Full & Part-time Burning

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Stax

Minister of Fire
Dec 22, 2010
941
Southeastern PA
I will be installing my Lopi Declaration sometime in September for the upcoming winter season. Right now I have 1.5 cords of truly seasoned wood stacked. Just last week, I scored a cord of Ash that I'm currently splitting and stacking. According to some on this site, I will be able to use it this season if split and stacked asap. That would put me at 2.5 cords. I don't anticipate burning 24/7 during the winter months (I have 2 jobs and my wife works full-time). For those who burn full-time and work and or have other obligations, how is this done successfully? For those of you who burn part-time, how much wood do you go through during the winter months?
 
It is pretty easy to burn full time and work. I load the stove 30 minutes before I leave for work and cut the air back to a slow burn right before I leave. When I come home or my wife gets home 9 - 10 hours later we load it back up. Some days the house is cooler than others, but it is always comfortably warm when we get home.

That Lopi has a pretty good sized firebox so you shouldn't have a problem keeping it going while at work if thats what you want.
 
Were you nervous the first time you lit a fire and then left for work?
 
I'm mostly by myself and work a grat deal. I burn 4 cords, mostly Ash. The Ash will be fine.

I remove Ash and get a nice fire up when I get home from work in the evening. Load again at 9-10PM. Ussualy have enough to re-start at 05:30. Repeat until Spring ; ).

ATB,
Mike
 
Running a stove while at work is no different from having the stove running while you are sleeping at night. As for worry, there is no need to worry.....if you do things right. When we go to bed or if we are leaving the house, the stove gets checked.....and double checked. It is just something we have made a habit over the years and it has worked out well for us.

Ash indeed can be burned next winter if it is split and stacked now but I'd still stack it loosely in single rows out where it gets good wind.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Running a stove while at work is no different from having the stove running while you are sleeping at night. As for worry, there is no need to worry.....if you do things right. When we go to bed or if we are leaving the house, the stove gets checked.....and double checked. It is just something we have made a habit over the years and it has worked out well for us.

Ash indeed can be burned next winter if it is split and stacked now but I'd still stack it loosely in single rows out where it gets good wind.
Come on, Dennis, there is a little difference there.... :)

Ed
 
What's the difference Ed? You fill the stove, set the draft and go to bed or go to work.
 
If something bad was going to happen, I'd rather be at work than sleeping...
 
Rcrozier said:
Were you nervous the first time you lit a fire and then left for work?

I was more nervous for the first overnight burn that when I left it to go to work the first time, but yes is does worry you a little bit at first. Dennis and others will tell you that if it is installed correctly, all clearances are met or exceeded, and you have good fuel there is no reason to be nervous and they are absolutely right, but there is human nature to consider. Spend some time getting to know your stove and how to run it properly before you leave it unattended, but no question about it, that is what they are made for.
 
Let's face it...it's NOT natural to light a fire in the middle of a home we (many of us at least) still owe several dozen mortgage payments on.
 
Many, many times I lay down in bed or get in the car to leave and wonder if I closed everything up. So I go double check. So far, it's always been good, but I still do it. I know the one time I doubt myself but don't check will be that one time.
 
I think that's something that most of us have to go through--after making sure that we don't have fires in our house, then we have to start one. It goes against conditioning--like an ironworker taking up bungee-jumping.

You'll learn to trust the stove by using it and getting to know it. Give it and yourself time.

I'm a single parent, full-time job, always on the run, and put in a stove for supplemental heat. I found myself unexpectedly going over to full-time heating with the stove in the middle of winter when my boiler failed. Fortunately, by that point I'd already gone through most of the learning curve that is looming dauntingly for you right now. The stove did great.

Hang in there, and be prepared for changes along the way. This forum is a great place to come and get your questions answered. As for `how much wood', there are too many factors to answer off the cuff: where you live, how big your house is, how warm you want it, how well-insulated it is, etc.
 
I work 6 days a week @ 2 jobs, my better half works full time. We have been trouble-free burning 24/7 for 10 years now. normal year, I use 5-6 cord but this year it was closer to 7. The house is always comfortable and the process is smooth. Usually start up in October and shut down the end of April but this year was the exception, with burns going right up to the latter part of May. Go for it........................................
 
Thanks for your replies so far. Snowleopard, excellent response. Thank you for the confidence. I'm sure that's what we'll do after a season or too. I just wanna get my feet wet (I mean warm!) this season.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
What's the difference Ed? You fill the stove, set the draft and go to bed or go to work.
You're right, Dennis. But, it's still different. :cheese:

You know me, I worry about the pine, I worry about the oak, I worry about the @#)&*#$!!! elm, I worry about the...well, you get it. I've already started wondering about that first night going to sleep with a fire going....it'll be a gradual acceptance for me, maybe a few uneasy nights, but it'll work out. Someone mentioned it not being natural to build a fire in the middle of your house but actually it seems very natural...firing up oil from a thousand gallon tank, heating up tungsten filaments to hundreds/thousands of degrees by sending electrons through it, etc., really doesn't seem natural. But a wood fire in the dwelling....seems like it's been a natural phenomenon since the beginning of time. I feel like I'll adapt to it ok. ;)

Of course, with the F3CB I'll *really* have to get it down to an art for those over-night burns. :)

Ed
 
Another line of defence that everyone should have anyway is working CO and smoke alarms. Especially important, I think, when building a fire in your home.
 
Great point KTLM. Do you guys run your blowers at night and or when you're not home?
 
Rcrozier said:
Great point KTLM. Do you guys run your blowers at night and or when you're not home?

I don't know about anyone else, but my blower always runs on a low/medium speed whether I'm there to enjoy the heat or not. Inserts in general I think are pretty worthless heaters without the blower running.
 
Rcrozier said:
I will be installing my Lopi Declaration sometime in September for the upcoming winter season. Right now I have 1.5 cords of truly seasoned wood stacked. Just last week, I scored a cord of Ash that I'm currently splitting and stacking. According to some on this site, I will be able to use it this season if split and stacked asap. That would put me at 2.5 cords. I don't anticipate burning 24/7 during the winter months (I have 2 jobs and my wife works full-time). For those who burn full-time and work and or have other obligations, how is this done successfully? For those of you who burn part-time, how much wood do you go through during the winter months?

I guess I would consider myself a full time wood burner although I do have the oil boiler thermostat set to kick on the boiler if the temps dip below 60 degrees . . . which means while it rarely comes on it is there to provide back up heat if my wife and I are away from the house on a long weekend, vacation or on a long day . . . sometimes it kicks on when it's a sub-zero night in middle of the winter and I'm too lazy to get out of bed in time to reload the fire.

In my own case burning wood works very well since my wife works the nightshift two (now with a promotion three) nights each week . . . on her days she is working I load the stove in the morning and before she goes to bed for the day she reloads the stove and then reloads it again when she wakes up . . . and then I take over in the evening. On her days off she takes over when I head to work to keep the temps up . . . I find that I can get 4-6 hours of steady heat out of the stove . . . and there are coals 6-8 hours . . .
 
spacecowboyIV said:
Rcrozier said:
Were you nervous the first time you lit a fire and then left for work?

I was more nervous for the first overnight burn that when I left it to go to work the first time, but yes is does worry you a little bit at first. Dennis and others will tell you that if it is installed correctly, all clearances are met or exceeded, and you have good fuel there is no reason to be nervous and they are absolutely right, but there is human nature to consider. Spend some time getting to know your stove and how to run it properly before you leave it unattended, but no question about it, that is what they are made for.

You are absolutely correct cowboy and that is another reason why so many of us recommend starting to burn on weekends when you can be there. Nothing builds confidence better than actually doing.....and succeeding.
 
Rcrozier said:
Were you nervous the first time you lit a fire and then left for work?

Anyone that isn't a little bit nervous would worry me more than the person who just fires up the stove for the first time and takes off without a care in the world . . . it's a good thing to be a little worried at first as it helps you develop safe habits and burning techniques.
 
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