This ^ ^ ^! If you normally use $900 in fuel oil, I'd guess that it would take ~4 cords to replace that...but it will feel "warmer"...I hate the cold floors that come with using only the fossil fuel furnace! And yes, leave an inch or two ashes in the stove...it will help to hold hot coals longer. And welcome to FHC!
Leaving a bed of ashes - in all cases? I have a removable ash tray. I usually rake all ashes, to fall through the grate. I have hardly any ashes when I built and light a new fire. I put a couple of ashe splits on the fire last night. 8hrs later, there were lots of coals for a quick reload.
If you have enough hot coals to get an easy re-light, then carry on...but yeah, ashes are an excellent insulator, so coals laying in ashes are kept warm, and it limits the air getting to them also, so they burn slower, therefore last longer. Once the real heating season arrives its not such a big deal, there are always hot coals, but this time of year when many people are doing small infrequent loads, a few hot coals scraped out of the ashes in the back can make the reload/re-light much simpler...
I too find the wood burns faster with the ash completely shoveled out. I usually leave an inch or so when cleaning out.
Not all the ash falls through the grate without raking, so there's always ash surrounding the morning coals. A quick morning raking expones the coals for the re-light. I'm not sure with a cold stove, what the benefit are of having any ashes to build on top of. With a cold stove, I rake as much as I can to have them fall through to the removable tray. Not my intention to hijack this thread.
Only a thicker bed for the future coals...I like leaving an inch or two...on an older unit I had I actually laid some steel in the back half of the firebox to keep the ashes from falling through so that I could rake things around and manage the coals more to my liking. Even on my Kuuma furnace, which has a grate in the front, I just use a rake to pull the coals to the front on reloads...this pulls some ashes up too, but I try to leave a decent layer in the back. If your current procedure works well for you, no need to adopt my preferences, might be worth experimenting though? Different stoves work best with different procedures obviously...so as with almost anything, YMMV
Welcome to the FHC SilentHatch yes you will start with a cord.. Make sure your wood is dry. It makes better heat, less smoke, less work and less unhappy wife..
Welcome to the forum SilentHatch. Is your screen name from subs? Constructive criticism is good but naturally there always some with different ideas. But most on this forum agree at least on the most important issues. I'll try to help as much as possible and to start with here is a link to some reading that can help a good deal: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage The above link is from what little we've learned so far after 60+ years of wood burning. I hope some day to update that with more information. Perhaps the biggest thing is to learn the wood and the big differences there are in types of wood. For example, while many types of wood will burn good after a year of drying (not seasoning!), oak is definitely not in that class; it takes much longer. You will also learn that although you can get most any wood to burn, if it is dried properly, you will get more heat from the drier wood. This gives you many benefits and the 2 most important is keeping your family more comfortable and less physical work for you. Also is good handling of the stove and keeping the chimney in good condition. Make certain everyone in the house knows how and the importance of making sure it is safe. Good luck! btw, I too am a fan of keeping some ash in the stove. We clean ash only when needed which in the deepest part of winter might be every 3 or 4 days. This time of year is more like once per month.
Screen name is just something I've been using since I was a kid and first started playing video games, just something that stuck. I like to explain it as "how the world sounds without my hearing aids". Thank you for the link, and to all for good discussion on the ashes! I guess I'll keep some ashes in the stove for now while we are in the shoulder season. Good tip on ensuring all are aware of proper operation and conditions. Probably a good time of year to ensure all understand how to use wood stove, etc. I have some gloves from amazon (can see in pics on kindling rack) that are supposed to be good up to 1900 degrees Fahrenheit but think I may get some good welding gloves as backup. Appreciate all the good discussion, a lot to learn!
Both gloves you mention are good. You can even get the cheap welding gloves from Harbor freight and they will work okay.
You might get the wood burners badge. I got the glove’s that go up to wife’s elbow she still got burned. “Love the gloves only work when you have them on”
My wife has been known to get burns like that from taking thing out of the oven. Cooking can be hazardous for your health
Hopefully you can find some dry wood for a reasonable price. Cut up pallets burn well in a pinch. Like most people here, I like leaving a couple inches of ash in the stove. When burning 24/7 I usually take a shovel full or two every morning before reloading to keep it from building up too much.
Great idea...free used pallets everywhere if you know where to look....and if you don't try to use the ashes in the garden or driveway (nails) or something like that, a pallet can be processed into firewood size pieces with a circular saw in 2 minutes (or less)
I find that my reciprocating sawzall works better to cut, I tried with my circular saw to cut up on site and fit into car... didn't work so well Maina yes, I have a couple pallets in the garage, just need to take a few minutes to cut up, wife and I said we'd use the wood for kindling if anything. I'll keep looking for wood for the future but right now the wood we have didn't really smoke me out or show any excessive signs of being wet. Hopefully that remains the case for the rest of the wood we have! I got real close to getting that badge this past weekend hahahaha hand got close to the handle and I realized it was pretty warm before touching Backwoods Savage I'll check out harbor freight, thanks!!
Really? I was just annoyed after trying the sawzall... Here is how I cut them up...red lines are cut lines...and seriously, firewood under 2 minutes, without breaking a sweat. (I only need to cut the stringers in half...but obviously they can be cut twice if you need shorter wood)
Yep, that's where I cut them; I have a diablo wood blade on my sawzall, maybe that's why it cuts faster than the original circular saw blade... that or the circular isn't strong enough for the power I want... sounds like it's time to save up for a new one!!
Mines nothing special...just a Skil saw...I did have a decent blade in it though (although it had ate a nail or two )
To update you all here on just how fast the bug is taking over... Wife suggested we start a fire today since we were both working from home.. I helped her get it going, and now, 10 hours later, basement temp is sitting around 82 degrees and holding. It peaked at 85 down here, 78 on main floor, and 70 on the second floor... I might need to rethink my flannel, sweatpants, and wool socks attire if this is how warm it's going to be... Also may need to take up some advice from Maina and find some more kiln dried for delivery in the middle of winter LOL
Welcome, SilentHatch!! I can’t offer you any advice that these studs haven’t already offered. But I like your setup. Your stove being in the basement is a perfect spot for it, since heat rises. I’ve always had a thing for the style of wood stove that you have. They are small, but put out a lot of heat. They are just a classic, efficient design. It’s good to have ya here!