What did you learn from "this season" of burning? Newbie Awards

ml said:

There really isnt anyone;,,, "like those WOOD GUYS" I feel I have learned the most valuable of all LESSONS this year!!

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Amazing story. You have some wonderful friends which says a lot about you too. Hope leg is all healed up and like new. :coolsmile:

Ain`t it so! Seems to be healing well, Thanks! I`ll tell the story someday when i got pictures. Them old Oak trees can be quite Honary!

First year burning.
Burning wood is fun.
Dry wood burns better than wet wood.
Blisters from touching a hot stove really hurts for days.
Dancing flames are better than what is on the TV most days.
Need more wood next year.
Chainsaw and log splitter are my bestest friends.

after 6-7 years of burning, there are still things to learn.

1. No matter how easy it is to reach over for the gloves, I will still stick my bare hands into the stove.
2. I finally dropped my obsession with cleaning the ash out every day. I let it stay and compact and the result was great coals. And a much smaller ash pile outside.
3. 40 mph winds at 20 degrees make it much harder to keep a house warm than 0 and no wind.
4. Why keep the house at 72 when 80 degrees in the dead of winter is really quite nice and not much more effort.

I learned that a VC Vigilant wasnt what I thought it would be. I guess more than the stove letting me down I had it on some kind of pedestal in my mind that it would be some kind of home heating institution that would burn longer hotter and use less fuel than my old fisher insert. I had read the manual cover to cover and had some kind of long flamepath technology that was designed a decade or so before I was born built up to be equal to the newest technology in solid fuel combustion. Once again it only takes the tiniest prick of th smallest pin to burst the most magnificent baloon. So after I realized the VC wasnt all I had built it up to be. I realized the crappy stoneage turd pile Fisher was not such a blunder of a stove in the first place. So I reinstalled it. This time I installed a direct connect pipe from the opening in the top of the stove into the clay tile liner of my chimney, sealed between the round pipe in the square hole with fiberglass insulation stuffed and packed tight about 8" in depth all the way around the pipe. I didnt realize how goood I had it in the first place. I have since began a long and arduous journey of research and work to improve the energy efficiency of my home. The first effort is going to be replacing all my stoneage junk windows with these revolutionary new energy efficient windows that may quite possibly eliminate my heating need altogether. Then im gonna add some insulation to my attic and seal around this and that and some more over here...... and....................replace these.......................install a....................... build this myself............................. and then........................................before you know it................no more energy bill.....................................................!



Guys I love the forum and the site I hope to be as much help to some of you as you have been to me this past burning season. Warm weather is welcome at my house but I hate to let the fire go out :down:

First year burner, so I feel the learning curve is steep. Some things I learned:

1) The online forums are great sources of information and some people spend way too much time on them......
2) The dealer doesn't always know or do the best install.
3) Larger PEX lines are more better!
4) Not all pellets are the same. Ditto for corn. Keep your fuel dry.
5) A 1300F firebox can burn you. Even through welding gloves.
6) Gravity boxes can be made into artwork, and if you post pictures you may become a forum hero.
7) An outdoor boiler can have just enough buttons and lights on it to obsess over.
8) The install can always be better. Just how well does it need to work?
9) eBay has lots of heat exchangers, pumps, zone valves, fittings, oh my!!
10) A super-clean firebox, no smoke, and warm wife.... priceless!

burned in the 70s first year with EPA insert.

1 Why isnt this thing burning hotter ? answer wood not seasoned!
2 This electric Ryobi log splitter is better than I thought!
3 Evern in NYC you can find all the free wood you need