Hello and Thank You to all

[Hairy Cannonball]

I have been lurking here for quite a while now reading and learning. Last fall I installed a new PE Super insert, relined my flue with duraliner, acquired a yard full of a combination of several year old seasoned wood I am burning this year and freshly cut for years to come, and am enjoying a nice warm home this winter. I couldn't have done this without all the good information I learned here, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. So Hello and a big thanks to all!!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I have been lurking here for quite a while now reading and learning. Last fall I installed a new PE Super insert, relined my flue with duraliner, acquired a yard full of a combination of several year old seasoned wood I am burning this year and freshly cut for years to come, and am enjoying a nice warm home this winter. I couldn't have done this without all the good information I learned here, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. So Hello and a big thanks to all!!

Welcome to the PE fold, Brother.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have been lurking here for quite a while now reading and learning. Last fall I installed a new PE Super insert, relined my flue with duraliner, acquired a yard full of a combination of several year old seasoned wood I am burning this year and freshly cut for years to come, and am enjoying a nice warm home this winter. I couldn't have done this without all the good information I learned here, and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. So Hello and a big thanks to all!!

Hello Hairy Cannonball.

That part of your post that is in bold. I'm not so sure I understand what you mean and I do hope that it does not mean that you will be burning freshly cut wood! That is a definite no-no. Get for yourself at least a 2 year supply of cut, split and stacked wood and then keep a 2 year supply always and you will be a very happy camper.

Glad you are keeping warm with that insert.

 

[Hairy Cannonball]

Of course I won't be burning the freshly cut this year..it is for years in the future.."years to come"..after it seasons.. I will continue to gather wood now for future years.
Thanks for the welcome.

 

[SeaSky]

May I second 'Hairy Cannonball's' sentiments as well. For every one who asks a question or offers some advice here, there are hundreds who are peering in saying: "wow, I never knew that," or "so that's why properly seasoned wood is important," and so on. When I learned of this site, I set out to gleam all the experience that I could from those souls who bared their mistakes in the limelight--thank you. My background in burning was a hodgepodge of camp fire skills, a bunch of fireplaces, and an old VC my dad had...actually still has! And what I leaned using my first free standing stove some years ago was marginal at best.

So within a a few months of self directed study of searching various subject at Hearth, I was able to refine my technique to burning cleaner, hotter, and longer than I thought possible. But now that I am burning much more often than I used to...new questions have come up and I've returned again for additional suggestions. What I found is most stuff has been covered in one form or another so I encourage others to dig into those archives to sift out those golden nuggets. My only problem with this whole business is that I'm now (egads!) "lusting" after other stoves, be it a PE or a Joule...and yet my modest stove is plugging away just fine "doing the do" on my behalf, keeping me nice and warm. Now I fully understand the terrible dangers that lurk for the unaware on the internet--beware my friend! :lol:

 

[begreen]

Sure appreciate that you took the time to dig into the past threads and learn from them. A lot of folks want instant answers and are not so patient.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

May I second 'Hairy Cannonball's' sentiments as well. For every one who asks a question or offers some advice here, there are hundreds who are peering in saying: "wow, I never knew that," or "so that's why properly seasoned wood is important," and so on. When I learned of this site, I set out to gleam all the experience that I could from those souls who bared their mistakes in the limelight--thank you. My background in burning was a hodgepodge of camp fire skills, a bunch of fireplaces, and an old VC my dad had...actually still has! And what I leaned using my first free standing stove some years ago was marginal at best.

So within a a few months of self directed study of searching various subject at Hearth, I was able to refine my technique to burning cleaner, hotter, and longer than I thought possible. But now that I am burning much more often than I used to...new questions have come up and I've returned again for additional suggestions. What I found is most stuff has been covered in one form or another so I encourage others to dig into those archives to sift out those golden nuggets. My only problem with this whole business is that I'm now (egads!) "lusting" after other stoves, be it a PE or a Joule...and yet my modest stove is plugging away just fine "doing the do" on my behalf, keeping me nice and warm. Now I fully understand the terrible dangers that lurk for the unaware on the internet--beware my friend! :lol:

Good post!

What you probably no doubt noticed is that most of the regular guys are on this forum mainly to help others. That is what makes this site great. It is also nice to get feedback like this from time to time for then everyone knows the post did help someone.

 

[SeaSky]

Most likely the help people receive from Hearth.com is done "under the radar" by we regular and transient "lurkers" researching the site to find fixes for problems. So I would guess that the regular contributors and problem solvers to the forum may never really know the benefits they've offered over the years to the public at large. So helping one is really helping dozens or hundreds. And considering that we're not just "playing with matches," we're playing instead with burning plasma in the middle of our living rooms. So, more than likely such a site could have saved a few homes and lives too.


PS: My dad had a chimney fire at the onset of burning season (everything turned out ok...but it was quite scary to say the least), but I was able to pass on from this site an action plan as to what to do to get back in business. Within a week he had a highly recommend chimney inspector check out his whole system (the last sweep did not do a good job as it turned out)...and I bugged him about his wood!

 

[Lighting Up]

Most likely the help people receive from Hearth.com is done "under the radar" by we regular and transient "lurkers" researching the site to find fixes for problems. So I would guess that the regular contributors and problem solvers to the forum may never really know the benefits they've offered over the years to the public at large. So helping one is really helping dozens or hundreds. And considering that we're not just "playing with matches," we're playing instead with burning plasma in the middle of our living rooms. So, more than likely such a site could have saved a few homes and lives too.


PS: My dad had a chimney fire at the onset of burning season (everything turned out ok...but it was quite scary to say the least), but I was able to pass on from this site an action plan as to what to do to get back in business. Within a week he had a highly recommend chimney inspector check out his whole system (the last sweep did not do a good job as it turned out)...and I bugged him about his wood!

I too must thank everyone who adds their knowledge, it has help me greatly... so here's a challenging question...maybe I missed it on this forum but what should you do if you have a chimney fire if caught in time of course. I've heard that a roaring sound will happen in the chimney? Do you shut the damper? or just call 911 and run outside.
thanks.
md

 

[SeaSky]

I've read time and time again to call the fire department as such a thing can get out of hand very quickly, then don't light another fire until inspected thoroughly and repaired if necessary. However, beyond this, I would use the search feature for "chimney fire" and you'll get lots of specific instructions for various scenarios. So the in-depth discussions already done by those who gave it much thought (firemen too offer their insight) will give you every combination of responses one could think of! Makes me want to climb on my roof and peak down my chimney a lot often! Have a big cup of tea on the ready...Unless someone more experience wants to chime in here to review it. Good luck

 

[firefighterjake]

May I second 'Hairy Cannonball's' sentiments as well. For every one who asks a question or offers some advice here, there are hundreds who are peering in saying: "wow, I never knew that," or "so that's why properly seasoned wood is important," and so on. When I learned of this site, I set out to gleam all the experience that I could from those souls who bared their mistakes in the limelight--thank you. My background in burning was a hodgepodge of camp fire skills, a bunch of fireplaces, and an old VC my dad had...actually still has! And what I leaned using my first free standing stove some years ago was marginal at best.

So within a a few months of self directed study of searching various subject at Hearth, I was able to refine my technique to burning cleaner, hotter, and longer than I thought possible. But now that I am burning much more often than I used to...new questions have come up and I've returned again for additional suggestions. What I found is most stuff has been covered in one form or another so I encourage others to dig into those archives to sift out those golden nuggets. My only problem with this whole business is that I'm now (egads!) "lusting" after other stoves, be it a PE or a Joule...and yet my modest stove is plugging away just fine "doing the do" on my behalf, keeping me nice and warm. Now I fully understand the terrible dangers that lurk for the unaware on the internet--beware my friend! :lol:

Good post!

What you probably no doubt noticed is that most of the regular guys are on this forum mainly to help others. That is what makes this site great. It is also nice to get feedback like this from time to time for then everyone knows the post did help someone.

We check in with hearth.com daily and have an obsession with woodstoves and wood . . . appliances designed to keep us warm. I don't think any of us are "regular guys" Dennis!

 

[Jags]

Regular guy here.....and welcome to the forum. Yep, lots of folks with a wide scope of experience and knowledge. Hearth dot com has helped many people and I sure hope will continue to do so for a long time into the future.

Gotta go--getting ready to have the tops of my toes shaved and looking forward to my squirrel and blue cheese milk shake.

 

[firefighterjake]

Most likely the help people receive from Hearth.com is done "under the radar" by we regular and transient "lurkers" researching the site to find fixes for problems. So I would guess that the regular contributors and problem solvers to the forum may never really know the benefits they've offered over the years to the public at large. So helping one is really helping dozens or hundreds. And considering that we're not just "playing with matches," we're playing instead with burning plasma in the middle of our living rooms. So, more than likely such a site could have saved a few homes and lives too.


PS: My dad had a chimney fire at the onset of burning season (everything turned out ok...but it was quite scary to say the least), but I was able to pass on from this site an action plan as to what to do to get back in business. Within a week he had a highly recommend chimney inspector check out his whole system (the last sweep did not do a good job as it turned out)...and I bugged him about his wood!

I too must thank everyone who adds their knowledge, it has help me greatly... so here's a challenging question...maybe I missed it on this forum but what should you do if you have a chimney fire if caught in time of course. I've heard that a roaring sound will happen in the chimney? Do you shut the damper? or just call 911 and run outside.
thanks.
md

As mentioned there are many, many threads on this topic. Doing a search on "chimney fire" will result in a plethora (hey, how about that . . . I finally get to use that Word of the Day word in an actual sentence ) of threads.

FFJake's short answer: Typical signs you may be having a chimney fire -- a) it sounds like the Amtrak train is passing through your chimney and/or a Boeing 747 is about to take off in your chimney, b) your neighbor calls you up to ask if you're setting off fireworks in your woodstove and/or wonders if you could do something about the sparks and flames shooting out of your chimney since the sparks are falling on his wood pile and c) the local Fire Department pays you a visit at 2 a.m. and it's not because they're selling tickets to the Firefighter's Valentine Day Ball. Other signs: Sometimes the signs are less pronounced . . . you may hear a tinkling sound in your flue as someone just knocked over a bag of Lay's potato chips in your flue and/or you may wake up the next morning to find lots of creosote "popcorn" covering the nice formerly-white snow covered ground.

What to do: FFJake's proper Official Firefighter Answer: Call 911, evacuate the home. FFJake's Real Answer: Shut down the air, hopefully you've taken the time to learn where the air enters your stove . . . block this off if you can easily do so with a piece of aluminum foil. Other options: if you have a masonry chimney with a clean out you can open the clean out and either a) fire off an ABC dry chemical extinguisher up the chimney or b) if there are some hot embers at the base of the chimney put a quarter to half cup of water on the hot embers which will convert the water to steam, steam expands and in both cases the draft should take the powder/steam up the chimney. Option C: Let it ride until the "calvary" arrives.

Things not to do: Do not panic. Do not open the door to the firebox. Do not pass Go or collect $200.

Post Chimney Fire: Get the chimney inspected before use. Make sure in the future you burn hot enough and burn seasoned wood . . . and please, please be sure to check and clean the chimney more often . . . unless you really liked meeting Firefighter "Donk" and his friends.

 

[firefighterjake]

Regular guy here.....and welcome to the forum. Yep, lots of folks with a wide scope of experience and knowledge. Hearth dot com has helped many people and I sure hope will continue to do so for a long time into the future.

Gotta go--getting ready to have the tops of my toes shaved and looking forward to my squirrel and blue cheese milk shake.

Really Jags . . . I think your avatar pic gave you away without even mentioning shaving the toes or the squirrel/blue cheese milk shake.