So nice. Finally getting to enjoy all the work I put in for the past year. It's been an awesome learning experience and on top of that the exercise I've gotten and being outdoors almost every day possible has been great for my back. I've met so many neighbors who are into wood and have made some new friends in the process as well. Really appreciate all the info and help I've received on this forum. Really, really great to chat about all things firewood related. Here's a quick video of the fireplace with the www.gratewalloffire.com upside down grate. Again, no affiliation but this thing is great. 51 and rainy outside and it's 76.3 in here with just the fireplace going. Look at that bed of embers.
Very nice, but we still think you need a woodstove. You'll use way less wood, and will get better heat!!!! I've enjoyed your posts on the forum BTW
Thanks I appreciate that a lot. I was sitting near the fire and man it was TOO HOT! I had to back off as it felt like it was burning the hair off my legs. It's throwing some serious heat. I know it's more efficient to use a stove. I will do some research but at this point I have a lot of wood and I don't mind being slightly inefficient. I need to burn these 40 cords before they rot.....so inefficiency actually becomes efficiency!!! And I need the excercise and I really enjoy the work......
So far I've only burned almost all of the 1/6th of a cord this indoor rack will hold. I think it's the 3rd fire of the season. Tomorrow it's supposed to hit a low of 30.....so I need to bring in some wood and refill.
Fireplaces are nice for the ambiance and shoulder season. Once the cold weather hits that flue will be sucking all the heat out of the house. Been there, done with that
Silly autocorrect on my phone. It's supposed to be.......FATWOOD! Like I said in other posts I have no interest in keeping the electric heat pumps running all day long with the kids (3) at home doing remote schooling so it's gonna be the fireplace. Also it's hard to understand just how well the grate and the reflective back work compared to a "regular" fireplace. I'm telling you it's revolutionary but you won't believe me until you're sitting in front of it. I'm also keeping track of how much wood I burn so that I get it cleaned after say 2 cords........... Surely I can't be the only person on this forum who has tried the High Efficiency Fireplace Grates | Grate Wall Of Fire grate, right? This house has no insulation, original wood frame windows, and is a sieve already........1947 cape.....I've already done a lot by redoing the insulation in the attic and air sealing everythiing. It's already 10x better than it was. And with my next door neighbor who runs an insert telling me it's too hot.....I'm perfectly happy with how this setup is performing. His wife doesn't even want to bother turning on the insert because it turns their living room into a sauna. 78.3 in the room with the fireplace (which is my dining room). Working just peachy for me.
Like I said, I have 40 cords to burn, not all this year, but I'm going to burn it. And preferably before it rots.
I also much prefer the ambience of my setup. It kind of reminds me of the difference between hand splitting and using a hydraulic - it's just not as satisfying.
I see you now have a 34 ton Champion splitter. I have the same and it works great! Only problem was the one hydraulic hose blew off twice. Stay well!
Yes, I had one hose that developed a small leak at the filter......about 2 weeks after I got it. Considering that the unit came all damaged, scratched, and the box was all beat to hell, it wasn't surprising that a few things got messed up. Luckily they were super helpful (CPE) and sent me everything I needed asap. They even sent me a check for $400 to cover the expense of fixing the paint and the inconvenience....Instead of $1499 (home depot) I ended up getting $100 off for a HD credit card, $200 off from Amex points, and the $400 check direct from CPE to get the final price down to $799 before tax! I really like the unit. It is plenty fast for me and I like the fact you can horizontal or vertical and also that it is towable up to 45mph. Plus it powers through anything I put in it.
And I moved the thermometer over to my desk which is in the next room (no doors but "L" shaped) and it's reading 75.6.
I have no doubt the radiant heat coming off that GWOF is huge...but get back away from it, like the other end of the house, its probably cooler than if you weren't running it, due to "make up air" being pulled in. And then after the fire dies down, the amount of heat being pulled up the chimney (and cold make up air being pulled in then too) is huge! I have a 1940 brick cape, it also had no insulation in the walls, minimal insulation in the attic, and old Pella insulated wood frame windows. So far I have insulated the walls...that was disappointing...I lost all the radiant heat from the sun warming the bricks up...did help with AC usage, but that was never that bad anyways. The new windows were a wash...they look better, and low maintenance, but since they have low E glass, again, lost my radiant heating. Now where I think there is going to be a huge difference is in the attic...I was up there working last weekend...some serious heat being lost there...wish I had done this sooner. The only issue may be that if things get too much more efficient, my Kuuma wood furnace might be "too big" all of a sudden...it already kinda is in milder weather (like most of last winter!)
Here's my thread on Terry Love Plumbing on what I did on the attic. I'm sure you'll find it super helpful. I was literally up in the attic and posting and chatting back and forth with Dana who is an absolute stud. Without his (and other people's) help I would have made a ton of mistakes. I was losing way more heat right through the roof than the chimney. I can guarantee that. On top of that when I opened up the ceiling in the upstairs bathroom I saw the blue sky......so that should tell you something as well. 1947 Cape Cod Attic Insulation Advice Needed
LordOfTheFlies You have another rack to fill! Enjoy your fireplace. I grew up with 2 in the house. Loved em. Have you cooked dogs/brats etc. while watching a ball game? We did growing up. Great fun. I was never a popcorn guy but it was fun cooking it over the fire. 40 cord is a pile! Full 128 cu ft cord's? Wow! If you keep the wood off the ground and free from falling tree debris you should not have to worry much about rot. Glad you are enjoying your setup and firewood management. Carry on.
And yes, I get that I won't be able to heat the other corner of the house. Based on the "closed" layout they used back in the 1947, I am doing my best to work with what I got......which is a very small budget (if you can even call it that) and strange times that we are living in (mild winters included!). Since I did the attic last summer what a huge difference it made in our usage and our electric bill. 20% lower on usage, not quite as much on the bill......but ConEd is ripping people off so what are you going to do...... Danke mein freund. 40 cords is a rough estimate as I stack them in round "holz hausen" piles. Yes, they are off the ground on 4 pallets each and yes I keep the wood I plan on burning this year covered with 9' x 11' tarps weighed down by splits and eye hooks. Here's two pics from standing at my front door. First to the right and then to the left. I have more stacks behind the house as well. 20 stacks, 8' diameter, 6' tall. A few of them as you can see 3 of them are partial stacks but the others are full size. The stack behind the first pic is red oak on the bottom and then freshly c/s/s black oak on top.
Oh yeah that's the mini rack. It's raining pretty hard at the moment so I will get to that when it lets up a bit.
We have roasted hot dogs over the fire and I've reheated pizza that my daughter made using the radiant heat. We haven't had TV service for at least 5 years now.....so no watching the ball game but my wife's favorite past time is to park her butt on the chair right in front of the fireplace and fall asleep.
