First fire for heat 2023 thread

Share, if you like, how your first fire Fall of 2023 went.

It dipped into the mid 40's here, and the house was 62 inside, with a cool ish day ahead. I fired up the Jotul with some wood I thought was not too seasoned (no end grain checking, heavier than I thought it should have been for dry wood etc). But man did that stove take right off. No sizzling or moisture came out of that oak (2+ years top covered and seasoned).
I ended up opening a window and using a box fan to pull the residual smoke out, after painting the stove's top deck, I had a cool fire. Tonight it went up to 700 degrees. And almost smoked me out.

But the heat feels good, and it will last all day. 9.21.2023.

SCA

 

I had a small fire yesterday and again this morning. Just a few chunks. No issues.

 

Not yet but close , really close.
Pipes and stove are clean and ready.

Hope I can put it off as long as possible , I know once it starts it probably won't end for a while.

 

My wife is going through the “change”
Light a fire…

she still has fans running and windows open!!
Low was 42 this morning when at 5 am; when I shut off 20” box fan in bedroom window. I could see my breath inside..

luckily house get full sun and warms quickly IF sun is shining..

I may need a insulated dog house with a wood stove!!

 

Not yet but close , really close. Chimney and fireplace insert are clean and ready, Firewood box filled with shoulder wood, Kindling box filled as well.
.

 

I feel your pain, one minute she is burning up the next she is wanting more blankets (winter or summer ) & I am thinking that sleeping with the dogs in their straw house in the shed would be more comfortable.

The bedroom windows were open about all winter last year, occasionally I would get up in the middle of the night last winter & the front door would be wide open.

 

The older I get the warmer I like it in the house. My wife & my daughter complain it’s to warm but whenever we go to visit someone else at their house we are no sooner in the car to drive home & one or both of them will comment on how cold the peoples house was that we were visiting.

 

I might have my first fire Saturday, when it's going to rain all day and not supposed to get out of the 50s. On Tuesday my heating oil tank was removed due to a leak, so until I get another tank next month, the stove will be all I've got.

 

Hopefully you still have hot water!

 

Luckily (in this situation anyway) that's electric. It would suck heating up water on the stove and taking baths like that for weeks

 

Dennis, I take it the leaves have not fallen off the trees yet?

I have not brought any wood in yet. I think we'll keep it outside on the rack. One fire a day is an easy armload each day, maybe with a piece or two stuffed under the stove for later.

When we get to burning morning and night, then the walk out to the stack will become more of a chore, and more wood will come in.

 

Wow. I had the AS close to 500 last season...that had me nervous as chit.....

Our lowest high is sat, 62 and rain. Forecast for 15 days show all lows being in upper 50s, highs in the low to mid 70s. I'm still a ways out....

 

I am hoping to not have to light a fire until late October. We just had a new LP furnace put in this spring so it will get fired up for a few cycles before it gets shut off & the stove gets fired up.

 

Pfft...500 is fuel economy cruise control mode...600 is hitting the stride, 700 is really still no worries, 800 on some (most) stoves is time to start sweating 900 very well could cause damage on many/most stoves.
Stove design and materials may mean damage at temps lower than listed above...these temps would be moreso for steel tube type stoves...

 

Hahaha... Well, I start sweating pretty easy...those temps would probably cause me and the stoveroom to melt down! I didn't start burning till mid Jan last year, so I eneded up burning in what would to yall be a fair amount of 'mild weather', probably more like yalls shoulder season. Maybe if the stove was more central to the house and the heat/air circulated better/more I'd see the benefit of hitting some of those numbers....

I do need to get to prepping a bit I reckon....

 

My wife got this one going this afternoon. Helped take the dampness out of the house.

 

That’s certainly picturesque That setting looks perfect no matter what season.