What a difference a year makes

[mol1jb]

So last year was my first year burning. New stove I didn't know how to work, wood was not dry enough, fighting most of the season to run the stove well with poor quality wood.

Learned my lessons, cut wood early February and March for this winter (maple, ash, walnut), got next years wood cut as well.

I've lit a few fires for the wife and boy what a difference dry wood makes. Fire lights off easier, secondaries light sooner, adjusting the air down is easier and quicker. I see all the posts about drying wood for this winter and I feel sorry for them because that was me last year.

 

[BobUrban]

and when you get three years ahead it will even be better!! Love dry splits!!

 

[Soundchasm]

It is amazing how much empathy you can have when somebody is going through the same travails that you just went through. That's what makes this such a great place.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Sure is a good place for the newbie burner. Plenty of ideas for all of us. Can't wait to fire up the Jotul

 

[red oak]

Glad to hear you're going to have a better experience this winter!

 

[Applesister]

Its easy to fall off the wagon, however, and find yourself behind again. If you get 3 years ahead it's easy to slip so everyone should have sympathy and humility.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

I hope to find myself in good shape as a first year burner. I found a lot of dead standing elm. It all seemed fairly dry except for the trunks that I made sure to split a little smaller. It all got stacked slowly under my deck with some drying time between rows being stacked together. Not the optimal spot but the only place for it as I live in town and am renting the property so no stacking on the lawn killing the grass.
I also have dead standing oak that I took the upper limbs to about 8" diameter and split them in 3rds. The rest got split and stacked at my parents for next year hopefully. Was also able to scrounge a decent amount of ash, maple, boxelder, and cottonwood- all css by mid May. Checked the boxelder and cottonwood with my new moisture meter last week and it has made it down under 20% on a fresh split! And has been working good to take the chill out of the house in the mornings.
The moisture content of the oak for the colder months under the deck is unknown at this point, but I plan on mixing in the ash with it. And I also have some oak that might be drier that I got from a couple smaller dead standing trees and stacked on the side of my garage that gets all afternoon sun. Going to check the moisture in that just before the snow flies.

Any tips for a newbie that may have unfavorable wood?

 

[BobUrban]

Any tips for a newbie that may have unfavorable wood?

Feed it air and burn it on the hot side. Keep an eye on the chimney. Monthly or at least every other month if you can run a brush through it and you will be fine. Most have been in a compromised wood situation from time to time or at least when starting out and if done with care the only real danger is not getting all the potential heat out of the wood and a great learning curve teaching respect for future planning. Best motivation ever for a 3yr plan is burning for a season or two without one.

 

[DTrain]

Yep. I'm on year three. We go thru 3-4 cord. Finally got 10 cord brought in last January. 5 split and 5 in rounds. There is a cord in the basement and a half in the sunroom. 4 cords of rounds pre ordered for this January. Then I can split the wood that replaces this seasons wood. Takes a while to get up the nerve to go full bore with the wood supply. Also takes a season or two of not being warm enough to get you in gear! So good luck on year two!

 

[firefighterjake]

. . .

Any tips for a newbie that may have unfavorable wood?

Burning the standing dead elm is a definite good start . . . it's mainly what got me through the first year.

Pallets . . . pallets are often free and the wood makes for great kindling . . . and it helps "drive" any excess moisture out of the wood you have and bring the stove up to temp. I find them to be a pain to process, but they helped a lot in the first year of burning with less than optimal wood.

Check the chimney frequently . . . I got in the habit of checking every two weeks for the first month or so . . . and then went to checking and cleaning monthly. Probably could have got by with less frequent cleaning, but I didn't want to be "that guy" who has a chimney fire.

Watch your temps . . . stove top thermometer and flue thermometers are a great tool.

Work on your wood supply so next year's wood will be primo fuel . . . you may end this year thinking you did pretty well and the whole seasoning wood for over a year is over-hyped . . . until you burn wood that has been seasoned for more than a year . . . or two . . . or three . . . and then you realize that you just thought you were burning good wood.

 

[Bagelboy]

Different situation here. I have been burning wood and heating my home almost exclusively with wood for over 30 years. I bought a new Osburn 2400 insert last year to replace an old dinosaur I had in there. It was a difficult learning curve, and I felt almost like a newbie. I didn't really understand how these new EPA stoves worked, but I stuck with it, and glad I did. I am currently burning some pine to get me through the shoulder season (something I didn't ever think I would be able to do), and as far as wood goes, I probably have about 25 cords stacked and split for the next 3 years. I really like the new EPA stoves, but it took time, some mistakes, and some patience to get through it. So in essence, I was a newbie myself last year!