Around 10 months ago we began our journey installing our first woodstove in our house. I had been doing a lot of research on this website as well as a few others and had decided on the Woodstock Progress Hybrid. We ordered the woodstove, the chimney system and started installing the slate hearth. We were so excited....it was hard to wait for Woodstock to manufacture OUR woodstove. The chimney system arrived first and we spent a day installing it and then finally the woodstove came. We picked it up at the truck hub in Asheville, NC at 7:00 PM in the evening, drove an 1 1/2 home, and then spent another couple of hours getting it setup in the house. The project was finally coming together!
One thing that I forgot to add was that during this time we were cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood....I'm sure if you're reading this you know the drill. In total we cut, stacked and split around 9 cords. The difficult thing was that our firewood did not have time to season before winter arrived. Thankfully a neighbor was watching our woodstove adventure and knew that we did not have seasoned wood. He was more than happy to lend us a few cords of wood that had been seasoning in his barn for the past six years
.
As everyone knows, winter arrived with a fury. Our house had never been so warm! It was wonderful to have a warm house, a happy wife, and no propane bills! In total we burned about 3 1/2 cords.
The pictures below are some from our journey....the stove, the woodpile, cleaning out the creosote today with a Sooteater (1/2 gallon of soot), and the clean chimney. My next project is to build a woodshed at some point over the summer.
For you that are interested in the cost, it was around $4,500 since we did much of the work ourselves. I figured I saved almost $2,000 in propane this year and I should recoup all of my expenses early in year #3.
To all that helped me from this forum, I want to say THANK YOU! I truly would not have been this far along if it had not been for many of you sharing with me your knowledge and experience.
One thing that I forgot to add was that during this time we were cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood, cutting wood, splitting wood, stacking wood....I'm sure if you're reading this you know the drill. In total we cut, stacked and split around 9 cords. The difficult thing was that our firewood did not have time to season before winter arrived. Thankfully a neighbor was watching our woodstove adventure and knew that we did not have seasoned wood. He was more than happy to lend us a few cords of wood that had been seasoning in his barn for the past six years
.As everyone knows, winter arrived with a fury. Our house had never been so warm! It was wonderful to have a warm house, a happy wife, and no propane bills! In total we burned about 3 1/2 cords.
The pictures below are some from our journey....the stove, the woodpile, cleaning out the creosote today with a Sooteater (1/2 gallon of soot), and the clean chimney. My next project is to build a woodshed at some point over the summer.
For you that are interested in the cost, it was around $4,500 since we did much of the work ourselves. I figured I saved almost $2,000 in propane this year and I should recoup all of my expenses early in year #3.
To all that helped me from this forum, I want to say THANK YOU! I truly would not have been this far along if it had not been for many of you sharing with me your knowledge and experience
. 
