Were you nervous during your first overnight burn?

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P

Pdog

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Oct 15, 2010
65
Central NJ
I have yet to do an overnight burn in my Jotul 550 while sleeping in the bedroom. I generally stay up and time my reload so I go to sleep when I am basically down to a hot bed. Some cold nights here in NJ the next few days (-4 tonight)

When Sandy came thru last year, we had 4 overnight burns, but I slept on the couch in the family room to maintain to keep and eye on it (but the insert kept the house toasty). Loaded her up before I left for work to keep the family warm, then reloaded when I returned.

Anyway, was anyone nervous the first time leaving an unattended fire burning while you slept in your bedroom? We have smoke detectors, and I am sure leaving your house with a fire going would feel even worse.
 
Never an issue here, esp. with the 30. Mrs. Blue was nervous when we had the dragon, but the new stove solved that.
 
So many years ago I can't remember. But I probably was for a few nights.
 
Yes. I was. My husband grew up with his home being heated by wood stove 24/7 and that was a non EPA stove in the basement, so he wasn't to concerned The first few nights I didn't sleep very well, now, I am better. Remember, it is a big old metal box. For it to really cause a fire it would have to be left with the door open, or melt down some how in some major malfunction. My husband loads it up and then stays up for about an hour until the temp regulates to a place he likes it (Usually around 500 or so). I hope that helps.
 
Pdog said:
Loaded her up before I left for work to keep the family warm, then reloaded when I returned.
Click to expand...


I was, but then I realized that if I left it burning when I was at work, it didn't matter if it burned while I was sleeping. Same thing ;)

Load that puppy over night, and go to bed !!
 
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Yep definitely had some sleepless nights. Still watching the new stove like a hawk. Like to make sure the temp is stable before dozing off to sleep
 
No...it's weird but the gas stove we had first bothered me more. I guess I got used to seeing flames with that stove. Also my grandparents had a fireplace we'd burn in regularly including overnight.
 
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Yes. I agree gas stoves on all night would make me nervous, Wood seems to be more controllable.
 
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If you knew what the temperature in the oil burner combustion chamber is you would be up all night every night.
 
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http://www.newburyfd.org/responding_to_oil_burner_emergen.htm

"The temperature of an oil burner's combustion chamber can be as high as 2,600F. If a burner has been operating for some time and ignition fails, and if fuel is still delivered to the hot combustion chamber, it may be vaporized by the existing high heat. The vaporized fuel oil becomes entrained in the smoke, turning it a pearly white and giving it an oily smell. This vaporized fuel fills the combustion chamber, the flue, and the chimney. If the flue is intact and if the combustion chamber door is closed, this flammable vapor vents harmlessly out of the chimney. If the flue piping has been blown down by a puff back or is disconnected, or if the draft in the flue is reversed, the vapor can fill the burner room or the entire basement. Once the fuel oil has been vaporized, all that is needed to trigger a devastating explosion is for the vapor to encounter an ignition source. The ignition source can be provided by the burner cycling into an ignition sequence or the presence of an open flame, sparks, or embers in the basement. This explosion could be accompanied by a large flame front that fills the basement and leaps out of the basement windows and other openings. The pressure from the explosion could cause structural damage to the building. Being in the basement during a white ghost is like being in a gas-filled room when a gas leak ignites and results in a combustion explosion."
 
< is suddenly glad she doesn't have an oil burner and a bit more nervous about checking on the neighbors house for them (because they do-along with 2 big tanks in the basement)
 
BrotherBart said:
http://www.newburyfd.org/responding_to_oil_burner_emergen.htm

"The temperature of an oil burner's combustion chamber can be as high as 2,600F. If a burner has been operating for some time and ignition fails, and if fuel is still delivered to the hot combustion chamber, it may be vaporized by the existing high heat. The vaporized fuel oil becomes entrained in the smoke, turning it a pearly white and giving it an oily smell. This vaporized fuel fills the combustion chamber, the flue, and the chimney. If the flue is intact and if the combustion chamber door is closed, this flammable vapor vents harmlessly out of the chimney. If the flue piping has been blown down by a puff back or is disconnected, or if the draft in the flue is reversed, the vapor can fill the burner room or the entire basement. Once the fuel oil has been vaporized, all that is needed to trigger a devastating explosion is for the vapor to encounter an ignition source. The ignition source can be provided by the burner cycling into an ignition sequence or the presence of an open flame, sparks, or embers in the basement. This explosion could be accompanied by a large flame front that fills the basement and leaps out of the basement windows and other openings. The pressure from the explosion could cause structural damage to the building. Being in the basement during a white ghost is like being in a gas-filled room when a gas leak ignites and results in a combustion explosion."
Click to expand...


Yowza!
 
Why I say here at least once a year that I have never heard of a woodpile exploding.
 
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eclecticcottage said:
< is suddenly glad she doesn't have an oil burner and a bit more nervous about checking on the neighbors house for them (because they do-along with 2 big tanks in the basement)
Click to expand...

Don't let that article get you all paranoid about oil heat. Atlantic Canadian homes have used oil heat for many years and it's rare to hear of an issue other than a minor puffback on a furnace that wasn't properly maintained. As for those tanks in the basement, not a big deal and is a common practice. Furnace oil is hard to ignite as a straight liquid. Drop a match into a puddle of furnace oil and a puddle of gasoline and tell me which one exploded. A good example are the older pot burner heaters that vaporize light-weight heating oil to produce heat. You usually lit them by tossing an ignited wad of Kleenex into the pot where it acted as a wick to get combustion going and the vaporizing action started once the combustion chamber got up to temp. Dropping a lit match into the pot usually ended up with a need to try again. What you never did was try to re-ignite a hot burner. It would explode due to fumes. Let it get cold and it was safe to light.

Common sense comes into play with all types heating systems and in my case I'm not comfortable with propane as an alternative to heating oil for my basement furnace. Same thing again - propane will ignite more easily than oil and you hear of more gas leaks causing explosions and fires compared to furnace oil.
 
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My GF had a stove before I did. It was all normal to her but when I was staying at her place I wouldn't let her have the stove going if we were going out and my dog was staying in her house. I was sure it was going to burn to the ground with my dog in it.

Took a few weeks before I was okay with letting it burn without us there. I took the dog with me the first few times

Put my stove in this fall, did the full install myself because I've see the work the "pros" do. Still took a couple weeks to be comfortable with it running unattended.

Now I'm happy to load it up and go to bed or hop in the truck and leave. Just be smart, know how your stove is going to run and you'll be fine. I really like the oil burner reference, so true. Confidence in yourself, confidence in your stove, all is good.
 
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I have 2 kids. I burn at night. I just stick around for 20-40 minutes after reloading to make sure all is well. I sleep sound. BUT my first nights (4 years ago) I think I looked at the stove 2-3 times during the night. Burning wood was completely new to me. Took some time getting used to it.

Oil is hotter but I don't know many people who have had chimney fires with oil furnaces...........it seems 99% of the houses that burn down due to chimney fires are stove related. Now obviously the user had bad habits (wood was too wet, improper chimney maintenance, etc). The facts are simply stats.

Andrew
 
I received a call from the alarm system of the house I was a caretaker of through high school and into college about 5am at my dorm room on March 11, 2002. The boss was out of town up until that Sunday and I had been up to the house Sat where of other things, I loaded the wood stove to warm things up in preparation for him coming home.

Long story short, I made the hour long drive from college to there in about 35 mins, thinking that the house was burning down because of me....... Not that I installed the wood stove, but I cleaned the chimney and I cut/split/stacked the wood, ran the stove a lot of the time, etc. I thought for sure I burned the house down :( As a kid, I adored that place, did a ton of work in it, on the property, was given free access to it and the keys to the 3 Jaguars, '67 pontiac GTO, and new Chevy Truck in the garage, etc, etc, I felt like I was responsible for the world,,,, it was an opportunity not many teens get to have placed in their lap.

Anywho, after the fire company left we were able to get in what was left of the house and it was obvious to us that the wood stove didn't burn things down. The fire marshal ruled a fault with the oil boiler (the boss kicked it on when he got home as he didn't feel like loading the wood stove).

Everyone got out safe, but it scared me to death.

I said I'd make this short, but I didn't,,, in closing, that fear I felt then has never left me and yet through good practice, the willingness to continue to learn, and always double checking maintenance items, I sleep soundly when my wood stove is going.

pen
 
Jean-Claude said:
Don't let that article get you all paranoid about oil heat. Atlantic Canadian homes have used oil heat for many years and it's rare to hear of an issue other than a minor puffback on a furnace that wasn't properly maintained. As for those tanks in the basement, not a big deal and is a common practice. Furnace oil is hard to ignite as a straight liquid. Drop a match into a puddle of furnace oil and a puddle of gasoline and tell me which one exploded. A good example are the older pot burner heaters that vaporize light-weight heating oil to produce heat. You usually lit them by tossing an ignited wad of Kleenex into the pot where it acted as a wick to get combustion going and the vaporizing action started once the combustion chamber got up to temp. Dropping a lit match into the pot usually ended up with a need to try again. What you never did was try to re-ignite a hot burner. It would explode due to fumes. Let it get cold and it was safe to light.

Common sense comes into play with all types heating systems and in my case I'm not comfortable with propane as an alternative to heating oil for my basement furnace. Same thing again - propane will ignite more easily than oil and you hear of more gas leaks causing explosions and fires compared to furnace oil.
Click to expand...

Not really paranoid, but yikes. Some folks blew up their house with an LP leak about a year ago near here, didn't stop us from hooking up our tanks and little blue flame (WITH the CORRECT regulators, which they did NOT do from my understanding-their big tank ran out-company wouldn't come refill that day so dad hooked up a 100 pounder, we figure that he didn't use a dual stage regulator and instead thought the inline-SINGLE STAGE-regulator from the lp co was all that was needed w/o realizing there was another one at the tank. Sadly one of their kids lost her life, and the house was leveled). HOWEVER that is good info just in case, so we can cut and run if we go over there and find white smoke! Never heated with oil so I'm completely unfamiliar with it.
 
I have been sleeping in houses heated with wood stoves all my life, so I have never really been overly nervous, except for after we had a chimney fire. As long as the chimney is clean and the fire is controlled, I get my ZZZ's.
 
Yes, absolutely. First time I did it was sleeping in a loft above the stove.

I don't think I slept for more than an hour. I was sure either the fire would get us, or CO would kill us all in our sleep.
 
I probably was way back in the day. These days last thing I do on a cold night before I go to bed is load up the stove....on really, really cold nights I will even reload in the early hours of the morning.
 
Was a little nervous the first time but this cat stove is so controllable I have never seen a run away. I can have super hot coals to the point it is igniting the wood as I reload it and as soon as I turn the air down it dies down.
 
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