How'd you find Hearth.com, and what has it done for you?

[moosetrek]

Not sure if this is the right forum, so if not my apologies. But as I read all the excellent advice, I wonder:
1. How each of you get into the forum, and
2. what, if anything, it has done for you?

For myself, it was helping out a neighbor that got me into Hearth.com in the firts place - we had a disabled couple with three kids and no money next door in CA, and it was an excuse to get a saw, go up to the mountains, and cut some wood to help them out that got me into wood burning again after many years.

Finding this site really reinforced my passion for wood burning, and when I moved out to WY the woodstove was the first purchase I made. So I guess it got me back into a lifestyle I really missed from growing up, and an appreciation of the joy of trees, 2-strokes, and radiant heat.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

1. I don't remember how I found it.

2. This site has given me a place to spend hours reading about how others stack wood when I should be out stacking wood or something. Oh, and it's good for learning about other things too. :D

Matt

 

[PapaDave]

I honestly don't remember how I got here.
Wait, it was......nope that's not it.
Seriously, I THINK I was searching for info on the stove that was in the house we bought back in '06.
I was EXTREMELY busy in '07, and didn't join until '08. I think I'll stick with that.

 

[BrotherBart]

I was a wealthy successful businessman until I came across hearth.com. By accident one night while surfing the web I came across this site. I lurked for a few hours and then joined in the posting. Over time I became more and more addicted to reading posts and interacting with the forum members. The next thing you know I bought a wood stove. Then another. Then another. Then a pellet stove. Then came chainsaws, a log splitter and chimney liners and log carriers and wood racks and I became obsessed with gathering firewood. Before long I was spending more and more time on hearth.com and putting up firewood. My business started to suffer as well as my home life. My wife complained that all I wanted to do was hang out with "those wood guys". The kids started staying away from me because I was posting and reading and stopped bathing. They said I was "stinky". In short order my accountant informed me that all of my employees had quit, the bank account was empty and I would have to file for bankruptcy. It didn't matter to me all I wanted to know was what the progress of the cat vs. non-cat discussions were leading to. Was or was not EBT a answer for long burns? Were PE stoves really worth extra money over an Englander?

One afternoon I heard the door slam and a car drive off. On the table in the hall was a note from a lawyer telling me my wife had filed for divorce and was taking the kids with her. I cried for about ten minutes and then went to see if anybody had scored anymore free wood off of craigslist. Nobody had in a few days and that REALLY made me sad.

So the house has been foreclosed, I drink pretty much around the clock (or at least I will until the pawn shop stops taking my stuff) and hang out on hearth.com 20 hours a day. I get a couple of hours sleep along the way resting my head on the keyboard.

Now Craig has made me a moderator and life is looking up! I have stoves and hearth.com. Who needs all of that other crap in life.

 

[n3pro]

Google. I was thinking about a wood stove, googled a few brands and reviews and in one there was a link to a thread on here. Now here I be, sorry for your luck.

I learned A LOT. It would have been a long time until I would have known that you can burn wood without smoke, seasoned is a relative term in many cases. You can burn wood without smelling like it. List goes on and on.

The occasional humor and wood p0rn hasn't hurt either. Great community.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I found it searching on the net when I was stove shopping and needed some guidance from someone who wasn't going to make a buck off of me.

So I bought the stove and had it installed.

The real question is why am I still here ? :lol:

 

[snowtime]

Being snowed in most winters I use the cold time to researching spring purchases. Its a long drive out and I do not want to drive 5 hours next spring without knowing just what I need. Thank God for Sat. I bumped into Hearth and found the info I needed and a lot more. I made the transition from smoke dragon to EPA in the house heater and could not be happier. Like most long time burners 40+ years I had some unlearning to get my head around. Without confirmation of the specific changes needed I would probably have kept with my old, incorrect procedures.

 

[tickbitty]

Cool lookin chicken, Kathleen! (is it a chicken?!)

I think I googled and got Hearth when I was feeling oh so lucky to have found a hearthstone on CL for $150. I bought it and had hubby and friends haul it home before I thought it through. It wouldn't work with my house/fireplace without major mods either to house or stove. But I learned a lot about it here and started to get a clue what WOULD work. Sold the hearthstone for $350 though! Looked at an old Lopi and got advice on it here, turned it down. Looked at an oldish (but EPA rated!) Englander. Got a lot of advice on it here, bought it. Found out at last minute that it required a raised hearth. Sold it. (Made money on that one too!) Bought a new Lopi. Researched it here. Got great advice on self install, damper, hearth, wood, liner, Lopi stoves, and a bunch of other stuff. Like the strange and interesting crowd here more than many other internet places I could potentially waste my tiime. Occasionally I even find that I can weigh in on something and give somebody my two cents. It's nice! (and WARM!)

 

[tickbitty]

BBart, where have I read most of that before hmmmm?! you crack me up. You don't have anything in your post about where the expensive boots fit into the scenario though.

 

[Battenkiller]

I got a different stove and was looking for info on the Internet and found this site. It looked really cool, with lots of knowledgeable folks just chomping at the bit to help out. So I joined and asked what anyone could tell me about my stove.

Not a single reply.

So I vowed then and there to squander the rest of my days on here, seeking revenge by giving out pages and pages of unsolicited advice, and trying to make something simple like burning wood inside a metal box seem as difficult and arcane as I possibly could.

How am I doing so far?

 

[joshlaugh]

Not sure when I found this site but I do remember that I had been hanging around the arborsite but most of those guys were more into OWB which I don't have. Found hearth and have stuck around.
I have learned more about stove operation which helped me tweak how I run mine. Also found others who love to score free wood and don't think owning two stoves is crazy.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

You don't have anything in your post about where the expensive boots fit into the scenario though.

There's a story here

 

[Backwoods Savage]

1. How each of you get into the forum:

Not really sure but probably when we started looking around at new stoves and somehow I found a link to hearth.com. Next thing you know I started visiting the forum on a regular basis.


2. What, if anything, it has done for you?

It has caused me to spend many hours on the forum rather than outdoors working.

It really wasn't too long after I started visiting the forum that I discovered that a whole lot of folks had never burned much wood or had any experience with wood heat. So, I started trying to help if at all possible. At first I visited only the Hearth Room. Later I discovered the Wood Shed. Then the Gear Room. When I discovered these other rooms is when my post count really started adding up.

Although I have learned much off these forums I am especially thankful that I've been able to help a few folks and feel that I've made a few friends along the way. Probably the ultimate for me was last fall when, after much prodding from Woodstock, my wife and I visited the Woodstock factory in West Lebanon, NH. Wow! What a time we had and even met a few hearth.com members, including Craig. That weekend I even helped Woodstock sell a few stoves and I really enjoyed talking to the people.

 

[raybonz]

Can't recall how I found this forum but I think it was when I was laid off and needed to resurrect my stove for financial reasons at the time.. I have learned so much here and this forum has rekindled my interest in wood burning.. Lots of smart friendly people here with loads of great ideas.. The moderators are excellent along a host of talented folks always willing to give advice.. Of course Craig who had the insight to create this wood burning dynasty deserves most of the credit.. Hope to meet some of you people some time..

Stay Warm,
Ray

 

[Troutchaser]

We decided just last Nov. to buy a Leyden woodstove, for no other reason than the absolute beauty of the thing and the crackling fires we envisioned. I stumbled onto Hearth in the reviews section somewhere.

I didn't know a downdraft from a tube from a cat from a noncat from a smokedragon when I read my first post here. Hearth has taught me everything- absolutely everything- I know about wood burning.
Thank you all for taking the time to help.
I've now lost my wife, kids, and job. I drink non-stop. But I got the stove in the divorce and was given three days to haul out my ten cords. .... KIDDING. SORT OF.

Oh, tickbitty, Kathleen's chicken is a Mille Fleur, a beautiful bantam breed.

 

[Badfish740]

Great idea for a thread! I "found" hearth.com sometime in the early 2000s. Back then the internet was still kind of a new thing to me as my parents had only gotten an internet connection in 1998 or 1999. I was just out of high school, going to community college, and probably unlike most other "kids" my age, I was very interested in wood heat. My interest came from the wood furnace that was in my grandparents' garage where I worked on my truck-if I wanted to keep warm while working in the winter I had to learn how to use the old furnace. I eventually started "Yahooing" (no Google back then ) information on wood burning, and of course, I ended up here. I read articles on installs for hours on end and eventually was inspired to post this which is still in the stories section today:

This story is about the old reliable stove that heats my grandparent’s garage, I use it quite a bit in the winter when I pull my ‘77 Toyota Land Cruiser in to fix trail damage and do regular maintainence. The stove began it’s life at the Newark stove works in Newark, New Jersey ages ago…It was then bought to heat the house, burning both coal and wood. My father remembers loading it with coal and emptying the ash pit when he was younger than me, and lets me know just how easy I have it with gas heat. The stove was then moved into the garage after years of service in the basement, to warm us during periods of work.

When I first aquired my old Toyota, I started to use the old stove about every weekend, starting the fire, making frequent trips through the icy air to the backyard woodpile, and keeping the fire stoked. As much as going to the wood pile in the cold annoyed me, I also enjoyed it. It gave me a sense of participating in my own survival, rather than turning a thermostat. I liked to sit in the garage and take a break from my work to sit and listen to the stove, open up the ancient fire door and watch the dancing flames. Though the stove is getting up in it’s years, it is still maintained and inspected to make sure it is working correctly, and that it will do so for years to come. I hope that one day, the stove will be passed on to me to heat my garage, and continue the service it has been providing for so long. At the moment, I’m trying to convince my parents to buy a woodstove for our log home, not only for the heating benefits, but the secure, warm feeing that comes from sitting around the hearth.

I think I was 18 or 19 when I wrote that. I didn't actually join hearth.com and start posting as Badfish740 until 2007, but now here I am 10 years later with a home of my own heated by wood. I feel kind of fortunate actually for having found this place when I did. By the time I was in a position to make a decision on what to buy, etc...I already knew quite a bit. I can even credit hearth.com with helping me find my furnace-I bought it used from a hearth.com member in Connecticut. Using what I learned here I designed my own flue, did my own install, and scavenged, processed, and stored free wood! Seriously Craig, thank you-I've learned a lot of stuff from internet forums over the years, but I've learned more and had more fun doing it at hearth.com than anywhere else.

 

[Pagey]

Found while searching reviews for the Lopi Endeavor. It has given me a platform from which to preach the virtues of PINE! :coolgrin:

 

[heatwise]

off hand i dont remember exactly but it was no doubt a google search for either firewood or wood stove search. this site is great for a few reasons. it lets me become familiar with other stoves and how they operate. great pictures , great stories, hillarious craig list links and unlimited tips and info. pete

 

[fire_man]

I found this site because I was researching which stove to buy and the Stove Ratings section led me to my answer. I research everything to death and this site was a match made in heaven.

What this site did for me was prevent me from making a huge mistake and purchasing a VC Neverburn stove. I previously owned an old VC Resolute which I liked but wanted a more modern EPA stove. I just wanted to verify that the new VC stove owners were happy and boy did I get a lesson. I will always be grateful for this site for steering me in the right direction.

 

[Rockey]

I was a wealthy successful businessman until I came across hearth.com. By accident one night while surfing the web I came across this site. I lurked for a few hours and then joined in the posting. Over time I became more and more addicted to reading posts and interacting with the forum members. The next thing you know I bought a wood stove. Then another. Then another. Then a pellet stove. Then came chainsaws, a log splitter and chimney liners and log carriers and wood racks and I became obsessed with gathering firewood. Before long I was spending more and more time on hearth.com and putting up firewood. My business started to suffer as well as my home life. My wife complained that all I wanted to do was hang out with "those wood guys". The kids started staying away from me because I was posting and reading and stopped bathing. They said I was "stinky". In short order my accountant informed me that all of my employees had quit, the bank account was empty and I would have to file for bankruptcy. It didn't matter to me all I wanted to know was what the progress of the cat vs. non-cat discussions were leading to. Was or was not EBT a answer for long burns? Were PE stoves really worth extra money over an Englander?

One afternoon I heard the door slam and a car drive off. On the table in the hall was a note from a lawyer telling me my wife had filed for divorce and was taking the kids with her. I cried for about ten minutes and then went to see if anybody had scored anymore free wood off of craigslist. Nobody had in a few days and that REALLY made me sad.

So the house has been foreclosed, I drink pretty much around the clock (or at least I will until the pawn shop stops taking my stuff) and hang out on hearth.com 20 hours a day. I get a couple of hours sleep along the way resting my head on the keyboard.

Now Craig has made me a moderator and life is looking up! I have stoves and hearth.com. Who needs all of that other crap in life.

That was a classic. I made my wife read it. I love seeing her smile by the firelight.

After reading that I wondered how it is that you never became a senator.


I found the hearth by googling something about wood stove forums. I quickly became addicted to the wealth of knowledge within.
\

 

[maxed_out]

This has to be one of the best things I've ever read. I've been chucking and smiling since I first read it. Yes I shared it with the wife too. I guess we are all a little wacky about this stuff but this one brings it all home and puts it all in perspective for me. thanks BB.

I was a wealthy successful businessman until I came across hearth.com. By accident one night while surfing the web I came across this site. I lurked for a few hours and then joined in the posting. Over time I became more and more addicted to reading posts and interacting with the forum members. The next thing you know I bought a wood stove. Then another. Then another. Then a pellet stove. Then came chainsaws, a log splitter and chimney liners and log carriers and wood racks and I became obsessed with gathering firewood. Before long I was spending more and more time on hearth.com and putting up firewood. My business started to suffer as well as my home life. My wife complained that all I wanted to do was hang out with "those wood guys". The kids started staying away from me because I was posting and reading and stopped bathing. They said I was "stinky". In short order my accountant informed me that all of my employees had quit, the bank account was empty and I would have to file for bankruptcy. It didn't matter to me all I wanted to know was what the progress of the cat vs. non-cat discussions were leading to. Was or was not EBT a answer for long burns? Were PE stoves really worth extra money over an Englander?

One afternoon I heard the door slam and a car drive off. On the table in the hall was a note from a lawyer telling me my wife had filed for divorce and was taking the kids with her. I cried for about ten minutes and then went to see if anybody had scored anymore free wood off of craigslist. Nobody had in a few days and that REALLY made me sad.

So the house has been foreclosed, I drink pretty much around the clock (or at least I will until the pawn shop stops taking my stuff) and hang out on hearth.com 20 hours a day. I get a couple of hours sleep along the way resting my head on the keyboard.

Now Craig has made me a moderator and life is looking up! I have stoves and hearth.com. Who needs all of that other crap in life.

 

[Green Energy]

When the Cat in my 18 year old Dutchwest crumbled and I realized that it needed to be rebuilt, I decided I better get some expert advice or whatever I could find on the Internet. I Googled "wood stoves" and found Hearth.com. I got some really good advice and a variety of viewpoints. Everyone wanted pictures of my stove. As I read some of the articles, I realized I should give some serious consideration to replacing the Beast (18 year old, 640 lb cast iron coal/wood stove) with a new technology stove. Some said to rebuild it, other encouraged me to buy a new stove. The tax credit and the idea of having a chimney liner with a Tee and a cleanout (as opposed to a direct connect into a 9x9" external chimney) pushed me into going with the new stove.

Once I started reading, I found that the knowledgeable people and experience of best practices provide me the expert advice and encouragement to undertake a self-installation of the chimney liner and new stove. The installation went very well. The forum has also helped me to understand how important dry wood is (difference between struggling to get the stove to burn well while marginal wood is seasoned in the firebox, and having a trouble-free fire with a mesmerizing light show). Also, learned about the wonderful wisdom of a top-down fire. The Hearth Forum has reinforced my wood burning lifestyle, helped me to upgrade, improving the safety of my installation, and helping adopt best practices. But it has also allowed me to get to know all the great people here. ;-)

 

[gibson]

I had no interest in wood stoves prior to 2006. Then we bought a house with a fireplace, so I figured I'd use it. I quickly figured out that it was nice to look at, but it didn't make us any warmer, and we used a lot of wood. I stopped at a stove shop and saw some inserts. I wanted one badly. Got on the internet and quickly came upon Hearth.com. Learned about firebox size, chimney liners, fire safety, cleaning, etc. from this site. I even installed the Jotul myself. I owe it all to you folks on this site. In my third year of burning now and it is definitely one of the best upgrades I have made to my home.

 

[Renovation]

I was a wealthy successful businessman until...

[snip!]

... I have stoves and hearth.com. Who needs all of that other crap in life.

Ouch! That may leave a mark.

I am *nothing* like what you describe.

I have cats!

Err... felines!

I found hearth.com Googling for the best wood stove to buy.

It's given me a wealth of useful and interesting information, and interaction with a friendly, varied, witty, and good-natured community.

And most important, an outlet for my retarded social urges.

(Heeeere kitty kitty kitty Who's a good boy!?)

 

[SolarAndWood]

I was having a miserable time heating the house with the old stove and purchased "seasoned" wood. Hearth.com solved both problems.