None of my friends or family will appreciate the excitement of this experience so I post it here. Just spent half of a beautiful spring day glued to the stove window watching the process and dashing outside every 5 minutes to check the chimney . Before this I had many fears mainly
1. not enough draft to get the stovepipe hot (my old Dutchwest had direct opening from firebox to stovepipe--draft was instant)
2. Small fires would cause smoke up pipe (small because it is kind of warm right now and because stove may be a bit big for my space)
3. low quality wood instantly ruining the firebox and stovepipe and blackening window
Everything was just the opposite
1. draft started immediately on lighting up paper and kindling--stovepipe started getting warm in seconds
2. no smoke from the chimney after the first 10 or 15 minutes
3. The view of the fire through the glass is amazing and it is totally clean.
I was so reluctant to give up my ancient Dutchwest which I knew so well (my only experience with stoves) but it looks like this was a great decision. (Hopefully next winter will go as well)
On the wood front, I have 1/2 of a 1 1/2 cord dump, stacked on pallets in criss cross. I even went back and challenged the delivery because when I got it all stacked it only measured 3/4 cord (taking into account that it was loosely stacked) and a couple of days later he dumped another pile the same amount.
I have about 25 splits of maple I bought from a guy who was saving it for a stove he never finished installing. It seems perfect for these beginning burns in mild weather and is tucked in my front porch handy to the stove.
I must again thank everyone on this forum who responded to my many threads over the last few months when I was deciding whether to repair or replace my Dutchwest, through the arduous process of choosing a stove and for all the advice on wood which I will continue to stock up on to dry out. I have my moisture meter, my stove thermometer, a newly installed ceiling fan so I am all set for next winter.
Only one question at this time--I got a good bed of coals and put in two medium splits (maybe 4") and turned down air to low. In 90 minutes they were coals. Seems kind of short. I assume in winter when I am loading it up and/or using larger splits this time will stretch out???
Oh, yes, the old nondescript avatar disappeared and was replace with a ? so I decided to use the cave people-I am the one in the middle!!
1. not enough draft to get the stovepipe hot (my old Dutchwest had direct opening from firebox to stovepipe--draft was instant)
2. Small fires would cause smoke up pipe (small because it is kind of warm right now and because stove may be a bit big for my space)
3. low quality wood instantly ruining the firebox and stovepipe and blackening window
Everything was just the opposite
1. draft started immediately on lighting up paper and kindling--stovepipe started getting warm in seconds
2. no smoke from the chimney after the first 10 or 15 minutes
3. The view of the fire through the glass is amazing and it is totally clean.
I was so reluctant to give up my ancient Dutchwest which I knew so well (my only experience with stoves) but it looks like this was a great decision. (Hopefully next winter will go as well)
On the wood front, I have 1/2 of a 1 1/2 cord dump, stacked on pallets in criss cross. I even went back and challenged the delivery because when I got it all stacked it only measured 3/4 cord (taking into account that it was loosely stacked) and a couple of days later he dumped another pile the same amount.
I have about 25 splits of maple I bought from a guy who was saving it for a stove he never finished installing. It seems perfect for these beginning burns in mild weather and is tucked in my front porch handy to the stove.
I must again thank everyone on this forum who responded to my many threads over the last few months when I was deciding whether to repair or replace my Dutchwest, through the arduous process of choosing a stove and for all the advice on wood which I will continue to stock up on to dry out. I have my moisture meter, my stove thermometer, a newly installed ceiling fan so I am all set for next winter.
Only one question at this time--I got a good bed of coals and put in two medium splits (maybe 4") and turned down air to low. In 90 minutes they were coals. Seems kind of short. I assume in winter when I am loading it up and/or using larger splits this time will stretch out???
Oh, yes, the old nondescript avatar disappeared and was replace with a ? so I decided to use the cave people-I am the one in the middle!!
Thanks for checking in. Been checking out the maple I got and also the 1 1/2 cords of mixed hardwood. Some of them seem pretty dry and when I test them I am getting readings like 10, 10 1/2, 12--that is on the outside. I am thinking that on a not-too-big split that might mean even the inside is reasonable. All the pieces I have burned so far fired right up within a minute so I think my guesses were correct.
