New Fireplace for a new burner of Wood.

[Arc_Dad]

I just put $ down on a New Kozy Heat Z42 fireplace. I got a great deal and can’t wait to get it installed. Any thoughts of the Fireplace, tips, or negatives about the unit would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[edthedawg]

I noticed this was your second post and neither one had any responses. I can't comment on your specific fireplace make/model, but you sound excited to have it, so that's great.

As for tips - hopefully you've been reading up here and have your firewood supply already cut, split, and stacked so it will be dry and seasoned by the time you go to use it. That is without a doubt the biggest issue anyone here faces - the quality of their fuelwood.

Are you planning to use this for primary heating? Secondary home heating? Your intended use pattern dictates how much wood you need ready, but most Mainers seem to want 5 or 6 cords/year.

Good luck and welcome to the Hearth!

 

[fossil]

Welcome! Don't have one of those, or any experience with one...in fact, I've never seen one (to my knowledge). I think they have a good rep. Read the book carefully and thoroughly. Enjoy it! Rick

 

[Arc_Dad]

Thanks for the responses. I was telling my wife and daughter about posting and being the only 1 that wasn't getting a response. They were laughing at me. Yeah, my father in law is my contact for firewood, he says we should leave the trees standing until the leaves come out, fully. There are coming fast so it should be in a week or two. He says we then cut the trees down. We then wait until the leaves are very dry and process the firewood. Everything I've seen doesn't say this, but I'm getting a great deal on the wood and he's hooking me up. Any ideas on this technique?

Thanks again, Arc_Dad

 

[joshlaugh]

I have burned wood for awhile. I cut, split and stack the wood at least 1 year if not 2 years in advance of needing it(so this past winter I was cutting wood for 09-10 season as well as 10-11). And cutting down the trees and leaving them in rounds or whole logs doesn't help in the seasoning process, they need to be split and stacked where the wind and sun can reduce the amount of mostirue in the wood.

Good luck

 

[summit]

I have seen these at trade shows, but never seen one going. the install manual shows some very good pics of the firebox, and it looks solid (it also has a secondary burn system, which is a little different than the old stoves and fireplaces). Start out w/ your kindling built like a log cabin with you tinder in the middle, lay a couple pieces of split wood across the top of the cabin. touch it off, and leave it wide open untill you have seen the structure you built of kindling fall. the lay in more split wood, let her rip wide open untill it has all caught fire, then shut er down. The increasingly hot fire you build intitally will give you a great secondary burn when you shut it down. always let your long burn wood get touched off before you shut it off, and this system should burn very clean and hot for you.

 

[Arc_Dad]

Thanks a lot. I want to run a fan and duct work down to my basement, and another piece of duct work straight up from my living room to my bedroom. The Z42 has 2 "knock outs" for this purpose.

 

[BrotherBart]

And after you get tired of messing with that go and watch the video and learn how to do a top down start-up. Did it once and have never piled a little "teepee" since.

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

Click on "video"

 

[Jags]

I'm not sure that I agree with the process that your FIL has laid out. If you feel obligated to do it his way, then get yourself at least ONE burning year ahead. Then you won't have to worry about what part of the season it was cut, or if it was leafed out.

 

[edthedawg]

Agreed - echo'ing Jags and joshlaugh - You're probably too late already for wood to burn well and clean this winter.

Good luck selling such sentiments on the FIL tho

What species of wood again? Maple? Oak? Softwoods?

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for the responses. I was telling my wife and daughter about posting and being the only 1 that wasn't getting a response. They were laughing at me. Yeah, my father in law is my contact for firewood, he says we should leave the trees standing until the leaves come out, fully. There are coming fast so it should be in a week or two. He says we then cut the trees down. We then wait until the leaves are very dry and process the firewood. Everything I've seen doesn't say this, but I'm getting a great deal on the wood and he's hooking me up. Any ideas on this technique?

Thanks again, Arc_Dad

I've heard the same thing from my father about letting the tree season faster by leaving the leafs on . . . but honestly I've also heard folks swear that burning pine will cause more creosote build up so I'm not really sure if this is based on science or hope.

My personal recommendation is to cut it now and leave it for next season (not this coming winter) . . . unless the wood is standing dead (and even then it could be iffy depending on how dead the wood is, species, etc.) in which case it might work for you . . . or if it's white ash . . . but even then I would recommend that the ash not be used until the tale end of winter since cutting and splitting it even now will most likely not result in truly seasoned wood.

What I did last year when I was behind the proverbial eight-ball like most every other new wood burner was to focus on cutting standing dead wood (I had a lot of dead elm that was 2+ years old) which really helped me out a lot. I also burned some pallets . . . and found some slabs which seasoned quickly (pretty decent for use as kindling or shoulder season wood) . . . and my brother had left some tree tops behind in a wood cutting operation which meant I had another source of wood which was not seasoned . . . but certainly not green either.

The problem as I see it is that your Father in law is perhaps right . . . especially when it came to burning in woodstoves of old which were not and are not quite as picky when it comes to how seasoned the wood is . . . and even now you could use unseasoned wood . . . but you will not be happy as the fires will not get as hot, the chimney and stove will creosote up faster and more (a safety danger) and it may be tough to even get the fire going.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The trouble with waiting until the leaves come out, then cutting and waiting again is it just takes that much longer for wood to season. It's been our experience that waiting for those leave to wilt just does not take enough sap from the tree to be worth the wait.

As others have stated, you are probably too late to cut your wood now and expect to burn it next fall or winter. The very best time to cut wood is during the winter. Same as pruning a fruit tree; you want to do the cutting when the tree is dormant. After all, it has the least amount of sap then but can still be a lot.

Naturally it depends upon the wood you intend to burn as to how long it needs to season. If you insist on burning wood next season what you cut now, for goodness sakes, don't cut any oak. If you have ash, that would be good as would birch.

Whatever you cut, split it small and get it stacked into sunlight and especially where wind will hit the sides of the pile. Pile the wood in single rows, raised off the ground, so as to get the maximum amount of air through the pile and don't pile it tight. It might not look as nice, but pile it a bit loose so air can move through it. Pray for a very hot and dry summer.

From this point on, try to have 2 year supply on hand at the least so you can season the wood better. You will use a lot less wood that way and get a lot more heat in the house.

When you are through reading all the comments here, move over to the Wood Shed (a different part of this forum) for some good tips on getting your wood supply. Lots of knowledgeable folks over there that are willing to help.

 

[Arc_Dad]

Thank you everyone. I think I'll just buy some wood that is already to go for this winter. I'll then go get the wood w/ my FIL for next winter. I should still save big $ compared to fuel oil w/ cheap boiler.

 

[begreen]

Get the wood soon. When the wood is delivered, have your splitting maul handy. Pick out a few of the heavier pieces and split them. If the inside wood is damp (very likely) renegotiate the price down for unseasoned wood or tell them to not dump the load.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for the responses. I was telling my wife and daughter about posting and being the only 1 that wasn't getting a response. They were laughing at me. Yeah, my father in law is my contact for firewood, he says we should leave the trees standing until the leaves come out, fully. There are coming fast so it should be in a week or two. He says we then cut the trees down. We then wait until the leaves are very dry and process the firewood. Everything I've seen doesn't say this, but I'm getting a great deal on the wood and he's hooking me up. Any ideas on this technique?

Thanks again, Arc_Dad

I thought of you this past weekend when I was outside and saw all the trees leafing out with in that bright green "Spring" color . . . so at this point the question may or may not be moot since the trees have leafed out.

What you suggested about buying wood this year (or going with standing dead wood, birch or white ash and splitting it up small) is probably a good idea . . . but to stay on your Father in Law's good side and to make him feel valued it wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to get a start on next year's wood -- you don't necessarily want to tell him it's next year's wood and not this coming year's wood.

 

[Arc_Dad]

Yeah, that is what I'm planning on doing. I'll get wood with him and then get some somewhere else as well. He also has some all processed that he is going to give me. Master of Fire do you go to Unity College? I went there and graduated in '96.

Thanks

 

[Wood Duck]

If your father-in-law has some processed wood, if you buy a little split already, and if you select the faster-seasoning species and split them small, you might be able to put together a decent year's wood supply by the fall. The processed wood, depending on when it was processed and what species of tree, could be well seasoned by this fall. I'd make sure to have it stacked loosely in a windy, sunny spot asap. Same goes for any wood you'll buy. If you are going to cut wood now, separate faster-seasoning tree like ash, soft maple, birch, and pine, and split them small. At least some of it could be reasonably seasoned by sometime in the winter. Save the slower drying trees for next year. Maybe you can locate some really dry wood like pallets or lumber scraps to add to your cordwood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Yeah, that is what I'm planning on doing. I'll get wood with him and then get some somewhere else as well. He also has some all processed that he is going to give me. Master of Fire do you go to Unity College? I went there and graduated in '96.

Thanks

Master of Fire is a "rank" tied into the number of posts . . . not a name. But seeing as I live in Unity (home to Unity College) I'm guessing you might be referring to me.

Nope . . . I'm a townie. Grew up in neighboring Thorndike and when I started working in the big city of Bangor decided it was time to put my small town roots behind me so I moved to the bustling metropolis of Unity . . . I figure any town that has a college and a Chinese restaurant is a "happening" place.

I actually graduated college from New England College in Henniker, NH -- not quite as small as UC, but not very large either. Graduated in 1992.