Thanks
BK Princess unripe wood
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Ya I won’t be stealing your wood! Awesome dog!
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
A catalyst does achieve secondary burn at a lower temp, but temp is not the only factor. Too much steam is the firebox from wet wood will crowd out oxygen, and the cat may not light off. If your entire supply of wood is unseasoned, you will probably have a gunked-up cat in short order. Between a tube stove and a stove with a perpetually gunked-up cat, I’d probably go with a tube stove. . .or an old 5-cu-ft smoke dragon, because they’re all probably going to burn wet wood similarly, with little to no secondary combustion.
I burned wet wood (and some soggy wood) exclusively my first year with the BK, yet I am unclear what sort of gunk supposedly gets in the cat if you do that. It didn't get in mine.
Wet wood burns fine, but you can't pretend you have dry wood (you need to own a brush and sweep often, you need to put fresh wood in a hot stove, and you won't be burning as low and slow as people with dry wood). I am certainly not recommending it to anyone, but you can in fact burn wet wood in a stove even if the manual tells you not to.
I do agree that if he only wants to burn on high in the middle of winter, any kind of stove will do.
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
3 years can be as little as 6 to as much as 12 cords for most. Not a big area depending on how stacked. 3 years is the only way to assure you have dry wood in rotation. A rip roaring fire works in old smokeys, not in modern stoves. Your going to gunk up that cat real quick trying to boil water till you engage, not to mention the crap building up in the stack.
Most us us, love the looks of the stacks, and hate to see them dwindle. The more, the better.
There is no better feeling than knowing you're heating your home, for a fraction of the cost of other heating methods, and knowing the wood you have ready is truly ready to burn, with no fighting to get it lit, to burn, and tons of garbage to clean out of the stack for next season.
If you want ambiance, and the occasional fire, then boil away. But I highly suggest you check your stack, especially up top at minimal once a month, or sooner.
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
Heating for fraction of cost? Lol, my wife ridicules me all the time by saying “ya your saving money, right? 6k In stove and chimney, 1k for Stihl saw and cutting equip, trailer, probably pick up a nice diesel skid steer soon.
Maybe if my gas bill at the house (without wood burning) was over )$200 in the coldest month, I could actually put up a good formidable defense, but cheap natural gas kills my argument.
The only thing I got her on, was she wanted a gas fire place and I reminder her that gas fire place will work as good as the gas furnace if something goes wrong in the world. We only been married 4 years so we’re still sorting a few things out....lol!
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Maybe if my gas bill at the house (without wood burning) was over )$200 in the coldest month, I could actually put up a good formidable defense, but cheap natural gas kills my argument.
The only thing I got her on, was she wanted a gas fire place and I reminder her that gas fire place will work as good as the gas furnace if something goes wrong in the world. We only been married 4 years so we’re still sorting a few things out....lol!
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Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
At $300.00 per year to heat with wood, yeah a fraction of the cost.
The insert, liner etc. paid for itself in about 2 years tops.
Just filled the oil tank, $528.00
That's damn near two years heat with wood.
Don't need a skidsteer. Got a 361 rebuilt from the dealer for $300.00
I am one frugal mofo, and proud of it.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Tell her she's making an investment in your ongoing physical fitness. Isn't a strong, lithe husband worth a few thousand dollars?
I don't get that argument from my wife... we were paying $800 a month some months for heating oil when prices were high. Return on investment is still oretty good!
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Did you have to seal in that room for air leaks where the deer stuck their heads through the wall?
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
It's the holidays, everybody gets help. @Hogwildz moved to a new thread here
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/over-the-mantel-lighting-ideas.165493/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/over-the-mantel-lighting-ideas.165493/
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
We have been known to wander aimlessly from time to time..
Ok so still considering that BK princess insert. I looked at the Woodstock ideal steel but it is too tall to install in my fire place at 29.5" though it seems to be a really nice stove. I think it is down to the BK princess, Osburn 2400, or some people have been talking about the Englander 30NC I think. I actually have some oak and gum rounds that have been sitting for 3 years which should be fairly dry by now. I like snatching wood that the power company drops by the sides of the road......should have had my maul to find out about that gum before I took it home.. So I think that is what I have whittled it down to.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Still doesn't seam like you have solved your wood issues. BTW wood in rounds dose not really dry.. letting rounds sit will cause them to rot. The tree uses its bark to keep the moisture in.. weather the tree is dead or alive. If your going to purchase an epa stove you may want to do alot more reading on the wood aspect
There are 2 things that drive your stove. 1 is the draft that is created by the stove pipe and the other is the fuel your putting in it. If eather is subpar the stove just doesn't work right.
SuperJ
Feeling the Heat
That
That's a pretty wide spread of stove options. The BK is kinda high end, and the Englander is a capable budget stove. Both meet their respective expectations, but are totally different in what they offer. It's unusually to see someone cross shopping. At least one person @Highbeam around here has both a BK (house) and NC30 (workshop) though and seems to like both them.
That's a pretty wide spread of stove options. The BK is kinda high end, and the Englander is a capable budget stove. Both meet their respective expectations, but are totally different in what they offer. It's unusually to see someone cross shopping. At least one person @Highbeam around here has both a BK (house) and NC30 (workshop) though and seems to like both them.
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
Rounds will dry without rotting, unless it's birch or beech with the bark left on in the elements.
Yes most of my rounds are under my deck I built that is waterproof underneath. Rounds are red oak and hard to split gum. I know the stoves I listed are all over the place in price and function. One thing I am certain of is I am going to line my chimney with an insulated liner. My buddy up the street Bob has a small quadrafire stove which he burns greener oak in and it seems to do fine. I either need a small stove to fit partially in the firebox, (hearth is only 17" to the wall but entire floor is ceramic tiles) or I need an insert stove. I understand that I would be losing efficiency if I burn higher moisture content wood. I just wanted the ability to have those higher efficiencies if I get everything right but if I am going to have more problems if I don't I may not want that headache. So maybe the tube stove is right for me, if they burn hotter that insulated stack should heat right up and I should get proper draft really early in the burn and that has to be more efficient than my smoke dragon slammer stove.
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
Agreed. I have 1/2 acre lot and keep about 7 or 8 cords on hand and am actively seeking more. I stay about a year ahead. IMHO, while the 3 yr plan is ideal, 12 months of good drying time will be fine for most hardwood. Where it gets tricky is if you have oak or wood split on the big side-that will take longer. If you are only burning 1 cord a yr, you only need 3 cords or so. Not really taking up much more space. Here’s my stack on a warmer day. There are several rows behind the front row you see here.
So question with the cold snap (-6f) coming here to southern MN next weekend.
So like others I’ve experienced a lot of coaling with oak and the moisture reading says anywhere from 20-25% on 2 year season oak. Right now I’m cutting wood for future seasons and I am wondering in my princess, if I allow hardwood to dry for 3+ years and get the moisture down to 15% has any one else been able to run the stove 3/4 throttle and in 3 days not have so many glowing coals that it impedes the stove capacity. The coals only give off about 1/3 the heat.
When burning pine at full throttle there is no substantial coaling. So should I cut oak or pine? I’ve got both.
In my 2,200 split level I need to run 3/4 throttle at 8f and below to have a happy wife. Or I could run cheap natual gas on my 97% efficient furnace and let the stove run at 1/2 throttle cruise and be fine with oak but that doesn’t give me the satisfaction of knowing I’m heating my own house with the fruits of my labor.
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So like others I’ve experienced a lot of coaling with oak and the moisture reading says anywhere from 20-25% on 2 year season oak. Right now I’m cutting wood for future seasons and I am wondering in my princess, if I allow hardwood to dry for 3+ years and get the moisture down to 15% has any one else been able to run the stove 3/4 throttle and in 3 days not have so many glowing coals that it impedes the stove capacity. The coals only give off about 1/3 the heat.
When burning pine at full throttle there is no substantial coaling. So should I cut oak or pine? I’ve got both.
In my 2,200 split level I need to run 3/4 throttle at 8f and below to have a happy wife. Or I could run cheap natual gas on my 97% efficient furnace and let the stove run at 1/2 throttle cruise and be fine with oak but that doesn’t give me the satisfaction of knowing I’m heating my own house with the fruits of my labor.
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Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
3years + is best for oak. I heat 2666sf and have no coal issues. I could not run at 3/4 throttle if I wanted to. Coal issues are either from impatience & reloading too early, or tossing split after split on before the entire load of fuel is mostly exhausted, subpar wood dryness, or both.
Poor drat can also be a cause. If you have to burn at 3/4 or 1/2 open full time, you're expecting too much from the stove, or there is something else wrong.
Allowing the oak to dry 3 years should show a difference.
Poor drat can also be a cause. If you have to burn at 3/4 or 1/2 open full time, you're expecting too much from the stove, or there is something else wrong.
Allowing the oak to dry 3 years should show a difference.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Even with excellent fuel and chimney, many of us get coaling problems when trying to get too much heat from the stove. Not a coincidence that this problem is the worst in cold weather. See as hogz says, not waiting long enough between reloads is the reason and we do this because after that initial burst of heat from the fresh load there is a long period of low output burning where just the coals burn down. Well, low output is fine if you don’t need much heat but when you do need more heat you must throw in more wood on top of the low output coals. This repeats until you have a stove full of coals and a falling thermometer. People even scoop out the hot coals to make room for more fresh wood.
This is a common problem for those of us that use the top end of our stove's output range.
This is a common problem for those of us that use the top end of our stove's output range.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
@WhitePlatinum , i think you are missing the point here. Epa stoves are tested with fuel around 20% mc. The manufacturers, all of them, are currently building stoves to run on fuel at 20% or less moisture content.
If you aren't willing to get your fuel dry, you are not going to be happy with your current production stove.
You could also fill your corvette with 83 octane to take your kid to dialysis and get the job done; but at stop lights you will be routinely embarassed by pimply faced kids flogging ratty amc pacers.
Fwiw i have eight cords stashed on a 8500 sqft lot with 1200 sqft of house footprint, plus a 16x20 deck, a 8x12 toolshed, i got room for croquette, a reasonable front yard, 4 bbq cookers, 6 parking spaces and i harvested >5 gallons of raspberries last summer. And a 16 foot boat.
Reading over this thread i dont see that you have enough game to be a happy wood burner and a good neighbor at the same time.
What _exactly_ are you trying to achieve?
Ill go have some more happy juice. Apologies to all if this is an over the top response.
If you aren't willing to get your fuel dry, you are not going to be happy with your current production stove.
You could also fill your corvette with 83 octane to take your kid to dialysis and get the job done; but at stop lights you will be routinely embarassed by pimply faced kids flogging ratty amc pacers.
Fwiw i have eight cords stashed on a 8500 sqft lot with 1200 sqft of house footprint, plus a 16x20 deck, a 8x12 toolshed, i got room for croquette, a reasonable front yard, 4 bbq cookers, 6 parking spaces and i harvested >5 gallons of raspberries last summer. And a 16 foot boat.
Reading over this thread i dont see that you have enough game to be a happy wood burner and a good neighbor at the same time.
What _exactly_ are you trying to achieve?
Ill go have some more happy juice. Apologies to all if this is an over the top response.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
I dont think your off in saying this at all. I have 2 posts in this thread stating the same thing.. this person is trying to figure out how to burn unseasoned wood, instead of putting forth the effort in trying to season the wood he is going to burn..
Its astonishing that somebody's actually going to pay 3 Grand for a EPA stove and try to run unseasoned wood in it.
As i stated in post 41. If you put subpar wood in the stove it will run subpar
I believe that original goal was to increase efficiency
If the OP did any reading burning wet wood is not efficient.. it takes BTUs to get the moisture out of the wood there for increasing the amount of wood needed for heating.
To the OP .... Really theres not alot of work involved in seasoning wood.. mother nature does it for you..
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