Easy fuel for woodburning stove?

[LuLu]

I bought a house that has a woodburning, potbelly stove in an added room. I've lived here 5 years and have built a fire in it exactly once It takes up a lot of space so I've been thinking of getting rid of it, eventually. Is there any easy way to build a fire in it? Can you use pellets or ??? Right now we're using a Reiker heater/fan but it uses a lot of electricity. The room has poor insulation in the roof

 

[savageactor7]

I wouldn't fire it up until the chimney was checked out for any obstructions. At the very least take off the flue pipe and mirror the chimney to make sure it isn't plugged up with birds nests etc. If you're confidant with the flue/chimney then why not start a small fire(s) to get use to the stove. Those pot belly stoves burn wood...I think it would be very herd to burn pellets in them.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No, I would not burn pellets in that stove. But like savage said, do check the chimney very well and also the stove while you are at it.

Those old pot bellied stoves can give you a lot of heat but they also will take a lot of wood. Whatever you do, get some good dry wood to burn if you decide to do so.


btw, welcome to the forum Lulu.

 

[LuLu]

Thanks guys! I remember once at an inn where the rooms had fireplaces, they provided pressed disks that were easy to light. Would something like this work? It's similar to a duraflame log, which I believe are no-no's for these stoves, but much smaller. Thanks - lighting a fire seems like a lot of work to a gal like me. I shoulda been a boy scout!

 

[LeonMSPT]

Ball of newspaper and a little kindling wood, a few splits, and you're good to go. Easy to build fire... I see the problem.

Man has been building fire since he lived in a cave... Woman has only been building fire since she got independent.

 

[LuLu]

haha thank you Leon

 

[bfunk13]

Get the system checked out by a professional. If everything is good.
Then join the club. My wife had zero experience with wood stoves.
We now heat the house with a catalytic wood burner. She has it down to a science
and burns all day when i am away working. I was pretty impressed the other night
when i got home. She had the house warm, and the stove running as good or better than
i could have. Its kind of a labor of love, i mean its real easy to turn up the thermostat and not deal
with any of the work that goes along with heating with wood. As you can see from reading this forum,
some of us really get into it. And not just guys.

If you do decide to use it, this is the place to learn all you need.

Brad

 

[CountryGal]

I do the fire building here. I don't think Paul has built a fire in two seasons. There was a video here last year that showed how to build a top down fire and that's all I do now. Maybe somebody has the link.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I bought a house that has a woodburning, potbelly stove in an added room. I've lived here 5 years and have built a fire in it exactly once It takes up a lot of space so I've been thinking of getting rid of it, eventually. Is there any easy way to build a fire in it? Can you use pellets or ??? Right now we're using a Reiker heater/fan but it uses a lot of electricity. The room has poor insulation in the roof

Easier than what? I wouldn't bother with pellets. They are expensive and without a turbo charger they don't burn very well.

 

[raybonz]

I do the fire building here. I don't think Paul has built a fire in two seasons. There was a video here last year that showed how to build a top down fire and that's all I do now. Maybe somebody has the link.

I found that video very informative myself and I have burned wood for many years... Gotta wonder why the USA hasn't made something similar..

Ray

 

[cmonSTART]

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

Click the "video" link on this page.

 

[Wet1]

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

Click the "video" link on this page.

Thanks for posting the link to that video. I was just trying to explain a top down fire to a coworker and I'm sure he'll find the video informative.

Then again, it might not be a bad idea for the misses to see it as well...

 

[beau5278]

Like others have said,get someone to make sure the stove and chimney are safe,if so don't be afraid to give it a try,you can't beat wood heat.I've lived in 4 houses in the past 30 years,all but 1 heated by wood,my SO had never burnt wood in her life when I met her 10 years ago,now she does a pretty fair job of keeping the place warm if I'm gone for a few days,she's still nervous about burning the fires hard if it's real cold outside but on average winter days,she does fine.