New member introduction

[wagne223]

I did not see a specific forum for introductions so I figured I would do it here.

Hello,
My name is Rob and I live in NE Florida.
I know, I know, your wondering what a guy from Florida is doing on a wood burning website!

Well, we do get several fronts every winter that push the temps down in the high 30's F. So It gets cool enough for a couple days with each front to burn some wood.

Obviously burning is more for novelty and fireplaces more for appearance most of the year, but some of us here still like to partake in a nice living room fire when the temps drop.

Anyway, I have been burning wood in a traditional fireplace for most of my life.
I have often wanted to have a stove and some recent changes to our home have given me that opportunity.

When we decided to build an addition to our home, we also agreed that the current fireplace (which was an add on corner install by the previous owners) would be removed and we would install a small stove.

I have been reading many of the informative threads here so hopefully I can transition to burning the stove without issue.

I will make new threads on my progress and include a few pics for those interested.

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Before removing the current fireplace take some pictures inside and out so that we can see what you are working with. Also if you can include a sketch of the floorplan and description of the space that will help. One important thing to note is how high the flue system will be. Many stoves need 15' from stove top to the chimney cap. The other important thing is to have fully seasoned, dry wood already stacked.

What brands are sold locally?

 

[tadmaz]

Not to dissuade you on your stove search, but I will add some comments. When I visited the Portland, OR area I was amazed that the water heaters are in their garages. They said it rarely gets cold or even snows. In Wisconsin, I don't put coats on my young children unless it's well below freezing. You just run from the car to the store, etc. At the end of winter when we finally get some temps in the upper 30s, you will find plenty of people walking around in shorts, short sleeves, and jerusalem cruisers. I rarely start a fire unless the low temp for the night will be 35F or colder.

 

[begreen]

Portland gets lots of weather and has long periods of weather in the 30s + some snow in winter. It's not protected by the Olympics, so it is often getting more rain than Seattle. Cold is what you get used to. By Minnesota standards, 0º is when you put on a coat. FWIW, Highbeam is burning when it's 60F outside. We usually light up when temps drop to the mid-40s. Yes, we're comparative weather wimps, but our wine and beer is better.

 

[wagne223]

Welcome. Before removing the current fireplace take some pictures inside and out so that we can see what you are working with. Also if you can include a sketch of the floorplan and description of the space that will help. One important thing to note is how high the flue system will be. Many stoves need 15' from stove top to the chimney cap. The other important thing is to have fully seasoned, dry wood already stacked.

What brands are sold locally?

Unfortunately, I did not find this forum until recently. The project is nearing completion.
The stove is was set in place last weekend.

I did not use anything from the existing fireplace. It was against a wall that we removed and we had to raise the peak of the roof to get the pitch correct for shingles.

So I just removed everything and started fresh.

The stove is an Englander 17 VL
The chimney system is duravent tripple wall and the stove pipe is single wall.

From the top of the stove to the top of the chimney is 16 ft 3 in. Not including the cap.

As far as firewood, there is a tree service around here that sells seasoned oak.

And of course, in the winter every hardware store sells the commercially available splits in mesh bags.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[wagne223]

Not to dissuade you on your stove search, but I will add some comments. When I visited the Portland, OR area I was amazed that the water heaters are in their garages. They said it rarely gets cold or even snows. In Wisconsin, I don't put coats on my young children unless it's well below freezing. You just run from the car to the store, etc. At the end of winter when we finally get some temps in the upper 30s, you will find plenty of people walking around in shorts, short sleeves, and jerusalem cruisers. I rarely start a fire unless the low temp for the night will be 35F or colder.

To me, cold is relative.
50 degrees and we are wearing longjohns.

To be comfortable the house has to be 74 to 78.

So even in our mild cold snaps I require heat.

As mentioned, burning wood is a novelty here so during those couple days we would use the fireplace.

Obviously I know the stove will put out more heat. I will just have to experiment with it.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[wagne223]

So last week I did my break in fires outside.

One because I was excited to light a fire in the stove.

And two because I wanted to minimize any paint curing odors once the stove was in the house.

 

[Rickb]

I did the same thing. except in my driveway... Neighbors thought I was nuts.

Also know that any wood you buy will not be seasoned. I don't care what they tell you. I have seen sellers claim fully seasoned 2 years, de barked, ect, ect. I went and split one open and checked with my moisture meter and it was 38%.

 

[blades]

and if they say it is kiln dried ask how long it was in the kiln and at what temp. 2-3 hours is not going to do much except, perhaps, kill bugs.

 

[wagne223]

I did the same thing. except in my driveway... Neighbors thought I was nuts.

Also know that any wood you buy will not be seasoned. I don't care what they tell you. I have seen sellers claim fully seasoned 2 years, de barked, ect, ect. I went and split one open and checked with my moisture meter and it was 38%.

One thing I did pick up reading on this board is the moisture content.
With an open fireplace, any wood I purchased did just fine, however I understand that I need to get a meter and check wood prior to burning in the stove.

I actually have some left over from last year that was stored in the shed.
That is what I did the break in burns with.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[wagne223]

and if they say it is kiln dried ask how long it was in the kiln and at what temp. 2-3 hours is not going to do much except, perhaps, kill bugs.

Copy that!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[begreen]

The 17VL is a good little stove. It was created by a Hearth.com member.

Test any wood before buying by re-splitting a couple splits then read the moisture with a meter on the freshly exposed face of wood. Too many wood sellers (and tree companies) sell "seasoned wood" as something that was split a month ago.

 

[wagne223]

Exterior pics of rear of house and close up of chimney.

 

[wagne223]

The 17VL is a good little stove. It was created by a Hearth.com member.

Test any wood before buying by re-splitting a couple splits then read the moisture with a meter on the freshly exposed face of wood. Too many wood sellers (and tree companies) sell "seasoned wood" as something that was split a month ago.

Copy that begreen, thanks!
I read all the threads in the "read me first" section.

The 2 main points veteran burners bring up is the wood and the draft/chimney.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[wagne223]

Pic of stove in place.

 

[begreen]

Nice hearth. It looks great. That's double wall stove pipe, right?