I started writing a post on wood heat a few weeks ago but it degenerated into goofiness, I’ll try to keep it together tonight. I’ve been heating with wood for 5 winters now, I love it. It is a labor of love but the savings and satisfaction really make it all worth it. As I see it the basics are knowing how to safely operate your stove and properly seasoned fire wood.
Before you can get the most out of your wood stove, you need to know how to operate it safely. I know it might go against some of my usual instincts but…READ THE MANUAL!!! A wood stove is no joke, it can burn you, burn your house down, or fill your house with deadly gas and choke the life from you and your family. Now that I’ve made the stove sound like a demon in the den, I’ll say that operated correctly a wood stove can be very rewarding. I won’t pretend to have all the answers when it comes to wood stoves but, starting with reading the manual and learning the controls of your stove is a good place to start.
Get used to running a chainsaw!
And a Splitting Maul Too!
You’ll need plenty of room to store and season your wood. I think that properly seasoned wood is the most important part of the equation. Green wood is the bane of a successful wood heating season. I had a big problem my first year heating with wood. I got my stove installed late in the season and had to buy a load of firewood. The company assured me that the wood was seasoned. In a nutshell it wasn’t, I had low smokey fires that put out little to no heat. I burned like this for a few months, all the while I was questioning the thousands I had spent. It culminated in a severe creosote build up that blocked my chimney. I filled the house with smoke and was really at a low point. I had to learn the hard way so that is why I can’t stress enough…SEASON YOUR WOOD!
Safety and seasoned wood are my basic recommendations for the new stove owner. I’ll delve into how to season your wood properly, my thoughts on air intake control, and cleaning your stove in future posts.
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Great post. Looking forward to “the rest of the story”! While I don’t heat with wood, I grew up with a fireplace. Dad usually cut wood from our back yard forest that had been down for several years. About all I remember is pulling our little red wagon overfilled with wood up to the patio for Mom to stack. I pulled, sissy pushed. We usually dumped each and every load at least once on the way out of the woods.
I’ve got similar memories of helping my Step-Dad split wood for the fireplace.
This is our 5th winter heating with wood as well. Never needed them, but feel better having a couple of these handy:
http://www.chimfex.com/chimfex_for_home_owners.php
I’ll have to get a few of those. I’ve heard it said that a chimney fire is the most excitement you’ll ever have in your underwear 🙂
I’m so glad that you are posting about this. My husband and I are looking into purchasing a wood stove for our home.
I’m glad it is useful. I love my stove for it’s heat and the money it saves me. Good luck in your search.
This is great information. We are installing our stove this spring and have been seasoning 6 cords of wood over the past couple of summers. I will make sure that my husband reads the manual…he is a typical guy. I have already read it 3 times:) We will also be installing a couple Co2 sensors (I think that is what hubby called em), so that we can be sure about the gases not coming back into the house. Thank you for this.
You are welcome. Thanks for reading!
Bought a brand new EPA AND Washington State approved wood stove to assist heating my home (large catherdral ceilings in DR/LR area need extra heat on the few occasions we use that room, or during abnormally cold weather which is rare in this part of Washington and to be able to be able to stay warm and heat food during a rare power outage). Stove installed by a licensed and bonded stove installer and permitted by the county. Bought a six pack of Enviro-logs (similar to Duraflame without the chemicals and legal to burn in WA) and used one each for 5 fires in February. Havn’t burned since. So neighbor tells me 7 months later in Sept. it was burning his throat and didn’t like the smell that got in his house because he and his wife keep going out on their porch to smoke and letting their dog in and out all day and night. I told him that it was no problem, I would switch to well seasoned firewood. Then he gets POed at me for an unrelated matter that was 2nd hand hear say information and not true. So he goes and files a complaint with the local clean air agency on the five fires I had seven months ago and I get a letter from them. What do you want to bet he files a frivolous complaint every time I have a fire (rarely) in my fireplace. I’m well aware of how to build a hot fire with seasoned wood with very low or practically no smoke. We had a very peaceful neighborhood until this guy moved in two years ago. He’s got complaints against everyone in the neighborhood about something or other, so I guess it’s just my turn. Apparently, he has nothing better to do. So just be aware if you are planning to install a wood stove you could be in for hassles and frivolous complaints from a nighbor that doesn’t like you. Of course a pattern of frivolous complaints through government agencies and law enforcement constitutes “Abuse of Process” and opens up a tort claim with civil penalties.
Pete,
I am speechless after reading your post! I never thought I would be “lucky” to live in NY, we have some real bad laws here (the SAFE Act comes to mind) but we still are free to burn wood.