Wood Stove Safety Question

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Gpsfool

Gpsfool

Member
Oct 17, 2014
20
Western New York
Folks,

Been lurking for a bit - new to woodstove ownership. I bought a Enviro Boston stove and got it installed mid September. Double wall pipe inside and triple wall stainless ICC pipe outside. All clearances met and passed the required town inspection by the building inspector.

I've got some properly seasoned wood, had a few fires and all is well - this thing puts out some heat!

Anyways - these things are meant to burn for some time - is it wise to leave the stove unattended - to go to sleep or leave the house for shopping, while the stove is in operation?

Growing up as a kid when around fire I was taught to never leave fires unattended - but that was not around a woodstove, rather fireplaces.

So... What's the consensus? I plan to heavily supplement my heat this winter with this thing but I'll not be able to babysit it. What do people do?

Regards,
Gpsfool.
 
Been heating this house solely with a wood stove for 29 years now. I sleep upstairs with it keeping me from freezing to death every night of the winter. And leave it burning when I go to the grocery store too. We used to race home from work to feed it before the house got cold. Now that I am retired I don't have to do that so much.

But you will sleep on the couch a few nights until you trust it. Everybody does.
 
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BTW: Ya got a great stove there.
 
Just have to take some time and pay attention to how the stove burns with different size loads and different kinds of wood if you have different woods. The biggest factor I think is learning how to set the primary air control. Leave it too far open with a big load of really dry wood and you can quickly get an over fire and get some stove damage. On the other hand you don't want to be going off for hours with the primary too low and end up with a smoldering stove fore hours. Once you are getting consistent burns that run like you expected them to, then you'll be able to leave with a hot fire burning and expect to be safe.
 
An easy answer to the question would be to search this site for the term "24/7".
 
Take it slow at the beginning and learn how your stove works with different loads. I would do an early evening reload maybe around 7 pm that you have plenty of time to adjust the air and see how the burn goes. When you then go to bed maybe around 10 pm the peak of the fire should be long over and there won't be any bad surprises while you are sleeping. You will still get several hours of heat from it. After a few weeks, you will probably be comfortable enough to operate the stove the same as most do here. Rake coals forward, stuff the firebox with wood, adjust the air over the next 20 min or so. Then watch the fire and temps for maybe another half hour and then go to bed while the stove keeps the house warm all night.
 
Practice on the weekends and days off until you are comfortable with the stove and it's operation. Keep the chimney clean by sweeping it once every cord until you are comfortable with how it's burning and the quality of the wood supply. Most of the regulars here burn 24/7 when it gets cold outside. Having a safe, well-installed stove and flue system contributes toward peace of mind.
 
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Yes . . . it all starts with a safe installation . . . followed up by developing good practices of learning how to run the stove and know what it will do . . . and cap that off by maintaining it (which should include regular inspections of the chimney.)
 
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