'fess up now, how much of a mess is it??

[ketoret]

I'm just hanging on the edge of getting a stove, and still have noobie-style questions, like....

how much mess are we talking about here? i read of ash drawers and shovels and buckets and think of ...ooblik! we are not the neatest folk in the country to begin with, so another source of mess would rot certain socks in our family. i know, there is method in everything, and method is learned, but some kind of idea - all the gallery photos with stoves show the rooms surgically clean. makes one suspicious.....

 

[swestall]

With wood heat you get a bit of mess, nothing that folks can't live with. I even knew a compulsive cleaner who burned wood, they spent time cleaning up after each loading, ash removal. If you ask people you know, you'll most likely find some woodburners. You can see for yourself what they experience.
Everyone here thinks its worth the effort....

 

[kalevi]

The thing with a fireplace is that you will get little bits of bark, wood, ash, ash dust. You have to clean up lightly every day. After lighting the fire and leaving the door ajar, I use a dustpan and broom to round up any bits of wood around the fireplace insert and where I keep the wood. This takes about 30 seconds. I use a dustpan and hand brush to clean up the small amount of ash & charcoal that always seems to be around the door. Again, takes about 30 seconds. By this time, the fire is probably starting to roar so I close the door, get a beer, sit back on the couch near the fire and read while it steadily gets warmer. In a little while the cat joins me.

 

[ClydesdaleBurner]

I was slightly concerned about the "mess factor" too, as this is my first year burning. I ended up buying a little 2 gallon shop vac (I suppose a dustbuster would be fine, but I like to over do things). So once a day or everyother day I pull the little vac out of the closest and vacuum for about 15 seconds. That's it. It really doesn't make as much of a mess as I thought it would.

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, The warmth far outweighs the mess. There is no way to avoid the wood chips, barkand ash around the stove but t sweeps up easily. BTW, did you findyour non chinese stove yet? Hope so, and when does winter end there? Just curious.

Jim

 

[Beanscoot]

Actually it's probably no messier at all. I have a wood box on one side of the stove, a kindling box on the other, and the shovel, poker and brush neatly next to the stove. The bucket only comes in when it's ash removal time. And with the stove you can immediately dispose of papers, cardboard, bits of wrappers, bacon grease soaked paper towels (well maybe you don't have that problem) etc. that are constantly being generated in the kitchen. So in some ways it helps keep the house tidier.

Ooblik?

 

[billb3]

1 kid. (out of diapers)

if you're a clumsy oaf, maybe two kids.


If you've gota a mastiff and the wall slings can stay there for a day or two a stove will be a piece of cake.

 

[Lignums]

I have 4 kids ranging from 6 to 11 months, a little dust and smallish bark or what have you is nothing compared to the kids.

 

[bmwloco]

I love a wood stove, and I've used them off and on for over 20 years. I'm also a bit of a geek, too, so I have a different take.

I keep a pail by the fireplace. Ashes go there. Once near full - into the composter in the back yard. The worms don't seem to mind, and after a couple years, you get some of the best muck for gardening you can find.

As for the occasional "uh oh" coming out of the stove, a big river rock from the *unknown" River where I used to lifeguard as a kid. It does a great job of handling hot coals that inadvertently fall out.

A iRobot Roomba Discovery keeps the ash in check. I roll it through once a week or so. I use an old paintbrush to sweep up other muck, prior, careful not to get it too close to the stove and melt.

Sure, there's a little dust, a little work, but heating with wood is like no other warmth.

Having written that, I'm going home. It's going down to single digits tonight, and I want to get wood in before it gets dark.

 

[ketoret]

it's been the coldest winter in 50 years (getting down in the '20s - don't laugh,, you canadians!. remember, israel was invented before they discovered insulation.), and the outlook is for more of the same, mostly dry, cold air from the desert. winter ends here same as everyplace else, when it decides to get warm. I can usually plan on not needing heat by April. Jan - March are the coldest months.

im not going to buy a chinese stove, I don't think. This is my reasoning: if you buy a kid a cheap telescope or bicycle, then they won't get much enjoyment out of it, and end up thinking telescopes and bicycles are dumb. If i want my transition to wood to work, I feel like I should invest in a good stove. I found a store that sells Jotul here, but I do suspect they'll be 'way overpriced. The models they have are the f3 TD and the 500 (also the 602, but i think it too small). There's a store in Turkey that sells Morso, they have some nice styles. I written ti see if they ship to Israel, but have not heard back - maybe they only speak turkish.

my evil side says, buy a cheap stove, see if you like the whole I'm-a-lumberjack scene, and then decide to invest. i mean, the macho thing is great, foolin with things like mauls (i like that, sounds tough), axes, chain saws, and i already own some flannel shirts. so it should work, no?

 

[ketoret]

btw, i have 8 kids. i think. our standard of living is chaos.

 

[ketoret]

beans, you're right. bacon grease is not our problem (one less thing to worry about) you never heard of ooblik? don't canadians read dr. seus? talk about culturally deprived!

jb - what is the approx. going price for a jotul 500. i assume you're ecstatic about yours?

 

[ansehnlich1]

Well here in Pa. I would say the amount of mess from burning the wood is nothin' in comparison to the thought of payin' $2000 to heat this place this winter

 

[Backwoods Savage]

(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/acces.html)

Heating with wood is not all that messy if you are careful. As for the ashes, we never had a particular problem but recently we bought an ash holder from the good folks at Woodstock. My wife is the one who does the ashes and she wasn't sold at first. Now she loves it and wonders why we didn't get this sooner. Takes away almost all the mess with ashes for sure.

Sawdust and bits of bark, etc. clean up easier than cleaning up after someone has eaten popcorn. Just a little hand vac does the job in seconds.

Probably the biggest mess we have is winter boots. We build a large raised hearth when we installed our new stove last summer. We purposely built it large:

1. We don't have to stoop to put the wood in or take the ashes out.

2. We have room to stack a day's worth of wood near the stove.

3. It makes an ideal place to dry winter boots and gloves. Not sure what we'd do if the kids were still home. Hard to believe we have that many boots and gloves! That is probably the biggest mess we have with wood heat.

btw, we have not had a furnace for 30 years. Wood heat is our sole source of heating the house.

 

[babalu87]

If you keep the wood in a direct path to the stove the mess is really minimal.
Floor type helps too, carpet makes it worse. I sure wish I put hardwood in the living room like we did the rest of the house.

 

[Girl]

A quick sweep & light dusting, is part of the ritual weather it needs it or not. It's an added 20 seconds in the AM & PM to sweep, a quick dust of the stoves outside in the AM when it's cool.
It all adds to the self fulfillment of keeping the family warm.

 

[babalu87]

Tip on sweeping the hearth and around the stove.

Open the door and get a HOT fast draft going, when sweeping much of the ash, dust goes right into the door and up the chimney. I did this once by accident while I was getting a roaring fire going one morning, amazed at how the stuff bee lines for the open door.

 

[ketoret]

stove w/vacuum cleaner function! what a great discovery!

 

[wahoowad]

It is messy for me.

Some of the the ash that escapes becomes airborne, especially when I am emptying excess ash from the firebox. I am exceedingly gentle when I empty the shovel into the ash pail but I still get a puff of light ash that floats up into the air. It makes for a pretty dusty living room especially when the sunlight streams in during the daytime and I can see how bad it is on the table surfaces. The ceiling fan exacerbates the problem and helps distribute the airborne ash. I recently bought an air purifier to help capture some of the dust (cat hair/dander/ash) and will be evaluating it this weekend and next.

 

[Wolves-Lower]

I think it is messy as all get out!
But that suits me fine.
I have to much Old German Lady in me. I love to sweep, in fact it is practically a hobby of mine.
SWEEP....ahhhhhhh

 

[ketoret]

wolves, if you're ever in my neighborhood, drop in for a coffee and a quick sweep, ok?

 

[bmwloco]

I agree and second what babalu87 wrote. My old VC Resolute II sucks like a hoover when she's cranking and the door is cracked.

It was 11F last night. I had the Resolute at 600F. The Stirling engine fan was blowing hot air hard. The dogs, two 16 year old chocolate labs, Abbey and Breton, were dead to the world asleep and sprawled out like rag dolls in front of the stove. I was talking to my spouse, "she who must be obeyed" was unresponsive. I looked over at her at the end of the couch. She was sprawled out and dead asleep like the pooches.

Mission accomplished.

I fell asleep too. At 3am I put more wood in; the dogs didn't move when I opened the door.

 

[mayhem]

I figure the mess my wood burning makes nets me about $2000 in oil that I'm not burning in the winter. So long as I don't burn my house down I really don't mind clening up after myself.

I have to sweep the little bark chips and debris from around the side load door 3-4 times a day (basically whenever I load it) and splitting makes a mess outside...essentially wherever you put wood, or move it through will get dirty and you'll have to clean it periodically.

Ashes can be quite messy, but after a couple messes you'll figure out the cleanest method of managing them.

Summary...its messier than not burning wood, yes...you wouldn't want to do it in a hospital emergency room. Is it so messy that you can't deal with it? No. Tending a wood stove adds about a ahlf hour to my regular day, including cleanup.

 

[bjorn773]

My stove is in the basement, so the mess is "contained" down there. I drop wood in through a window well, that can throw bits and pieces around. Like all the rest, there is a bit more daily cleaning involved, but compared to the cost of other fuel sources it's a small price to pay. The dust in the house is increased a bit. My furnace filter clogs up more frequently(ductwork used to distribute heat). You will learn your own technique and it will just become part of daily life.

 

[RedRanger]

Yes it`s messy,but a money saver. Our insert is located in the rec-room on the lower floor. The mess and dust is a "sore Point" in this household. I want another insert on the third floor,but the better half doesn`t want the mess!! Doesn`t look like I`m gonna win that battle anytime soon. Too bad-there is nothing more comfortable than wood heat.