When are you going to light your first fire for the season?

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Bwhunter85

Feeling the Heat
Aug 21, 2010
259
Sunfield, MI
We have propane backup and an OWB for forced air and DHW. I normally light first fire in middle of October, I am going to try and stretch it out and not start burning until November, especially since we normally get blasted by some freak weather event later in the winter in Michigan. Polar Vortexs, Bomb Cyclones...Currently have 7 full cord stacked, will start cutting more after hunting season!
 
Might be sometime this week. Temps dont seem like they'll be out of the 50's for the remainder of the week. Just enough to get the chill out of the house. I turned the thermostats on Sunday just to get the chill out and make sure everything was working properly. All went well so I'll start using some pine and other scraps for the next few weeks.
 
Cold is coming in waves here. Supposed to be in the 30s tonight so we may have a fire if that happens before 8pm.
 
Today! After the hail made it looked like it snowed, cats demanded it!! One teen was asking for a fire days ago when we weren’t using coats outside.
 
Today! After the hail made it looked like it snowed, cats demanded it!! One teen was asking for a fire days ago when we weren’t using coats outside.
Hail?! We are sunny and 53º in the South Sound.
 
Yep, this area is full of micro-climates. Some are dramatically different from areas just 10-15 miles away.
 
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Just got a line on boiler wood. Approx 13-facecord split hardwood and delivered for $800.00. I already have 7+ up for this winter, but only being able to cut on the weekends, it is sometimes hard to keep up with the beast of a conventional boiler. Comes out to just around $60/FC
 
I had my first fire 2 days ago (this past sunday) Saturday and Sunday were cold (woke up to the house being 56 Sunday morning) and decided to just have a small fire to take the chill out.

Used my "less desirable" wood (pine for my outdoor fire pit + sticks/branches) got the house to 70 (wife was happy as she was away at her sisters Saturday night).

That's been it so far, the past few days have been quite warm (mid 70's)
 
I am low on good dry wood maybe 2 cord. I think I will try to put off burning until X-mas and save my wood for the real cold of January and February here in Connecticut. Also burning 24/7 is easy.
 
I'm thinking of lighting a small fire this weekend to test my blower and ductwork upgrades. This is only the first day we haven't had any air conditioning running. So I might postpone for another week.
 
Done and dusted a week ago
Hope I don't have to light it again till November
 
I have had 5 fires so far. Last week was damp and it felt cold. This week it is sunny, lots of solar gain. It suppose to be like this for several more days. They just called a frost warning for tonight....
Will run the NG in the morning to warm up the house while the ladies are getting ready for the day.
 
High of 76 here Thursday with chance of severe storms.....then high of 40s with 30mph winds friday. Looks like friday for me. Gotta love ozarks weather.
 
The first fire was in the Hearthstone about two weeks ago during a wet cold day. Wasps had built a nest in the chimney since I cleaned it in may. The BK was fired up tonight as it is supposed to cool off to about 30 tonight. It could be weeks until the next fire, or it could be tomorrow. The weather is pretty changeable this time of the year.
 
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They're calling for a low of 38 so I'll have a shoulder season wood fire (pine) tonight and again in the morning.
 
had a couple night breaching the 30s so far. Had one small fire because my wife wanted to roast a marshmallow last weekend.

The pellet stove is going at nights now. Probably another couple weeks from running the wood burner full out.
 
Hopefully not for a few weeks. Consistently in the upper 60's and low 40's at night will prolly spark a few fires at night. Or atleast on the damp cool days.
 
Don't see it happening here till the first week of November. Temps here look to be in the 60's till about the end of the month.
 
Cold and damp this morning, caved and lit'er up
 
Cold is coming in waves here. Supposed to be in the 30s tonight so we may have a fire if that happens before 8pm.
We've got a couple 40* nights coming but I don't know if I'll be able to fire up yet; Waiting on gaskets for the stove, and still haven't brushed the liner. Might have to break out the quartz heater, or make a pizza so I can fire up the oven. ==c
 
I finally have a handful of fires under my belt on the new Jotul F55. Also lit the first break in fire on the new Jotul F45 downstairs. Its 40F out right now (mid day), was 21F this morning.

Cleanest the inside of the F45 will ever be:
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First break in fire:
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Inside a brand new F55. Only complaint is the back firebrick that is not flush with the sides, makes it a bit harder to load. It holds a lot of wood.

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The F55 basking in the sun, waiting for the coals to burn down.

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