Today it's August 7th. This past week, summer has finally arrived here in the in the NE. Though we've had some nice days sprinkled in here and there, it finally is starting to feel like summer.
Though it's just now starting to feel like summer, I'm already getting anxious to fire up the stove. I don't know if it's the allure of heating with wood, or the view of the fire, or the down to your bones warmth that it gives, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Maybe it's the wood!
I installed my stove last winter. The install was complete and the stove was fired up just before the new year. Being my first year, I didn't have any wood so I had to buy it. I thought I asked all the right questions, and settled on a guy that had "High quality, all hardwood, well seasoned" wood. I didn't know any better, but I started to learn VERY quickly. First off, the splits were way too big, and were still very much wet. As such, I spent the winter carrying my wood from outside, to the basement where I would have to re-split it. Then I would have to bring the wood upstairs, and stack it all around and on top of the stove to get it dry enough to burn. I still had to battle with the stove to get it to burn right. But when I did get the stove full of mostly dry wood WOW that sucker would throw some heat!
Shortly after the battle started, I vowed I would NEVER put up with that crap again. Besides paying $300 for a slightly light cord (that was going rate in late Dec.) I ended up with crap. I bought a new saw as my little Husky wouldn't be quite enough to do what I was going to ask of it. I then bought a 27ton splitter, and got to work.
To date, I have just about 5 cords of wood, cut, split, stacked and even with all the rain we've had drying surprisingly well. Last year from the end of Dec, until the end of March I went through just under a cord of wood, burning pretty much 24/7. A couple of weekends ago, I saw the price from burning crap wood when I cleaned my chimney, and stove pipe. That will NOT happen this year.
I still can't put my finger on one single thing that is getting me excited for the heating season. It seems that it's a combination of everything together, and my personal mission to have a nice, warm house, that costs me $0 to heat...
Bring on the cold
Though it's just now starting to feel like summer, I'm already getting anxious to fire up the stove. I don't know if it's the allure of heating with wood, or the view of the fire, or the down to your bones warmth that it gives, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Maybe it's the wood!
I installed my stove last winter. The install was complete and the stove was fired up just before the new year. Being my first year, I didn't have any wood so I had to buy it. I thought I asked all the right questions, and settled on a guy that had "High quality, all hardwood, well seasoned" wood. I didn't know any better, but I started to learn VERY quickly. First off, the splits were way too big, and were still very much wet. As such, I spent the winter carrying my wood from outside, to the basement where I would have to re-split it. Then I would have to bring the wood upstairs, and stack it all around and on top of the stove to get it dry enough to burn. I still had to battle with the stove to get it to burn right. But when I did get the stove full of mostly dry wood WOW that sucker would throw some heat!
Shortly after the battle started, I vowed I would NEVER put up with that crap again. Besides paying $300 for a slightly light cord (that was going rate in late Dec.) I ended up with crap. I bought a new saw as my little Husky wouldn't be quite enough to do what I was going to ask of it. I then bought a 27ton splitter, and got to work.
To date, I have just about 5 cords of wood, cut, split, stacked and even with all the rain we've had drying surprisingly well. Last year from the end of Dec, until the end of March I went through just under a cord of wood, burning pretty much 24/7. A couple of weekends ago, I saw the price from burning crap wood when I cleaned my chimney, and stove pipe. That will NOT happen this year.
I still can't put my finger on one single thing that is getting me excited for the heating season. It seems that it's a combination of everything together, and my personal mission to have a nice, warm house, that costs me $0 to heat...
Bring on the cold
