sometimes we fire up the stove and a little bit later we have to go to town or decide to go to dinner. Do you guys just shut the door secure and leave or put the fire out or what?
Do you leave the house with the stove "running"?
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I don't ever leave a woodstove unattended without the loading door securely latched shut. Ever. Not even to answer the phone or hit the head...not ever. Other than that, with the door shut and the primary air appropriately adjusted, I'll head for the airport or wherever. No worries. Rick
Once we get the stove up to temperature and engage the catalytic combustor we have no qualms about leaving the house to go do some errands. Safety was a big factor when we selected our stoves; they are nice pieces of equipment and they're installed properly. We burn dry wood, keep combustibles at safe distances from them, and we have the chimneys cleaned yearly. You'll get more confident after you've used your's for a little longer.
I sleep in the bedroom right over it with it burning all night so leaving it burning when I go somewhere is not a problem. But I won't go to bed or leave the house with the clothes dryer running.
We leave the house for hours at a stretch and don't think a thing about it because we put a lot off effort into installing it in such a way that we met or, most often, exceeded the most stringent safety requirements we could find. On top of this we practice safe stove operation and make sure our chimney is cleaned regularly, examining the results to determine if we need to adjust how we're burning. Two of my kids sleep directly over the stove room and we sleep confidently knowing the fire is properly contained and operating normally.
To be somewhat specific about when we're comfortable leaving it...Like others have said we:
1. Make sure we have dampered down to at least 25% or lower (depending on conditions)
2. All doors are tightly shut
3. Secondary is fully engaged and not in danger of stalling (i.e. we won't throw fresh wood in, shut the doors tightly and then close the damper down to 25%)
4. Double check the area around the stove to be sure none of our kids (or us grown-ups) have put anything combustible where it didn't belong
Hope that helps.
To be somewhat specific about when we're comfortable leaving it...Like others have said we:
1. Make sure we have dampered down to at least 25% or lower (depending on conditions)
2. All doors are tightly shut
3. Secondary is fully engaged and not in danger of stalling (i.e. we won't throw fresh wood in, shut the doors tightly and then close the damper down to 25%)
4. Double check the area around the stove to be sure none of our kids (or us grown-ups) have put anything combustible where it didn't belong
Hope that helps.
Seeing as wood is our only source of heat and cooking the answer is yes. I know people read about fires started by wood stoves and get nervous. Believe me they either took shortcuts on installation or did not do proper maintenance. If you follow the guidelines as stated on this site you will be fine. We have burned for 40 years and are amazed at how much safer the new installation guidelines are.
Just start small by leaving a split or 2 to finish burning while you are gone. You will soon learn that the new system is safe and then you will start loading it up when you leave.
Just start small by leaving a split or 2 to finish burning while you are gone. You will soon learn that the new system is safe and then you will start loading it up when you leave.
tlhfirelion said:
I'm inferring a different angle. I think you're asking about when you light the stove and have to go somewhere
before the wood has charred and the temp has been stabilized. That's a problem. I solve it by not leaving the house until
the stove is ready to burn by itself for the next six hours or so. Sometimes, that means waiting a half hour or hour.
Whatever it is can wait. In an emergency, I'd have to improvise.
I leave the house all the time with the stove running unattended . . . I just tell it that it can't make any long distance phone calls and the cats should all be in bed by 9. 
On a serious note . . . no problems . . . I've always got the stove checked and re-checked to make sure the primary air is shut down (or mostly shut down) before I leave and the stove is either going full bore or on the downhill side and heading to coaling.
On a serious note . . . no problems . . . I've always got the stove checked and re-checked to make sure the primary air is shut down (or mostly shut down) before I leave and the stove is either going full bore or on the downhill side and heading to coaling.
I seriously thought the OP was gonna say "Well then you better go catch it!"
Once the stove is all set and primary air adjusted, I'll leave the house, go to bed, or whatever other activity I can think of that doesn't involve monitoring the stove.
Once the stove is all set and primary air adjusted, I'll leave the house, go to bed, or whatever other activity I can think of that doesn't involve monitoring the stove.
Same as above, except during the Summer, stove isn't burning but I still have to leave the house.... Just want to add, we're all talking about modern, airtight, combustion air regulated stoves.... If you should happen to have a relic that does not have gasketed doors and a method of regulating the burn via limiting the combustion air intake, you should not leave it unattended.
Yes, every day. I know that the stove is installed properly and that I'm using it properly. I have enough experience to know how the stove will behave, so I'm quite comfortable leaving it to do it's thing. We leave it burning at night when we're sleeping, as well.
It was a bit nerve wracking at first - having a hellish conflagration :gulp: burning in a metal box in one's family room is a bit disconcerting until one fully understands how the stove will behave. It does get easier as you gain knowledge and confidence.
:coolsmile:
It was a bit nerve wracking at first - having a hellish conflagration :gulp: burning in a metal box in one's family room is a bit disconcerting until one fully understands how the stove will behave. It does get easier as you gain knowledge and confidence.
:coolsmile:
snowtime said:
+1
Like snowtime, wood is our only source of heat and has been for many, many moons. Or just let me say it is all I knew as a young boy and we've burned wood for most of our married life (47 years this summer). It is just a fact of life with us and we don't give it a second though other than checking everything before leaving the house.
We check the firebox door, the draft setting and then check to make sure nothing is near the stove that could possibly fall or get close to it. We also make sure the stove is stocked up to burn for a long time when we are gone. I just hate coming home to a cold house.
The big thing you have to learn is to relax. Also, if you didn't have a wood stove you would probably heat with gas or oil. Well, that is pretty much the same thing. That is, a fire contained inside a box that gives heat so you can be comfortable in cold weather. Only now it is fed with wood rather than gas or oil. Ah, that's a good way to go!
Relax and enjoy the heat.
I lit my coal fire in early November and it has not gone out yet. I go away for a day or two at a time and just ask a neibor to fill the hopper and shake the grates a couple times for me. People leave thier oil furnaces running when they are away for days. An oil furnace is just a metal box with a flame too.
More important than leaving the house, we sleep in it with a fire going every night. (Chimney sweeping has to be a high priority.
At first I wasn't comfortable leaving the house with the stove going; but as I've learned the essentials of a clean flue and proper burning I'm all cool with it now. It's especially nice to come home to a warm stove with coals because it's a PITA to fire up from cold..................
Mine goes 24/7. Its always burning. I think I lit it 5 times since the weather changed. Don't worry, ever hear of a wood leak? :lol:
Our insert does not have a bottom block-off plate. Therefore it is not able to run, it can only walk. So I just turn the heat down to about 10%--and I never worry about it "running anywhere".. Even when I am sleeping, gone for a whole day, or just off in the woods somewhere in a delireum. :roll: It is just out of mind and out of sight--hmmm??
BrotherBart said:
Heh, funny you mention it...I don't think twice about the woodstove "running" while i'm gone or sleeping...but the clothes dryer NEVER runs while i'm gone nor is the toaster plugged in nor the wife's hair dryer/curling iron.....but the coffee pot..... :sick:
But to burn 24/7 is to leave the house sometimes with the stove running....but no longer than four hours at a stretch weather pending. :lol:
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