All true, again if you have the coaling problem try pellets on top of the coals too, the leave almost no ash and get those coals burning with lots of blue flames once theyre gone....
I'll speak up for oak here, since it's 90% of what I burn. I like it, especially red, becaue it's very plentiful near me and very easy to split, and since I have no hydraulics that's a plus for me. I also live in Virginia, a more moderate climate, but even last year when we had wind chill of -20 and below, red oak kept the house 72-74 just fine. As others have mentioned, it does coal up great. Now here's my problem, I haven't had enough locust or beech to compare it to. In my area it's mostly oak, maple, and softer woods like pine and poplar that go in my stove. So if I lived in a colder area and had access to more black locust, I'd probably think different.
I'll have to give that a shot since I hate coals and I hate having to put hot coals in the ash bucket.
So am I to understand that beech is a good firewood? Up there with hickory? I have beech around here but never bothered with it. Maybe I should give it a try.
Well, regardless of the type of wood that trips yer trigger the proof is in the pudding. Out side temps right now and falling to a whoopping -12° tonight with a 30° below zero wind chill. Upstairs temp from heating from the basement up. Basement temp were the stove is at the same time. Constant heat and the same thruout the whole hooch. All done without to much fussin and fettin about it. Just burn a little hotter a little more often. And the reason is...... I could and have slept in a snow bank in the worst of times but ........ Seems my wife and this doggie need some reliefe from the cold. Go figure?
Man youre going to get cold! We had that on Christmas day but without any wind. Christmas day is always cold as chit here. Do you start losing ground with house temps when you get much below 3f? I know I do. Thanks for sharing your pics. Pooch looks cozy in dads chair.
Dawg has that- "Whaa.. I was comfy, what do you want ?!" look. I've seen that look. If dawgs actually knew what it took to allow them to have that attitude......
Is oak one of them funny-lookin' trees with leaves all over it instead of needles? I think that's what they make furniture out of, right?
Beech is good wood. If you hand split it doesn't have the manners of Oak. Some pieces will fly apart, others that look straight will have a curly wave in them that is nasty. It doesn't stack as well as Oak. But, it burns well. Not a first choice, but not a bad wood.
My dog stayed by the stove all last night. Just cant wait for the south westerly winds tonight with 20 below wind chills. -33 wind chill right now.
Butcher-it looks like you are heating your house easier then I am. If could turn back time I would have never went with a EPA stove.
Well for the old timers here and on H---th it is well documented, in a nut shell lack of heat and old stove was more user friendly. You should not take advice from arrogant moderators and people who don't have a clue what they are talking about.
You know what? I kinda agree with you. Back in the 70's in the height of the energy crisis I worked for a small company here in Waterloo that built Woodland wood burning stoves. At that time it was a top of the line airtight stove. 3/8ths steel welded and a 7/16ths top. The only air control was the screw type knobs on the doors. These stoves were HEAVY! Once you got the fire going good you could close the air off to them on the door/doors depending on the model you had and they would absolutely cook you out of the house. I still have 1 out back on the scrap pile that would still be usable after all this time. It is similar to this stolen interweb pic. http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/woodland-woodstove-200-bodfish-americanlisted_29009431.jpg They were not U.L listed or were they EPA approved but that wasn't an issue back then. In fact, when I worked in the paint room we heated the room with a larger model using only coal as a fuel soarse with no problems. Nowadaz that wouldn't fly I am sure cuz of fumes from paint, thinner and there was the fact that the door gaskets were 100% asbestos.
Sounds a lot like my Fisher Papa Bear, which I never want to get rid of. It can run you out of the house for sure, but it does take more wood than the newer stoves.
I have a Summit and took it out and now have a Drolet. My old stove was a fair amount bigger so not a completely fair comparison but the difference in heat is huge, I am getting the Drolet to work better and I have a upgrade I plan on doing this summer.
