First year of wood heat-advice? Encouragemet?

[maul ratt]

I am in the process of spending around $4,000 to install a Jotul 600 wood stove in a couple weeks. I hope that this investment is worth while??? I like spending time in the woods cutting firewood and like the idea of lower heating bills. Somebody please tell me that I made a good decision!

Other than burning dry firewood, cleaning the ashes, using a humidifier on top, and cleaning the chimney once a season...is there anything else I need to know about?


opcorn:

 

[John Ellison]

You might as well know that you will become addicted to this site and will probably end up spending all of your spare money on chainsaws and related stuff.

 

[reaperman]

Yes, you will have no need for wearing sweatshirts in the house anymore. On the serious side, if you presently dont have CO2 detectors in the home, you should invest in however many you need.

 

[avalancher]

You might as well know that you will become addicted to this site and will probably end up spending all of your spare money on chainsaws and related stuff.

Absolutely right! Get out while you still can. Have wood delivered to you, throw away or sell any chainsaws that you have before the disease sets in.

In all seriousness, I dont have a jotul, but I know from a number of friends that they make good stuff. It will take you awhile to overcome the intial funds thrown out for your stove and related equipement, but in the end you will probably be happier because of it. You have started out well with one thing, You found and joined up with some of the best people in the world to be found on this website. You will find that most of any question that you could come up can be answered here by some of the friendliest people, with one exception. Me.
i am a crabby :censored: and dont know a whole lot, but I have learned a ton of info on this website.
You wont find any better people than the ones that hang out here.

 

[New England Jim]

you'll love wood heat. My 1st stove wa a jotul 602 which is supposed to heat a room or 2 but I ran the daylight out of that stove and heated a small ranch style house with it for 8 years before I upgraded to a larger stove. Enjoy it and use common sense while running it and you'll be fine. Also be careful with your ashes, they hold embers for a long time...

 

[Griffbm3]

Nothing like wood heat. I have an older Mid-Moe Allnighter made down the street from me. I heat my cape with it. The only advice I will give and share is this... Make it a team effort. My wife loads the stove when I am not home, I only work at night (12 hour shifts) and I load it when I get home in the morning. We stack wood together, and my boys love working in the trees.

If you are going to have it delivered, just make sure it's good product. I have seen a lot of people selling some wood that has been "seasoning" for a year, but it was in log length in a yard, then sent through a processor into the truck to your house. It would be a far cry from being seasoned in my book...

Good luck with your endeavor, you will get in better shape, your neighborhood will smell great if you are doing it right, and your house will be HOT, not just warm.

Jason

 

[Tazman1602]

Yes, you will have no need for wearing sweatshirts in the house anymore. On the serious side, if you presently dont have CO2 detectors in the home, you should invest in however many you need.

CO detectors man (Carbon Monoxide). CO2 is Carbon DIOXIDE which is harmless and actually good for us.

Good advice on the detectors though. You also however neglected to tell the gentleman he might as well get another credit card for the "extra" saws, woodsplitters, gadgets, gizmos, chokers for skidding, log picks..................................<GRIN>

 

[046]

have carbon monoxide AND smoke detectors close by.

treeco's don't leave door unattended is great advice!

also pay attention to your hot zone.... make sure there's a non-combustible zone around your wood burner. especially where you are going to load wood. embers can and will jump out at you as wood is being loaded.

space permitting...have enough wood stashed to last two or more seasons
if you have a choice... avoid junk woods, stash the hardest/longest burning wood your area has to offer.

besides getting a quality two saw combo... like 026/046... or 346/372. keep your chain sharp... either by hand or grinder

you'll end up with a hydraulic wood splitter and heavy duty trailer. go with a quality brand like speeco... smallest one (22 ton) will do fine.... make sure trailer has brakes on both axles.... 2x 7k axles is preferred...

then you'll want a cummins turbo diesel to pull all that wood.... as the list of gear you need to handle wood piles on

oh ya... you'll need a cant hook or peavy...... arrrrrggggggg.....

 

[Griffbm3]

have carbon monoxide AND smoke detectors close by.

treeco's don't leave door unattended is great advice!

also pay attention to your hot zone.... make sure there's a non-combustible zone around your wood burner. especially where you are going to load wood. embers can and will jump out at you as wood is being loaded.

space permitting...have enough wood stashed to last two or more seasons
if you have a choice... avoid junk woods, stash the hardest/longest burning wood your area has to offer.

Another chuck of great advice...

We have a homeless shelter around here that has a LOT of firewood for a great price. I use them to direct people to if they run out. I would ask around until you build up your supply. That way you always have wood.

 

[LadyToysDream]

This will be our first heating season with a OWB. I am already wearing a big smile here this morning. It's 31 degrees outside and very comfy inside, with the OWB thermostat set at 64 degrees. I am sure enjoying having the hot water heated by the OWB also

 

[Marc]

If you enjoy exercise/good health and don't feel like paying for a gym membership... you'll do all your splitting with a maul and wedges.

I'm heating my home for the first time with wood this year too, with a Hearthstone Heritage, although, I'd helped out my dad where I grew up all the time, so I'm not exactly new to the whole thing.

 

[iCreek]

Somebody please tell me that I made a good decision!

You made the right decision !! One it will save you money on your heating bills, and Two you get some exercise in the process, a Win / Win !!!

 

[reaperman]

:greenchainsaw: :biggrinbounce2:

CO detectors man (Carbon Monoxide). CO2 is Carbon DIOXIDE which is harmless and actually good for us.

Good advice on the detectors though. You also however neglected to tell the gentleman he might as well get another credit card for the "extra" saws, woodsplitters, gadgets, gizmos, chokers for skidding, log picks..................................<GRIN>

CO2, means at least two carbon monoxide detectors :biggrinbounce2:

 

[A. Stanton]

Maul,
Sounds like you got all the bugs figured out. I'll pass this on to you, because I did it. It might be a good idea to buy one of those little aerosol fire extinguishers. They kinda look like a can of whipped cream. They are small and unintrusive. I keep mine stashed by the matches. Just in case e coli happens.

 

[mga]

Other than burning dry firewood, cleaning the ashes, using a humidifier on top, and cleaning the chimney once a season...is there anything else I need to know about?

plan on spending some weekends cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking wood. then there's the clean up after you've spent hours stacking.

also plan on aching arms, backs, legs and shoulders, not to mention numerous sore hands or finger injuries along with the occassional poison ivy.

plan on using your truck in ways you never thought you would, over loading it, driving thru ruts and mud.

plan on where to store your firewood and how to keep it free from bugs and mice. where to throw your tons of ashes that you'll be hauling out.

other than that, enjoy.

 

[johnha]

I will generously volunteer to allow you to give me the stove and any wood you have on hand, in order that you should avoid this disease, 'cause that's the kind of righteous guy I am.

Calculating payback is easy. Take your past several years fuel usage each month and average it. Take your reduced fuel usage and multiply it by the current cost of fuel. Show it to your wife to impress her and soften the blow of all of the neat new toys, er tools that you will acquire.

 

[Rob G.]

I think we all (including you) know that you made a good decision, but it is fun to brag about it to the non wood burning people we know.

When I got my wood burner, I planned to burn wood from Friday evening 'til Monday morning because I thought that I would be too busy during the week.
With that plan I figured I would cut about 30% off my oil consumption.
What I didn't plan on, was getting hooked the first weekend and continuing the burn into the week. Then it was the weekend again and the fire had not been out, so I decided to burn until I got tired of burning. The next thing I knew it was spring and I had cut my oil consumption by about 85%.

I like to keep a few days worth of wood inside.
Learning the subtleties of using your wood burner to max efficiency and comfort is half the fun.
I think that you will find that the process will become routine.
Remember all of the safety advice given.
www.woodheat.org is a good source of basic information.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[cjcocn]

I am in the process of spending around $4,000 to install a Jotul 600 wood stove in a couple weeks. I hope that this investment is worth while??? I like spending time in the woods cutting firewood and like the idea of lower heating bills. Somebody please tell me that I made a good decision!

Other than burning dry firewood, cleaning the ashes, using a humidifier on top, and cleaning the chimney once a season...is there anything else I need to know about?


opcorn:

That doesn't necessarily work out for everyone. Some feel that it is better to clean the chimney more than once a year.

Monitor your chimney during the first burning season (let the fire go out, let everything cool down, then climb up there and check your chimney). That way you can have an accurate indication of how clean your chimney is staying.

If you find it is building up with soot/creosote you may want to have it cleaned more often (twice per season or more).

Sure, it's no fun that first year dragging the ladder out and very carefully shoveling a path to the chimney every month, but it's only for the first year and it's great for giving you peace of mind.

I'm sure that others will have other (and some other and better) methods of monitoring a chimney, but that is the way that I do it for my first year of burning in a new place.

HTH and enjoy!

 

[strongback]

After the onset of woodaholism, and especially if accompanied by CAD, be prepared, to have your otherwise completely rational wife, express an entirely irrational jealousy of your woodpile(s).

"I wish you'd look at ME like that."
"You spend more money on wood than you do on me."
"Are you going out there to make love to your woodpile again?"
"Do we REALLY need THIS much wood?"

And so on...and so on...

 

[KsWoodsMan]

After the onset of woodaholism, and especially if accompanied by CAD, be prepared, to have your otherwise completely rational wife, express an entirely irrational jealousy of your woodpile(s).

"I wish you'd look at ME like that."
"You spend more money on wood than you do on me."
"Are you going out there to make love to your woodpile again?"
"Do we REALLY need THIS much wood?"

And so on...and so on...

And each of those can be answered by "Yes, dear"

Maybe the third one you can invite her along