the cap. Even in daylight I could see the red. It must be burning in the pipe.
I turned the damper dial off, essentially closing all air intake, and it simmered down. Too much snow right now to get on the roof, but I will have to clean it again. I can see now how a chimney fire gets going. Prior to this I have only read about it.

No, I will not buy from that guy again. There are other reasons, too.
I have other wood, from another guy, purchased at the same time, set aside for next year.