Couldn't resist anymore, but what was your longest wait?

[FatttFire]

I wanted to wait till end of October for my first fire, but I woke up this morning, the inside temp in the house was 47! Yes I like to sleep with the windows open, but I forgot to close the bedroom door! I guess I am still in summer mode! So I got home today after work, and lite the old Fisher up! Loaded it with some dry locus! Now its 75 and I am trimming out a window and sweating! I have seen a few people have fired up already, but what is the LATEST date you have started a fire?

 

[InTheRockies]

Unfortunately, our most recent winters have been terrible--starting earlier and earlier and lasting far too long. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this winter doesn't bring as much snow, but we've had an extremely short summer (and no spring to speak of). It was so cold the first 2 weeks of June and last 2 weeks of August that I was wearing jackets when venturing outside. For the past several weeks, I've been burning in the mornings--our temps are dipping down in to the 30's at night. (Our spring was non-existent and many of our fruit-bearing trees didn't bloom and aren't producing fruit this year, including my apple tree, which normally produces wonderful apples for me and deer to share.) If this year's winter is as severe as last year's (and I'm hoping it's not) we'll have snow on the valley floor within the next 3-4 weeks (ugh--I get sick of looking at and living with snow for months and months on end, especially once it's gray and dirty).

 

[chad3]

Trade you for the 33 and rainy. I've been thinking its been weird here lately, no snow, but just cold enough and damp and need to burn. Hoping we get some good fluffy stuff this year.
Chad

 

[labrador]

Started up the VC Vigilant for the first time since last April. Nice cozy heat watching the debates with my better half and the Lab and two cats vying for warmth near the stove. I expect to heat for the next two or three nights as temps go into the 40's and 30's . I am sure many moreof you have lilt up tonight.

 

[North of 60]

July :smirk:

 

[InTheRockies]

chad,

LOL, watch out. Remember the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." We got about 8 ft of snow on the valley floor last year. Like many here, I had to get up on my roof (twice) to clear snow. Some of the higher mountains got between 20-30 ft. We had snow caps on many peaks until early July. In fact, one of the highest mountains never completely lost it's snow cap (granted, it's relatively tiny now, but that will change soon). Even those who love snow, were sick of it after a while. By the end of last winter, everyone was having real problems trying to find space to pile the newly-fallen stuff that you had to keep shoveling.

 

[fossil]

July :smirk:

60 what? ;-P Stay warm. Rick

 

[myzamboni]

Typically I need to fire up on Nov. 1. The latest was Nov. 5.

Heck, we are getting our first rain, since March, tomorrow night.

 

[North of 60]

Typically I need to fire up on Nov. 1. The latest was Nov. 5.

Heck, we are getting our first rain, since March, tomorrow night.

Holy Zam, is that normal? RE: PRECIP Id imagine you have no issues of burning seasoned wood.
Whats the average coldest day in the valley in the bowells of winter?

 

[bokehman]

Typically I need to fire up on Nov. 1. The latest was Nov. 5.

Heck, we are getting our first rain, since March, tomorrow night.

Sounds like my climate (12" of rain each year). By the way how much do you burn in a season? And how big is the space you are heating?

 

[crazy_dan]

as soon as the wife gets cold and says light a fire I'm cold

 

[colebrookman]

as soon as the wife gets cold and says light a fire I'm cold

and two hours later she says I'm too hot, open the window.
Ed

 

[gpcollen1]

Even with days in the 60s and nights in the 40s here I cannot really get to burning a stove. My house has not fallen below 60 yet. My fireplace will actually warm the place up a bit downstairs at these temps when I burn it.

I hold off til it gets a bit chillier and just use the electric heat for now if i need to. Have not turned it on yet. Actually, still have a dehumidifier running downstairs in the family room that is giving some heat too.

Stove should get crankin by the end of the month.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

It's not like I light the stove and it never goes out. Even in December there ar warm days where I'll let it die down and we soak up some solar heat in the day. That said- I've had 2 fires this year- one of which was on a fairly warm night, but I had a cold and it was comforting. Last year I started burning regularly much earlier.

My heat came on for a few mins this morning. I could have burned last night.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Last year was an unusually warm fall and it was into October before we got it going.

Our fruit did not pan out this year either due to a freeze at the wrong time last spring. Got a wake up call when we went to buy some fruit. Hard to believe the prices!

 

[crazy_dan]

as soon as the wife gets cold and says light a fire I'm cold

and two hours later she says I'm too hot, open the window.
Ed

how did you know that

 

[Girl]

Last year I think I held out till a couple of days before Thanksgiving with maybe 4 small fires before that when friends came over with little ones, have to keep them cozy.
I have my 3rd small hot fire going this season, first one was the break in after chimney cleaning.

 

[myzamboni]

Typically I need to fire up on Nov. 1. The latest was Nov. 5.

Heck, we are getting our first rain, since March, tomorrow night.

Holy Zam, is that normal? RE: PRECIP Id imagine you have no issues of burning seasoned wood.
Whats the average coldest day in the valley in the bowells of winter?

We last had rain on March 15th. Last year we went from April to October without rain, so fairly normal.

We don't have the bowels of winter here. A really cold day here means we wake up to temps in the mid-20s (~-4C)

 

[myzamboni]

Typically I need to fire up on Nov. 1. The latest was Nov. 5.

Heck, we are getting our first rain, since March, tomorrow night.

Sounds like my climate (12" of rain each year). By the way how much do you burn in a season? And how big is the space you are heating?

We get about 15"/year.

I burned ~1.25 cords last year. Mix of almond, pine, and dimensional lumber. House is ~1200 sq/ft but ~200 sq/ft benefits very little from the stove (master bedroom, which is fine since I like sleeping in a cool room).

 

[bokehman]

A really cold day here means we wake up to temps in the mid-20s (~-4C)

-4C is the coldest temperature ever recorded here.

I burned ~1.25 cords last year. Mix of almond, pine, and dimensional lumber. House is ~1200 sq/ft but ~200 sq/ft benefits very little from the stove (master bedroom, which is fine since I like sleeping in a cool room).

I've just bought a cord of almond. I've not burned it before. Last year we were burning pine, olive and oak.

 

[scfa99]

I broke down and burned the last 2 nights. I swore I would wait until November but I am weak and gave into the cries of "I'm cold lets turn on the furnace".

 

[Girl]

I broke down and burned the last 2 nights. I swore I would wait until November but I am weak and gave into the cries of "I'm cold lets turn on the furnace".

NOOOOOOO! Not the furnace LOL

 

[swestall]

Thanksgiving: I really try to make that my starting point. It does get cold, in fact last night it was in the low 50's in the house. BUT it is a tradition so I will try to hold out to Thanksgiving.

After that, we'll keep it going even if its just some hot ash to start off, until the Spring-somewhere between April-May.

I'm ready for that smell when I walk into the house; that warmth and feeling only a wood fire gives you. It is part of me and my family. Heck, we've been at this for many generations now. All that's changed is that the stoves have really improved. The wonderful environment that we enjoy has been the same since childhood. I hope my son carry's it on.

 

[myzamboni]

A really cold day here means we wake up to temps in the mid-20s (~-4C)

-4C is the coldest temperature ever recorded here.

I burned ~1.25 cords last year. Mix of almond, pine, and dimensional lumber. House is ~1200 sq/ft but ~200 sq/ft benefits very little from the stove (master bedroom, which is fine since I like sleeping in a cool room).

I've just bought a cord of almond. I've not burned it before. Last year we were burning pine, olive and oak.

You will like the almond. It is very similar to oak. I burned a little olive 3 years ago when I just had a fireplace. I liked it and would love to get my hands on more.

 

[labrador]

I have been burning wood since childhood also. Nothing like the smell of wood burning coming from a chimney. My son however, remembers as a teenager long days of splitting and stacking cords of firewood. He is now forty. He has given in though and installed a corn stove this summer. The price of oil changed his mind about a different source of heat.