Obsessed With Fire

[jbrown56]

Hey everyone,

I'm sure this topic has been covered before, but I have to ask. I had used my old Timberline for over 26 years and used to fill it up, open the dampers, let it catch, close the dampers and forget about it for the next 7 or 8 hrs. With my new stove which I've had for about 7 weeks, I can't stop staring at the damned fire, especially the secondaries. I also find myself looking at the chimney, as I can see it through the skylight and am amazed at how little smoke is coming out. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and how long doe's it take to go away.

Thanks Jim

 

[begreen]

Don't worry, it will go away. Usually around May.

 

[SlyFerret]

My wife was a little concerned about the new stove, since it totally messed up the way she wanted to have the furniture in the living room arranged.

I keep telling my wife how much she'll love the new stove once I get it installed. I predict that she and I will both find ourselves mesmerized by the fire.

-SF

 

[MrGriz]

Yep, BG's right. You'll stop looking at the fire about the time it goes out. Sounds like things are going well with the new stove!

 

[Vic99]

I've had my stove for 2 weeks now.

When people ask me what I think of the extra work, I tell them, "I love it. I'm border line obsessed."

Wood pile stuff, feeding the fire, keeping the stove area clean, splitting wood, stacking wood, responding to Craig's list for the next scrounge mission, reading/writing at Hearth.com, shopping for stove accoutrements, monitoring temperatures, warming cider/tea, baking veggies in the coals, staring at the fire . . . . . good Lord, its a full time job.

I'm hooked.

 

[SlyFerret]

I think that's what these guys mean when they say that wood heat is a "lifestyle".

-SF

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Some of us also spend a huge amount of time admiring our wood piles.

 

[topcat]

I'm glad to see i'm not the only crazy one out there.i can't keep my eyes off of my insert either.when i'm at work and call home i ask the wife."how's the stove"? i just love it.the beauty of the flames.

 

[adrpga498]

Bgreen is partialy correct. When May arives I switch my obsession out onto the patio and work with the chimnea. I thing I need a shrink, drink .....whateva. Its fun no doubt.

 

[cmonSTART]

Four cord of wood that's stacked, covered, and ready to go is a beautiful thing!

Clownfish, did you say baking veggies in the coals?????

 

[Jclout]

Guys it makes not only me laugh but my wife as well to see I'm not the only fire nut around. My new Quad is not hooked up but I do like looking at it just sitting there and its not even lit yet. When the season changes I'll start dreaming about the new grill I'd like to get and uncovering my Grillzebo! I used to get in trouble playing with fire when I was a kid but now I can play as much as I like, ugh that is if I can get the Quad hooked up.

 

[chad3]

I have grown up with wood heat (for the past 25 or so years). When I was picking up my second stove after the first 118 non window I asked my dad about the window. He picked up his first window the year past. He said I would love it. What a great thing Looking at the fire is either a loving gaze or a dread (temp rising, too much? what next? fire is really going etc.). I really like the window. Just beautiful.
Chad

 

[kevinmoelk]

Yes fire is undoubtedly a beautiful thing... it speaks to all of us at some deep level. In fact, I don't know of anyone who does not think fire is beautiful. But as far as the stare habit goes, boy you guys are easy. I find myself staring at all sort of stuff I've done... anything I build for example, particularly while in the process I'll just sit there and stare at the work I've done and ponder how I will make the next step.

-Kevin

 

[Bill]

Whew! This thread makes me feel better, I thought something was wrong with me, now I know I am not the only one. I sometimes stop on my ATV just to stare a second or two at my wood pile. Lots of satisfaction in having that wood all cut, split, and stacked. My wife calls me a Pyro once in a while. But my wife enjoys the high heat more than I do, so that must be the reason she stopped whining about the ash on the hearth.

I enjoy watching the fire, a drink, and relaxing before going to bed.

 

[Redox]

Thought I would resurrect this thread for a delurking...

When we bought our current house, we inherited a Fisher(sp?) insert with a crumbling liner in a leaky masonry fireplace and a lot of rotting wood. After settling in, I decided to blow $150 on some SS pipe and cemented it into the top of old 'Ma and ran it up the chimney. We have had had fireplaces before, but this was our first woodstove. After playing around for a month burning the old crap laying around, I asked my wife if it was worth the mess and bother. The response was "Oh, yes; I've never been so warm in my life!" So began the obsession...

After doing extensive research, much of it here on Hearth, we decided to buy a freestanding Quadrafire and a new Metalbestos chimney when we bulldozed the addition. Now, I can't get the family room up to 90 degrees like before, but the furnace hasn't run much since. My last month's gas bill was for 32 therms; most of which was cooking, DHW and clothes dryer! I understand my neighbors are running $400-500 bills in similar houses! Needless to say, I couldn't be happier. I am trying to be green and everything, but above all; I'm cheap. And I have all of you to thank for it.

I never thought you could burn wood down to a blue flame, but then I have never had a piece of glass to look through to watch it. Now, I sit for hours staring at the flames and enjoy listening to the furnace not run. Thanks everyone!

 

[Mr.M2]

I seem to have turned into "Rain Man" when it comes to the stove. :red:
"That log on its side!, definitely, definitely"

I'm like the show "Monk".
"Yeah, that log there isn't burning straight, I need an 1/8" piece of kindling to straighten that out."

While I know it's EXTREME overkill, I'm treating it like an engineering
project with micrometer measurement precision.

It's darn fun!

 

[savageactor7]

dittos to what jbrown56 said...just got a quad after 20++ years with a Shenandoah and it like I'm seeing the fire for the first time.

 

[WoodMann]

I think that's what these guys mean when they say that wood heat is a "lifestyle".

-SF

Ain't that the truth? I'm getting assimilated as we speak..........

 

[Martin Strand III]

By jove, I think you've voiced another way wood can warm you...

Aye,
Marty

 

[jadm]

Thanks you guys. Everyone in my family thinks I am crazy except the dogs who love the wood chips on the floor.

I loved looking at my new Jotul 550 when it was sitting in it's crate for 3 weeks waiting to be installed.

(Mind you the crate was closed...I couldn't even see the beauty!)

I'm already setting up for my next years wood supply.....This really drives my husband nuts.

Just discovered that if I split my kindling with a hatchet into smaller pieces, start ups in this huge fire box work better so now I get to make more piles that will just be eaten up and I will get to split more wood that will just get eaten up and this will go on and on and on until spring .....This behavior makes my kids just shake their heads...

Oh - did I mention my possessiveness??? I won't let anyone near this thing. I do allow them to adjust the draft control according to my specific instructions but I won't even let my husband build a fire in it yet. (I have only built 2 'real' fires in it so far..) (He can build once I've discovered how to get it up and running in the morning so he doesn't smoke us out or burn the house down...)

Have to go now and watch the fire....
:coolsmile: :coolsmile:

 

[jadm]

Thanks you guys. Everyone in my family thinks I am crazy except the dogs who love the wood chips on the floor.

I loved looking at my new Jotul 550 when it was sitting in it's crate for 3 weeks waiting to be installed.

(Mind you the crate was closed...I couldn't even see the beauty!)

I'm already setting up for my next years wood supply.....This really drives my husband nuts.

Just discovered that if I split my kindling with a hatchet into smaller pieces, start ups in this huge fire box work better so now I get to make more piles that will just be eaten up and I will get to split more wood that will just get eaten up and this will go on and on and on until spring .....This behavior makes my kids just shake their heads...

Oh - did I mention my possessiveness??? I won't let anyone near this thing. I do allow them to adjust the draft control according to my specific instructions but I won't even let my husband build a fire in it yet. (I have only built 2 'real' fires in it so far..) (He can build once I've discovered how to get it up and running in the morning so he doesn't smoke us out or burn the house down...)

Have to go now and watch the fire....

 

[Martin Strand III]

Wow! What a woman!

And I always thought the wood stuff, making the mess and building the fire was a "blue" thing while cleaning up around the stove while yapping about all the dust was a "pink" thing...

Aye,
Marty

 

[myzamboni]

To take your obsessiveness to another level, get an infrared thermometer. I find myself taking temps of different walls in the house, the stove, the stovepipe, the stove glass, the cat sleeping in front of the stove, the wood pile in the garage, the woodpile by the stove, the curtains, the floor, my beer, etc.

 

[PSYCHO]

Hello all. New guy in town. Not new to the art of wood burning for heat, just new to the site, and I love it. I'm 35 and have been heating since I was 5, helping Dad, then gradually taking over the job. I really enjoy it. I take great pride in the art, and am ALWAYS sitting downstairs with one door open watching the fire. Dad's been gone for 10 years this coming August 18, and I want him back. Until I get to meet him again, I will keep things going here, to make him proud. I have to go finish cleaning the stove and pipe right now hoping to get her back up and running by tonight. Thank you all for reading this, I'm honored to share such a love with you all. Take care, and call your Dad if it's possible, just to say 'Hi'. Thanks. Mark

 

[Redox]

IR thermometer+fire= MAJOR entertainment

Anyone know the emissivity of a laborador??