Affraid To Leave The House?

I was paranoid of leaving the house to go to work, or going to bed with the stove going. But I was determined to beat this fear because I didn’t want to use my propane furnace; I wanted to make a real attempt at burning 24/7. I feel really comfortable with my stove and the good burning techniques and advice that I got from this site helped me tremendously over the years, and I can honestly say, I have not turned on my Furness yet nor do I plan too.

I’ve read on this site people calling there phone number while at work, and if the answering machine picks up, they knew there house was still standing. I took this one step further and setup a web cam that I can access from anywhere even on my cell phone. It has the ability to pan and tilt and has audio, so I can see and hear my entire first floor of my house including the stove anytime I wanted. For me the web cam made a huge difference in feeling comfortable, it was nice to be able to see and hear what was going on at anytime when I was not home to attend to the stove.

And guess what the stove does when I’m not at home?........ The same thing when I’m at home!.

firefighterjake said:

There is only one word for this . . . WOW!

Well, that and HOLY CRAPOLA!

And, YOU ARE ONE LUCKY GUY.

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Jake, I'm sure you've seen just about everything in your line of work, so if you say "Holy Crapola", I guess I was very lucky indeed. My two sons slept in the room directly above that fire plume for almost all of those 13 years. It still gives me the willies when I think about it.

When the house was being overrun by 20 firefighters on a quiet Sunday evening, I thought it was a bit overkill. After they found the source of the flame, I was instantly awakened to the "why" of all the fuss. I gained a new found respect for the guys who put their life on the line to save others, and who leave no stone unturned when investigating a fire.

It's guys like you that keep guys like me alive. Thanks.

Oh, another great thing about the FD. They took my discharged fire extinguisher and returned it to my doorstep the next day - filled, new seal.... free of charge.

Battenkiller said:

firefighterjake said:

There is only one word for this . . . WOW!

Well, that and HOLY CRAPOLA!

And, YOU ARE ONE LUCKY GUY.

Click to expand...

Jake, I'm sure you've seen just about everything in your line of work, so if you say "Holy Crapola", I guess I was very lucky indeed. My two sons slept in the room directly above that fire plume for almost all of those 13 years. It still gives me the willies when I think about it.

When the house was being overrun by 20 firefighters on a quiet Sunday evening, I thought it was a bit overkill. After they found the source of the flame, I was instantly awakened to the "why" of all the fuss. I gained a new found respect for the guys who put their life on the line to save others, and who leave no stone unturned when investigating a fire.

It's guys like you that keep guys like me alive. Thanks.

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Aw shucks . . . you're making me blush.

However, in all truth, while we appreciate the compliments, the truth is -- whether paid or volunteer -- all firefighters are just there to do a job and do it well. We're just like anybody else -- a carpenter, a tow truck driver, commerical fisherman, mine worker, the postal worker or the guy working in the office -- about the only thing that is different is that there is an element of perceived danger . . . fact is, all of those other jobs can be just as risky (and in fact I can tell you that here in Maine more fishermen have died this year on the job than firefighters), since most days we're fortunate and the calls are "routine". I mean to say, yes, the work can be risky, but a lot of other jobs have risks too and we're no more special or deserving of respect than anyone else.

And a few other things . . .

Yes . . . I would consider you to be one very lucky guy.

Again, thanks for the compliments towards me and my brother and sister firefighters . . . but the truth is . . . it is folks like you who become educated and learn from mistakes and successes that keep guys like you alive . . . we're just the "Back up" team.

1st year woodburner, old VC Defiant II (1980) with recycled stuff for fuel... I am adamant about monitoring the stove within the first ~30-45min (had some surprises, both overfiring and inability to reach full temps before) but after that it cruises perfectly on its own. My fires don't last terribly long before it turns to charcoal, but what can ya expect from an old smoke dragon.

Greg123 said:

I’ve read on this site people calling there phone number while at work, and if the answering machine picks up, they knew there house was still standing.

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OMG!

So I'm not the only one. And here I was afraid to admit to such things.

I did the very same thing for the first time last week. I got a call from my daughter saying she had to go to an emergency eye doctor appointment for an infection in her eye. She was extremely light sensitive and couldn't open the eye and was nervous about driving with the baby in the car with poor depth perception. Well, as any grandpa can tell you, that's all I had to hear. I threw several big splits on the fire, went upstairs for a quick shower, filled the travel mug with coffee, then ran down to check the stove and shut the damper. Everything looked fine, so I hopped in the car and took off.

After the doctor visit was over, I got to talking about the new stove. I was telling her that I hadn't quite figured 'er out yet, and how it made me nervous to run out like I did without a small "grace period" of double and triple checking. I was sure that I shut the damper, but the more I talked, the less sure I became. I tried to visualize the actual act, but I couldn't summon up a vision of me actually pulling the lever down and hearing that distinctive "clunk". Then I remembered how the week before I was getting ready to drive away and went back to check and found I had left it open! Now I was convinced that the place was engulfed in flames and my poor little English Setter was getting roasted inside. I could visualize my entire workshop (uninsurable on my renter's policy) rapidly turning into $30,000 worth of bubbling plastic tool housings and warped cast iron, a lifetime collection of exotic wood rapidly turning into the world's most expensive charcoal.

Next thing I know, my hand is reaching for my jacket pocket to place a call home to check if the answering machine is still working.


Greg, could you give more specifics about what is needed to set up the web cam thing? Hell, I could even use it to check stove temps from the living room instead of running up and down the stairs to make sure it wasn't getting out of control.


BK

Greg123 said:

I’ve read on this site people calling there phone number while at work, and if the answering machine picks up, they knew there house was still standing.

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I admit it, I have done this before myself. Not anymore though, because once I thought about it awhile, I decided that by the time the answering machine quit answering, it would be too late to do anything about it anyway.

I do carry my little police scanner with me all over the place. When a page goes out for the fire dept. that covers my area, my heart jumps to my throat for just a second until I hear the address and it's not mine.

Battenkiller – I went with a web cam from Cisco Model WVC210. They have a cheaper model WVC54GCA that is stationary which means you cannot pan and tilt. I choose the WVC210 because I wanted the ability to do the pan and tilt option. I bought mine from Newegg with free shipping both models are currently on sale. There is other great web cams out there I just prefer the Linksys Cisco products.

Farley straight forward in setting it up, both models have wireless option which is nice and if you have a wireless network setup in your house, you can place the web cam anywhere you want as long as you have an electrical plug near by. There is plenty of help online to get it up and running, you do need some basic network knowledge (Port forwarding ect.) But again plenty of help on line. It does Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) video which is viewable on cell phones which is real nice if you’re not near a computer.

If you don’t have a static IP address, (Most don’t) you can easily setup and account with a Dynamic DNS service such as TZO.com or Freedns.com. This will give you your own website for your camera. The camera has it’s own web interface (Works like a Linksys Router interface) that you can enter your DNS information from TZO or Freedns the camera will take care of the rest, every time your IP changes on your home PC from your ISP it automatically sends the new IP address information to TZO or Freedns so you will never lose your connection.

If I can give one peace of advice it would be make sure the Web Camera you choose has its own web interface. With its own interface you don’t need to have your PC on to have it work. The camera is self contained.