Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

I went to light the stove this morning. I raked down the ash from last night, put in some paper and kindling and went to re split a few pieces and when I came back I had a flying squirrel in the stove staring at me. Not sure how he got in there as I had a fire last night - maybe he hitched a ride in the house when I brought firewood in. Cute little guy and pretty calm. I put him back outside.

 

I had a bat that had taken up residence in my chimney last summer. I always light a small fire and then go outside to keep an eye on the chimney for the first fire, even though I know it's clear. Just a personal quirk, I guess. He came fluttering out in a cloud of smoke, flapped around the yard a bit, and then landed on the back wall of the house. After that he moved back into one of the shutters on the back side of house.

 

Wow that is pretty calm. We get them in the house occasionally and they are all but impossible to catch. They're extremely close knit so it's good that you didn't try to relocate it; hopefully it can find its way back to its family.

We had a bat fall down the chimney into the stove one year. It tried to work its way out the door and one of the cats tore a wing off the poor critter. I had to dispatch it.

My neighbor in a former house had raccoons in their chimney.

 

The Racoons around my house don't survive long enough to move in. Typically they bother the chickens the first time they visit, and correspondingly it's the last time they stop by.

 

We have had 3 bats in the cabin. Nothing like waking up to bats in your loft, in the dark. I now have hardware cloth on the eaves.

We had 8 flying squirrels in a day and a half. I had redone the ceiling in the loft. When I closed their 'nightly exit' they flew around in the cabin. I let them go outside, and never heard the chewing at night since. (Damn, that was annoying)

I live in a log cabin near the Great Smoky Mountains.

Been burning wood every day since the beginning of Oct. I love the smell of wood burning.

 

Got a question for those of you ago have more experience than I do with wood stoves. I have burned in it a few times this year and I’m noticing that my fire doesn’t stay lit for very long or burn very hot. When I start the fire I keep the ash try door open to force more air through it but generally I close it shortly after it’s going for a bit because keeping it open causes a blazing fire and just burns through the wood too fast.

So for instance, last night I had a fire going for about an hour and then packed it with logs closed it up and left the draft control lever all the way open and went to bed. Woke up this morning and came downstairs to no fire or coals but 3 logs still in the stove meaning my fire went out and coals died. Not sure what to do

 

The first obvious thing is to check the moisture of your wood, if it isn't well seasoned that could be it. Second is to make sure your chimney is clean and drafts well. Also make sure there isn't an "in-line" damper in your stove pipe and if there is make sure that is open.

Try smaller splits until you can build up some sort of a coal bed and then add bigger pieces, make sure you don't pack it and leave room in between the pieces for air to move. Be very careful with using the ash pan door as a helper, if it does in fact catch and you have a fair amount of wood in there it can get away from you fast. I cheat when I start my Jotul by leaving the side door slightly ajar.

I Don't bother lighting my stove when it is over 40 unless I absolutely have to because it doesn't draft as well as it does when it is colder out and I have to basically run it wide open. I only have a lever to control intake air and depending on outside temp and what kind of wood I am burning depends on how much I can close it down, with a load of oak I usually have to leave it at least 25% open but with birch I can close it all the way.

What kind of stove do you have?

 

I have a similar issue except my fire doesn't go out. I just burn way too hot/fast. I am new to wood burning stoves as well as I moved from SC to Northern VA last September. A full stove ( 7 or 8 logs) won't last but 3-4 hours. I replaced the rope gaskets this year before burning season hoping that would help slow down the burn rate, and nope. Once the fire is up and going, I can turn the dampers all the way down/shut and it will still burn really fast and only last a few hours. If I load the box at 10 or 11 before bed, there won't even be any hot coals left at 5 or 6 when I wake up. I can hear it sucking air (its pretty loud) and I have no idea where it's getting air from since I replaced the gaskets this year. Any advice would help for this newb..

 

Good to know about different woods and outside temps. It’s only about 31 degrees here right now. The wood was bought from a tree company. I got 2.5 cords back in August/September. They claim it’s seasoned but I’m not sure for how long. As for the chimney, I just had a stainless steel liner installed on Thursday so I know it’s clean and free of any blockages. It’s drafting well, better than it did last year. I can hear it pushing air through the pipe now. Last year I didn’t use it too much, it was the first we owned the house and first time I have ever had a wood stove. It’s definitely a learning curve soup to nuts. I know for sure next year I’m not going to wait until fall to try and get wood ready and the chimney cleaned haha

Also my stove is a Jotul F500

 

Firewood sellers -- especially those who sell a lot of firewood -- always claim their wood is seasoned. It never is. At best it sat as a whole log for a year before they split it. Unseasoned firewood is hard to burn and won't provide much heat.

I have a Jotul 500. If I leave the ashpan door open it will overheat the stove in minutes. I also have an old leaky house. Is your house new construction? It could be that it is so tightly built that your stove can't pull any air in. try cracking a window and see if it burns better. If that doesn't help I'd suspect unseasoned wood.

 

That is what I have, should be a pic of it a few posts up. It was a learning curve but now I seem to have it figured out. I leave the air wide open until the stove gets up to about 300-350 range and then I start backing it down. I run it at about 450. Do you have a thermometer? I have a magnet one on the stove pipe and another magnet one in the front left corner. My manual said to put one in one of the corners are run the stove between 400-600 or something like that. Once the stove gets up to temp it runs a lot better. I can put 4 pieces in and 8-9 hours later still have embers to get it going again. I monitor the stove pipe thermometer as well so I don't over fire that. you should be able to see the thermometers in my pic.

 

That has to be a leak somewhere letting too much uncontrolled air into the stove.

 

What kind of stove? In my old house I had a dutchwest which had both an air intake adjustment and a damper up top. I had to run them both open until it came up to temp and then shut the top damper and then I could back off the air intake. To add wood I had to open the top damper before I opened the door or else I would smoke out the house.

What kind of wood are you burning, if it is old poplar or something like that it will burn fast/hot.

 

I agree, So far I have been lucky enough to cut/split my own so I know what I have. If you have a place that gets full sun you can also get split green wood in April and let it sit out until october and then stack it, should be most of the way there.

The bigger problem with unseasoned wood is creosote. If the wood hisses/pops at you or if you can see water/sap boiling out of the end then it is not ready to burn. Weight is also a good indicator.

 

Lots of good answers above.
Make sure that you have a good bed of coals, and that the wood you put in for the night has been in there long enough to catch.
So, before bedtime I need to have the stove 'ready'. If I did not, then when I add wood I have the flame ignite the fresh wood so it will smolder.
If I do not do that I have coals burned up and the wood that I added did not burn. COLD MORNING.
I know this from experience!! Been there, Done that.

Also, the wood that you use needs to 'coal' to make a coal. I do not get coals from wood like poplar and maple. (Other wood also does not coal). Poplar gives off heat, but goes straight to ash, like newspaper.
Oak will coal. You can look up the characteristics of the wood that you have.

You can look for water dripping out of the ends of hot wood, in the stove, to know if the wood is wet/dry. A moisture gauge can tell you, too.

That^^^. I have had to seal my joints every few years. Tedius summertime job. But, worth it in the winter.
Sometimes you can find a leak by moving a burning incense stick near the stove to see where air is coming in. There needs to be no drafts, obviously.
If no leaks, then maybe the wood is the cause. Light weight wood, or a good hardwood?

Stay warm,
Ken in NC

 

I do have a magnetic thermometer on the pipe but that’s my only one on the stove. Even though the fire was out and most of the 4 logs I had in there overnight were still in there I did have some heat still coming off of it this morning and a few little coals but not much

I should get a moisture gauge. Getting to a point where I just have coals smoldering is the difficult part. Either it will burn too quick and be left to ashes or not burn quick enough and the fire will die

 

You really don't even need a moisture gauge; if you whack two pieces together and they give a crisp "Thock" they're seasoned enough to burn. If they make a "Thunk" noise then they're not.

An easy test is to throw some wood that you know is seasoned into your stove and try dampering that back. Beg/buy/borrow some wood that you know is seasoned from a friend and see how it burns. If it doesn't burn properly, your issue is either draft or air supply related. Burns fine? Your wood is still wet.
You said that you just had a liner installed; How 'tight' is your house? Try cracking a window in the room the stove is in and see if that makes a difference (literally a crack is all you need).

 

Hmm I’ll have to try the window trick. I’d like to believe the house is decently sealed since I don’t have too many drafts but I’m not entirely positive

 

Good information. I am currently out of town but I will try this when home about burning incense. Thanks.

 

I am not sure what it is exactly.. It's definitely pre epa. Here are 2 pics I have. There are turn dials on each of the doors for the door dampers and not pictured as it's above the visible section inside the box, but there is a piece welded in. I am not sure what that is for.... maybe to control the backdraft some? I am usually burning hickory and maple.

EDIT: I replaced those rope gaskets... these pics are from last year and I replaced the gaskets in October.