I was gone for work this past week and the wife managed to use more wood in 5 days than I ever have, the house is tighter and a couple of bedrooms up stairs had the doors shut and she still used more, oh well glad she does not run it all the time. This includes 30 years of non EPA stove useage.
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Show her this thread and you will get to sleep in a hotel for another week. :lol:
I used to come home from one or two week business trips and didn't care how much wood she used. That stove was cranking and I walked into a warm house.
I used to come home from one or two week business trips and didn't care how much wood she used. That stove was cranking and I walked into a warm house.
Troutchaser
New Member
Yip, when she and the kids are home for snow days, she'll burn the wood. But. . . . . . .
I leave a pile of maple for her and she's asked not to touch the neatly stacked ash, oak, and locust.
The maple is dry and ready to burn hot. At least she's not smoldering anything.
I leave a pile of maple for her and she's asked not to touch the neatly stacked ash, oak, and locust.
The maple is dry and ready to burn hot. At least she's not smoldering anything.
oldspark said:
Cool.
The Little Sioux flows through Peterson, right? I've heard it's a beautiful stretch of river down there. I keep meaning to take a long canoe trip on it but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Alan
Yes the Little Sioux goes through Peterson, I like riding my bike along the river roads between Linn Grove, Peterson and Sioux Rapids.Alan Gage said:
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
My wife only loads the stove once per day - if we need more heat while I'm at work. I bring in exactly what she needs, and I KNOW she's not heading out to the stacks.........now.....if I was gone for a long stretch.........not sure what she might do! I think it is more likely that she might go too long between loads and try to turn on the oil furnace. I think I might take the batteries out of the thermostat just in case...... :cheese: . Cheers!
No back up heat here so she used more wood AND the house was cooler at times, I think that may have been part of the problem, it took more wood to bring the temp back up.NH_Wood said:
NH_Wood
Minister of Fire
oldspark said:
I've noticed on several occasions that my wife has left the primary open for far too long, letting a lot of the heat go up the stack and never getting good stove top temps (and, of course, ripping through the wood). Any chance your wife did this? Cheers!
Yes for sure, I have told her many times how to run it but she runs it like she wants to, she had better luck with the old stove which IMHO was much easier to run and heated the house better.NH_Wood said:
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Guess I'm lucky. Spent 4 days in the hospital. When I came in the front door I thought I was in Heaven for sure! The warmth from the wood heat really felt great. Due to the surgery, I still am not tending the stove much at all but the wife has been doing a great job. I think she's a keeper.
My wife ends up burning less wood than I do because she's afraid of loading the big black heat machine to the gills and also doesn't mind the house a bit colder than I do.
pen
pen
remkel
Minister of Fire
I am just happy the wife will run the stove. She calls me if she has an issue (like this past week).
The wood piles do seem to reduce exponentially when I am not home, but it give me more reason to be out of the house on the weekends in the winter.
The wood piles do seem to reduce exponentially when I am not home, but it give me more reason to be out of the house on the weekends in the winter.
dafattkidd
Minister of Fire
Yeah sounds pretty good. My wife does pretty well with it. She's still learning. Hell, I'm still learning.
afptl
Member
Yes for sure, I have told her many times how to run it but she runs it like she wants to, she had better luck with the old stove which IMHO was much easier to run and heated the house better.
Hey, what was the old stove? just curious!
Hey, what was the old stove? just curious!
It was a Nashua, heated the house even with some crappy windows and other air leaks, throw wood in and keep the stack temp in the correct range on the sensor, all there was too it, the new stove is a little more tricky.Ann from KY said:
Yep, I am guilty of leaving the air inlet open too long, still learning. I think I leave the door cracked too long too. It must be something with us women. I'm getting there though, learning through my mistakes. Also watching the husband's technique more I think he does really know what he's doing.
afptl
Member
still getting the hang of the Vermont Castings Intrepid. Seems like a stove that needs a lot of babysitting. I am just cautious as you just can't "load the stove for the night." You can only put a little bit of wood in it before you go to bed so it doens't get too hot. I would love to load it to the top, but I think it would get too hot. (over 750 degrees)
My Crosswinds furnace in the basement I can really load up at night before we go to bed. Box is really big and it has a sensor on it that blows when it reaches a certain temp. It's great when it's under 15 degrees here. Other than that, it's too much stove for the well insulated house, so we then use the Intrepid. (Kindling Burner as the kids say)
My Crosswinds furnace in the basement I can really load up at night before we go to bed. Box is really big and it has a sensor on it that blows when it reaches a certain temp. It's great when it's under 15 degrees here. Other than that, it's too much stove for the well insulated house, so we then use the Intrepid. (Kindling Burner as the kids say)
This is my first year in this house w/a wood stove, and I know I was using more wood in November than I am now to achieve the same temps at the same ambient temps. It took time to stop trying to burn by the manual, and to start to listen to my stove, learn from my wood, prowl around my house trying to figure out how the heat flowed. It took weeks of coming home after dark and sniffing for woodsmoke before I even made it to the front door, of learning when to try to dry a piece of wood out to burn, and when to chuck it behind the pile to burn in April. I'm a *lot* more aware of outside temps and the height of my woodpile than I ever was when it wasn't all on my shoulders. This is part of the weighing and balancing of there being the both of you, and having the normal division of labor that usually develops. She might be able to tell from two rooms away when the pie is done without looking at the clock, and marvel that you can't, or who knew when the baby was getting sick because of the sound of its cry. It's just what you become attuned to over time because you take responsibility for it.
I'm guessing that it's not that she doesn't want to be as efficient as you are at wood use; she's just doesn't know yet how to do that, because she hasn't had to. I'm sure you've both got full plates, and keeping the wood pile high is something she may see as being on yours. She knows you've got her back. If she did, in fact "run it all the time", I bet she'd be on top of keeping the btu's in the house instead of flying up the chimney.
I'm guessing that it's not that she doesn't want to be as efficient as you are at wood use; she's just doesn't know yet how to do that, because she hasn't had to. I'm sure you've both got full plates, and keeping the wood pile high is something she may see as being on yours. She knows you've got her back. If she did, in fact "run it all the time", I bet she'd be on top of keeping the btu's in the house instead of flying up the chimney.
My wife can manage the fireplace while I'm gone ice fishing for a few days. We've joked that she's like a pioneer woman. I'm glad she enjoys the fire as much as I do. Plus it is our backup source of heat if power goes out. I don't care how much she burns. I guess that gives me an excuse to hoard more wood 
Jon
Jon
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