Right on. What gets me the most though is watching people go up to corners like they do in the summer months. That is why it is always so slippery at the corner. Slide or spin and it turns to a sheet of ice like an ice rink. That is also why there are so many accidents near corners. It is one reason it bugs me to see people drive so fast and really have to brake hard at corners in summer. It creates bad habits and winter is not so kind when using brakes.
Local Met here just promised us some snow in 8 or 9 days. Looks like the 70's are over for this year. Have used just a tiny bit of shoulder season stuff so far for a few small fires. 24/7 coming soon I think.
Temp. is 70 here right now but going to 78F. The last week in Oct. and we may have to use A/C, amazing. Brian
78 forecast here again today but we won't be running an air conditioner. Actually the house seems to be staying a bit cool so far this fall and we've needed fires a bit more than we normally would with these temperatures. But it does appear we'll be having more fires this coming week. Time to fill the wood rack maybe.
There are no temps. in the 10 day forecast here that drop below high 40's, and most days will be in the 60's to 70's. So not much burning in our immediate future. I would have filled the trailer and parked it on the porch by now in any normal year but the porch still is not a porch so that will have to wait. And looking at the contractor's next time opening(s), it may well be early Dec. before that is finished anyway. If it comes to that, I will put the trailer on the porch anyway (the deck is still complete and structurally sound) and just move it off on the days the guys are going to actually work out there. Brian
Yesterday, we had fire going off and on all day. Black October will rest: No fire this morning. Having had only fires for about 3-4 days this week, I just chose to empty the ashes in the bucket this morning and clean the glass up a little. What I do know is it needs to be likely in the teens to even think about loading this thing to the gills. Probably grab some stove glass cleaner and some stuff for this beast. The good notes about this is that it really does allow hot fires to happen. While it takes about 30-45 mins for them to really spit out the heat, its indeed enough and I find myself napping more comfortably in the waves.
Every year when starting to use the wood stove it is a struggle to hold it back and not overheat the house. Then it gets colder and the stove can be used continuously and everything settles into a routine. But then it gets very cold and the struggle goes the other way a bit- kicking the stove in the pants and feeding it a lot more often to keep up. This has been going on for decades and is not a surprise of course but still, it is odd to be caught on the 'wrong' side of how to use the stove several times each year. It seems like I am loading / setting the stove for the weather two weeks ago too often. Brian
We received about an inch or two of wet snow overnight and now its pouring rain. Doug fir keeping the house cozy.
The weather is hanging just below freezing for the time being, but should see +5 C (40 F) or a little better by late afternoon. Found some pine buried in the stacks, so giving that a go.
Not only that but Im just a rookie in the wood stove-burning-business. Not that I don’t know how to make a fire but I tend to burn more than I should, thus making the fire too hot. This applies to fireplaces and pits too. So Im learning how to realize how effective the fire works and need only to burn how much heat I will need. It heats the house Absolutely. I find that I open maybe the garage and two windows when burning. No shortage of heat but the temps just need to go down outside to feel a better cool down breeze. At least til the lowest temp at night now becomes the highest temp during the day.
Yes, there are temps. that are just too high to maintain a fire and not overheat the house. What I think most of us do, and I know I do, is start smaller fires, run them fairly hot so they burn clean and just let them burn out. The stove will absorb a lot of that heat and slowly radiate it into the house for a long time. I end up starting a lot of small fires in the shoulder seasons, spring and fall, when I cannot maintain a fire all day and all night. It takes a while to get to know how to use your stove efficiently, in your house, with your firewood and your chimney. Change any one and the learning curve starts all over again. But even when you get pretty comfortable with your setup you will still find things that throw you off; wood is a natural material and so varies even though it is the same type, the same age and so forth. Another big variable is the wind outside, when the wind is strong it 'pulls' on many chimneys and so all your familiar 'set and forget' things like draft opening and so forth just do not work. My brother has a relatively short chimney that for some reason is especially sensitive to wind to the point where he has trouble throttling a stove full of wood when it is windy out. So while you will get accustomed to burning wood, it will always have little changes that surprise you, or at least every stove I have ever had had little surprises for me. Brian
Oh I know, its just a perspective thing having it be already in the negative temps and it isn’t winter yet. To add to the stove discussion, I have only put a few splits in at a time. Its never gone much over 6 splits at the most. And these were pretty small. They burned for quite awhile and the whole house feels good. It’s definitely a learning curve. But now I don’t need to worry about my house being a money pit for heat, but keeping my butter in a solid state? That’s another matter.
Yes, one mistake many make is to load the stove at this time of the year then complain because the house gets too hot. Typically we'll put in 3 or maybe 4 pieces and by the time those have burned down, the house is warm but usually not too warm. Of course, there are exceptions as sometimes the house does still get hot.
I was more than willing to accept this and I laughed happily about it.... the stove is a double edge sword in a small place. But extending this place out a bit with the doors and temp is just cool enough to ride over it, can really be a breeze. As long as the fire isn’t so blazing hot.
