Southern Burners?

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RandyG

Member
Dec 22, 2010
122
Central Fla
I am installing a woodstove and wondering how many southern woodburners are on this forum, what stove you have, type of wood you burn and how often you get to fire up. I see alot of nice folks up north on here but I'm starting to think us southern burners are few and far between. Feeling lonely....thanks.
 
Great to see another central Florida wood burner!
We're located in Hernando county and just installed a Jotul F100 at the end of last year - so far we're loving it! (I wish I would have put one in sooner)
The idea was not to be able to heat our entire house, but to create a "cozy" area and take the edge off (I just hate the lukewarm forced air from the heat pumps).
I can't really do an all night burn, so the heat pumps will come on in the middle of the night - that being said, last night was in the mid 30's and the stove actually kept the house at about 69 degrees as long as I was up at least.
We're currently burning a very old remnant of a "standing dead" live oak that was perfectly seasoned in our pasture - a couple splits of that will burn for hours.
I have also been cutting and splitting another oak from a neighbor that should be ready in a year or 2. I hope to get about 2 years ahead on the wood supply.
I will say that I am definitely a "newbie" to wood burning...but hearth.com has made me fell like an expert!!
 
Ditto here Live oak, I've had a fireplace for yrs but new to the wood stove thing, I'm realizing on this forum that it is an entirely different animal but looking forward to using mine. I purchased mine because I have been a fan of wood stoves for yrs, especially Woodstock stoves and wanted an alternative to electric heat. I'm like you in the fact that I can't stand the forced air heat, and neither can my son, he has allergies and he goes bonkers if he knows the heat is on. I purchased my stove mid December but still have not got it installed, building the hearth myself has taken alot longer than I anticipated plus add the holidays in there. And now it's looking like I might not get to use it this season as there is a warming trend coming next week, I'm disappointed about that but looking forward to next season. I'm just now splitting up a maple tree a family member gave me and they are going to take down two oaks they said I could have also. I have a little oak wood that is well seasoned I could use right now though. We're located in Manatee County, thanks for responding, I totally love this forum, instant message me sometime, would love to chat, thanks.
 
I'm in S.C., so it's a little colder for a little longer, but nothing like those fellows up north!

I have a Dutchwest stove. We're moving, and I'm going to get something different in the new house.

When we had that snow a while back we were stuck at home for about a week and I heated 100% with wood. It worked out a lot better than I thought. Normally we just build a fire at night after I get home, and the back of the house never warms up, but for that week when we kept the fire going it never got so cold, so it never needed to "warm up" if you get what I'm saying.

Our house is a poor design for wood heat -- long series of rooms in a circle.

If I build a big fire, and then close down the air supply, there will be some embers after 8 hours, but the stove is cool enough to touch.
 
Central NC here and I replaced an old dragon that ate HUGE amounts of wood with a used Buck 91. Its been in about 3 weeks now and I have only had to relight it once. I'm getting the hang of it now and am very pleased. First fires here are usually around mid Oct and I get serious about mid Nov. I expect by the end of March I will be back to occasional fires but for now it doesn't go out.

Good luck and enjoy
 
ATL, GA here. Using an H2100 and have been burning 24/7 since Nov. Been burning poplar in the shoulder season and oak in between. Usually burn til the end of March. Actually, burn alot like WoodpileOCD.
 
Central Texas and burning a Lopi Endeavor. We have been in a 24/7 burn for a good while. It is our only source of heat, we have propane heat but I refuse to light it since installing the stove. We burn oak and mesquite mainly with a little pecan on occasion. This may not be the great white north but it damn sure feels like it lately.
 
NC here.

Less than a month old Drolet Sahara, burning every day. Electric got too expensive in this old house. I didnt have a good wood supply to start so Im burning everything I can get my hands on. Mostly Pallet. Have a mixed ..green..wood pile outside and use the pallet to get the wood going.
 
Birmingham. I have a Jotul F400, and at the old house a Dutch West cat wood heater. I'm burning every day, mostly, since mid-November. I don't care what our brethren up north say about "real' cold.. humidity is what puts the chill in the bones. Give me 10 degrees and dry over 30 degrees and damp anytime.
 
More of us everyday! 5 miles south of the Georgia line and burning away....I've used less than 50 gal of propane for the entire season and have burned about 1.5 cords of water oak & a little red oak. My stove info is shown below, burn times depend on how cold it is outside...typical for easy reload is 3-4 hours. I could have used a Fireview this year as the stove has been used nearly every night since mid November. Water oak is the consensus "best" wood around here but red oak, hickory, cherry and pecan are seen a lot. I have never cut or split live oak but am told it is very hard when cutting and stringy to split. I bet it burns great if you can process it.....I'm going to cut some green this year just to see for myself. If that Fireview turns out to be too much stove for Manatee county give me a ring....we can work something out ;-P
 
Hey chillygator, I had someone give me some liveoak about 8 yrs ago and been burning it off since then in my fireplace, there is still chunks of it that I have never split, I started trying to split some when I got it and gave up. It will either make a man out of you or kill you. I just got some maple and getting some water oak soon, when I get all my wood together I am going to rent a splitter and get all of it, including the old live oak. I've looked at it too long, I even think I've heard it laughing at me now and then. I appreciate your offer on the Fireview but I think I will keep it, I hope its not too much for my house, I have waited a long time to get it. I'm thinking I'll be ok, house is about 1800sqft of living, I'll open the windows if I have to, Lol!! Looked up your stove and looks like a nice one, like the large viewing window, can't wait to get mine up and running! :)
 
Oh...my wood? Whatever I find on the curb in my neighborhood that will combust! Mostly, chestnut, red, river and white oak, plus a whole lot of hybrid oak you're never really certain about. I'll even take a hackberry if that is all there is. Hickory is rare, but you do find a pecan now and again. In my part of town a lot of the houses were constructed without chimney's.....guess in 1960's people thought wood burning was "old fashioned" , and on the way out. That means that a lot of homeowners see a downed tree as a liability. The arborists hearabouts usually will depend on the city to pick up what is left on the curb, although the city has a firm policy against that....but it is rarely enforced. One man gathers what another man spills.

My kindling is bamboo that I cut in a local creek bottom and used for trellis in my garden until it turned brittle. I bucked it to 20" and anytime I want to get a fire going fast I take a couple lengths of it and stomp on it on the concrete floor....you get matchsticks that will go up like nitre.

As for burn times, the Castine can't really hold a fire all night. I'm in bed by ten, and up by 6:00 this time of year. If I ever have to get up in the night I'll throw a few splits on, but that is rare. I just set the thermostat at around 64 degrees, and it kicks on in the early morning before we all roll out. I'll usually have a few embers and charcoal that I can push together and huff to life with my 1/2" copper blow pipe. I flattened out one end to increase the pressure. Works like a charm and I don't have to dip into my kindling stash.
 
We are in McCormick SC, right across the Savannah river from Augusta GA. We use nothing but a US Stove Magnolia. I have a hard time keeping the temps up in it. Nothing to do with wood or the stove, just heating 800sq ft with a 1200sq ft stove and the outside temps lately approaching the 50s and 60s with nightime temps in the upper 20s. I believe they said this morning, that next week will be upper 60s to lower 70s in the daytime. When I first installed our stove, it snowed a week later. I had to open the windows because it got to be 94 in the house. Its cool sitting on the couch, watching snow and smelling the fresh snowy air, coming in a window, while feeling the heat radiate off of the stove. The only time we use propane is when the carrier 16000W genny cycles every sunday for 10 mins.
 
Your temps right now are warmer than many summer days here. How the heck can you run a stove 24/7 when you have highs in the upper 50s?

tynman said:
ATL, GA here. Using an H2100 and have been burning 24/7 since Nov. Been burning poplar in the shoulder season and oak in between. Usually burn til the end of March. Actually, burn alot like WoodpileOCD.
 
I am quite a bit further North than you but still I am only in North MS so I am for sure southern. I have a new Fireview that I will be setting up this weekend. I burn mostly white, red, and water oak, hickory, and other mixed hardwood. I burn 24/7 as soon as it gets cold enough and continue into March.
 
NATE379 said:
Your temps right now are warmer than many summer days here. How the heck can you run a stove 24/7 when you have highs in the upper 50s?

Remember well my dad saying on many occassions "Close the door, do you think I'm paying to heat all of Brentwood"

Now I do on occasion. Too hot, open some windows and doors. Sweeeeeeettttt......
 
NATE379 said:
Your temps right now are warmer than many summer days here. How the heck can you run a stove 24/7 when you have highs in the upper 50s?

tynman said:
ATL, GA here. Using an H2100 and have been burning 24/7 since Nov. Been burning poplar in the shoulder season and oak in between. Usually burn til the end of March. Actually, burn alot like WoodpileOCD.

Actually, we've been in the 30s and 40s til today. Suppose to be in the low 60s for the next week. Sounds nice, but it's more work for me because I'll just be burning in the late evening/early mornings.
 
[quote author="NATE379" date="1297467386"]Your temps right now are warmer than many summer days here. How the heck can you run a stove 24/7 when you have highs in the upper 50s?

I know there's probably no hope of me being able to burn 24/7 down here, though it wouldn't bother me a bit, I might get a few days here and there where I can keep her going. The winter temps are just too up and down between night and day. During cold times I plan to only be able to have a fire in the evening and all night at best. Usually warms up pretty good during the day, even during cold times.
 
balsabones said:
We are in McCormick SC, right across the Savannah river from Augusta GA. We use nothing but a US Stove Magnolia. I have a hard time keeping the temps up in it. Nothing to do with wood or the stove, just heating 800sq ft with a 1200sq ft stove and the outside temps lately approaching the 50s and 60s with nightime temps in the upper 20s. I believe they said this morning, that next week will be upper 60s to lower 70s in the daytime. When I first installed our stove, it snowed a week later. I had to open the windows because it got to be 94 in the house. Its cool sitting on the couch, watching snow and smelling the fresh snowy air, coming in a window, while feeling the heat radiate off of the stove. The only time we use propane is when the carrier 16000W genny cycles every sunday for 10 mins.
Hey balsabones, I looked up your stove and it states 1600- 2400sqft of heating space. Wow, that's alot of stove for your living space, I can see where it could get a little warm in there, Lol!! :bug:
 
SW Virginia born and raised here but I've lived in Colorado for the past 12 years. Does that count?:)
 
I'm in Columbia, TN. I installed my Quarda-Fire 4100i just before Christmas and I have burned 24/7 since then except for a few days near 60. We are supposed to have highs in the 60's and lows in the 30's so I'll just burn at night. The insert is as big as I could fit in the fireplace but a little small for the coldest nights. The propane heat comes on a little overnight, but my usage is way down.

My wood so far is mostly a huge old hackberry that was hanging over the garage and driveway. I had it taken down in October 2009 - hackberriess drop sticky sap that turns everything near the tree black. It's a pain to wash off the cars. I bucked and split most of it last winter and spring and am continuing working on it. Even using hackberry I have no trouble getting overnight burns with it.
 
I am on the Cumberland Plateau near Fall Creek Falls State Park. I think our elevation is around 1,850 ft. As echoed by others, this is not the great white North, but we do get cold winters. We burn mainly morning and evening fires in the shoulder season (early October through November). Depending on the year, we probably start 24/7 burning around December. Weather can be funny here. Two nights ago the low was 8F. And later in the week we're supposed to hit 65F.

Being in the Appalachains, we have access to some great hardwoods: oak, hickory, maple, tulip poplar, etc. I burn mostly red oak on the hardwood side. On the soft side, I've had access to a ton of standing dead pine due to the massive pine bark beetle infestation. I use pine as my shoulder season and day time heating fuel as long as I have it available. Oak is reserved for January and February and overnight burns.

We're heating 1,800 sq. ft. (2 stories), and though the home is only about 10 years old, it is simply not nearly as tight as it could be, so I spend a lot of time battling cold that I probably shouldn't have to battle. Add to that the less than friendly for wood heating floor plan, and it does make it more challenging. However, I'd never go back to the electric heat pump only. That's cold, costly, and miserable.
 
Central North Carolina, near Siler City. Heating 2400 sf with a Hearthstone Heritage seems to work just right. From November all the way through April. I'm from Minnesota, so I do realize that this is not "Winter" with a capital W. But it gets cold, teens at night and highs in the 30s, 40s. Here we have four actual seasons that each last 3 months. A real spring lasting 3 months, can you imagine that? In Minnesota we went directly from winter to summer. Unless you call that one week in May where the snow melts "spring." ;-)

In a southern spring the glorious thing about a woodstove is having windows open and the stove going. You can hear the birds singing, feel a slight breeze and smell the flowers, and still be toasty warm. Because we have free wood, it's pure luxury. It's nice for "poor folk" to have a little luxury. (although how can I call myself poor when I have free wood, right?)
 
Eastern North Carolina: Stove came handy for last winter. I have Harman Magna Fire II. Only problem can't find coal in this area. I burned wood last winter and it worked good, but I prefer coal.
 
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