New Guy

[kswaterfowler]

Hello. We move in this weekend to our dream home on our land here in Kansas. We had a Ladera fire place installed. My property is covered in hedge and honey locust so as I clear it, I plan on burning what I can. I have some hedge that has been put up for a year and also found a stack of old hedge that had been cut for posts. I read through the beginner topics in the stick, but I was wondering how much you would load in it. I have a little maple that was cut in may, but not a lot of other wood. I have enough hedge to burn just on my acreage for years. This is also not our only heat source. Primary heat is electric heat pump but I love the smell of wood smoke.

 

[Woody Stover]

Welcome. I'm not familiar with fireplaces but I don't generally load up my stove with all high-output wood like Hedge. I mix in some Maple or Oak to tame it down a little bit.

 

[kswaterfowler]

I was thinking about it. I also cut two utv loads of green ash but its only been drying a couple months. I do have probably 2 acres of green ash to get down and 14 acres of hedge/locust.

 

[jatoxico]

As an EPA certified unit your fireplace will require dry wood (>20% moisture). That usually takes at least 1 yr stored under good conditions after the wood has been split. Simply cutting to length (rounds) does very little. If you have something like that go ahead and burn. The hedge will burn hot and I wouldn't load the stove full with anything until you get a feel for how much control you have over it. Start small until you're comfortable. Most stoves need a small break in fire or two any way.

Don't know your unit but hopefully you can put a thermometer in the vent so you can see what temps you're running. You can also use lumber scraps and other dry wood and mix that with other marginal wood you might have.

 

[begreen]

Wondering if this fireplace is the BIS Traditions CE with a different surround?

 

[kswaterfowler]

Gonna give it a whirl tonight with some pecan mixed with hedge. Most of my hedge is about the size and of a man's wrist. Some is bigger and I am waiting to split it. Need to get next years wood on the ground as soon as duck season is over.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Hey, it might be time to get some poly down on those floors!

 

[kswaterfowler]

Those aren't wood floors...

 

[kswaterfowler]

Ashamed to admit it, but I was unable to get a fire going tonight. I've put a lot of fire on the ground in a previous job, but can't get one going in my fireplace.

 

[begreen]

Dry wood and good kindling make fire starting easy. If draft is weak, top down starting can help. Here's a video on the topic.

 

[jatoxico]

Ashamed to admit it, but I was unable to get a fire going tonight. I've put a lot of fire on the ground in a previous job, but can't get one going in my fireplace.

From what you have said my first reaction is wet wood. Grab a pkg of kiln dried or some lumber scraps tomorrow and try again. Wet wood in an EPA stove/fireplace is the worst. Don't make any judgements yet.

 

[kswaterfowler]

I am thinking lack of kindling. Went and got 561 lbs of seasoned mulberry. Guy also gave me some good kindling pieces. Gonna try it a little different tonight.

 

[kswaterfowler]

Got one going right now. Took some trial and error to get it right.

 

[kswaterfowler]

So never could feel air blowing with the blower switch turned on. How much is expected?

 

[mass_burner]

So never could feel air blowing with the blower switch turned on. How much is expected?

Is it temp controlled or does it have a manual switch?

 

[kswaterfowler]

I looked down where the blower is located. There is an outlet installed and a cord laying there. I am 100% sure they didn't plug in the blower.

 

[kswaterfowler]

Well I was correct. Blower was not plugged in. I've got some good seasoned hedge mixed with some mulberry to try tonight.

 

[kswaterfowler]

A year has gone by. We bought a splitter and had a bunch of wood split this summer. Stove lights easy and with a few pieces of hedge burns hot. A hot fire also keeps the glass clean.

 

[Squisher]

Wondering if this fireplace is the BIS Traditions CE with a different surround?

I cleaned a BIS tradition last week that was unbelievably clean. Nine years since install and it had never been cleaned in that time. They said that they burn it almost daily in the winter?