Wood Stove Noob: What will my mistakes be?

[OpenWater]

Hey Folks,

Great site. Just came over front he 'pellet side' after ruling out a pellet stove purchase. Wood stove, here I come!! My question is what are the most common mistakes new wood stove owners make. Or in other words, what would you do differently if you were to start over again?

I am most likely going with a Summers Heat (50-SNC13L) or something comparable. I'll gladly take recommendations for stoves, too. It will go in my unfinished but insulated basement. I have 1,500 square feet above the basement. I'll likely get a blower, and the stove will be at the bottom of my basement steps with the hope it will belch loads of heat up the steps. I may cut registers later if need be. My builder will be doing the install, so that is not an issue. I've got 8 acres of wooded property and years and years of fuel (this is a weekend home, so that will help).

Please help me get prepared for the newest addition to my family!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Wet1]

Dry wood, or lack of it. 95% of new folks fail to have properly seasoned wood on hand for their first year. So not only do you want this years seasoned wood on hand, but you should have your wood for next year seasoning now as well. You're ideally looking for 20% or less moisture content (center of the freshly split piece), but <25% will do. Get a moisture meter if you don't have one... They're cheap at Harbor Freight or on ebay.

BTW, good choice not going with pellets!

 

[OpenWater]

Thanks for the reply! Appreciate that advice. I've got lots of trees down and piled up, left over from the original clearning of the land. Been cutting and stacking over the past year, so hopefully the stuff is dry enough. Still need to find a sheltered place to store it. Will work on that this fall.

CR says pellets are just as if not more costly than natural gas! I know it is CR, but that is surprising. With all the fuel on my property, in the end, this was a no brainer!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Wet1]

Make sure that wood has been cut and split, it hardly dries in log form.

I did pellets on and off for 9 years. Supply, quality, and pricing have been up and down throughout. I love the convenience and long burn times of burning pellets, but I've pretty much had it with the pellet issues.

I've found the BK cat (wood) stoves are about as close to pellet stoves as you can get... they have the longest burn times, they hold a lot of wood, they can be turned way down, have an automatic thermostat so you don't have to fuss with the air throughout a burn, and they're very deep (below the door) so they can hold about a cord worth of ashes before needing to be cleaned out.

 

[Slow1]

Do you plan to spend a good amount of your living time in the basement? If not that may be your first mistake... place the stove where you plan to live so you can enjoy the radiant heat. Seriously! The warmth of the stove is a wonderful thing and sticking it in the basement and then living above it most of the time is somewhat silly (in my opinion). Sure, many do it and are able to heat their homes quite well, but I think they are missing out on a good part of the enjoyment that a stove can bring them.

Seasoned wood - already covered.

Other thoughts...

Properly designed chimney system - sounds like you have a new build going on. I hope you have a stove professional involved in the chimney design and install - Having been through a builder, then another builder for the addition on our house I don't trust the contractor/builder to pick the right person for this job without interviewing the sub myself. Seems this is an opportunity for you to have a near ideal chimney setup for your stove, but it could also turn into an expensive disaster too.

Get the right stove! Mind you this is not in any way a comment on the Summers Heat as I don't know much about that stove, rather it is a generic statement. I have found (reading here) that I am not alone in having bought a stove and then replaced it within a couple seasons (although doing it within 6 months may be a bit on the fast side). Review your decision on which stove you buy and make sure that A) you have your priorities right and B) the stove you decided on really is the best one to meet those priorities.

By priorities I mean things like are you expecting this to really heat the place when you are there or is it more ornamental?

Being a weekend home, I would expect you to light it up more than some 24/7 burners but do you want to feed it more often while there or load it up once on Firday and leave it alone all weekend on a low simmer for 40 hrs of burn (ok, theoretical maximum burn on BKK) until you leave on Sunday? I have to assume you will have alternate heat there for the week to keep things from freezing - will you have a programmable thermostat that will bring temp up to comfortable before you arrive on Friday or are you going to arrive to a cold place and want the stove to heat it up pronto?

 

[BrotherBart]

The operational mistake you will make is leaving the door cracked open or the primary air fully open when starting up or reloading and getting distracted and forgetting about the stove. Until you smell a smell you will never forget and return to a blazing overfiring stove.

 

[karri0n]

Sounds like the wood you've got isn't going to be ready enough. You need to get it cut to length and split at least a year before you'll be burning it, 2 or more if it's oak. This is THE newbie mistake, as well as the cause of 90% of complaints regarding stove problems. It's also unsafe, and will lead to a smoking chimney and creosote accumulation. Unfortunately, even a wood supplier selling "seasoned" wood won't be selling wood that is yet ready to burn.

I'm much better off this year than last year(second year burning), but my wood still will not be as dry as it should be this year. You really want to get enough wood so that you are two years ahead, that way any new wood you cut or buy can start drying and you know you aren't going to be tapping into the stuff that is still wet once you get to heating season.

 

[OpenWater]

Ahhhhhh!

Grasshopper see!

Great posts. Time to get chopping!

My builder is highly reputable and trustworthy in my area, so for that, I'm lucky. We've been round and around on designs and I am confident in his ability to put in good chimney. As far as stashing the unit in the basement, I intend for the unit to be supplemental heat. We've got an LP forced air furnace, and an LP gas stove in the great room to keep the grandparents toasty when they visit. If I was to build again, I would likely design a house that has a nice spot for a wood stove in or around the great room. I'm learning already!

Wood stove in the basement is to help defray LP costs...and hey...there's years of fuel on my property! Plus, the home is in a carpenter ant hot spot, so this doubly motivates me to remove fallen trees.

Keep the great advice coming!

Chris

 

[karl]

Another common newbie problem is not leting the coals burn down enough before adding more wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Common Newbies Mistakes

* Burning unseasoned wood . . . I would wager this is the biggest mistake made . . . and many newbies don't even realize this since they've bought "seasoned" wood from dealers or have always cut wood in the Summer and burned it in the Fall without any real issues . . . but when they attempt to burn unseasoned wood in a modern EPA woodstove they can't figure out why the stove isn't very hot, why there's lots of smoke fouling up the glass and why the chimney is getting all kinds of creosote build up.

* Believing woodstove manufacturer's "dream" numbers . . . thinking that the Brand X woodstove which was tested in a lab will produce the same amount of heat and burn time in their own home as the specs listed in the brochure . . . and then being disappointed when the stove isn't quite large enough or the "burn time" doesn't last as long as they expect.

* Overfiring the stove . . . getting too complacent in using the ash pan (a big no no) or leaving the door ajar to get a fire going and then forgetting about it . . . until that new stove paint smell begins to permeate the house and they discover the stove temp is spiking into the Butt Pucker Zone.

* Not realizing that just buying a more expensive stove doesn't necessarily make the stove any better than another stove . . . and that buying a well known stove used may not make a lot of sense either . . . since a company's past does not necessarily reflect its current reputation for quality and moreover nearly every stove company out there is producing much better stuff today (in terms of burning cleaner and more efficiently).

* Buying a really nice stove . . . and then attempting to go cheap on the install or chimney . . . two other important aspects to using a woodstove. A proper install and chimney is just as important as the stove purchase.


Personal Lessons I Learned as a Newbie

* First . . . believing the manufacturer's brochure's stats for burn time . . . not realizing that the definition of "burn time" is very subjective.

* Over-firing the stove . . . once . . . when I negelected to stay near the open door . . . until I smelled the tell-tale burning paint smell.

* Not realizing that you shouldn't continually feed a woodstove with wood every 2 hours . . . as I did the first night I fired it up . . . stayed all night long in the living room, waking up every few hours to throw more wood into the fire . . . woke up to it being something like 86 degrees (thought I had woke up in Hell at first) even though it was only something like 42 degrees outside. I quickly learned to burn small, hot fires in the shoulder seasons -- and learned to let the wood burn down a lot more before throwing on more woodsplits . . . and adding several woodsplits at once instead of just tossing in one split and then tossing in another a short time later.


Things This Newbie Did Right

* I found hearth.com and a wealth of good information . . . and even if it meant a little more of an expense or hassle I took the advice to heart and I am happy that I did so.

* I built a hearth above and beyond what was required in terms of size and R value . . . something I am happy about when the errant ember slips out of the stove and skids across the now larger than code required hearth.

* I am glad that I went a size larger for a stove as doing so has met and exceeded my expectations for heating my home.

* I am glad that I went with a T-connection on my chimney since it makes clean out much easier without having to use a ladder . . . and by fluke or luck . . . having the outside chimney has meant no worries for clean up and cleaning the chimney is now a 5-minute job.


Things I Might Have Done Differently . . . or Will Do Differently

* I might have sprung for a few extra dollars and gone with the enamel finish on my Oslo . . . I like the black matte . . . but I often think how much nicer the enamel might be.

* Today I would reconsider cat woodstoves . . . at the time I was convinced these were evil . . . nowadays based on actual owners I do not view them as a bad thing and realize they have some benefits. I'm still not sure I would go with a cat . . . but I would be tempted and definitely not exclude them from my list of potential purchases.

* Today if I were to build a new home I would make sure the design I picked was set up for a woodstove . . . i.e. a more central location for the stove, an interior chimney, etc.

 

[Pagey]

ALL OF THIS

That's perhaps the best damned summary of all the advice you could use right there. Well said, sir, very well said.

 

[gpcollen1]

So do you have 1500 sq ft in the basement as well?

I think I would recommend the 30 and not the 13 if you want the basement warm as well as heat upstairs. Easier to build small fires for less heat than try and get more heat out of a unit that will not be able to give it...

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Make sure that the size that you are cutting your wood to is a length that can fit in your stove fairly easily. When I first "cut my teeth" on an upright Godin top loader back when, I several times put pieces of wood into it and couldn't get the lid to close down-too long lengths! I quickly learned to measure each round that I cut so that it fit the stove!

Good luck, be safe and enjoy!

 

[OpenWater]

Wow - and I thought those pellet posters over on the 'other side' were friendly and wise! ;-)

Excellent posts, gentlemen, and perhaps there's a gentlewoman in there, too.

Hey CT, I wasn't clear on my square footage. Basement is about 650 square feet. I have 1500 square feet above the basement.

What strikes me the most is the importance of using seasoned wood. I was hoping to use the stove this winter, but I see I am about a year behind with my wood. Can't wait til next winter!!

Are there any reliable sources for seasoned wood? I couldn't stand it to have a new stove in the basement this fall, only to let it sit until next winter.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[DAKSY]

The MOST important part of your wood burning system is the CHIMNEY.
It is the ENGINE that drives your system.
Don't cheap out on it to save money. There are plenty of inexpensive chimney components out there,
but there a couple that are more costly & are higher quality.
Take EXCEL, for instance, it comes with a LIFETIME warranty for replacement components...
Heavy-duty, stainless steel inside & out & fully insulated.
It's really nice to work with, IMHO, tho others here may disagree...

 

[lexybird]

id look for a englander nc-30 instead of the 13 ,both awesome stoves for the money , but considering the size id opt for the bigger model being its only slightly more
in cost but will likely heat a larger area in colder temps and yield longer burn times .always use seasoned wood ,burning green wood is a newb mistake we have all made and youll go through twice the wood to make less heat and much more creosote .most uninformed woodburners dont know this ,the biggest key is using only dry seasoned wood with a moisture content of less than 20%

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah get the 30-NC. You can burn it with the same amount of wood as a 13-NC and with good draft and wood get a clean burn and about the same burn times as the 13. Then when it gets cold out, crank it up with a good load and the blower on high and go upstairs. It will be just a tad hot downstairs.

As a weekend home when you get there it is going to be cold. It takes a lot of horsepower to warm the walls, furniture etc. from a cold start.

Edit: And cut your wood to sixteen inches and burn the 30 N/S.

 

[wendell]

There has been some great advice here but the one thing I would mention is to see if you can back up and check your ideas at the door and re-read what everyone has written. Don't assume that the stove will only be supplemental heat. Many have made that mistake only to realize that free wood is a lot better than expensive propane (and a lot more comfortable and fun to watch, too!).

 

[cmonSTART]

I have to agree with a 30-NC instead of the 13. That's a pretty big space to heat and still get heat upstairs efficiently and basements are tough to begin with. You'll probably be glad you have the bigger stove.

Get a good stove, a good chimney, and find some good dry wood.

 

[BrotherBart]

Many have made that mistake only to realize that free wood is a lot better than expensive propane (and a lot more comfortable and fun to watch, too!).

Hey propane can be fun to watch. My neighbor heats with it and I get a lot of fun out of watching the truck fill his tank. :coolgrin:

 

[cmonSTART]

And I like watching the mailman deliver the bill to someone else's house.

 

[BrotherBart]

And I like watching the mailman deliver the bill to someone else's house.

Years after we built this place these guys bought the land next to us and built a house and plumbed it for propane. They immediately started trying to get all of us around to petition for a natural gas line to be run out here. We all ignored them since most of us were burning wood with heat pump backups. Twenty years later they are the only ones with the backup alarm sounding away as the propane truck backs up the driveway.

Of course I am the only one still heating with wood.

 

[JayD]

Englander 28-3500 Add-on furnace http://www.englanderstoves.com/28-3500.html

 

[BrotherBart]

... MH to control from overfifring

Yep. A plugged up chimney will stop overfiring every time.

 

[OpenWater]

I leave to get a cup of coffee, and return to some more great advice. Thanks all.

Sooooo....I sense a shift in heating strategy. My house is dialed in for propane. It works well. This past winter was my first experience with propane bills, and I have nothing to compare it to. Although it does seem like I was paying a lot! Anyway, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, back to wood stoves. If I get the right stove installed correctly (I consider myself lucky to have a builder I trust), with all the fuel I have on my property (some pine, mostly hardwood), with some work, I've got a good situation for heating my house cheaply and having some fun watching the wood stove do its thing!

Stove is in a part of my basement that will eventaully be finished and turned into a guest room / space.

Cheers to all the helpers out there. May your stoves burn bright and warm this winter. Sorry...couldn't resist!

Chris