A (soon to be) warm thanks!

This is my first post here and I wanted to thank you guys for all the great information that is available here. I have learned so much, and I will be sure to stay close to learn more.

Basic story: I own a 4100sq ft oil-heated, open floor plan colonial in SE CT. We have a nice big fireplace and based on the research I did here I came to the conclusion that it made no sense to burn wood in it until there was an insert. Based on all the excellent reviews on this site, I decided to go with an Enviro 1700. My wife selected the Boston for its styling. We opted to not have it enameled to hasten delivery. Here is a picture for those that may not be familiar with it:



Here is my fireplace, as it sits today. The insert comes on Saturday (we cannot wait).



I thought about trying to install it myself, then I thought about climbing to my roof and dropping it down the chimney, and vertigo set in:



Here is my first cord of self cut, split and stacked wood. I am not sure if I can burn it this year, so I will defer to next year. I think the light colored wood making up the majority of the stack is Birch, based on tips from this site (grey smooth bark, smells like wintergreen). The tree has been dead for the two years we have owned the house and is pretty dry. The darker wood is Oak from some large limbs we lost during Hurricane Irene last year. I bucked it up then, I split it last month. I just need to cover the top with some tarp/poly.




I ordered 4 cords of "seasoned" hardwood earlier today ($180 per cord which they will stack at my house). I called 5-6 people before I took these guys because of info I learned here. A couple of people were not able to identify the species, some said that they don't actually measure the cords on site, that they just "load up the truck with about a cord," and a couple of others told me that the "seasoned" hardwood was mostly oak that was cut down in spring. When I threatened to refuse delivery based on my moisture meter they were very uncomfortable. The last guy, said he was unconcerned and I was more than welcome to test it and he guaranteed it would be less than 22% and he was reasonably certain it would be below 20%! Since he is willing to drive the wood to my house and let me test it, I am pretty sure he is legit (but I will still test the wood).

I already have my eyes on a couple of good scrounges and have the green light to cut in my friends backyard. I have a few trees in my own yard that need to come down too. Thanks to you guys I know to cut em down this winter, whereas I would have waited until Summer.

We are very excited indeed.

4,100 sq ft? That's a lot of house to heat.

Congrats and good luck!

Thankfully the house is newish (2002) and very well insulated. We only burned about 800 gallons of oil last year (for the year). I am hoping to get it down to 400 this year.

Thanks for the kind words.

Excellent....you've done your homework...good luck and welcome!

Beautiful insert, your wife chose the style very well. Your upholstered chair may have to be pushed further away from the hearth for a couple of reasons. Those sitting there may get to hot (what a problem to have) and of course, combustion.

Great point. I was planning on moving both the couch (off white on the right) and the chair (brown on the left) once it is installed. I am planning on building a stand for about a weeks worth of wood over there on the right side. I am going to build a little cabinet underneath the stand to store kindling.

I am looking for good suggestions on ash cans. I have NO intention of keeping any ash in the house, I am going to put a large metal can outside for ash. I was thinking about something small I could use in the house to transport ash.

That will look fantastic in your fireplace!

You obviously understand the "pics or it didn't happen" thing we have here.
We'll patiently await the install, first fire, and assorted other pics.
Very nice LARGE house, and hearth. House must be well insulated.
With only 3 posts, you deserve a "Welcome to the Hearth".

I wish you a cold winter

Welcome and nice work.

Welcome from a retired bubblehead. That is a nice looking insert, and I am sure it will help with the oil bills.

Is the radon system for your well water or the air quality? Did you install it after the purchase? If so, do you have a recommendation for an installer?

Thanks,

Mike

I bought the house 2 years ago from a corporate "Relo" company, some Pfizer scientist got transferred so Pfizer bought his house and sold it to me. The company purchased "Radon Insurance" from U.S. Inspect. Basically we take 3 month air sample after buying the house, if the sample is higher than EPA limits they install a remediation system free of charge. Our levels were 5.5piCu/ml, the acceptable level was 4.0, so we got the system installed free. The retest after install showed levels at .5piCu/ml.

The company that did the install was very professional and very quick (less than an afternoon), but I have no idea what it cost. I'll find out who the contractor was and let you know if you are interested.

Thanks, I would appreciate that.

At the risk of being OT we have a radon system for our well water. We also nearly purchased a house that had radon in air (ain't CT grand?) but the sellers would NOT negotiate on paying for it and that was just too much.

A radon in air system, around here (Litchfield County) is about 1200 installed. Our radon in water system was, IIRC, around $3500.

Awesome...good homework and glad you shared.

Greetings from over the pond !
What a beautiful looking house, will be even better with a woodburner
Enjoy.

Billy.

Thanks for the continued kind words, and I am counting the days! (2 more!).

CT_Mike: in order to comply with the rules about contractors and stuff, I want to make sure that I announce that I am not in anyway affiliated with these guys and my only interaction/experience with them was my installation. They did a heck of a job for me.

The company is A&R Environmental out of Andover, CT. You can reach them at arenvironmental@hotmail.com: (860) 742-6767. They gave me a 5 year guarantee on Radon levels remaining below 4.0piCu/ml and a 5 year guarantee on the fan at the center of the system (only mechanical/electrical feature). I was not billed, so I do not know the price on the system, but $1200 is what my neighbor paid for a similar system.

Shes a bute Clark, Nice looking insert and I love the house too.

Welcome and enjoy your stove. There something about a nice warm stove that makes winter far more bearable, regardless of the cost factor.

On another note, $180 per cord seasoned is fabulous for that area of New England. But if they stack it too, ..nah, I just can't believe it. That's a lot of work. I've never seen any wood dealer do anything more than raise the bed and dump it.

Ain't saying it can't happen, but I'd be very surprised at that price.

They said they would stack and provide the pallets if required. Ill throw in a picture of the stacking job they did when I post my stove pics.

Welcome to the forums! I just went through your post, congrats on the insert, you will definitely enjoy what your in store for shortly. Saving money and enjoying an entirely different kind of heat...My addition to this post is your incredible hit on 'seasoned' firewood. The only reason I bring it up is there are so many stories on here about folks getting "taken" with unseasoned wood, wood that has a high moisture content and sometimes short on volume. Since they are stacking your delivery you should know exactly what your getting, I'd just keep and eye out for safe, burnable wood.

Cool! You get the wood for $180 a cord, and stacked.. then that's a mega deal. No one offers that around my parts.

You are going to enjoying the insert for sure!

You're goona love wood heating, especially when the Oil man visits and it takes him longer to hook up, than to top you off. Is your plan to process your own supply ???....

Welcome. Nice looking insert there. My wife is wanting to put an insert in. I will have to check this one out.