STUPID QUESTION, but EASY....NEED IMMEDIATE HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[capivan]

OK, so I feel stupid. I know NEVER to leave a burning fire, indoors or outdoors in a fireplace ..... is the same true for a wood insert? I have a montpelier insert and a nice fire going on in there right now. Can I leave the house without worry or do I need to stay until its out. Please OPINE! What do others do?

THANKS!
Sue

 

[bartlett7516]

I leave with a fire going all the time or my house would be cold! Just dont leave with the doors open or the air control wide open and you should be fine! Burn baby burn!

 

[burntime]

+1, burn em if you got em!

 

[savageactor7]

Sure why not the fire is contained behind that glass doo so no sparks can kick out.

 

[woodconvert]

OK, so I feel stupid. I know NEVER to leave a burning fire, indoors or outdoors in a fireplace ..... is the same true for a wood insert? I have a montpelier insert and a nice fire going on in there right now. Can I leave the house without worry or do I need to stay until its out. Please OPINE! What do others do?

THANKS!
Sue

Heck yeah, but before you leave....don't forget to load it

 

[capivan]

MANY THANKS! Was just feeling oddly worried.....state of my existance is to worry. LEAVING HOUSE NOW!

 

[d.n.f.]

MANY THANKS! Was just feeling oddly worried.....state of my existance is to worry. LEAVING HOUSE NOW!

No go back. Never leave!

 

[burntime]

You will lie awake a few nights and worry about the stove, then worry for a few days on the way home. Then you will be fine.

 

[oilstinks]

You will lie awake a few nights and worry about the stove, then worry for a few days on the way home. Then you will be fine.

No joke and call your house to be sure the answering machine picks up. Nervous nervous nervous. Itll pass.

 

[Corey]

It's OK to leave. But I try to avoid leaving right after putting a big load of wood in the stove, I also try to avoid loading rounds (or load them very carefully in the back of the firebox surrounded by splits) if i know the stove is going to be unattended. My thinking is I don't want to have a fire 'take off' while I'm gone...I'd rather come home to a slightly cool house rather than one that is too hot...as in burned to ashes. Also, many years ago, i loaded some wood and had a round close to the top of the stack. As the bottom wood burned and shifted, the round rolled forward and broke the glass in the door - this immediately let a big rush of air in and the stove took off like a blast furnace. Luckily I was right there and able to cover the hole with a piece of sheet metal, but I'd also rather that not happen while I'm away or asleep. So care in loading and a little bit of foresight can go a long way.

 

[struggle]

What Cozy Heat said. Just do not load and run out the door. That is when it is easy to leave the air wide open and forget etc. Log rolling.

 

[Vic99]

When I got my stove, I burned over a weekend first before I left the stove. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't hitting overfire temps.

Some nights I awaken to the sound of a log dropping as the fire consumes wood beneath. Sometimes I have to go down stairs and check. Being a bit nervous at first is normal, I think.

 

[ansehnlich1]

yaya, I load her up, and get her to a point where I can throttle down before I leave the house, or go to bed.

I never load my stove and leave until I can set the air down to a quarter open, or less.

 

[rudysmallfry]

Yeah, what they all said. I try to reload a good 30 minutes before I leave. That way the thermometer's pretty much sitting at a consistent temp, so not much chance of an overfire. FYI, it took me a year of calling my machine and driving home wondering if the house was still there before I shook off the nervous nellies.

 

[Girl]

I still get that little nervous feeling from time to time, even if I know everything is copacetic.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

OK, so I feel stupid. I know NEVER to leave a burning fire, indoors or outdoors in a fireplace ..... is the same true for a wood insert? I have a montpelier insert and a nice fire going on in there right now. Can I leave the house without worry or do I need to stay until its out. Please OPINE! What do others do?

THANKS!
Sue

Sue, do you also get that nervous when your furnace runs? If not, why not? It is the same thing! There is a big fire burning in a small pot. Simple! The only difference is that now you get to control the fire instead of letting electronics do the job for you. Much better now as you have total control.

Wood heat is our only source of heat. Can you imagine what we'd be like if someone had to be with the stove at all times?! No, we put wood in, burn with good flame to char the wood nicely and then damper down some and let the stove do what it was intended to do; that is, keep our house warm. So during the daytime, we go about our business the same as always. At night after filling the firebox, as soon as we damper it down some, we go to bed and sleep well and the house is still warm when we get up. That is the way it is supposed to work.

Your biggest worry should be about what wood you have for fuel and how well seasoned it is and also you should take a weekend or two to really learn how to operate that insert so you can quit worrying. Good luck.