Just hit 50 here. I love that black jack oak. It burns really hot. My house is surrounded by black jack. Most people think is ugly but I think its really cool looking. We are so lucky to live in an area jam packed with beautiful hardwood.
What Is In Your Stove Right Now?
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Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
My dad always said that black jack was only good for firewood and it is excellent firewood no doubt. But it does make some beautiful milled lumber with that black streak running through the center. I'd like to cut one some day and have it milled by some amish neighbors of mine and build a kitchen table. It's one of my favorite trees. I had two in the center of my circle drive but unfortunately wind took them out. I'm actually in a deer stand in a black jack right now!
rottiman
Minister of Fire
Temp. starting to drop with a stiff west wind. Dropping down to 25 tonight so I just fired up the stove again. Probably go for a few days now as we are supposed to have a wet weekend.
MEngineer24
Burning Hunk
Finally getting back to cold weather here. Looking at a low of 28F tonight. Have a load of pine/red oak from earlier today that’s coals now. Will be loading up in a few hours for overnight.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
First fire of the season here. A mixture of pine and oak.
Diabel
Minister of Fire
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Diabel
Minister of Fire
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Ah. Benefit of the solar-minisplit - stove combo.
Free heat all year long.
Free heat all year long.
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thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
I've had three splits of hardwood with the rest pine going, it should be down to coals when I load up for the overnight load, NOAA is calling for a low of 24.
The overnight load will be all hardwood. We still have almost a full 4 x 4 rack of pine left that should get us to Tuesday or maybe Wednesday depending on how cold it gets.
The overnight load will be all hardwood. We still have almost a full 4 x 4 rack of pine left that should get us to Tuesday or maybe Wednesday depending on how cold it gets.
fvhowler
Burning Hunk
I cut some black jack oak, hickory and post oak today. I'm a big fan of all the oaks and we are blessed to have so much of it.
Diabel
Minister of Fire
It sounds like you are doing same as me, softwood in the day and hardwood at night
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
It's always nice having coals in the morning when starting your first fire.
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
I wish that I had put up more pine, it would come in handy for burning down coals once the real cold weather moves in and we're burning our best hardwoods, sugar maple and ironwood for us.
We'll have three or four face cord of beech ready for next year with another two face cord of ironwood.
This year we have two face of ironwood ready with yellow birch, sugar maple, cherry and a bunch of ash.
Zzyk
Member
Cherry slab and box elder here... Due to unforseen circumstances this year may be tight. Saving the good stuff for later.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
Its 46 now with a low of 38 tonight. I got a load of post and black jack going now for overnight.
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
I have an overnight load of hard and soft maple going in the Liberty, the outside temp is 26.2.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Burned down my start up load to coals. Ran the stove high because it's a basement dweller - have to heat up the basement considerably before enough heat comes up (also the reason I don't burn just one night or one day).
Now refilled with 4 5" red oak splits, and 6 4" sassafras splits, 18" long. Will be good until I reload before going to a friend to take down a pine or two in the afternoon.
Now refilled with 4 5" red oak splits, and 6 4" sassafras splits, 18" long. Will be good until I reload before going to a friend to take down a pine or two in the afternoon.
thewoodlands
Minister of Fire
We heat from the basement too, when we had the house built in 2003 I wanted a wood stove up here and the wife wanted a valor propane insert with a glass front, she won but it sure heats the place up quick so it's nice.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Yes. I can use the minisplit to help boost a bit in the mornings (we let it cool down a bit during the night) because the stove in the basement heats best in a steady mode. The minisplit still gets about 2 kWh of heat for every kWh put in at 17 F so it's good for a boost, but I wouldn't want to run it full days at those temps. So the stove.
I also made a register in the floor between living room and basement through which I'm pulling the coldest air down towards the stove (and warm air up through the stairs). This allows me to dial up the inline fan for quicker heating of the living room.
In the end, with the stove (a BK), and the "heat reservoir" that is my basement, I can keep the temps in the living room as even as I want.
Rainy and cloudy today, lows tonight in the upper 20s. You guessed it, more pine.
MEngineer24
Burning Hunk
It’s 27F this morning. Reloaded a partial load of red oak and a few short pieces of white oak limb wood on top of some coals from the overnight fire. Nothing beats a relaxing fire with a hot cup of coffee on Saturday morning.
Caw
Minister of Fire
Yeah same here with the solar, heat pump, stove combo. What's a utility bill?
That said I've been burning for about 2 weeks, mostly overnight. My heat pump is rated down to 37 degrees and we've had a lot of 25-40 degree nights. Also it's early season and I just like burning lol.
Right now I've got red maple going:
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I had made up my mind to use the stove when it's below 40 F for at least a day and a night. Last year (with insufficient dry wood) I went with the stove below 35 F (as then I hear the heat pump go thru thaw cycles which makes me cringe, heating the outside...).
I think I might start even earlier next year. Keeping track of how much wood I use.
It's been hard, waiting to light up when I see this thread very active...
Caw
Minister of Fire
I was also more judicious with my wood last year since I had a finite amount of good dry stuff. This year I have 6 cords ready so I'm just burning whenever I feel the need. Being 2+ years ahead has its perks for sure.
I have my racks set up in a way to make it easy to track usage so I'm very curious how much we use. I plan to use about 4 cords give or take depending on the weather.
