Hi Everyone!

[Prada]

Wow it's starting to show the sure signs of winter time here in Ohio with the temps going down into the high 20's at night recently. I just wanted to introduce myself and let the Forum Admins know that I deeply appreciate this Forum. I've been a Lurker for sometime now and have learned so very much. We purchased our first stove in the middle of last winter. It had been being used for about 3 years in our local hardware store and they gave us a pretty good deal on it. It's a Buck Stove, Model 81 non cat. We were so totally unprepared for it because we had no firewood what so ever and had to result to Craigslist for our first load. It didn't turn out too terribly bad but I could hear it sizzle once in awhile in the firebox. I purchased a inexpensive Moisture Meter from Ebay from one of the Forum's members links and it really did surprise us with most all of the readings being below 20%. We gave the newly installed chimney a good check and it stayed clean.
Since Hubby has STILL not finished the front of our hearth *sigh*, I took a picture of it and played around with Photoshop to eliminate the hearth. lol
Nice to meet everyone.........

 

[begreen]

Greetings. To get a true reading of the wood moisture, split it in half and take the reading from the freshly exposed surface.

 

[Prada]

Thanks for the Greetings BeGreen! Yes I had seen where that was the way to check the moisture properly but the guy had just brought it and told us he just split it.......so we didn't do that. We will be sure to do that from now on but at that time we had no choice to burn anything else.
I do have to say that we can not believe the amount of heat this Buck puts out! Thank goodness we decided to go double wall on the inside pipe cause we still have to open the windows to stay in the same room(20'x30') with it. lol We don't even begin to bother with the fan on it.....FORGET that cause we would have to hang out the windows to breath lol

 

[begreen]

Search for threads on air distribution. You may be able to move this excess heat to other areas of the house using a simple fan or a ceiling fan.

 

[Prada]

Well, we have a ceiling fan but the best thing that has worked so far for us is simply putting one of those floor fans that has a tall stand under it......then placing that on top of a small table stand to get it up as high as possible.......and placing it in our entrance of the room. This has been taking a lot of the heat into the rest of the house, but it's still way to warm in our large family room if we don't keep the windows open in there.
We had our Propane tank filled up last winter aprox the same time that we purchased the Buck and it's just now down 15%!! Plus I cook with Propane!! lol
We have saved more than our stove and chimney costs us already. It's amazing. The house is around 3400 sq ft and it's a ranch all on one level. If I keep all of the bedroom doors open, the whole house is very comfortable. The only thing I can say is that our Master Bath is kind of around the corner from the back of our bathroom and even though it's not really COLD in there........the temp keeps you from taking a really long shower and it's great to run out in front of the stove to get dressed as long as Hubby has not let company in without letting me know first. haha

 

[begreen]

Try putting the fan on the floor, low. Locate it out of the room in a colder area of the house that has a straight visual shot to the stove room. Often a hallway outside of the bedrooms is a good location. Set the fan on low speed and have it blow cold air - towards - the wood stove. I think you'll find that more effective and comfortable. I'd also try running the ceiling fan in reverse (blowing upward) on low speed in conjunction with the hallway fan blowing toward the stove. This combo can even out temperatures in the house very nicely.

We'll need a picture of the stove, preferably in use with the after-bath example. Strictly for safety reasons of course ;-)

 

[Prada]

Are you serious? Put the fan out further into a cool spot in a direct line from the stove and blowing the cool air towards the stove? Wow, hadn't read that one yet. We sure will try that........Will put the ceiling fan in reverse too. *interesting*
Oh and the picture I posted is our stove burning in our home.......I just 'photo-shopped' it so no one would see that Hubby hasn't completed the front edging of the heart yet .......wait a minute! You said the 'after bath' photo!?! hahaha ummmm, Not in this life!

hahaha

 

[begreen]

We get several posts a month asking about how to move hot air around. The best way is to work with nature. Cold air is denser, hot air is lighter. That's why it will stratify at ceiling level. The ceiling fan running in reverse will break up this stratification by moving warm air up and outward towards the walls. There it will cool and descend, then get warmed up again and repeat the cycle. Also, blowing upward keeps it draft free, putting warm air where it's needed, at the colder outside walls.

The same principle is why one will get better results blowing cold air, low, towards the stove. Warm air will naturally come into this cold area to replace the cold air that is being blown towards the stove. Try it, this works!

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/26587/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/12615/

 

[InTheRockies]

Welcome, Prada. Beautiful stove you've got; it will keep you toasty warm all winter. The method of moving air that BeGreen described works well. I have a small (but pretty powerful) fan sitting on floor in the hallway to my bedrooms, on low, pointed toward the great room, where the stove is located. (During a real cold spell where we don't get above single digits for highs and drop down sub-zero at night, I may have to run the fan at a higher speed, but low is perfect right now.) I also have a ceiling fan in the great room (on reverse for winter). Warm air is moving nicely from the great room in to the rest of the house. Granted I have a small house (1200 sf), but using a fan set up this way with the new stove is doing a great job of moving heat throughout my house and we're getting cold here--below 20s at night and highs only going into the 30s. FYI, if you find yourself needing more wood before the winter's over, you might check to see if there are any nearby mills. They can be a great source for seasoned wood or even kiln-dried wood. Enjoy the cozy ambiance of your new stove on those cold winter nights. (Flames can certainly be hypnotic.)

Here's an image of the fan I'm using--they don't have to huge monsters.

 

[Prada]

Ok Gottcha BeGreen........Going to give that a try and get back with you on it. Thanks so much for that tip!

Hi INTHEROCKIES! Thanks for the warm welcome. I find this info that you and BeGreen are telling me so interesting. So your just using a small fan to do all of this......wow. I am going to do some experimenting tonight after the temps start to fall again. Thanks so much!
On and on the wood for this season....we got ahold of some in the early spring and split it very small and it's been seasoning every since then. We have already tried it out and it seems to be burning very nicely.
The flames of a fire are more than hipnotic.......they are awesome to say the least. Just talking to each other around a fire is special and seems to always be a memorable conversation.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Prada. BeGreen indeed gave you excellent advice. Here's another. Start cutting or gathering wood now that you will use in the 2009-2010 winter! You will really appreciate it when the time comes. If possible, have more than a year's supply ahead. You will always smile whenever you look at your wood pile then.

For our fan usage, we have a Vornado fan running on low speed along with the ceiling fan. Works great and is pretty quiet too.

 

[jeff6443]

Prada these guys know I m a Dutchwest med non cat . I read ond do it works very happy with these guys

 

[Jimbob]

I do have to say that we can not believe the amount of heat this Buck puts out! Thank goodness we decided to go double wall on the inside pipe cause we still have to open the windows to stay in the same room(20'x30') with it. lol We don't even begin to bother with the fan on it.....FORGET that cause we would have to hang out the windows to breath lol

Having a stove that can cook you out of the room this time of the year is a good thing. You'll have a nice warm room to retreat to when you are chilled to the bone in January.

Oh, and BTW, Welcome. TONS of good info on this site. ;-)

 

[Prada]

Hello Backwoods Savage, Dumbfishguy and Jimbob!
Great to meet you Guys! About the air distribution: So far I've tried turning the ceiling fan on reverse and taking my tall fan away from the entrance of the family room and moving it further into the house blowing the cooler air towards the family room. The hot air from the upper part of the family room blowing down on us with the ceiling fan on reverse was kind of smothering us. I think I need to go out tomorrow and buy a fan that is low to the floor to pick up more of the cool air instead of the tall one that I'm trying to use to bring it in with.

Backwoods Savage: Thanks for that advice on gathering wood now for the following years. We live in the country and have fallen tree's all the time. Hubby pulled a really large Ash out of the woods just the other day and it's going to get cut up soon. He is building a type of a firewood rack/shed out back. I am not sure what to call it. lol It consists of some 4x4 boards, pallets, cement blocks and some corrugated metal roofing. I'll get some pictures of it while it's being built on here soon. Sure wish he would hurry up and get it done so he can split and I can stack before the snow hits. I KNOW what you mean about firewood putting a smile on my face! I think stacked firewood is a beautiful thing. Just something almost 'spiritual' about it.

Dumbfishguy: I can tell these guys REALLY know what they are talking about! I love it too. I think this must be about the best place there is to find out just about anything there is to know.

Jimbob: Oh you are so right about having a nice warm room to retreat in come Jan! It's a warmth that makes your whole body feel so good too. Physically and Emotionally.

One more thing I wanted to ask about is......Why am I having to load this stove so often??? I mean I am the firebuilder around here and I can build a heck of a nice fire real fast, BUT it seems to burn away so quickly and I'm always adding wood. What I do is get my fire going real good till my stove gets to around 550 and then I choke it way down. I can't understand why it's burning my wood up so fast. My splits are rather small in both length and diameter.....but I fill the stove with them, would that be the reason maybe?

 

[crazy_dan]

the smaller the split the faster and hotter the burn. but you also don't ant to get to big or they don't burn right. it seams to me about 6" is about the ideal size.
you will have to experiment with the fans it took us about 4-5 years to get our fans (I use the 20" el-cheapo models) down as to placement. but we have achieved the perfect placement and direction to keep all the thermometers with in 2-3 degrees of each other.

 

[raybonz]

Wow it's starting to show the sure signs of winter time here in Ohio with the temps going down into the high 20's at night recently. I just wanted to introduce myself and let the Forum Admins know that I deeply appreciate this Forum. I've been a Lurker for sometime now and have learned so very much. We purchased our first stove in the middle of last winter. It had been being used for about 3 years in our local hardware store and they gave us a pretty good deal on it. It's a Buck Stove, Model 81 non cat. We were so totally unprepared for it because we had no firewood what so ever and had to result to Craigslist for our first load. It didn't turn out too terribly bad but I could hear it sizzle once in awhile in the firebox. I purchased a inexpensive Moisture Meter from Ebay from one of the Forum's members links and it really did surprise us with most all of the readings being below 20%. We gave the newly installed chimney a good check and it stayed clean.
Since Hubby has STILL not finished the front of our hearth *sigh*, I took a picture of it and played around with Photoshop to eliminate the hearth. lol
Nice to meet everyone.........

Welcome to the madness! I agree this is a great forum if not the best and most interesting forum I can think of.. BTW great job on that photo you posted! Only woodburners understand the passion of other woodburners don't you agree?

Ray

 

[bokehman]

Does your chimney really smoke like that? :roll:

 

[woodzilla]

You are giving a whole new meaning to the term "smokey eye". Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[Prada]

Hi crazy_dan, raybonz, bokehman and woodzilla!
Great to meet all of you!

crazy_dan: That's what it is then I bet cause some of these splits are really small. They were done that way on purpose since we were trying to season fast. It just seems like I am constantly loading that Buck up is all. lol Dang, it took you guys 4 to 5 years to get that heat distribution perfect!?! Well then I won't feel bad that I haven't got it right in just a little bit of time then. lol I'll keep working on it and won't give up. Thanks for your experience info with this.

raybonz: Thanks for the welcome and thanks so much for your kind words on my photo! I've always loved to play around with photos and then I LOVE to customize them. Some don't turn out real great and at times I butcher them a bit. lol I do agree that only woodburners understand the passion of other woodburners. It's just something that is hard to describe to someone that isn't, so I try to restrain myself from jumping out of my car when I see that 'perfect' fallen tree when there are others that don't understand with me. ...BUT sometimes I just can't help myself! hehe

bokehman: Noooooooooooo My chimney doesn't really smoke like that! haha
That is just one of my special 'effects' when I play around with my photo's. As a matter of fact, I had to run out today and could not believe how many chimneys were REALLY smoking like that and when I pulled backup to my house I looked up to see how much mine was putting out and I saw nothing at all. I ran into the house to see if my fire had gone out and it was burning just fine!
Those other 2 pictures of ice and snow are one's I took also last winter here on our property. I just thought I would incorporate 3 pictures into one! lol

woodzilla: hahaha I can see why you would say that!! *cracking up here now*

Well I carried firewood in today and filled the rack that I keep in the house near the woodburner. I love for it to stay full. Hubby is still trying to build his rack/shed thing so we can spit and stack more wood in it and it seems like it's taking him forever! lol He was going to build it off to the side of our home where it could not be seen and I threw a fit and talked him into building it right in the back yard where our big family room windows face. I told him that I wanted a view of our firewood all stacked nice while I was sitting in here all cozy in front of the fire. He laughed at me and said 'Most women want flower beds etc, and you want firewood stacks!?!' hahaha I told him that the flower beds that I have out front are just fine where they are and when the snow is a couple of feet deep, what poor little flowers can grow there anyhow! I mean summer time is for flowers (and firewood chopping & seasoning) hahaha

The day was pretty darn cool and damp (kept raining lightly) here today and I was worried he might get sick being out there so long working on that thing so I kind of played a trick on him to get him to stop around supper time. I had made some home made veggie soup on the kitchen stove and when all the meat was browned & all the veggies etc. were added I started to turn the fire down to let it simmer for a few hours. Then it hit me.......'WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING!" Why use up all that propane (that's what I cook with) when I could take this big pot of soup out in the family room and place it on a large trivet on top of 'Bucky'!! So that's just want I did and oh my goodness the aroma from that soup would have melted any man's heart. *Next Thought*: Open the family room window right over top the woodburner that faces the back where Hubby is working YOU KNOW WHERE I'm GOING WITH THIS...........IT WORKED TOO *soooooo sneaky* lol

 

[Todd]

One more thing I wanted to ask about is......Why am I having to load this stove so often??? I mean I am the firebuilder around here and I can build a heck of a nice fire real fast, BUT it seems to burn away so quickly and I'm always adding wood. What I do is get my fire going real good till my stove gets to around 550 and then I choke it way down. I can't understand why it's burning my wood up so fast. My splits are rather small in both length and diameter.....but I fill the stove with them, would that be the reason maybe?

Welcome aboard Prada,
How tall is your chimney? Most of these EPA stoves were designed and tested for a 13-16' chimney and once you get up over that your draft can really increase and reduce your burn times. Some of us here with tall chimneys use an inexpensive $10 pipe damper to slow it down. Does your fire subside to a slow lazy flame when you turn the air all the way down? Other things to check are your door and ash pan gaskets for air leakage.

 

[begreen]

Big splits will make a world of difference. Use the small stuff to get the stove going and a good coal bed established. Then put in large splits packed tight and uses smaller splits to fill the gaps.

 

[Prada]

Hi Todd! Great to meet you!
I'm TRYING to remember how tall my chimney is...lol
Well from the stove top to the chimney cap I would say around 20 feet straight up.
I did check my door but not my ash pan (didn't think of that one) hmmm

BeGreen: Yep Big Splits would help with smaller ones for fillers I bet. I was reading some of the other threads and I noticed something about positive & negative pressures somewhere. Being that I always keep a big window open in the family room while burning since I don't have this 'heat distribution' thing down yet......would that have anything to do with the wood burning up so fast?

 

[begreen]

No, the window being open shouldn't make any difference. Lots of small dry splits, ashpan door ajar, that would make a big difference.

 

[Prada]

Ok thanks.........It was just a 'thought' lol

 

[bokehman]

One more thing I wanted to ask about is......Why am I having to load this stove so often??? I mean I am the firebuilder around here and I can build a heck of a nice fire real fast, BUT it seems to burn away so quickly and I'm always adding wood. What I do is get my fire going real good till my stove gets to around 550 and then I choke it way down. I can't understand why it's burning my wood up so fast. My splits are rather small in both length and diameter.....but I fill the stove with them, would that be the reason maybe?

How small is "small"? Also if you fill the firebox right up how long have you got flames for? How big is the firebox on your stove?