Howdy, FHC Friends! Apologies for being absent for a couple, maybe a few months- work has taken me across the nation and as far as Ireland and Amsterdam. There’s been some long hours and a lot of firsts in the medical arena. Being a part of a lot of first surgeries and introducing a new, superior technology into the world of fixing fractures and stabilizing spines for treatment of spinal tumors has been a very rewarding and very humbling experience. I am thankful every day that I get to work with such dedicated, brilliant surgeons that have such an impact on people’s lives. That being said, during my travels there is always something firewood related that catches my eye, whether it’s a little smoke from a chimney, a pile of splits, a large stack of logs, or even a wood stove store. Today has been my first real pick-up of the summer, thanks to CraigsList. I found a post for a large locust tree that was cut into rounds and stacked in the driveway. It’s funny because it had been posted a few days ago and I was gone; and thought sure it would all be gone by the time I got back. It was about 20 minutes from the airport and I detoured to see just in case....holy crap, it was ALL still there! People must think locust is trash wood or something. Well, I snagged as much as I could get in my truck bed! The biggest rounds are all still left, so I’m hoping if anyone drives by that they will pass on it since it’s the heavy lifting. When I come back up I’m bringing my trusty ATV ramp that I normally ride with so I can pick up the rest. Like I say, “CraigsList will provide!” Hope everybody’s doing great! Looking forward to cooler Fall temps and firing up the boiler! Last week I also scored an old but FREE Shenandoah wood stove from my local shop for my garage and had it hooked up. I’m pumped about having a warm garage this winter!
I know, I know! No pics = didn’t happen, Lol! I just got back to the house and it’s dark. I’ll post a pic on the morning when it’s light. Here’s a pic of the old (but new to me!) stove in the garage:
Great to hear from you and the medical advances news Kevin! Hope you’re well! Is the stove in the garage the only burner in your house at this present moment? Good luck on the locust score, hopefully you just picked the right moment and nobody else wanted it.
That looks perfect. I hesitate to install one in my wood shop/garage with so much sawdust on the floor and in the air. Plus 30-odd gallons of paint, thinner, and random chemicals dictates a cold environment. I do run in oil radiator heater back there though. It’s pretty wimpy.
A wood stove is all dad heated his woodshop with for over 20 yrs. Just kept the floor around it swept. Has a big Fisher Papa Bear in there now.
Last Fall I installed an Outdoor Wood Boiler that I like very much. That thing is amazing! This wood stove in the garage is just a bonus. I am relocating all flammable chemicals, gasoline, etc to the shed though- no sense in inviting trouble. This year I’m adding two more woodstoves to the house, maybe I do have a sickness...both are Jotuls, one is a little propane model with remote that’s going where an old coal fireplace was. It’s the only model period that would pass the UL requirements for clearance and safety. The other is a Jotul Rockland insert. I wanted a Hearthstone soapstone free standing wood stove, but the only one that fit was the Jotul. Sometimes you deal with what you’re given in regards to size and clearances. The mantle was the issue in that case- I could have removed it but it’s an original beautiful mantle from when the house was built in 1842 so I kept it and went with the insert. The main reason I went with the additional woodstoves is 1) I have a firewood sickness, and 2) in case we lose power and the boiler’s circulating pump isn’t functioning, we can still keep the house warm with the inside stoves.
Welcome back VOLKEVIN .. 2 woodstovess, gas fireplace and outside woodboiler. how big is the house?? Way to be prepared!
Great to see you VOLKEVIN I hear you on the newness of your job. Same here over the past year for me. Your “sickness” is well within the limits of FHC, but I do wonder why you wouldn’t consider either a small generator or even a whole home standby generator to keep the lights and boiler on in the event of an outage? Just wondering out loud, bud.
Welcome back VOLK, glad to see you made good use of your travels in keeping your fondness of wood heat in mind. Your thread has just motivated me to sweep the flue today. It's the only thing I have left to do before my stove comes back from the shop.
I know, sounds like a lot. The woodstoves inside would cover front half-back half. The main house is one building, and the garage and above garage apartment is a detached building, which used to be the carriage house back in the day. I have the wood boiler running to both and it’s good for most all of the heating needs. The woodstoves are more of an insurance policy if we lose power and the OWB can’t run. The one so put in the garage is because I wanted to be warm in the winter, and because, well, why not?
You got your work cut out for you, gotta believe that setting up that kind of stuff is fun. Makes you aware of your house needs and you’ve done your research pretty well. I think Eric VW has a fine idea for emergencies. Maybe you got a back porch to hook one up close to your switch box? Good luck to ya and point out that outdoor wood burner if you installed a thread about it here?? Along with the rest of the new ones to come!
Hey Eric VW ! Good to hear from you! I am definitely planning on a whole house standby generator, it’s the smartest thing for where I am. I don’t think a portable generator wouldn’t be enough to run the OWB for heating because I have water to air heat exchangers in my ductwork, so it requires the furnace/blowers to be running- not sure if I’d have enough juice off of a portable. The standby generator is definitely on the list, though!
I put up a pretty detailed account of my install of the Outdoor Wood Boiler last year. Good pics. Here’s the link- Outdoor Wood Boiler Plan & Install
Happy to see you posting again VOLKEVIN. Sounds like you certainly have been doing lots of traveling and a lot of good should come out of it. Congratulations on that for sure. With the OWB and now a couple more stoves you no doubt have much work cut out for yourself just keeping enough wood on hand. Hum... Maybe a get-together could be in order? It is amazing how fast the work can go at a get-together. A portable generator could indeed run things for you but can also be quite a bother hooking things up. A whole house generator is the best way to go. What really made me realize that is that 2 year ago I was near death and one day I suddenly realized some of the things my wife would have to face if I were no longer there. The generator is the first thing I thought of and yes, we now have a whole house generator that is fully automatic so she does not need to do anything to keep power on. I like that.
Thanks, Backwoods Savage! Good to hear from you! Hmmm....a get-together.....I think it’s sounds like a great idea! I’m going to start the plans now- that’ll be a great time.
