I've got a wood stove insert and a freezing wife that is afraid that the stove will create mess

[chillywilly]

All,

I have a Quadrafire 5100 insert (only used several seasons at most by previous owner) in a recently purchased house and am itching to fire it up and start getting free heat. The insert is located in our family room. However, my wife is fastidious at keeping a neat house and is afraid that the stove will create soot in the house. I would greatly appreciate any advice from anyone on this issue. Is the main mess from the cleaning out of the firebox and in lugging wood to the stove, or is there some sooting while the stove is in operation? I am assuming a good hot fire with a strong draft. Thanks for any input

 

[Cearbhaill]

IME any mess is from lugging wood and cleaning out the ash- there is zero soot or smoke or hardly even wood smell inside your home with proper operation.
Fire it up- once she gets used to the cozy, cozy heat she'll loosen up. Use the saved money for chocolate and she will be a convert for sure.

 

[derbygreg]

All,

I have a Quadrafire 5100 insert (only used several seasons at most by previous owner) in a recently purchased house and am itching to fire it up and start getting free heat. The insert is located in our family room. However, my wife is fastidious at keeping a neat house and is afraid that the stove will create soot in the house. I would greatly appreciate any advice from anyone on this issue. Is the main mess from the cleaning out of the firebox and in lugging wood to the stove, or is there some sooting while the stove is in operation? I am assuming a good hot fire with a strong draft. Thanks for any input

You should get a lot of replies.

Yes, the main mess is cleaning the ash and the actual firewood.

Another thing is there will be a thin layer of white ash all over after you have used it for a while.

Try it out, she will like the heat and you will enjoy your new toy.

 

[swestall]

Given the season, she has to go out shopping at some point. When she leaves, get it going and warm up the house, nice and toastie. When she comes home and tells you how nice it is, tell her that's what the insert is all about. Then let it get really cold again and see if 2 + 2 = Insert 4 you....

 

[Matthew]

I thought the stove would be mostly my responsibility, but once the wife found out STOVE=ANY ROOM TEMPERATURE I WANT, she graciously started helping out with it. Most of the mess comes from moving wood and ash removal. Both clean up easily.

Just make sure you read the directions to your stove. If it is a stove with a catalytic combustor make sure you flip the lever to bypass the combustor when you go to load more wood, or you will have smoke in your house.

You could also take her to a woodburning stove store to show her the lack of soot and burning wood smell........as long as they have stoves burning that is.....

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Bringing in wood and cleaning the ashes is the dirty jobs. For a neat way to take care of ashes, go to this link:
(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/acces.html) then scroll down to Ash Holder. This little thing is very handy and will keep you from making a mess when cleaning out ashes. Then just set it outdoors for a day or two to make sure all the hot coals are burned out. If you have a garden, dump the ashes on the garden and work them in. (You can do the same with creosote. Creosote also is great for house plants.)

For bringing in wood, you'll also find a carrier on that page or you can buy them at lots of places or even make your own very easily. Just have something so you aren't dropping wood chips and dirt on her carpeting.

She will enjoy the feel of wood heat for sure. Or you can put her out in the garage while you enjoy the wood heat. lol

 

[MrGriz]

I'm the messiest thing about our wood burning insert. I'm not always as careful when scooping ash and moving wood in the house. Even with that, there is very little mess, and in my case it is confined to the immediate area around the fireplace. Admittedly, if I took a bit more care in handling wood and ash, there would be much less mess.

I would find a way to fire it up when she's away from the house for a few hours. Be more careful with things than I would so you don't make a mess handling the wood. When she returns to the nice toasty house and no mess I'll bet you have her hooked.

 

[backpack09]

I will also add that you can and will get smoke in the house on days when the draft has reversed. But that usually clears quickly

 

[Webwidow]

Basically the stove is only as dirty as you are.

Big Rule #1- Make certain the hearth is always clean of ash.
The insert blower will spread the ash over the entire room if left on the hearth

2- Keep a small hand held dust buster vacuum near the hearth.
Suck up all cold ash and wood mess as soon as you make it.

3- Turn off the blower OFF when you clean the ash from the stove, or with an extreme tidy person even when you are poking and loading the stove.

Following this advice should make the wifie happy and warm.

 

[homebrewz]

She doesn't have plastic slip covers over all of the furniture, does she?

I would add that the days (or several days) firewood that has been brought inside should be kept in a big plastic tub, or perhaps a more attractive vessel
(antique wooden box maybe?-might look nice near the hearth..at the recommended distance to combustables of course!)
It will contain all of the wood bark and other bits that fall off and generally make a mess of things.

I'd stay away from dumping wood ash in the garden unless the soil is really acidic. Wood ash raises soil pH which can make soil nutrients less
available for uptake by plants.

 

[DriftWood]

Basically the stove is only as dirty as you are.

Big Rule #1- Make certain the hearth is always clean of ash.
The insert blower will spread the ash over the entire room if left on the hearth

2- Keep a small hand held dust buster vacuum near the hearth.
Suck up all cold ash and wood mess as soon as you make it.

3- Turn off the blower OFF when you clean the ash from the stove, or with an extreme tidy person even when you are poking and loading the stove.

Following this advice should make the wifie happy and warm.

I second that but a new to you stove will be a problem if you don't have hard wood floors. Carpets get trashed in a flash when wet dirt comes in with a split and hits the floor.

 

[begreen]

Can we assume that you have had the chimney swept clean and inspected first. If not, that is where to start. You don't want to start burning with an unknown chimney system.

If the stove is on an exterior, short chimney, no block-off plate or insulation, it will likely spill smoke in the house when the door is opened to reload. If the chimney is interior and of proper length, then this shouldn't be an issue. Just open the door a crack at first, pause, then open it slowly.

The rest is up to you. If you have a good system for wood storage and clean up after yourself, it is not an issue. Our stove is in our living room, so we keep it tidy.

For starters, maybe get a nice fire going when she is away for a little bit. Pick a cruddy, cold, bone-chilling day if possible. Clean up thoroughly so that the only thing noticeable when she comes home is a nice warm fire and a clean house.

 

[Webwidow]

For starters, maybe get a nice fire going when she is away for a little bit. Pick a cruddy, cold, bone-chilling day if possible. Clean up thoroughly so that the only thing noticeable when she comes home is a nice warm fire and a clean house.

Then have dinner ready, table set, candles lite and wine poured.

 

[webbie]

You may to confirm how the unit is installed - a good tight installation, preferably with a full chimney reline, will assure strong draft, hot fire and MANY fewer problems.

 

[billb3]

Wow.
Did you have to take a urinating aiming exam before you were allowed to use the bathroom ?


You should see the mess a oil burner makes if/when it backfires.


Everything's relative.


Your kitchen probablt affects cleaning more than the woodstove will.
The grime from the kitchen is usually not quite so obvious.
You guys do cook and eat ?

 

[SlyFerret]

Hmm... My wife does regularly threaten to make me start cleaning my bathroom. She hasn't followed through on it yet, but that's mostly because my threshold for gross is a lot higher than hers. It doesn't bug me, so I let it go, and eventually she breaks down and cleans it.

-SF

 

[swestall]

SF: she lets you use the bathroom at home?

 

[SlyFerret]

Yeah, believe it or not!

Right now, there are two of us, and two full baths. I use one, she uses the other. I'm sure she dreads the day that we start sharing a bathroom when kids come along and take over the one that is mine.

-SF

 

[swestall]

You can start breaking her in slowly....go into her's a few times. But, make sure you have your track shoes on first.

 

[wallis54806]

I had a wood insert (Lopi Answer) installed in our last house. My wife didn't want anything to do with it. She thought it was a waste of money. That atitude lasted maybe a week, then it was the best feature of the house.

 

[jpl1nh]

I don't blame your wife for worrying about the soot. Wood stoves USED to be that way. My wife was happy with the old Jotul Combifre 4 we had even though it was easy to get smoke and therefore soot in the house when reloading. When I got a great deal on the Woodstock Keystone (without her prior approval hh: ) this past summer, she was angry with me for spending the money. After using the new stove for a few weeks, she was extremely happy with it. The only smoke that ever gets in the house now is from an occaisional back puff if we shut the air down too far too soon. The new stove is so much cleaner! You can take care of the potential wood and ash mess. Have your chimney cleaned and inspected and if it is up to snuff, the soot will not be an issue. PS: Follow Web Widow's advice!