Sounds like your getting this wood burning all figured out. If you do upsize I'd bet you could sell the Survival stove easily. Maybe the FV or AS would be worth trading into? Food for thought!
Have you considered a smaller Blaze King like the Sirocco? The combination of the catalyst and thermostat can’t be beat for the most even heat while also delivering that heat over long periods of time with far less tending. Then again, it depends what you want. If you’d like to burn less wood than currently, you maybe should look in that direction. I love WS stoves, but recently a local to me forum member bought a used BK and installed a new catalyst and I must say I am very impressed with photos and burn times he shared using very little wood. I don’t like the looks of BK stoves at all, but I’m into spending less time, money, and fuel each winter and with that, right now anyone would be hard pressed to talk me into any other stove but a BK.
2023 check in- Greets friends. This winter has been on the warm side and my wood usage has really dipped. I can probably attribute this to a few things. First- I keep thinking back to the year I worked from home due to Covid and how much I burned, that for me was a high water mark and that's the usage that really stands out. Being back in the building I'm not feeding the stove as often so by sheer loading numbers those are down. Second- The wood I have is the driest I've ever burned, so I'd say I'm getting more bang for my buck on that front, and I'll also tie in this is my 4th year with the stove and I'd wager a guess that I'm also better at using it. Third- It has been a pretty mild winter punctuated by some notably warmer nights where I didn't stock the stove just before going to bed, so quite a few days, much like today where I just had 2 burns, usually 5 am and 6 pm. Something along those lines. So here we go, in just 2 days we're set to get temps that dip significantly, down to low single digits. A few projections had suggested below zero, but in recent days its climbed to just above 0. Knowing it's on its way and just feeling like doing it, I'll take some pictures and maybe document with some better numbers how this Survival operates in the cold. As always- feel free to comment, ask a question, make a suggestion- I'm all ears.
Glad you updated, and glad you're still happy with your stove! How's your new baby doing? I smiled when I read the part about it being your fourth yeah with the stove, and you being better at running it. I just looked at my pics, my first fire in the AS was on Jan 14th. I feel like I have learned a ton in 2.5 weeks, can't imagine what it will be like in a couple years. (Keep in mind this is my first stove and time burning). Knowing I can keep a fire in this that at least warms this room (and some of the house), and not have to depend/worry about using generator run electric or little propane heaters if the power goes out, is a great feeling! We are going to get chilled for a day/night or two coming up as well (but not as cold as you and most on here). Looking forward to running the stove in a bu it colder temps. Looking forward to hearing how you fare as well RGrant!
A 1000 sq.ft doesn't take much to heat.The King will or any size stove with a 4 cubic firebox like the king would kill that place.That's not a good test.
The move into the big freeze has begun. Temps dipped in my neck of the woods slightly. It was in the lower 20's the morning and won't be climbing much over 30 today. Last couple of weeks you could fairly reliably expect a day in the 50s during the week. We were supposed to get some big snow blast but that system moved more to the north and we barely got anything. So no snow on the ground, the stacks outside have been getting good sun and staying dry. I brought in what I'd estimate to be a 5 day supply of wood and when I get home today I'll top off the ring I store near the stove. It's been brought up a few times on this site that getting the wood up to room temperature helps it burn or start better. I'm kind of interested to know what contributes to that, but I've been following suit. There were enough coals left over from the night before that I was able to coax the fire back to life with a few scraps of paper and dried bark pieces I gathered up in the summer from when I was doing some splitting. I haven't used fat wood in years and every so often I'll use a super cedar to start a cold stove, but I like to use them sparingly unless I "need" one. The convenience a performance of them is pretty enticing to be honest. Got the fire to come back to life, filled in the chamber with a few odds and end pieces of wood and 3 compressed wood bricks, and by the time I was out of the shower, it was going full tilt and I engaged the catalyst. Poured some tea of the day into a Yeti and a Thermos, put lunch together, and then added another wood brick before backing down the air and heading to work. Temps inside were 62 when I left and upper 20's on the car dash. Its forecast to stay in the 30's today and tonight and move lower tomorrow throughout the day despite anticipated sunshine. Unless things change we're headed for single digits by the time dinner rolls around tomorrow and lower than that through the night with windchill firmly in the negative teens temps. I bring all this up in writing to explain my thoughts behind wanting to head into the chill with a "full head of steam" going at home and keep the house temps up rather than just let the stove idle through the night. Will it work out? Who knows. Stay tuned if you'd like.
For the most part I get a good fill inside the burn chamber but I haven't been loading it to the gills. Lately it's been all over the shop with a loading strategy, usually a base of cord wood with 2-4 of the compressed wood bricks on top. Sometimes a little heavier on the wood, sometimes a little heavier on the bricks. If there's a rhyme or reason I haven't noticed it and can't articulate it well enough to make any difference. The picture of the wood bricks under the stairs in the basement might be a bit deceptive but there is probably more than a thousand pounds of them there. Still more than half of a full pallet. This will in no doubt get through the end of the winter / spring and survive a number of summer burns in the outdoor pit / camping trips. Every so often the thought of getting 2 full tons for a season creeps into thought, but so far sticking with just the 1 is more than enough for a year. That ring has in normal conditions will last between 4 and 6 days. Too many variables for me to think of to give a comprehensive list, but you can probably think of a few. Type of wood / length of the splits / using more or less bricks with a re-load / home all day or in and out of the house. So on and so on. Upper 60's in the house, 34 outside and a slow decrease through the night. Friday evening we'll get the biggest dip in temps.
Love the pics! Congrats on becoming an oldtimer. Wait, you might be a bit young for that title but you know what I mean. The beauty of hanging around here is you don't need to learn everything through the school of hard knocks.
Thanks. Much appreciated. If you zoom in the the wood stacked picture you can see a bit of my wife and our newborn in the corner of the photo.
I will try and respond to this part of statement, "It's been brought up a few times on this site that getting the wood up to room temperature helps it burn or start better. I'm kind of interested to know what contributes to that, but I've been following suit". My thoughts ands two cents are because bringing in cold/froze wood splits bring the stove temps down and take longer to bring up to temp for cat ignition. I have found that in the I.S, that we bring in wood after getting it loaded and up to temp. Then the next load is to room temp prior to dumping COLD splits into fire box, Takes less time to bring it to temp in my experience. So there ya have it , No change need from the 2 cents as it is just my way to perform the task! No right or wrong, Each has their way. I also like to put a couple of pieces along the sides and keep the lit spits a short distance and they are coal after the fire burns down to red embers. Easy start for next lite-up. Best to all stay warm and enjoy the season,
February 4, 2023 Update. Yesterday as advertised was cold and windy. It was 19 when I got out of work and the temps dropped through the night. Where I am in south western CT they were calling for temps to drop to just above zero, but it was -5 here at the time of my writing this at 7:30 am. Temps in the house were 70 by the thermostat, a bit warmer in the stove room and just a bit cooler in the bedrooms. Woke up this morning to temps in the house at 58 but truth be told that's warmer than they were every day I'd come downstairs with my old stove, so despite the cold outside, this was in truth warmer. Another notable difference is that I had a full bed of coals and it got back up to operating temp in just about the time it took to brew my coffee. Well I guess that's all. No crazy updates. I still like it, it still works for us and I still wish the window in the door was bigger. Will I ever get a bigger stove? ehhh.... I don't know. I'd consider the AS at some point down the road or if the Fireview wound up getting made as a hybrid I'd probably drive up the first weekend I could to pick it up.
I did see that, and appreciate it very much. That's what makes a pic like that, when the work you put into it makes the house a home.
My house last night and then this morning. -12'F last night on the Ma/NH border. -16 at 7:22AM. The morning coffee was great! I made sure my forced hot water pipes were being used every few hours and kept the doors open to expose the pipes below the kitchen and bathroom pipes. Also did that with the folding doors in front of the washer dryer in the basement/"family room" where the Absolute Steel was doing a great job. With 60mph winds outside they said the windchill was down in the -40' range. A family down the street had a pretty nasty chimney fire. They buy a grapple load and cut and split as they need to. An old smoke dragon and lots of creosote is now costing them lots of money.
Last night? Whew, those are no conditions to be fighting a fire. Water in those temps. And then fire in that wind.
