I leave mine everyday churning out heat while I'm gone. I'm sure it depends on many factors as to one being comfortable or not to do so. I've read stories of run away stoves or not shutting one down soon enough and it going nuclear than I can remember. My stove is just plain boring load bring up to temp close bypass set knob come back 15-24 hours later.
I am 70 years old and there are not many years I can remember not having heat from a wood stove/furnace. As a kid we had one of those old pot belly cast iron bottom and top with thin sheet metal between, far from air tight and we never worried about a roaring fire on a cold winters night. Mom had her cast iron cook stove in the kitchen used every day summer and winter to cook meals till in the mid 60's. Had a pantry stove she called it in the room dad built so she could do the laundry inside and hang it to dry also. We are now 31 years in this house that had a old southern aire wood furnace when we bough the place. I replaced it in 2014 after deciding I didn't want to weld up the crack in the fire box because I was tired of the ash removal. Any way I used fill the wood burner before I left for work at 3:30PM, wife would fill it again before she went to bed at 11:00 PM when I was working. Today I have a England 28 3500 wood furnace and I load it up full about 8:00am and don't worry about it during the day then load it up again about 10pm. Al
This /\ If you heat your home, more often than not it's with a fire of some sort. I've been heating exclusively with wood for 10 years. I have no qualms about loading it up and leaving for the day. We moved to our present location in 2011 and it has an oil furnace. I filled the tank but installed a FPI before we were even moved in. Put a second wood stove in as a back up. That tank is still 7/8 full. After doing it for a couple seasons you'll feel more comfortable with loading up your stove and leaving for the day.
Yes indeed. And we also like liking pictures as you have no doubt already figured out!!!! No big deal if you like a post about liking pictures even if there are no pictures in said post... As we say, "pics, or it never happened!!"
Its been 7-8 years since we have used anything but firewood for heat unless we are gone for the week/weekend. If you do your install properly, become a student of your stove, and then do your maintenance, then you will be fine as long as you are burning truly dry wood. As mentioned earlier, there are quite a few options that are available now to monitor remotely. I have a Maverick ET732 dual probe BBQ thermometer hooked to my wood funace to monitor flue and duct temps when I'm at home. It is wireless good for 300' or so. I think there are some that will communicate to your cell phone now too. I also know of someone who set up a camera as was shown earlier, he checks on the wood furnace while at work via the camera and the Nest t-stat, then he can also control damper open/closed via the Nest too....also can text the wife to "go load more wood in" (she's not good at figuring out when to reload on her own) EDIT: I just looked, Maverick makes the ET736 BBQ thermometer now, it is dual probe WIFI enabled...looked like about $150
All good thoughts. This is my first full year of burning. It was a long first night when I burned overnight. The more times I was able to be home all day and watch how the stove worked, the more I trust it. I typically do a restart early morning, watch it for a few minutes, make coffee, start my truck, etc, and then check once more before leaving. Once it's rolling, charred wood and still a good flame with the temp that works for my specific stove, I don't give it another thought. I find more often now, that when I'm home, I treat it similar unless I have time/reason to sit and enjoy the fire. Happy Burnin! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’ve got a boiler in the basement so my situation is slightly different, but I still have no issues lighting a fire in the morning before I leave on those cold days when it’s needed. Honestly, I get more worried about leaving a fire burning while I sleep then when I’m away. The house burning down when everybody is gone is way better then it happening while we’re asleep. I’m a light sleeper, but that’s no guarantee I’ll wake up if the worst happened. But that’s just something I worry about, I have fires going through the night fairly often as well.
I'm with ya there brother!!! I always worried about my wood stove, so I always took better care of it, (regular cleanings, maintenance, ash disposal) than most ppl I know. even if you did everything perfect, some types of wood spark, pop, and shoot sparks out, like mulberry for example. I was always so worried, I never wanted to leave the house, and if I did would hurry home. some ppl just don't worry as much as you and I, and GOOD FOR THEM!!!! I'm happy for them. but for me the owb was the best decision I ever made for burning wood. just the peace of mind I have now, is well worth the investment. but hey, owb's are not for everyone. not trying to start a debate about owbs or anything. 1 guy I know personally, burned his house down after cleaning his stove and putting the bucket of ashes on his porch for the night. which he had done many times in the past. he figured during the night the wind picked up and blew some sparks/coals onto his dog's bed that was over 10 ft away, and that's what lit the house on fire. he and his family made it out safe, including the dog. granted it was his own fault, he could have been more cautious. he was tired after a long day of work. another guy I know personally was sitting next to his stove, and the glass shattered and went all over the floor. he wasn't loading the stove, wasn't walking by it. he was just sitting on his couch watching tv, and pop, the glass shattered.
You've forgot to know your stove, and yourself. If you are uncomfortable with leaving it on then just don't do it. No sense in worrying all day if it's alright or not. BTW! Welcome to the forum.
I totally agree, if you don't feel good about leaving a fire, don't do it. Over time once you learn how your stove behaves, you'll probably end up putting more in. First it'll be 2 pieces, then three, and then finally you'll be wishing the stove held more! Just make as big a dent in the heating bill as you can when you're around.
This is where the outdoor wood furnace shines. Load at 6:30 am, leave for work. Check at 4:30 pm after work, throw in one or two pieces, done for the night. Repeat ad nauseam until end of season. The few days last week that we were in the 70's, I got over a 24 hour burn. This is for heat and domestic hot water.
Dito Jon_E, My wife and I got tired of the mess in the house from a fireplace insert. I love to hoard wood so we got an outdoor furnace (HOSS 400HE) Now we can burn 24/7 in the winter with no mess in the house. The wife says she likes the mild heat from the water fed heat exchanger much better than the burned air from the gas and electric. Best move I made concerning utilities.
Really. And I have it down. Better off selling forewood? Where's that coming from? Very uncalled for if you ask me. And when in the hell did I insult you for expressing your opinion? You haven't the first clue of how long I've been properly opperating a wood stove and what my knowledge level is. And your assumptions are wrong again. I don't have fire inside my home with my furnace.
Everyone has a different setup. Everyone has different objectives. Everyone has a different comfort level. Best we can do is share our experiences and learn from one another without judgement.
Personally I have never understood why anyone would install a wood stove and then be afraid to run it even if they are gone or go to sleep. It is no more dangerous than an oil burning furnace so long as you know what you are doing and do things right. And why would things be different with the stove when you are gone vs when you are there? For us, our wood stove is our only heat as we have no back-up furnace. But what is the difference if there is fire in a furnace or fire in a wood stove. If I thought it was that dangerous, I simply would not burn wood. Why would you make the investment of installing a stove and then be afraid of it? That seems a little bit like buying a car but afraid to drive it on the road because there are so many accidents. Better to get the stove and learn how to properly run it and then enjoy it rather than being afraid of it.
When I started burning full time it was quite like having a newborn in the house for the first time. Sleep very light and for short lengths of time. Now that the system has run for a few years I have no hesitations at all. If you are reluctant but want to get through it, maybe a web camera would be a good investment? Might be able to figure a way to leave a laptop open with the camera active and see the image of the stove that way?
Well put Sav, In the cold of winter I load ours to the gills whether we are home or not. With that said I guess you have to do what you feel comfortable with.
