I am about to give up!!!!!

[me5100]

OMG I just bought a wood stove this year and I have no idea what I am doing.I had a Pro install it but now I am on my own!I am a city girl and I have just lots me husband to a long battle with cancer,I thought that moving my chidren to the country would be a fresh start for all of us however I am finding that this life is harder than I thought.I have been doing alot of reading on the internet about wood stoves and I am now more confused thatn ever,however I did learn you need to close the damper a bit after you start your fire.(they didnt teach me that in college) I am shocked i havent burnt the whole house down.My stove is small (suppost to heat 1100 sq ft.)but it keeps turning white in some areas is this normal?and today I noticed that in the back outside corner what used to be black putty or chauking stuff isnt there in spots is that a danger?If there is anyone out there that could please give me a "Dummies" guide to wood burning lesson I would be forever greatful!!

 

[Dix]

What kind of stove is it? Do you have any pics ?

 

[daveswoodhauler]

As Dixie said....a few photos of your stove would help.
Also would help to know if you wood is dry enough to burn.
Just give us the basics, and lots of folks here to help....we were all newbies once

 

[Bobbin]

Whoa! don't let this become a bigger deal than it has to be. Take a deep breath, give us some information, and I have no doubt we'll be able to help.

Not a lot of "girls" here. Welcome to the sisterhood!

 

[webby3650]

Don't be discouraged, these new stoves are pretty hard to damage if the doors and the seals are all in good shape. If you can tell what kinda stove you have and how you have been running it we can help out, before it warms up outside, you will love your stove, I promise. (unless it is a Dutchwest, then I can't promise anything) :lol:

 

[sapratt]

One thing you need to get are some magnetic thermometers. Put one on your stove and one on the stove put about a foot above
the stove. That way you have a better idea on the temp of everthing and it will be easier the regulate it.

 

[me5100]

Wow you guys are great and fast!! I dont have any pics right now but it is a Logwood and I got it at a store called Tractor Supply.I bought the wood from somewood that said it had been seasoned over a year.When I bought this home ther was a wood burning furnace but when we moved in it was goneThe owners took it with them!!so I had an electric furnace put in,my electric was over $800.00 last month ouch!So the guy at the Tractor Supply store said that this would help.I really dont know what kind of wood it is,when I bought he said all hard woods if that helps.There is a picture on the tractor supply website it is the Large Logwood.If I could figure out how to use this I would love to get a bigger one like the one that used to be here.Thank you

 

[me5100]

Thank you..I just went online and ordered the magnetic thermometers. Also wood is dry it is inside

 

[Berone]

The biggest problem for most new wood burners (myself included) is the myth of dry wood. If you bought the wood this year, don't take it as a given that it is seasoned. No matter what the firewood salesman told you. Go to Home Depot or even a grocery store and pick up a couple of packs of kiln dried wood. It will cost you way more than you can afford to spend on wood to heat your house (about $6 per bundle), but it will let you try a fire with wood that you know is dry. Well worth the 12 bucks to find out if that is the problem.

 

[rdust]

It's a lot to take in when you first start out. This is my first season and I felt overwhelmed at times.

Tell us more about the stove, how it's installed and about your wood supply. How tall is the chimney, is it inside/outside, stainless steel lined or masonry chimney? Do you have a thermometer on the stove?

The good people at hearth.com will help get you through this.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Hey I just love West Virginia, I assume that is where you live. Look, there is no really easy way to tell you that you bought a cheap stove. I know, I'm sorry I said that, but honesty here is going to be important.

If the stove metal is white when the stove is cool, that means you likely have burned the stove too hot.

If the stove metal is white while it's burning then you are definately burning it too hot.

If there are gaps in the seams of the stove due to cement falling out that is a problem, yes. That will allow excess air to be sucked in through those gaps and make the fire more difficult to control.

Now, they make stove cement, and it is relatively easy to use. A hardware store would have it, one type goes by the name Rutland...Rutland stove cement. If you find your seams have gaps, you have to let the stove cool and then clean it out inside and then fill those gaps with the stove cement. You'd clean 'em first, then wet 'em a bit, then press that cement into 'em and let it dry.....read the directions and you'll get more info. on how to do that.

Lastly, if you would tell us what type of chimney you have this stove hooked up to that would help to.

Is it a chimney that's outside the house, made of block or brick? or both?

Hope you're hangin' in there with the snow tonight!

Or is it a metal pipe that goes up through the house and out the roof?

H

 

[brickman]

I went to the TSC website and looked at your stove. Seems that the whitening might just be a poor quality paint. If you read the feedback from others that own this stove, two of the three say the same thing. That the paint burns off with the first fires.

 

[me5100]

The chimney is masonry(its made out of block)and it is outside flue size is 6 inches.I just ordered a thermometer and will go to store and get for sure seasoned wood after this snow storm is over.It is a cast iron stove with no glass.it has a little black knob thing on the front that moves by itself when you open or close the door and a silver thing on the pipe that goes up to the chimney that I am assuming is the damper is that right? thanks again everyone

 

[sapratt]

The stove turning white is actualy the stove paint turning white. That is because the stove got to hot. The black puddy sounds like stove cement and yes it should be there.
that is what keeps your stove together you need to have someone come out and look and the stove. Keep the fires smaller with that stove.
You may want to get a better stove or at least a air tight you don't have to spend a ton of money on one. Sometimes you can find them on Craigslist for pretty cheap.
Cast iron stoves aren't the greatest stoves, they look nice but they are harder to regulate the fire. After they get hot it starts pulling air through the cast iron thus making it hard to
control the fire.

 

[Boxer]

Don't give up. It is hard the first year especially if your wood is not top notch. How much area are you trying to heat? I have seen these stoves at TSC and I would not expect it to heat a large area. This could be the reason it is turning white from too much heat and trying to make it do more than it is designed to do. Always remember the more air you are letting in the hotter it will burn. I have the Magnolia stove from TSC and I heat my 1800 SF house with it 24/7. It is very easy to operate and it is very reasonably priced. I don't know what your budget is but you might get a much better experience with a little more efficient stove. Like some others have said pictures would help, of the stove and the wood you are burning. The people on this forum are a wealth of knowledge and helped me out a ton when I started. I spent hours and hours just searching old posts I probably learned more doing that than anything else. You are headed in the right direction coming here for help. Don't give up you'll be glad you stuck with it once you get it all figured out.

 

[me5100]

Yes you can say it I don't mind I bought a cheap stove, I wish I would have found this website before listening to the teenager at the store,I think if I can figure this out next year I will get a better stove.I will definitely ask for opinions then.NO I am not enjoying the snow there is over a foot and a half and its not over yet. so is it safe to keep burning burning with the cracking?

 

[Dix]

Stove

Link to specs

http://www.tractorsupply.com/2421-large-logwood-wood-stove-3192571

Sorry to give you the "bums rush" earlier, me5100. I was on the phone at the shop, and wanted to bump up your thread. My deepest condolences.

You've got alot on your plate, so like Bobbin said, take a breath and relax. Have a glass of wine, we'll get you through it

Where is the stove situated in the house? Is it on a hearth pad? Was your chimney relined when the install was done?

Welcome to the Coven ;-)

 

[cmonSTART]

Welcome to the forum! It gets better from here!

The best advice I can give you is to get a better stove when you can. You can probably limp through until then with this stove but you should be very careful with it. There are a lot of good quality inexpensive stoves on the market. Englander, Century, and some Napoleon stoves are quite inexpensive and great quality. It also may help to have a good certified sweep visit your chimney when possible to check things over and check the chimney.

The cracking and loose joints will allow more air into the stove and make it harder to control. If possible when the stove is cool try plugging leaks with Rutland Stove Gasket Cement. Use the damper to control the stove if needed but the BEST thing to do is to keep the loads small until you figure things out.

Again, welcome!

 

[ansehnlich1]

Yes you can say it I don't mind I bought a cheap stove, I wish I would have found this website before listening to the teenager at the store,I think if I can figure this out next year I will get a better stove.I will definitely ask for opinions then.NO I am not enjoying the snow there is over a foot and a half and its not over yet. so is it safe to keep burning burning with the cracking?

Hey, I'm glad ya didn't take offense. You'll surely become a great woodburner if you hang out here enough.

Look, as for those cracks, I'm guessing you're talking about seams where to pieces of cast iron go together. If that's the case, and some stove cement came out of the seams, then that's letting air suck in there, which will cause that stove to burn too hot and overfire it.

So, if you only have some little pieces that came out and you burn smaller fires, you'll be ok. But you want to MAKE SURE you control the fire and don't let it get too hot.

If you're not comfortable and unsure, just let it burn out until you can have it repaired or looked at.

Better safe than sorry when burnin' wood.

Now there's plenty on here that'll recommend a little better stove, like this

(broken link removed to http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Fireplace-Hearth-Freestanding-Stoves/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zaqyr/R-100303789/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)

Now, it's more money but you'd be much more happy with something like that. Look, you can also start lookin around in your travels, sometimes Lowes has nice steel woodstoves on sale too.

Just come on in here for advice before you buy something cuz you'll get all sort's of input from everybody.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Thank you..I just went online and ordered the magnetic thermometers. Also wood is dry it is inside

Hello, and welcome.

When we talk about "dry" wood, we're not talking about whether it's been rained on, but whether it's dried out of sap moisture on the inside. That can only happen when it's cut and split and stacked outside, preferably in a sunny and windy spot, for a year or so. Very, very few wood suppliers actually do this, and those that do can and usually do charge an arm and a leg for it in most areas. Same for "kiln-dried" wood.

So the wood supply is the fly in the ointment, so to speak, of using a woodstove since you mostly can't buy actually properly seasoned wood. Whether you buy it cut, split and delivered (c/d/s for short here) or cut it yourself like a lot of the guys here, you'll need a place to stack it for a year before you try to burn it. Less dry, or less "seasoned," wood won't burn properly and will end up putting a lot of creosote into your chimney, which can give you a chimney fire eventually.

If you can buy a couple of cords of wood as soon as you lose this big snowfall and get it stacked outside right away, you'll have reasonably burnable wood by next winter. Better if you can get two years ahead, and then you'll really be good to go after next year.

There aren't too many of us single gals living in the country and heating with wood, but there are a few of us, so it can be done! It does save a lot of money on heating costs, but there's a trade-off in the amount of hassle and just plain physical work involved with managing the firewood supply properly. If your kids are old enough to help out, that'll make it easier. Good idea to start them early, actually. The farms around here, the kids are expected to pitch in and help pretty much as soon as they can walk, even if they can only carry one split at a time, so they grow up understanding that wrangling the firewood is simply what you do as a member of the family.

 

[me5100]

Hey all thank you so much for your help,we just got power back do to the storm its been out for 3 days,I am so glad I got to read some of your reply's before it went out because I felt more confident and was able to keep a fire going and keep us alive for the past 3 days.The temps in the upstairs of are home were in the 20s.As soon as we are able to dig out I am going to get the cement and fix it.I do plan on getting a better stove in for next year-does anyone have any suggestions.My home is 2 story about 1800 square foot.I got the stove I have now just to heat the internal garage but I wonder if it would be possible to heat the house with a bigger stove.Wood heat is different from anything I have ever felt,its so warm and comforting(cheesy isn't it!)I do have two 15 year old boys and a seventeen year old drama queen(but as I mentioned we are from the city!!)and there idea of work is getting there socks to the hamper.This spring we are going to attempt to cut some dead trees on our land.Should you wait over a year if you cut trees that are already dead?In the outdoor shed there is something called a splitter that I am assuming you put your wood in to split after you cut it,is that right?I really do appreciate all of your help.This life was my husbands dream and I don't want to let him down.I am now out of wood so if I buy wood now do I need to wait til next year to burn it?

 

[webby3650]

Hey all thank you so much for your help,we just got power back do to the storm its been out for 3 days,I am so glad I got to read some of your reply's before it went out because I felt more confident and was able to keep a fire going and keep us alive for the past 3 days.The temps in the upstairs of are home were in the 20s.As soon as we are able to dig out I am going to get the cement and fix it.I do plan on getting a better stove in for next year-does anyone have any suggestions.My home is 2 story about 1800 square foot.I got the stove I have now just to heat the internal garage but I wonder if it would be possible to heat the house with a bigger stove.Wood heat is different from anything I have ever felt,its so warm and comforting(cheesy isn't it!)I do have two 15 year old boys and a seventeen year old drama queen(but as I mentioned we are from the city!!)and there idea of work is getting there socks to the hamper.This spring we are going to attempt to cut some dead trees on our land.Should you wait over a year if you cut trees that are already dead?In the outdoor shed there is something called a splitter that I am assuming you put your wood in to split after you cut it,is that right?I really do appreciate all of your help.This life was my husbands dream and I don't want to let him down.I am now out of wood so if I buy wood now do I need to wait til next year to burn it?

If you buy wood, ask them when they split it. I would burn slightly green wood before I froze to death, all wood should be split for a year before you burn it, but sometimes that isn't possible.

 

[snowtime]

If you are careful and buy the right stove you will certainly be able to heat the whole house. I mean if your going to heat with wood and do the work necessary then you might as well heat the whole house. You can do lots of research between now and spring but most stores have sales before summer so watch and jump when prices go down. I am thinking of an Englander 30 that you can get at homedepot they usually are on sale every year. Also the chimney is just as important as the stove. Its what drives the stove through draft. I do not know your setup but come here with the home specks and info and you will be told the proper and safe way to set it up. For best results its good to install a stove as near to a central location as possible. Remember a chimney cost more than a stove in many cases so figure it all in before buying anything. Be sure your new stove is epa.

 

[fredarm]

Usually the top half or so of a standing dead tree can be split and burned right away, but the rest needs to dry out for a few months (depending on how long it's been dead). Be careful cutting trees--there are some suggestions for doing it right posted on this site. Check out the "Wood Shed" forum for advice on cutting and splitting trees.

 

[snowtime]

If you buy wood now and its hard to get heat from then splitting it to a smaller size will enable you to burn better. Big splits burn long small splits short hot fire.
Its always hard to get ahead of drying wood but once your ahead its easy to stay there. If you have the finances and put in a good stove I would buy wood as soon as possible and stack it for next year and the year after if you can manage that. It is like money in the bank. That splitter you have has no directions I presume? You could look up the manufacturer on line and get a owners manual if not we have another forum for GEAR. Guys there will tell you how to operate it. If you have never operated a chainsaw then you need info on doing that safely. Basics are wear the safety equipment,chaps,boots,gloves,safety glasses and helmet-the key to a chainsaw for beginners is to keep the tip out of the wood, the tip will cause most of the kickbacks. A sharp chain is important. I recommend getting a at least 3 chains as you probably will ruin the first. Moreinfo at gear.

Might seem overwhelming but it will all become second nature. You will feel very secure knowing power outages are to be laughed at.