2026/2027 season prep - what are you doing?

[VRB Farm]

2026/2027 season prep - what all are you doing?

I'm curious what others are doing to prep for the upcoming season.

My setup modifications for this year are as follows:
2440 Cat C / 6" double wall pipe inside
-Full chimney and stove cleaning complete
-Added 3' exterior section and guy support to the chimney - my installer apparently didn't read the part where 90's deduct from the overall vertical height. I added 3' last year which helped but didn't fully irradicate the back buffing. Hopeful this year the draft will be where it needs to be to get slower burns without the "cabin scent air freshener"
-re-gasketed the doors, griddle, and ash pan
- sealed most of the joints of the interior stove pipe.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I swept the chimney in May.. I'll do a clean out of the stove. I may do the griddle and door gaskets depending on how they look. My cat started to puke in the spring so I'll pop a new one in. Other than that not much else to do but wait till the temps drop.

Roughly 45 days till the first burn

 

[Eman85]

Been in the 90's here so not many thoughts about wood burning. When it cools down I'll run a brush through the chimney and I should be god to go. I have plenty of wood ready and plenty cut that I need to split along with plenty that needs cutting.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Swept the chimney and cleaned inside of insert reasonably well in late spring. Currently on my max for firewood storage in my stacks, so for better for worse, there’s nothing for me to do at this point except wait until cold weather.

 

[bigealta]

Got to do a chimney sweep.
Will load up the "wood room" probably in Oct. after a nice stretch of Dry, Low humidity weather.
Also in Oct., Will drape a clear shower curtain liner or 2 over the 1st stacks to be burnt this year.

 

[Eman85]

Lucky me, storm came through Sat. so whether I want to or not I had to fire up the chainsaws. Plenty of firewood on the sides of the roads in town going to the landfill.

 

[BTSS]

Northern Vermont here. I did my preseason check yesterday and a huge chunk of my cat fell out. So it looks like I'll be getting a new one of those.

Last year I had a local stove guy come out and do some tune up work. I'm hoping that leads to a less stressful burn season, I had issues with my stove getting too hot.

I also spent the summer putting in tons of work to the house's insulation. Added some cellulose and went from R-20 to R-60 in the attic. Air sealed the attic and the basement. That should help keep the warm air in and the cold air out.

Chimney looks good, wood is stacked, leaves are turning. It's almost showtime.

 

[VRB Farm]

Northern Vermont here. I did my preseason check yesterday and a huge chunk of my cat fell out. So it looks like I'll be getting a new one of those.

Last year I had a local stove guy come out and do some tune up work. I'm hoping that leads to a less stressful burn season, I had issues with my stove getting too hot.

I also spent the summer putting in tons of work to the house's insulation. Added some cellulose and went from R-20 to R-60 in the attic. Air sealed the attic and the basement. That should help keep the warm air in and the cold air out.

Chimney looks good, wood is stacked, leaves are turning. It's almost showtime.

I have been very pleased with my Midwest Hearth Metal cat in my Encore, 2 season on it so far.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

I did a clean out at the end of last season. Replaced my door gaskets over the summer. Just lit the first fire. Getting down to 35 tonight up here

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Cleaned the chimney and stove pipe and inside of my stove, a few weeks ago. Installed new fire bricks. I had a corner of my door gasket come loose, so I glued it back on. I had a small fire this morning and I' m going to make another small one in the morning. Supposed to get 36 in the morning and then a nice sunny day in the mid 60's.

 

[bigealta]

I did a Chimney sweep yesterday. Was happy that after waiting 2 years the soot was less than in the past. I definitely was burning drier wood last year.
Cleaned the inside of the f400.
Got new single wall pipe as the old ones rusted from wind driven rain that dripped down past the cap.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I did a clean out at the end of last season. Replaced my door gaskets over the summer. Just lit the first fire. Getting down to 35 tonight up here

So
How was it for the people still waiting.. lol

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

So
How was it for the people still waiting.. lol

Great. Fired her up no issues. Loaded it before bed around 830. Cut the air all the way back. For me thats roughly 90% closed not fully pinned. Had a full box of coals at 6 cat was at 450. Stirred em got the stove back to temp and tossed 3 more splits on. Cat fired back up and I let it burn out from there. House went from 62 to 68 and stayed there all night. Won't be cold enough here for the foreseeable future so now I have to wait. But man did I miss the comfort of the stove.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

So
How was it for the people still waiting.. lol

It was also a nice reminder I need to get on top of finishing my summer project

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Great. Fired her up no issues. Loaded it before bed around 830. Cut the air all the way back. For me thats roughly 90% closed not fully pinned. Had a full box of coals at 6 cat was at 450. Stirred em got the stove back to temp and tossed 3 more splits on. Cat fired back up and I let it burn out from there. House went from 62 to 68 and stayed there all night. Won't be cold enough here for the foreseeable future so now I have to wait. But man did I miss the comfort of the stove.

I definitely have a few more weeks ahead of me