Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

Had my chimney cleaned and inspected yesterday. Looks like I have a couple chipped tiles and significant cracks. Waiting for an estimate on getting a liner installed

 

I ordered a viper chimney cleaning system. Anyone have one or use one? The guy who came to check out my chimney a few years ago said that is what he uses, it allows you to clean from the bottom up. In my old house I could use a step ladder on my deck to get on the roof and I could use the fiberglass rods that you screw together to clean the flue tile. That house had a 5 pitch roof so I could run around on that even with snow on it. My new house has a 10 pitch roof and is multiple story and I don't feel comfortable getting up there to clean it.

I had the house built 6 years ago and haven't cleaned the flue tile yet but check it every year when I clean out the wood stove and stove pipe. I only burn a couple cord a year of seasoned wood. I am not sure if it needs to be cleaned this year but it will eventually. I have a Jotul F500 Oslo and so far no complaints. I was considering soap stone but cast iron suits my needs better as I am at work during the day so I run it from when I get home and throw a few pieces in when I get up early in the morning.

 

No, I'm still using the old rod system to clean mine out. Never has much in it, though, fortunately.

I actually find that soapstone works better than cast iron for the heating that I do, but I run mine close to 24-7 during the cold season. But since I'm gone 11 hours during the day the soapstone is great for still throwing heat by the time I get home, even though it's burned down to just a few coals. With cast iron the stove would throw a ton of heat while I wasn't there, and be cold by the time I got home

 

Just re-stacked some oak that has been under cover for a few years so I am ready for the winter. I have to get my act together and stack wood that I split last year and some more that I split this spring which is a mix of oak and hickory. As of now I have enough for the next 2-3 years.

Does anyone stack wood in a bin that they can move with pallets forks on their tractor? I am thinking of doing this but am trying to figure out the logistics.

 

No but I love the idea as an excuse to finally get the Kubota.

 

I've considered it, since I've already got the tractor requirement filled, but it takes a lot of space. My current woodshed is 8x12 and is 8 feet tall, so I can fit a lot more wood into that space with conventional stacking than I could with a pallet setup. And since I don't have a daylight basement with double doors I'd still have to unload the pallet and lug the wood inside by hand, whereas with double doors I could just open them both up, set the pallet on the cellar floor and feed the stove from that instead. I'll just stick with my current level of laziness, where I load the bucket of the tractor with wood from the shed and cart it over to the house that way. Takes about two trips to get in a week's worth of wood using that method.

I feel as though there's somebody in this thread that was doing it, though...


Edit- Found it.

 

Had our first fire tonight , wife started the woodstove mid afternoon with all the doors & windows open , dust burn off smell was pretty much gone by the time I got home from work

 

I had another in the cookstove last night. Rainy and damp and 40 degrees all day meant that we needed to warm the house up a little by the time I got home.

 

That’s a keeper!

 

Finally gave in and fired up the stove. I got to enjoy a little time before I had to kid proof it. The Viper system from Wohler did the job, expensive but I was able to clean the flue tile from the inside. Going to the lake tomorrow and will fire up the old Tempwood there, not pretty but cranks out the heat.

 

What do you have for a cook stove? Do you cook in it? I like the idea of them.

 

Yeah, a 70's Elmira Julia that I picked up in pieces for a song and rebuilt a number of years ago. I cook in it occasionally, mostly during the winter and/or when the power goes out. It roasts a mean chicken in a dutch oven, makes a great loaf of bread, and you can cook pretty much anything on the stovetop, but it takes some practice and a lot more attention than a modern range to get good results.



I'm glad I don't heat with it as my primary, though, because I'd burn a crazy amount of wood if I did, and I'd have to feed it every 4-5 hours or so (it's not airtight). But during the winter I fire it up every Sunday and usually cook breakfast on it. Supper...probably 50% of the time. Plus it makes for a handy method of getting rid of the 'junk wood' from around the property. Poplar works great for a roast chicken, for instance, since it burns hot and fast.

And it's worth its weight in gold during a power outage. With the water reservoir you can do dishes, bathe, etc. a LOT easier than if you were heating water on the coleman. The reservoir will bring a full 5 gallon bucket to a boil in about an hour with a good hot fire.

 

Fired up the tempwood at the lake. Gotta love pre EPA stoves. Not pretty but heats well.

 

Whats the deal with the fences around the woodstove ? Kids ?

 

Yeah, we used to put up some when the grandkids were young.

 

Yea. 2.5 and 5 year old. Hopefully this is the last year of gates. Better safe than sorry.

 

First fire of the season. Was supposed to be cold and wet all day, but now the sun is out so I guess I don’t need to keep it going...

 

Dog won't object if you keep it going.

 

Small style Vermont Castings . Takes a 15” log . Does the job !

 

I may have said this before.
We have a few Vornado fans that we use to circulate the warmth from the stove.
A log cabin, with a loft. We do not have central air circulation. The heat likes to rise. Using fans moves cold air upstairs, the loft is not the hootest room now, and a fan is always blowing onto the stove to balance the warmth of the main room, downstairs.
Vornado fans have a 5 year warranty, and only one has had to be replaced. We are in the 7th, or 8th, year for the other 2.