Indeed. It also takes longer to dry in the north. Different areas also demand different strategies. For example, when I go out east I am constantly reminded how much wetter the climate is along with greater humidity. Naturally that will demand more time. Of course those in many parts of the west and SW are blessed with both heat and low humidity. In addition, they usually have more wind which is a blessing for drying wood but that has also been one factor keeping me from moving west.
After getting on the 3 year plan with wood, I noticed @ every sweep I would get about 1/2 cup of dust from my 6" stainless double wall. Couple years of doing that and I switched to sweeping every other year and I get just a wee bit more. Probably not even a full cup each time. Dry wood and hot fires are keys to success.
My Lord, so I hear you have a trick fire grate or something or some other kind of set-up with an open fireplace?? I just have a regular old grate from Menards.
It's not a "trick" grate. It's a vertical grate instead of your traditional horizontal one. It feeds the logs by gravity and you build an upside down fire. www.gratewalloffire.com. Check it out. The key is to get both the grate and the reflective fireback. You will not regret it. You can see some pics here where I talk about how I start the fire. For the record no affiliation with them. I'm just really happy with my purchase. How I start a fire
