So I almost burned my house down.

[kettensäge]

Ever use pine cones for firestarters? they work nice, the more sap on the outside the better, just remember to use gloves when handling, and use them once they turn brown, (depends on the veriety).

 

[kettensäge]

Consider yourself lucky, you mention Ash or oak around here and people start talking furniture. BTW, I've never swung a stunted cat, but that sounds like something I need to add to my "bucket list". is it a good time? ;-P

Went to buy hardwood flooring a few years ago, the saleslady showed me "canadian oak". I gave here the deer in the headlights look. She leaned over and softly said "ash".

 

[oldspark]

Swinging a stunted cat does not sound good for the cat.

 

[Jutt77]

Hey Rose,

I don't think there is a problem with how you formed the fire, top down or otherwise, it was just a matter of burning with pine and timing. I burn with pine 95% of the time since I live in CO and well-seasoned pine constantly pops, sometimes violently as you found and if you happen to have your door open during a big pop then embers are going to fly. And yes, I have melted the carpet surrounding my hearth at least 4-5 times since my installation last month. My next stove related purchase? A hearth rug. I'm also going to rebuild my hearth in the spring and make it quite a bit larger than my existing hearth.

I also purchased another fire extenguisher that I keep in very close proximity to my wood stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

As others have said . . . and Jutt said it very well . . . it wasn't the top down fire so much as it was the wood (softwoods tend to have a lot of popping in my experience) and the timing (when you load) . . .

 

[soupy1957]

...........then again, (being raised in farm country), ...........I LOVE the smell of the fields after they have been turned over, and fertilized, in the Spring!!

-Soupy1957

 

[Jutt77]

Wet on the surface won't result in popping, at least not with hardwoods. Can't really imagine a mechanism for it to do so with softwoods, either. It really is just on the surface and dries up in minutes in the stove, so won't be lingering around in coals. I would suggest, though, bringing in snowy or water-wet wood to the house a day before you need to use it so it dries out before you throw it in the stove.

I think that softwoods like pine pop quite a bit is because softwoods are not nearly as dense as hardwood. Less density equates to a wood with more air pockets. As the air pockets heat up, the air within the pocket expands until in explodes under pressure. So more air pockets mean more snap, crackle, pop!

 

[gyrfalcon]

Wet on the surface won't result in popping, at least not with hardwoods. Can't really imagine a mechanism for it to do so with softwoods, either. It really is just on the surface and dries up in minutes in the stove, so won't be lingering around in coals. I would suggest, though, bringing in snowy or water-wet wood to the house a day before you need to use it so it dries out before you throw it in the stove.

I think that softwoods like pine pop quite a bit is because softwoods are not nearly as dense as hardwood. Less density equates to a wood with more air pockets. As the air pockets heat up, the air within the pocket expands until in explodes under pressure. So more air pockets mean more snap, crackle, pop!

Makes sense to me.

 

[begreen]

Actually I think it is the pitch and moisture pockets that create the popping. The power of steam is a mighty thing.

 

[Jutt77]

Actually I think it is the pitch and moisture pockets that create the popping. The power of steam is a mighty thing.

Oh yeah, that would make even more sense. Remember this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_New_York_City_steam_explosion

 

[begreen]

Whoa, some pipes in that system are close to 100 yrs old.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Whoa, some pipes in that system are close to 100 yrs old.

Heh. Welcome to the Northeast. Some of the pipes/sewer lines, etc. in the Boston area are 150. They don't even know where a lot of them are because nobody made maps of them back when they were put in.

 

[48rob]

Hi Rose!

I haven't tried doing a top down in my 17, but bottom up works well.

When I start with a cold stove, or just a few embers, I place a piece of bark or very thin split in the middle of the stove.
Then a firestarter, and kindling in a log cabin style stack.
On top of the very small kindling goes a bit larger kindling, then a couple splits of Willow or Pine.
I light the fire, then I open the air all the way, and crack the door about a half inch.
Give it about 5 minutes, then close the door.
After another 5 minutes, close the air control to about 1/2.
The secondaries will kick in quickly, and the stove, and room will warm fast.

Play with the amount you need to crack the door open.
Once the fire is lit and going well, adjust the door so the fire "roars".
You can both see and hear the difference by adjusting the amount it is open.
You want to make it look kind of like a blowtorch, to get the fresh load burning fast and hot, so you can close the door and adjust the air intake.
The idea is to do that as quick as you can, because as long as the door, and air intake stay open, the heat is all going up the flue.
Seems wrong to believe that the fire would get hotter when you cut the air halfway off, but the secondaries, and the draft being reduced allow the stove to radiate the heat, instead of directing it outside.

Once you have established a decent bed of coals, if you don't need a lot of heat, instead of putting more splits in, try putting in small rounds of 2-3" or so. The rounds burn more slowly than splits, which keep the fire from getting too large when you just need a little heat.
Most people call this kindling...but they will burn for a half hour to an hour, and it will be a lot easier to regulate the temps in your home.
Of course you need to be around to feed it...

Today, here at my place, I started out at -7 degrees, and it made it to 11 degrees (outside)
I started my fire as described, with room temp at 50 degrees and have added 7 or 8 small rounds to the fire through the day, maintaining around 75-80 degree temps in the room.

I don't get up in the night to feed the fire, but if I did, keeping the place at 70+ wouldn't be a problem

Rob

 

[snowleopard]

+1 on the Bag Balm, if you can get your wife to stand the smell!!

She IS the wife, Soupy. :lol:

Aww, shucks, here I was thinking that Rose was going to have someone to cook, clean, do the laundry, change the oil, chop wood, haul water, do the taxes, and get up in the night with the baby . . . disillusioned . . .

 

[afptl]

bag balm isn't bad at all. Works good. Actually, a lot of the dairy creams/treatments work good for people. When my fingers split open, I use this stuff called New Skin and paint over it. burns for a minute, then all is great! Really helps out tons!

 

[woodsmaster]

That pine will pop every time. I use for camp fires and look out it can be like the fourth of july.

 

[firefighterjake]

...........then again, (being raised in farm country), ...........I LOVE the smell of the fields after they have been turned over, and fertilized, in the Spring!!

-Soupy1957

I could skip the smell of manure being spread on the fields . . . but love the smell of freshly plowed soil . . . and even the smell of fermenting sileage and haylage.

 

[begreen]

I could skip the smell of manure being spread on the fields . . .

You'd never make it in DC then Jake. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

[nate379]

Not sure what you mean? Oak grows in Canada, so why where there be confusion?

[quote author="kettensäge" date="1295644350


Went to buy hardwood flooring a few years ago, the saleslady showed me "canadian oak". I gave here the deer in the headlights look. She leaned over and softly said "ash".[/quote]