Too warm to burn!!

[RIWonderer]

Also in New England - I've been stoking the woodstove for months and yesterday's thaw was wonderful - EXCEPT for the nasty smells coming out of my stove and into the house!

This is my first winter with a woodstove (I've got a Jotul Oslo) and I learned never to trust the guy that assures you his wood has been seasoned for 2 years... about 1 cord out of the 4 we ordered was actually well seasoned. This year ordering the wood in spring.

Just had the chimney sweep come out and clean, we had some buildup. (Some buildup = cap was almost completely blocked with creosote from this nasty wood) So the chimney and woodstove are squeaky clean today but they smell AWFUL.

Looking around on the forum the only advice I could find was to cover up the smell with candles. We've got allergies so can't take that route - is there any way to block off the airflow, or is the house going to smell like an ash tray all summer?

Btw, being 4 months pregnant, I would rather avoid any techniques that involve climbing up a two story ladder to get to the chimney cap.

Thanks!
Jeanette

 

[smokeater]

Can you believe it?! After the winter WE'VE had this year, here in New England; I can actually say that today it's "too warm to burn!!" Pushin the 60ºF mark! Tomorrow promises to be even warmer, and I'm (frankly) very happy about that, if for no other reason that finally seeing some melt off of the snow that has been stacked up so high, that you can't see when making a turn at an intersection.

All toll, if this weather pattern holds (and Lord knows "New England" weather can be nasty in March, so I'm not sure we're out of the woods yet), it looks like my wood consumption (of the 3 cords I had available), is around a cord for the season.

This summer, if we put in a wood shed as we planned, that'll mean transfering the wood that is currently stacked on pallets, to the wood shed. Based on this years consumption, I'm thinkin I won't need to order more wood, but wonder if I should order another cord anyway, just on "principle?" Not sure just how "far ahead" is really necessary.

-Soupy1957

I wish I had the problem of being to warm to burn, -20F here this morning but have it up to 75F in the house,you cant beat a wood stove.Spring cant come to soon.

 

[Battenkiller]

This year ordering the wood in spring.

Order it now. A lot of guys (especially the smaller guys who lack big equipment) will have to stop cutting once the thaw happens, and if you do get any in the spring it will be covered in mud. Now's the time. Otherwise, you might not get delivered to until June.... way too late in the season.

 

[RIWonderer]

If I order it now, how do I stack it? Even after 2 days of 60-degree weather, we still have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground. How do you deal with this?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If I order it now, how do I stack it? Even after 2 days of 60-degree weather, we still have 2-3 feet of snow on the ground. How do you deal with this?

You dump it on top of the snow. When the snow melts, then you stack the wood.


I see 3-6" of snow forecast for Sunday. Winter is not dead yet.

 

[Battenkiller]

You dump it on top of the snow. When the snow melts, then you stack the wood.

+1

And it will even season a little bit in that pile unless it stays buried in snow... which it won't for long. I've got three cord of black birch sitting in piles out there, and it is a beautiful sight to behold. Looks just like future warmth to me.

 

[John_M]

Soupy, By now, you have read the census opinions so purchase the extra cord. At the end of the burning season it is better to have 3/4 cord left over for next year than to be short 3 splits to finish this year. ;-) John_M

 

[Big Al]

Also in New England - I've been stoking the woodstove for months and yesterday's thaw was wonderful - EXCEPT for the nasty smells coming out of my stove and into the house!

This is my first winter with a woodstove (I've got a Jotul Oslo) and I learned never to trust the guy that assures you his wood has been seasoned for 2 years... about 1 cord out of the 4 we ordered was actually well seasoned. This year ordering the wood in spring.

Just had the chimney sweep come out and clean, we had some buildup. (Some buildup = cap was almost completely blocked with creosote from this nasty wood) So the chimney and woodstove are squeaky clean today but they smell AWFUL.

Looking around on the forum the only advice I could find was to cover up the smell with candles. We've got allergies so can't take that route - is there any way to block off the airflow, or is the house going to smell like an ash tray all summer?

Btw, being 4 months pregnant, I would rather avoid any techniques that involve climbing up a two story ladder to get to the chimney cap.

Thanks!
Jeanette

My first year burning I had the same smell in the house due to really green wood and cool fires. My finace (now wife) couldn't stand it when she came over on weekends and assured me that when we got married there'd be no wood burning. Well the next season the wood was much dryer and I learned to burn hotter=no smell and now she loves the stove. She seems to remember that after the season was over the ashtray smell went away within a week or so. Hope that helps

 

[stejus]

Wise man says to always stay ahead of what you need. Every spring I make sure I have 9 total cords. So far, every spring I have 5 cord left because I burnt 4 over the winter. What ever I burn in the winter, I replace in the spring. FIFO meathod. If for some reason I need 5 cord during the burn season, I'll have it and just order 5 more in the spring.

 

[crossout]

burnt wood today and kinda wished i did not i was pushing 85 and had to set the blower lowest as possible it was 45 here today.... yesterday let it die off during the day and it was 75 in the house stayed nice and warm can't wait for spring!

 

[JoeCt]

Soup, I can agree with you on the fact that its warm. Mud season opened today around here. Stoves going now though with the wind picking up

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I would like to think it is never to warm to burn when it warms the heart so..

 

[Big Al]

Not too warm to burn anymore. Mid 30's, wind gusting from the north and there were flurries here this morning. Yesterday was a high of 60. Made a fire around 7:30 last night and woke to a still warm house.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Yeah Al, the winds here in NE PA are gusting up to 60 miles an hour, a wind warning this afternoon, and down to 15 tonite..

 

[Big Al]

Yeah Al, the winds here in NE PA are gusting up to 60 miles an hour, a wind warning this afternoon, and down to 15 tonite..

You'll be packing the 13 tonight and lettin' 'er rip eh? Definately a two fire night here tonight. Brrrrrr.......

 

[GAMMA RAY]

You know it!

 

[VCBurner]

I need a cap badly. No liner here. But days like today I wish I had one, wind gusts induce a crazy downdraft. I have to keep the Fabreeze air effects spray bottle handy. A liner and a vacustack would work out much better.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I just looked out the window and it looks like a snow globe. Nothing better on a snowy day than a nice hot fire...

 

[Battenkiller]

I need a cap badly. No liner here. But days like today I wish I had one, wind gusts induce a crazy downdraft. I have to keep the Fabreeze air effects spray bottle handy. A liner and a vacustack would work out much better.

Not in my location. I'm up on a hill with the chimney well above the ridge line of the roof. No downdraft ever (except inside the stove itself). The wind had my stove screaming last night. Even with the primary air flap completely closed, I was getting over 500º on the pipe and 750º on the stove. When I closed the bypass damper, the sound was so intense that I almost jumped back.... then laughed out loud at my own startle response. It actually began to rumble until it quieted down a bit. Nothing to freak out about, but I slept lightly anyway.

 

[VCBurner]

I need a cap badly. No liner here. But days like today I wish I had one, wind gusts induce a crazy downdraft. I have to keep the Fabreeze air effects spray bottle handy. A liner and a vacustack would work out much better.

Not in my location. I'm up on a hill with the chimney well above the ridge line of the roof. No downdraft ever (except inside the stove itself). The wind had my stove screaming last night. Even with the primary air flap completely closed, I was getting over 500º on the pipe and 750º on the stove. When I closed the bypass damper, the sound was so intense that I almost jumped back.... then laughed out loud at my own startle response. It actually began to rumble until it quieted down a bit. Nothing to freak out about, but I slept lightly anyway.

Lucky you. I got some good draft the other day as the winds picked up, but depends on how the wind is blowing. Yesterday and this morning it was blowing just right to swoop over the giant pine (my worst nemesis, I'd like to have it cut down) and come down toward the chimney. This has happened with the fireplace and two different stoves in this location. Never had the problem on the other side of the house with my basement chimney. That tall pine also scared us by letting go of some 6-10" branches during the ice storm of '08. Those came really close to hitting the roof, but we could hear the thump when they hit the ground.

 

[VCBurner]

Also in New England - I've been stoking the woodstove for months and yesterday's thaw was wonderful - EXCEPT for the nasty smells coming out of my stove and into the house!

This is my first winter with a woodstove (I've got a Jotul Oslo) and I learned never to trust the guy that assures you his wood has been seasoned for 2 years... about 1 cord out of the 4 we ordered was actually well seasoned. This year ordering the wood in spring.

Just had the chimney sweep come out and clean, we had some buildup. (Some buildup = cap was almost completely blocked with creosote from this nasty wood) So the chimney and woodstove are squeaky clean today but they smell AWFUL.

Looking around on the forum the only advice I could find was to cover up the smell with candles. We've got allergies so can't take that route - is there any way to block off the airflow, or is the house going to smell like an ash tray all summer?

Btw, being 4 months pregnant, I would rather avoid any techniques that involve climbing up a two story ladder to get to the chimney cap.

Thanks!
Jeanette

Hello Jeanette,
Congratulations on the new addition!
My wife is in her third trimester with our 5th boy. She has a love hate relationship with the stove/wood. She's allergic to mold, dust, some wood species, among other things. But, she has learned to love the heat and asks me to load up whenever the fire starts to die down. Fortunately she's not allergic to candles and loves to burn them. The smell coming from your chimney probably has a lot to do with the freshly scraped flue. But, my wife says that the smell will not be there all summer. She wishes she could give you a better solution, but she says she's still trying to figure out how to deal with it herself. It usually goes away and once the stove is cleaned out for the end of the season. You can also put some "clean" cat litter ;-) inside the ash pan so any moisture can be absorbed by it instead of your stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not too warm to burn here . . . like the rest of my northern brothers and sisters the warmest it got was temps in the 40s . . . enough to burn like I do in the shoulder seasons -- once in the a.m. and once in the p.m. . . . and of course I'm back to burning 24/7.

To paraphrase Twain . . . the reports of winter being over are greatly exaggerated.