First fire for the season

[labdad]

Well I fired the stove up for the first time this year. I have a pile of wood sitting next to it, a weeks worth on the back porch and life is good. I almost forgot how good it felt. It started in the 30s today and never got any warmer, supposed to go down to the high teens or twenties in the am but doesn't matter now.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Firing up that stove for the first time is a good feeling, isn't it?

 

[labdad]

Yes it is, nothing like it! Except maybe cutting and splitting and stacking the wood and looking at the rows of wood and....

 

[zogger]

We are a little thinner blooded here and have been burning awhile now..but ya, nice. Tonight I just threw in a token chunk of hickory heartwood. Mostly still burning poplar and pine and half rotten harder-wood uglies, but wanted to see how the seasoning was doing from what hickory I split and stacked last winter. Throwing pretty good heat for one small split.....

 

[Whitespider]

We've only broke 40° once, maybe twice, in the last 10 days... and had two overnights in single digits.
First fire was a month ago, and except for a couple times during the day it's been burnin' steady... mostly low 'n' slow, but steady.
I don't look forward to the first fire... really, I don't. It just means 25-35 weeks of checkin' the box, loadin' the box, dumpin' the ashes, and whatnot. Heating 100% with wood means ya' can't say... "well screw it, I ain't gonna' mess with it today", 'cause there ain't any other choice. It helps to have a system and routine... but even the "routine" starts gettin' a bit old 'round February.

Routine...
Roll-out, pee, start coffee, walk down the steps and fill box, open ash drawer to get it goin', have morning smoke, walk up steps and pour coffee... top-off firebox before headin' to work.
Get home from work, open evening beer, walk down the steps and fill box, empty ash drawer, have evening smoke, walk up steps and grab second beer... top-off firebox before headin' to bed.

 

[labdad]

It helps to have a system and routine... but even the "routine" starts gettin' a bit old 'round February.

I'm always stoked to start the fires but I burned until almost May last year and that got really old. March is OK but when its gets past that I get tired.

 

[unclemoustache]

Well I fired the stove up for the first time this year. I have a pile of wood sitting next to it, a weeks worth on the back porch and life is good. I almost forgot how good it felt. It started in the 30s today and never got any warmer, supposed to go down to the high teens or twenties in the am but doesn't matter now.

What? I've been burning for a month. Where do you live? I'm in Mascoutah, just east of Belleville. I guess you must have some of that new-fangled 'insulation' in your house, eh?

 

[labdad]

Hey we are almost neighbors, I live outside Columbia. I've got a small house and it gets so da** hot I can't stand it so I wait for the weather to cool off before I fire up.

 

[unclemoustache]

Lucky you. I've got a big old drafty house with no insulation and a trashy stove that goes through wood like Charlie Sheen goes through straws.

 

[naturelover]

Have read that opening up the ash drawer on EPA stoves to get them going is NOT recommended....

Unburnt gases can cause an explosion within the stove...


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[jrider]

Lit my first and only fire in the owb in early October. Throw wood in it twice a day (could only be once but I like to keep an eye on it cause its fun) and forget it.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Fired the OWB for the season last saturday. Burning soft maple for now and probably will not need the denser wood till after Thanksgiving. I am kind of stingy with the heat when I am on oil in the early fall, but once the wood fire is going I tend to splurge a little. Longer hot showers as the OWB is now heating my domestic water and I do not turn the thermostat back quite as far at night. I know the woods not free, there is a lot of labor involved, but I love it. Sure beats burning oil all winter. I'll get into the routine of the firing and the minor maintenance involved. I do not really mind going out in the morning to fill it up before heading to work. Makes me appreciate a nice warm house.