Last night, around midnight, that “smell” woke me up… ya’ know, that musty-metallic smell when the gas furnace starts up after sitting unused for a spell. That told me the house temp had dropped below 63[sup]o[/sup]. I was bone tired last night and had turned in around 8:00 PM after loading the “stovace”. Normally, when I turn in that early, the wife will toss a couple more splits in before she calls it a day… but… So I go down stairs, stir-up the 6-8 inches of coals to get them heating again, and shoved what wood I could fit in the firebox.
It takes near forever to get the house back up to temp with that thing, so I knew it wouldn’t be extra warm in the house when I got up at 5:00 AM… and it wasn’t, only 64[sup]o[/sup]. When I got down stairs the blower wasn’t even running and I could lay my hand on the stack. So I stir-up the 6 or so inches of coals and rake them forward to get them heating again… elected not to add wood and try and burn down the coal bed a little. Took about 10 minutes for the blower to kick in, and I kept going down to stir the coals every 15 minutes or so… by 7:30, some 2½ hours later, I’d managed to get most of the coals burned down and the house temp up just one degree (65[sup]o[/sup]). Then separated what ash I could from the coals, cleaned them out, filled up the box, took my morning shower, then checked the fire before heading up to dress for work.
The wife meets me at the top of the steps, wrapped in a blanket… “That stove sucks! I’m tired of ####ing-around with it every day and it never has been as warm in here since you got it. I want you to either put the old one back in, or buy a new one that works right, or I’m turning up the furnace… and I really don’t care which it is as long as it’s something.” Then she turned and walked back into the bedroom.
Believe-it-or-not, I couldn’t be happier… I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to inform her I was gonna’ spend some money on a new wood-fired furnace. I figured she’d throw a fit because I just installed this “stovace” last spring… figured I’d probably get the silent treatment for a week or so after I bought it. But nope, she just gave me the green-light-go-a-head... and I didn’t even have to bring it up. :hmm3grin2orange:
It takes near forever to get the house back up to temp with that thing, so I knew it wouldn’t be extra warm in the house when I got up at 5:00 AM… and it wasn’t, only 64[sup]o[/sup]. When I got down stairs the blower wasn’t even running and I could lay my hand on the stack. So I stir-up the 6 or so inches of coals and rake them forward to get them heating again… elected not to add wood and try and burn down the coal bed a little. Took about 10 minutes for the blower to kick in, and I kept going down to stir the coals every 15 minutes or so… by 7:30, some 2½ hours later, I’d managed to get most of the coals burned down and the house temp up just one degree (65[sup]o[/sup]). Then separated what ash I could from the coals, cleaned them out, filled up the box, took my morning shower, then checked the fire before heading up to dress for work.
The wife meets me at the top of the steps, wrapped in a blanket… “That stove sucks! I’m tired of ####ing-around with it every day and it never has been as warm in here since you got it. I want you to either put the old one back in, or buy a new one that works right, or I’m turning up the furnace… and I really don’t care which it is as long as it’s something.” Then she turned and walked back into the bedroom.
Believe-it-or-not, I couldn’t be happier… I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to inform her I was gonna’ spend some money on a new wood-fired furnace. I figured she’d throw a fit because I just installed this “stovace” last spring… figured I’d probably get the silent treatment for a week or so after I bought it. But nope, she just gave me the green-light-go-a-head... and I didn’t even have to bring it up. :hmm3grin2orange:
She thought about going to the neighbors and honking the horn till someone came out. She looked through the holes in the floor boards. Big, but no where big enough. Then started messing with the come-a-long and got it to release. When I got home I plowed the drive and she fixed diner. Half way through diner she says out of the blue, 'Maybe it's time for another truck.' I was dumb founded, until she later told me how her day went.
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