My wife tends the stove while I'm at work or traveling. As long as I bring enough wood or biobricks in, she'll happily keep it going. I've learned tons from here, and I try to impart that knowledge as best I can. Must of done ok, as she can cold-start and tend the fire right along with the best of 'em.
Spouses / Significant Others & Wood Burning
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mayhem
Minister of Fire
My wife runs the stove when I'm not home, when I'm hope she won't touch it. Its my job to keep the log rack next to the stove with enough wood in it for her to run the stove while I'm not around. I don't see the point in trying to get her to understand and recognize different species of wood, what to use, when to use it and under what conditions. All she needs to know is the furnace running costs a bunch of money, loading the stove doesn't. When it starts cooling off she puts wood in it, when she leaves the house for a few hours she fills it about 10 minutes before she leaves and runs it wide open, then closes the damper and walks out the door.
When I'm hope we go through a lot less wood per hour and the stove runs hotter...do I care that she doesn't run it as well as I do? Heck no, I'm glad she puts wood in the thing and its still running when I get home fromwork and the furnace didn't fire once. Wood is cheap, if it costs me an extra cord a year because she's not running it optimally...I seriously do not care one bit.
Thats it. Make it complicated and she won't want to have a thing to do with it...either because she doesn't want to know that much about it or because its intimidating and she'll be afraid of disappointing you and getting yelled at for loading your precious overnight oak splits during the day when you told her to use the birch. Make it easy for her to run it and let it be.
In a word, don't. Keep the wood rack filled, show her how to rake the coals and load it safely and where the damper is so she can bank it down if she gets a really hot load going in there. Other than that, stand back and don't overwhelm her with meaningless minutae that she likely won't retain. If she helps tend the stove, she'll pick it all up as she goes.
When I'm hope we go through a lot less wood per hour and the stove runs hotter...do I care that she doesn't run it as well as I do? Heck no, I'm glad she puts wood in the thing and its still running when I get home fromwork and the furnace didn't fire once. Wood is cheap, if it costs me an extra cord a year because she's not running it optimally...I seriously do not care one bit.
Thats it. Make it complicated and she won't want to have a thing to do with it...either because she doesn't want to know that much about it or because its intimidating and she'll be afraid of disappointing you and getting yelled at for loading your precious overnight oak splits during the day when you told her to use the birch. Make it easy for her to run it and let it be.
In a word, don't. Keep the wood rack filled, show her how to rake the coals and load it safely and where the damper is so she can bank it down if she gets a really hot load going in there. Other than that, stand back and don't overwhelm her with meaningless minutae that she likely won't retain. If she helps tend the stove, she'll pick it all up as she goes.
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