Then again those that only burn poplar, spruce, or pine would kill for ash. It all depends on what you've got.
Sorry about that. It might take me a while to get over to you to take the trash out. I'll bring my snowmobile and snowboard along with me.
"Mr. President,...that may not be entirely accurate..." (Independence Day) Going on 2 weeks of the Mulberry and Ash, I'm really not seeing a true benefit. Shoulder season, I could see it, but not now. Too chilly, I need heat, not coals.
oak does much better in my OWB than hackberry or cherry, that's for sure. But, if you want some heat, I got some hedge that will melt that stove of yours...
Had to chuckle with this. I agree with you sir. I heat from the downstairs and wouldnt do it any other way!
yes. basement install. it works pretty good till it gets really cold outside. once I get down to coals I get a STT of 300*. Thats not quite enough heat to keep the temp up on the main level. I have about 1/4 of the basement sectioned off and insulated and thats where the stove is. I use a good size fan to move air up the steps and the returns through the floor are open into this room. Its been in the 20's, teens and now single digits today. Furnace has kicked on probably 6-8 times throughout the day and evening for about 4-5 minutes each time. Only kicks on when the stove is in the coaling stage. Not bad considering this is my alternative heat source for when there is a power outage.
Could you imagine have a a FHC face off with the different woods? I know if I could stack my lodgepole up against other woods knowing what I know there would be no argument.... however Ive never burned oak so all I can do is surmise. Lodgepole is not my favorite wood but its close and will keep a house warm in the coldest climates and will not scare the wife or bylaw officer away with the three year plan since seasoning is not required for more than one year. Lol fun thread. Five pages,,,, folks must be passionate about oak. Anyone want to send me some
OK, you'd kill for bunch of shag, ironwood, or beech. They coal and throw the heat. Do you have green ash, vs the white ash? We've got white ash here, and its pretty nice for heat and holding a fire a while. It's just not like my gooder hardwoods. Burning a lot of red, and white pine, among with poplar, to go with some Birch and now red oak up at our cabin is completely different than the hardwoods I burn down at home, only 200 miles away from each place. So I get the pine you have to burn. Red pine is so much better than the white pine.
I have a walk out basement. so its easy to get the wood in there. The only other way to get the stove upstairs is to do a major install in the living room. I would have to hall my wood through the living room over wall to wall carpet. I prefer the mess be in the basement. I was planning on a bigger stove this year, but it didn't work out.
Oak schmoke. If you want heavy stuff, break out the heavy hitters. Beech is a peach Sugar maple is SWEET! Ironwood is Cousin Eddy Goooooo-oood! Shag will make you... Uh... shag?
Im with you although my downstairs is completely finished and we spend half our time there. I have a basement install as well. I have a fully finished basement which includes a rec room (stove room) office, bathroom, laundry room, office, spare room and daughters bedroom. I would never put my stove upstairs, would be to dang hot, would freeze downstairs. Heat rises,,,, my daughter complains that the downstairs is warmer in the winter then the summer. Im ok with the stove room being 26c/78f and upstairs being 22c/71f.
Over half of my wood to sometimes 3/4 of my supply is Oak. White & Red, it is very common here. To me, I find it funny with the whole Oak thread, cause it is so common I just never thought about it. But my 2 cents, It is very dense and heavy; more lbs. = more BTU's. The issue some have with coaling is not a problem with me, the coals get 8" to 10" deep, and keep the stove hot for 10 hours if we go out. I find Bitternut Hickory to burn just as hot and is very heavy also. Oak is just a wood, no mystical properties. Burn the wood you brought to the dance!
Grizzly Adam did this last March, a take off on the NCAA B-ball tourney, tons of fun, can't remember what won and can't find the thread. I burn from the basement too, and I like it that way, and mostly spruce, heats just fine just burn more of it, not much coaling issues to deal with.
All oak I get goes straight to the for sale stack by the road. The only way I'll even take it is if it's a paying job. No way do I have the space for storing wood that's 4 years away from the stove. It sells for 250 to 300 a cord here, and never lasts more than a week before it's sold. Dripping water from the ends, and people buy it like crack in the ghetto.
I suspect this thread has some impact due to geography and what species are around, coupled with how each persons stove operates. I have acres of beech, hickory and maple so for me Oak is a welcome friend but does not pick my head up. The few chunks of Ironwood I have, they seem to excite me more so. As far as burn times, I can make 4 large splits disappear in an hour or two or upwards of 8 depending on how I control the combustion air and draft. Part of the reason I am buying the instruments to monitor exhaust gas temps, and eventually use that to modulate the combustion air to maximize burn temps and times.
