Newbie-- Looking for big glass & warmth for 2700 sq ft home

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Hi Kenny: Ok I will check into that too! I looked and am not finding any 'neils'. But they have north idaho energy logs here. Price doesn't look much different 280.00 for 240 logs.

That's what he meant he just flipped the I and e. North Idaho Energy Logs- NIELS. They may be the same price but they say that a pallet or one ton Equals about 1.5 cords of wood but using 1/4 of the space to do so. We are using them this season due to not having dry enough wood yet and they work great a pain to light but once they get going they put off a lot of heat. But if you do use them they have to be inside somewhere like a garage. I have them in my shop as we don't have a garage and I guess my shop has a little moisture issue as some are swelling up. Begreen did a write up on them in the wiki.


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Thank you Tegbert! Ok...lol didn't know what Niels meant. Appreciate the help. Will check on them. we don't have a shop though....just a barn and I think that would be too much moisture. Our garage is full of stuff....time for a woodshed. Since we don't have one though will need to get something until we build one. Thank you
 
Wood you suggest mixing the Niels one at time while burning red oak?
 
Ok firewood experts......another question.
I have a place I can get some firewood locally. They are a logging company. They have the wood season as logs (uncovered). Then when they get orders they split the wood and deliver it. So the inside of the wood is dry. My question is, is this dry enough and would this work ok in a non cat stove? Just curious what you all think. 245 per cord delivered is a great price. And they have Fir, Pine, Alder and Maple.....I can choose.
 
Yes, the Idaho energy logs, IMO they seem like a better bang compared to fir, a much more dense product which means longer and hotter burns.
Plus is the kiln dry really kiln dry? I'm naturally more cynical than others because I come from the east coast, but does kiln dry mean the wood is brought down below <15% moisture content or is it labelled kiln dry but just heated enough to kill any bugs so they can transport the wood across state lines or far distances.
These are the questions to ask.
 
My wood locally is kiln dried for 36 hrs heated at temps up to 265 degrees. Most of moisture is taken out according to them. We will try out the compressed wood too. Seeing which is better option for us. We don't have storage for tons of compressed wood logs right now.
 
And they have Fir, Pine, Alder and Maple.....I can choose.
I would not trust any of them for burning this year. You live in a rain forest, so any log that has been left in log form out in the elements will not be dry for orders of cut to split to burn.
I'd buy a moisture meter, check any proposed firewood purchases before taking delivery <20% moisture content is what your shooting for
 
We don't have storage for tons of compressed wood logs right now.
Ahh that's the best part, (1) ton of compressed wood comes on a 4x4 pallet, its roughly 4'x4'x4' much smaller foot print then cord wood, also not only do they come on a pallet but on the same pallet it packs wrapped and sealed in plastic, so really the could be stored outside in a barn or shed (no direct rain) and not be affected.
 
Ok firewood experts......another question.
I have a place I can get some firewood locally. They are a logging company. They have the wood season as logs (uncovered). Then when they get orders they split the wood and deliver it. So the inside of the wood is dry. My question is, is this dry enough and would this work ok in a non cat stove? Just curious what you all think. 245 per cord delivered is a great price. And they have Fir, Pine, Alder and Maple.....I can choose.

This is a crap shoot ---- loggers have a strange concept of what "seasoned" firewood really is. If they can get it to burn, it is "seasoned".
Often times it will burn OK, especially mixed in with some true seasoned wood, or those NIELS. That is a good price for this time of year, & if it ends up being too wet, will dry enough for next winter -- I'd give it a go. All these woods will actually dry (season) in 9-12 months if split & stacked with wide aisles between stacks (from even green wood).

Fir = most common firewood, probably on west side of state. May be a mix of Douglas-fir, true firs, & hemlock.
Pine = common on east side of cascades, has a lot of resin usually & may burn better with a higher moisture content. We don't get it over here in the coast range.
Maple = a good burning wood. A hardwood, takes longer to season & dry. It does make for more ash residue. Loggers don't like to burn it for some reason (too lazy to empty ashes I guess, & over here in the coast range they consider it a weed tree)
Alder = another hardwood that is softer (less dense) than the fir. When dry, it burns hot & fast, and makes lots of ash. Be careful if you ever load your stove up with seasoned alder -- the only time my Alderlea got too hot was burning an alder load (& they were just 3 very large unsplit logs). One advantage of alder is that it will often burn with more moisture content than the others. (Loggers like to burn the punky alder they find in the woods = on the beginning stages of rot, but it will burn) I do not like alder, personally & will not buy it, normally -- I don't believe it gives me the return btu's that the other coastal woods do.

Tell the seller your situation, they'll likely sell you the driest they have available. It may be a good connection for future wood buying.
(Hope this little dissertation helps)
 
bcrtops: Thank you! Yes this helps alot! Thank you for taking the time to type all this out! Very helpful. My thought was maybe I should just get 2 cords of fir and pine and have them kiln dry it first before delivery. It is 55.00 per cord to have it kiln dried. My thought was maybe that would be a good idea.
But you are right it is a good price. AND I just found out that they waive the delivery fee if I buy 2 cords or more. so the delivery fee would basically be almost the cost of kiln drying it. So I'd get it for 205 plus 55 for kiln drying it. Not sure if I should pay for that or not. But sounds like Fir is what we should stick with.

I would love to get some cedar just because I love the smell of it. =) I like the snap crackles of wood. Which kind does the most of that? Pine?
 
Shane, 2 cords a week in a Princess!? Are those face cords or full cords? Even with face cords that is 85 cu ft of wood a week. What else is eating all this fuel, wood boiler?

The princess is a week old, for last 18 years it was a Heritage Energy Systems cartier 2. When it goes to -30 c for a week you can see one of the 4 short chord rows go down in an extreme hurry. Hoping the new stove will save on consumption but now it appears we can burn comfortably at 0 and therefore maybe less more often? Time will tell. We are definitely using less wood so far but then it is unusually warm for this time of year.

Regards
 
Shayne, my wood consumption went down about 3x, from as much as much as a cord per week in the Jotuls to about a cord every third week in the BKs. Here's a similar report from a guy who has owned more stoves than any of you ever will:

I'm constantly changing stoves here, it's my thing. I always have a Blaze King and some other stove, typically a non-cat. The BK does the majority of our heating, the other is mainly just for our front room or when the temps are in the teens. The non-cats I've had easily consume 3x the wood the wood the BK consumes. Same environment, same wood. They have a beautiful fire and typically make too much heat, leaving me with burn times that are disappointing.. There will always be a Blaze King on my hearth!
 
Thank you Tegbert! Ok...lol didn't know what Niels meant. Appreciate the help. Will check on them. we don't have a shop though....just a barn and I think that would be too much moisture. Our garage is full of stuff....time for a woodshed. Since we don't have one though will need to get something until we build one. Thank you
If you have a barn that would be fine, as long as the NIELs are stored out of the weather. HomeFire Prest-Logs are made in WA state and are also good. However, if you get true seasoned wood this won't be necessary. Personally I would not pay for cedar firewood or pine on the west side of the Cascades. If it's free, well sure.

Reviews of NIELs and HomeFires here:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/fuels/
 
Wow... $280. I just got a quote for $415 for a pallet of 240 idaho energy logs. guess shipping them to Mass is expensive.
Yeah we pay more, I get them for $380 for a pallet of 240. Worth it though I burn half the wood using 3 of these a day.
 
Hi everyone. Update on our f55 install! Here is a photo
 

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I have a question. We did the first burn tonight. Is the top supposed to look like this?

See the left side is glossy and right side (top) is dull after first burn. This doesn't seem right to me. Did we ruin something on the top of the stove?

Sorry if that's a stupid question.
 

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Thank you!:)
Can you tell me if it's normal to have part of top shiny and part dull?

I posted photo above.

I would imagine that it is the paint "burning in" -- probably eventually all end up dull.
Check with your supplier and/or manufacturer if you are concerned.
 
Ok thank you for your opinion about that. I also asked on the f55 forum. Hoping other f55 owners will tell me if this happened on their stoves.
 
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