New Guy takes the Leap

Congrats

Welcome to the club! Did the same thing a few years ago. Got rid of a water leak prone chase in the process.

Burn baby burn, Dirtsurgeon......welcome aboard.

BrotherBart said:

Wood supply is always a question. The Mojave is a big area. What ya gonna do for wood?

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cactus? %-P

Welcome Colin
You are on the right site to learn to burn. I sure learned allot here.
Good folks. All willing to share their knowledge.

Well you certainly chose wisely in your make and model.

If you can get Oak in the sand box for $250 per cord that certainly seems like a good way to go?

If Your only burning a few months per year Two cords should last you close to 4 years.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the stove choice! Normally I wouldn't be very active here this time of year but am in the process of rebuilding my hearth and next installing a new T-5.. This is my favorite place on the web with lots of good people..

Good Luck!

Ray

Welcome to the Temple of the Cat.


Accessories you may want to order to ship with the stove:

Rear heat shield
Extra thermometer
Pilgrim ash bucket.

Nah, that's necessary only when kneeling before the temple and loading it with wood offerings.

Dirtsurgeon said:

I figured starting the project early would give me plenty of time to figure out how to do my first remodel job. (and to start stockpiling wood)

Granted the stove season is much shorter here in the desert but we do have several months of 20 to 30 degree nights and we will use this as our only source of heat.

Burn cactus?.....too funny.

Actually there are mountain communities nearby with plenty of pine as well as Eucalyptus, and a variety of fruit woods. Oak is also available for around $250 a cord.

But first things first. A correct install and a nice looking hearth area. I will post pics tomorrow of what I'm up against and perhaps will get a few ideas from the pro's.

Thanks for nice welcome.

Colin

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Welcome to the forum Colin, Mr. Dirtsurgeon! Does this make you a dirty guy? :lol:

Congratulations on getting the new Fireview. You are going to love this stove. We've had ours for 4 heating seasons now and love it for many reasons. The biggest reason is the amount of heat you get from the wood. We burn only half as much wood as we used to and stay warmer too. It is a super clean burning stove and so long as you have good fuel it will perform excellently. We used to clean our chimney 3-4 times per season and we've cleaned our chimney only once since getting the fireview. Of course, then there are the very good looks of the stove.

We did not uncrate the stove until we had it in front of the hearth and then we removed the top lid, the firebox door and the firebrick to make it lighter. Removing these is very easy and it helps for moving the stove.

Next fall you will need to do a burn-in of the new stove so be sure to post asking how. We had great luck with 3 burn-in fires. Light, a bit more and then a bit more yet. I can explain later.


Now for the first things first. In my book the very first thing is to get the wood supply, ASAP. Wood, no matter what it is, needs time to dry. It simply will not burn good unless it has dried. If you buy your wood, do not expect it to be dry even if the supplier says it is. We've found that to be true well over 90% of the time. Most folks just do not understand the need for super dry wood.

We like to give everything a minimum of a year for drying and drying does not start until the wood has been cut to length, split and stacked out in the wind. I've always advised folks to have a 2-3 year wood supply on hand. That way you are assured of dry wood and if something happens that you can't put up wood for a time, you have a bit of a cushion.


Good luck to you and enjoy that new stove!

Welcome dirtsurgeon, you're going to love it here. I know I do.

My fireview is sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. I can tell you what an awesome looking stove it is, beautiful simply beautiful. Unlike backwoods, we couldn't wait to open it so it has been uncrated and unboxed often to be looked at and admired.



fv

Colin, don't be afraid to use the BS as I do not take it personally. :lol: I do a fair share of kidding on this forum so expect to receive some too.

If you get that oak now, I hope it is ready. Around here we won't burn oak until it has been split and stacked....for 3 years. Oak gives up its moisture very reluctantly. However, knowing your climate it very well might be possible to burn that next winter if you get it ASAP. I would make sure you split it into small splits and not big ones to hasten the drying. I'd also advise to stack it in single rows in a very windy and sunny spot. Stack it loosely and not over 4' high. Put something under the stacks, like landscape timbers or poles or pallets just to raise the wood off the ground. This gives you some air flow under the wood and keeps that bottom row dry rather than soaking up moisture from the ground. I also would not cover the wood. Leaving it uncovered helps with the evaporation of moisture. Around here, we cover only just before the snow flies and then cover the top only.

Good luck and we'll try to let your wife know what you are up to. As for my wife, there is now way! I would not trust her splitting and I do not like the way she stacks the wood either. But she does like to help in the woods when I'm cutting.

Backwoods Savage said:

If you get that oak now, I hope it is ready. Around here we won't burn oak until it has been split and stacked....for 3 years. Oak gives up its moisture very reluctantly. However, knowing your climate it very well might be possible to burn that next winter if you get it ASAP.

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In that part of the world, I'm pretty sure that oak will be dry in a year. Especially if we're talking about native species.

One word...Pinon Pine. Well, OK, two words. Should be available , I'd think. For a softwood, it beats anything I can usually get up here. Rick

Dirtsurgeon said:

Thanks Hiram, I was a little apprehensive about buying so quickly with only a week or so to research the stove.
The reviews were good, supposedly the off season price and free shipping ended yesterday, and the fact that that was the one that "momma" liked, sealed the deal.
Half a cord a year? Hope your right. With my burn time going from 30 minutes to 8hrs should cut down on my usage for sure. Plus the fact that the heat is going to stay in
house instead of fly out the chimney is a nice plus, lol.

Thanks Ray, I know I'll get a ton of good ideas on this site and even pick up on the lingo......such as T-5.
Really looking forward to this.

Colin

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Colin,

I also should say welcome.
Even if your research was quick, it was really good. ;-)

Maybe some owners will chime in on this but I believe with good dry hard woods the Fireview will get 12 hours average burn time and around 16hrs in shoulder season, but I could be wrong? Its happened before. lol Many variables!

Dennis (Backwoods Savage) lives about an hour North West of me, so for the last 4 years we have been able to compare wood consumption even though there are a ton of different variables. At around 3 full cords, He tends to use about 2 full cords less than the average wood burner in this region. The Fireview is very efficient and it seems like everyone that owns one on this forum really loves them. Then there is a Member Todd who is running two Woodstock stoves(he has great info/posts too). Before I purchased my Blaze King, the runner up was the Fireview.

Dennis has an A+ fuel supply, is an absolute wealth of knowledge and more time burning wood under his belt than most of the members on this forum have been alive. So try and read all of his posts. His advise about having at least 3 years worth of wood on hand is as solid as it gets. Because of Dennis, I now have around 6 years worth of wood (growing weekly), cut,stacked,split most of which is 3 years seasoned, and Colin what a difference dry wood makes.... :cheese:

Maybe get a mix of different wood, as pine will dry faster. Keep the species separated in single stacks but you can mix them when burning.



All the Moderator's and Members that have posted to your thread are also well educated/very knowledgeable on any number of topics, and I highly recommend reading posts from them as well.



You can spend a lot of time on these forums and everyday learn tons of new useful information. Its crazy good!

But like Brother Bart said this time of year its very slow.

Seriously Congrats and I look forward to reading your posts and seeing pictures.

Cheers,Hiram

T5 Information http://www.pacificenergy.net/alderlea/t5.php

welcome and good luck. Care to explain "Dirtsurgeon"? I'm guessing.... retired geologist? Or maybe... proctologist?