Colder here. What's your temp? What ya burnin?

you need a wood powered generator!

 

I Don't think I have ever had a year without some of it around.

 

Just got back from Home Lowes (went to both), was trying to pick up a couple of plugs to make a whip to plug the generator into the welder's outlet. Both stores were out of the four pronged plug I needed to fit the generator..... of course. No old type range plugs either. I may just use two 115 volt blade plugs (the plain 'ole ones used all over the house) and run the two wires together into the one 50 amp plug. It will look a little odd but it will work fine; each 115 volt outlet set on the generator is the 'other' leg of 230 VAC, so two 115 plugs gives me both legs of power.

When I first got the generator, I just made up two 115 whips with a male plug on one end and just bare wires on the other; when I use it, I just insert the hot legs into a 20 amp breaker in the breaker box in the garage. Clunky but safe and effective. The plan was always to make a 'suicide whip' (one with two male ends) but I guess I never got around to it in the last 8 years since we last lost power. Now that I am on a dedicated mission though, the stores are all out of them.

The trip was not a total loss though, Andrea went with me to get out of the house. She had foot surgery last Friday and is wearing a boot you would not believe and on crutches; when we got to the store, we tried both gimp-mobiles and one was 1% charged and would not reach 0.01 mph, and the other was totally dead. So she stumbled around a bit on crutches WHEN SUDDENLY, I spotted an office desk chair.... on WHEELS. Yee Ha! She of course said we could not do that but I proved her wrong- we could and did do it. Sat her on the chair and rolled her around the store and it was WAY more fun than when I push her as fast as I can in one of those gimpmobiles because the chair turns as it moves. We were doing rolling, spinning donuts through the store, much to the amazement of everyone it seemed. Guess they never say an 'alternative' method of transportation before. Really interesting too because with her crutches stuck out in front, and that gigantic boot on top of the crutches, she looked like something out of Mad Max. It was either that or I was going to pick her up and put her in a carriage, which I thought would also have been amusing but the chair proved to be far, far funnier. At least to me. Who knows, we might show up on Youtube!

Brian

 

Lows coming up, Thursday Night 13, Friday Night 9 and Saturday Night 16.

Tonight the low will be around 28 so we'll burn more shoulder season wood.

 

29 and I have a full load of shoulder maple starting to light off. As soon as the cat is lit and the air is dropped I will be off to bed. Im really struggling with DST this year.

 

Hey folks. Chiming in from a small town 40 miles outside of vancouver bc. Its a steady 6°c or 42°f. Forecast calls for rain and an arctic front moving down the coast so you can best believe ill be ready! I have two old beasts that crank out the heat. The monster is in my basement - a 1980 acorn voyageur which i use when it gets below 0 or 32. The rest of the time i run the old tank in the living room upstairs. Its a fisher honey bear insert. Thats whats going all day everyday! A mix of 22" long birch and maple splits. This fisher is deep enough to handle 28" but im saving those for the real freeze. House is toasty warm!!!

 

The load of splits I put in the stove tonight were shiny with ice- this is the first time I have seen frozen firewood this year. Finally filling the stove all the way and running it a little harder. 30F here now, going to 20F tomorrow night.

Brian

 

10 underneath @ 2100hrs. Poplar in the stove.
This cabin we live in "we rent" is what I call an R6 house. Since soft wood has an R value of 1 per inch. And some of the 3 sawn sides ( 3 sided) cabin logs are only 6" thru on the mating surfaces. It is a drafty place too. So it really sucks up the wood.
I do need to get a 50' 10 gauge cord for the Timber Champ. It runs fine on a 14 ga. But doesn't start so good in the cold on it.

 

Woodguy that sounds like Southeast Alaskan weather.
You have birch and maple to burn , that's Awesome !!

 

Lopi Cruising along, tubes are red hot, Ash and Maple, 30 outside, 79 inside

 

Same as last night.. and every night for that matter. Heres tonight's stove full of larch 2 minutes into the overnight burn. Its warmed up big time around here. Currently sitting at -8c/17f I dont mind these temps!

 

30 degrees and clear skies. The OWB is feeding on hickory ash an' mullberry.
I'm only loading the beast to about 1/4 capacity at night and letting the charcoal get me thru the daytime hours.
Be safe out there.

 

It’s been so warm until a couple nights ago that I hadn’t even cleaned the flue yet. Burning oil for the morning warm up then the sun did the rest. I realized I had to do the flue so finally did that yesterday. My arthritis paid the price. Got a couple of cups of light soot out of it and proved again that that rotary Sooteater is great. Going down to 18°F Friday night. Will start a fire today.

 

Ended up with 5"-6" overnight, but it is still snowing and a possible 10" more throughout the day is on the schedule.

With the 15 mph wind that just picked up since dawn, the 14f feels like -1.

So it goes. the first round of shoveling is done for this event.

 

She was a chilly one last night, down to -20 C or -25 C (-4 F and -13 F) with the wind. Sitting at a balmy -14 C ( 6 F) at the moment and I think the temps are supposed to warm up in a day or two.

 

A little colder than that and Bigfoot will be shivering; you can probably see him out you window.....



Brian

 

It's cold enough that's for sure, but Bigfoot mostly hang around Sean location. I think he even does beer commercials now and then!

 

Does some beef jerky and side by side commercials also. Must be all set for winter.

Was -11 last night, stove just idleing along.