How many people do YOU know heat with wood ?

[Danno77]

Hey there one leg......I just wonder if the firm believers ever clean their own chimneys, or can attain a smoke free burn with the "silly" practice of putting wet wood in the box. As a industry professional I can help you win some bets....most hardwoods are rated between 6500 and 8000 btu/lb Then you account for water content which must "boil off" before the wood can burn, this in turn lowers the useable btu release and lowers your overall efficiency usually creating smoke. Why is everything about longer when a load of wood cured to 20% or less (usually a year in our territory) in a well ventilated stack, will burn longer than your bladder can wait to go potty........unless you pee your bed. It's a silly debate. Keep it dry, keep it clean, keep it safe and no one dies in a home fire........NO GREEN WOOD!

You'll fit in well, here. It's an ongoing area of disappointment among members here that the uninformed masses haven't figured out what a difference in stove performance and safety having well seasoned wood can make. Some of our own members, in fact, have traded well seasoned wood with green stuff in order to help out newbies that don't have access!

 

[firefighterjake]

Around my neck of the woods . . . I would say a lot. Heck, on just one side of my family my Uncle and three cousins burn wood. Around this time of year you see lots of wood being delivered or being cut up (I didn't say they're burning cleanly -- only that lots burn wood.) I guess one indication of the number of folks burning wood is that my wife asked the Asplundh tree service about getting wood when they came through to clean up the lines and they said that so many people want the wood so they just cut it up and leave it behind for the land owner rather than taking it and risking the land owner's ire.

 

[rogerandbridget]

Well thank you.....

I used to get into the worst debates (because I cared) with customers who would tell me that the stove I sold them was a piece of crap. I would argue that the wood they were burning was the fault. I nearly got hit a few times. Then I started selling the "home fire prest logs". I was able to "give" the customer a sample and the result was consistent......I won the argument. These logs were as dry as it gets, and packed a full 8500 btu/lb. At 8% moisture content there's no better fuel. The piece of crap stove suddenly performed in ways the customer could see and feel. Cure it right, do it right, and sleep all night.
For really long burn times in warmer seasons or climates try developing a large coal bed and burying it in your ash. This can produce a softer heat for up to 18 hours with no smoke. The smoke (or lack of) should be your gauge for performance. The new stoves are all designed to burn at an opacity limit of 20% or less. In our county this is monitored by airplanes which take pictures of homes emitting allot of smoke, and send you a hefty fine.......Most of our customers only had smoke during heat up (20 minutes) and a new fuel load (10 to 15 minutes)

 

[Danno77]

Yep, sounds about like what we've all heard 100 times before re:crappy stove complaints. I'd put my cheapo 35:1 stove against the nicer model with secondaries anyday if they are using green and I'm using seasoned wood. If you look around the forum, somewhere I have a nice chart with super long burn times and nice wood in an EPA exempt stove. You wouldn't put bad gas in your car, so I'll never get why it's ok for a solid fuel appliance.

 

[rogerandbridget]

Good point......we as a society demand that people who wish to drive cars on public roadways have an education and a license to do so. I am not in favor necessarily of this for wood burners, but it might be a good idea to offer insurance breaks to those who can document that they choose a certified dealer/installer who made sure the education part was the biggest portion of the whole picture

 

[Highbeam]

I only know one other person that doesn't use their furnace, heats with wood only as I do. I know a few more that are part time burners, in the evening after work only for example. So we're up to 3. While driving to work I see two more regular burners that every morning and evening I can still see smoke so they are also 24/7 burners but I don't know them personally.

Burn time is king. I don't care if it takes more wood. The reason it is king is that people still have to go to work for 8, 10, 12 hours and don't want to have to come home to a cold stove and house. Same deal with overnighters. This desire for long burns led to smokey stacks in the past, those of us that are willing to learn about stoves can seek a cat stove for very long and clean burns.

 

[rogerandbridget]

There is the native american Indian trick of banking the coals which I prefer over either method described above. Learn this ancient secret and no matter which technology you choose you will find both fuel savings and clean air at the same time. A good load of coals buried in ashes will sustain up to 18 hours with enough left over to start up again without the whole light up procedure.