Hello! just want to introduce myself

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MountainStoveGuy

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Jan 23, 2006
3,665
Boulder County
Nice to find a forum that relates to my industry. I am starting to think i have a fever wanting to talk stoves on my day off.
Ryan
 
Welcome...lots of folks on this forum have that same fever. I went skiing last week. On the way up to the top, I was looking at all the pretty snow covered scenery, watching all of the nice trees go by, white birch, oak, maple, etc, and wondered how many BTU's I could get out of each one!

I also have a Heritage. Maybe you can give me some pointers. I'm new to the soapstone material and still working out some kinks. I love it's heat holding abilities, but am having trouble getting long burn times. How long of a burn are you getting out of your stove?
 
My stove burns about 4-5 hours with the local pine that i get here. Then of course the soapstone heats for about the same time frame. I have a 20 foot tall chimney so i burn mine not quite all the way open. It pulls to hard wide open. Manufactures rated burn times arent that realalistic IMO. But my heritage does heat my 1800 square foot house easy. And i live at 9000'. How long are you getting? how big and how tall is your chimney? If its oversized it can chew through the wood pretty fast.
Ryan
 
I'm at sea level in coastal CT. My stove is in the basement of my raised ranch, single wall pipe with a 90 degree elbow to the thimble, then exterior class A chimney is 18'. I'm figuring that I have just the bare minimum requirement of 13' for chimney height due to the elbow. I plan on changing it to double wall with a less harsh 45 degree angle to the wall next season. The house is 1200 sq ft on the main floor and 800 in the basement where the stove is.

As far as what I'm getting on a wide open burn time, I guess I can't really give an accurate number. I've been a bit of a chicken so far since this is a new setup for me. My wood is a mix of hard woods, and some isn't as seasoned as I would like. With the combo of the new setup and semi-green wood, I've been just throwing on about 3 logs at a time to ensure more complete combustion. At most, I've filled the firebox about 60%. I'm just starting to get the hang of this stove. I get it up to about 450, and then start playing with the air intake. There's some debate on how well my stove drafts. If I burn it wide open, I'm adding logs every 30 minutes. If I shut the air down even a 1/3, the temp on the stack drops off rather quickly, but the soapstone holds its temp. I did my best burn yet last night. Got the soapstone up to 450, downstairs was cooking and upstairs read 66. I only keep my house at 62, so 66 is warm for me. I don't get how people can keep their houses at 70 degrees. I wouldn't be able to sleep. Anyway, I threw on 3 splits at 11:00, turned the air down maybe 1/2, went to bed, and while the fire was long gone, the stove was still warm at 8:00 this morning. I don't remember hearing the heat come on last night.

Next year, once I've confirmed from a chimney sweep that my setup is not a creosote builder, and I know my wood is 2 seasons old, I plan to be much more aggressive.

Do you have the blower on your stove? I'm planning on adding that next year.
 
In my opinion, blowers arent worth it on free standing stoves, a celing fan does a much better job.

Now, from my experence, basement installs can be challenging. Basements are negeative pressure areas and can create havioc with a wood stove. I would definatly go to double wall black, but probably wouldnt mess with two 45's. I would add at least another 4' section of class A instead. I dont know much about sea level venting, but that install woundt ever work in my altitude. We count every 90 degree of angles as a deduction of 5' of pipe. 16' is the minumum stoves work at my altitude. It sounds like your stove is working just fine to me. When it gets real cold outside, and that exposed pipe cools, thats when you will get the creosote. Around here you have to build a chase around it and insulate it.

My stove runs in the 450- 500 degree range.
Ryan
 
Thanks for the info. I've already confirmed that I don't need a chase for an insulated chimney in my area. Teens are about as cold as we get. I took a peek up there last week and didn't see any buildup. I was thinking about switching to the 45's because I took the stove pipe apart last month and found buildup in the section that goes from the stove to the 90 degree elbow. I just figured that it would not accumulate as much if I had it setup at a softer angle. I'm just going to run it as is for the rest of the season and then adjust from there.
 
wow, i have managed to make 60 somthing posts in 4 days, i think im having fun. I should remember this the next time i think about changing jobs. My boss thinks im nuts surfing this forum all day on my days off, and at work for that matter. I dont feel as bad doing it at work since its work releated. HMmmm i wonder when the IT guy is going to block me. My wife and i had a baby recently and we are both only working 3 days a week, so i feel like i get to work a little, even though its free, through this forum :D Im totally addicted to this forum.
Ryan

o yea, now is a good time to apologize for my typing/spelling skills. Simply i dont have any.
 
Welcome aboard. I'm a newbie on this forum although I have been lurking for about a week.
I have a woodstock fireview soap on order.
What part of Conn are you from? I am from Bridgeport originally.
Have a good one!
 
I live out west, it seams that alot of the memebers here are on the east coast. I live in a small mountain town in Colorado called Allenspark. POP. 60
Ryan
 
Oh my god they've connected Allenspark to the web? Hurry honey you won't belive this......
 
Hmm my image tags dont work in this forum software what am i doing wrong?
here is what im inputting
[Hearth.com] Hello! just want to introduce myself
 
Blizzard of ought three? Yeh I remember that one. I was stuck at my house for three days.


I'm from longmont originaly, used to four wheel at Camp Dick all the time. You mountain folks are crazy livin up there
 
.. expecially crazy to commute to boulder everyday. I like to ski up at camp dick. To tell you the truth, i love it up here. I can do what i want when i want, and no neighbors to bother me. LOL. The flip side is, you want bread and your out. Better bust out the flour and water.
Ryan
 
ever notice Us coloradoans use up and down as directions to get somewhere! These eastern folks don't know what mountains are.. I can See a fourteener from my front yard!
 
I live at the base of longs and meeker, you can say i have a fourteener in my window, heck i climb longs and meeker right from the house. This state is beautifull. No matter how many time i look out side im in awe of the beauty around me, any time of the year.
Ryan
 
welcome to the wonderful world of hearth .com, i'm new to burning and i'm loving it. thanks to this place i'm doing it safely (i hope).oh btw thanks craig and all your great posters! living in n.y.c. area for 41 years then moving to n.j. where my neighbor is 50' away i feel like i'm in the country.
john '
 
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