First burn in the Super 27!

[Cynnergy]

Hello all,

Been awhile since I last checked in. We had our first burn last weekend after we finally got the chimney installed, along with the new shake roof. It was relatively chilly and raining, so we decided to give it a go. All went well, although it took ages to get the draft going (probably due to our amateur fire-starting skills) and the moisture out of the firebricks - it even dripped a bit of water on the hearth! We were using my dad's 1.5 yr old split and stacked doug fir, so I'm pretty sure the wood was dry and the water was from the firebricks. Only got it up to 400F with a small load the first day. We lit another fire the next day and it took off a lot sooner - no dripping that time, although there was still a bit of condensation on the inside of the door when it was warming up. Not too much smell and no smoke from the paint - we got it up to 625F on the second day according to the thermo on top.

Despite my worries, we weren't baked out of the place either (our cabin is about 900 sq ft). It got a bit warm in the stove room but not unbearable. Hubby even requested keeping the door closed after getting cold and wet out fishing! We will have to work on circulation though - I'm still thinking about cutting a hole in the wall between the kitchen and living room to get some circular air flow. Thanks to all of the Hearth members for your help so far!

Pic for you:



PS. Yes, I know the kindling shouldn't be there, oops. Will do better next time.

 

[BrotherBart]

Very nice. Enjoy.

 

[begreen]

Looks great. How's the fishing?

 

[Grisu]

Congrats! I am sure you will like the Super. Before doing any drastic measures to improve air flow I would place a small desktop fan on the floor in the corridor (?) as far away as possible from the door and blow on low cold air INTO the stove room. That will force warm air out of the room and into the rest of the cabin. Works well for many burners here.

 

[PapaDave]

Very nice!
I don't think I'd worry too much about that kindling. Keep an eye on how warm it gets, and maybe move it just off the hearth. I wish I could keep kindling near the stove.
The dogs turn it into living room mulch.

 

[begreen]

Store the kindling in a box with a lid or an old copper wash tub.

 

[PapaDave]

Well, that makes sense.

 

[1750]

Well, that makes sense.

That looks great! I love that slat.

I need a new floor and that one looks super. What is it?

Why is the kindling a problem?

 

[Dix]

Sweet !!

Rock it

 

[Sprinter]

Even in BC, on the coast I imagine your climate is fairly mild in the winter, so you may be building a lot of small fires for that space. Just be sure that those fires are hot enough to keep the secondaries firing and the flue above creosote levels and you'll be good.

I would encourage you to get a moisture meter just to be confident of your wood in the future, although I would think that 1-1/2 years would be adequate for fir if properly protected and stacked.

Nothing like coming back to a warm cabin after a cold day out fishing, eh?

 

[Cynnergy]

Thanks all for the advice! Fishing has been good - lots of pinks around this year so we've got a good amount in the freezer. Some think other salmon taste better, but I'm just happy to take what we can get. Caught one sockeye and about six coho too - we can't keep those (not enough around), so we let them all go. Most got away unharmed, but I think one of the coho didn't make it - it went belly up and started sinking .

I am planning on a lot of small fires, but it didn't actually get that hot in the cabin even with a full-ish load, so the uninsulated floor and attic might actually be a good thing . Ditto the wooden sash window in the kitchen that we can't get closed (internal mechanism is broken and we have no idea how to close it without breaking the glass - maybe it's worth a punt on the DIY forum for ideas).

We actually managed an overnight burn without even really trying this weekend, so that's great. We'll see how this winter goes and keep experimenting with the wood type and load sizes. I've got some hemlock in the pile too, and might try some alder if we can find some that's dry enough (there are some snags around but I have a feeling they're pretty rotten). Our neighbours down-island cut down a maple two years ago that I've been eyeing up for overnight burns, but that's probably will still too green for this year and maybe even next given what I've read on the forums.

I do have a moisture meter and it was handy for when we were installing the floor - locally grown and milled Western White Pine stained and oiled with Osmo oil, which is a really soft wood so I am expecting it to get 'character' pretty fast. The meter seems to not be working now though, so hopefully it just needs a new battery and then I can start playing with it again .

 

[Sprinter]

Mmm, salmon

 

[begreen]

Pinks are running down here too. Fresh local Pacific salmon is like fish candy.

 

[Cynnergy]

A local caught a 61 lb spring (king) salmon in the Tyee Pool last week in Campbell River: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...+Chinook+salmon+seen+years/8787692/story.html

That thing could feed hubby and me for a year! Don't know how you would cook it though - can you spit roast a fish? Apparently the big ones don't taste very good anyways (at least that's how I console myself).

 

[begreen]

Whoa! LOL Spit roasted salmon.