[Jaime918]

Hubby hasn't quite figured out how to master the wood stove. Burnt us out last night and then left the window open all night. Woke up to the house being 54. Got the Old timer going. Never leave a man to a woman's job. Still breaking the city boy outta him. Lol.

Freezing my buns off, had to rant.

 

[Bret]

It's not your husband. The furnace could not make up it's mind last night either. On and off all night. Could not make up it's mind.

He got it going.

 

[Jaime918]

Ours it temperamental also, so we usually just use the wood stove. I prefer it and its free.

 

[simi-steading]

Depending on the wood stove, heating with wood is more of an art than it is luck...

If you have different kinds of woods, knowing how to mix them in the stove to get the best burn takes a while.. You also have to know how your chimney draws during different kinds of weather to know how much air to allow into the stove, given the weather..

If you have a catalytic stove, it becomes even more of an art because you have to change the air mixture in both the wood box, and the catalytic box...

Then you can have a stove like my neighbor.. He can't adjust anything other than the flue damper. He has to run it closed once the stove is burning, or his wood burns too fast..

I still fight with mine at times if I don't feed at a steady rate.. If I let it burn down too far, and have to put a lot of wood in it at one time, rather than feed it a stick or two every couple hours, I fight to get it back up to temperature again. Mine is a catalytic stove, and it took me a lot of burning to get it figured out. My wife doesn't even want to try using it because she's seen how long it's taken me to get it down to more of a science than a game. Burning right, I can get the thermometer on it around 1200 deg.. but burning bad, it will hover around 400-600.. .

At bed time I have to choose my wood carefully to fill it. I want the longest hottest burning wood I have... I also have to watch when I put wood in and what I put in a few hours before bed time so I don't cool it down too much, or I don't over fill it to where at bed time I can't get the right pieces of wood in it to last through the night.

 

[Jaime918]

I try to mix all types and sizes. I usually start small and then get to the larger logs once it catches well. The hubby loads it down and goes so I have to keep him away from it. Lol. We have an old timer with vents on the front and the flue adjuster. Nothing fancy but it works wonders. Especially if we have a winter like last year.

He thought the picture was for him.

 

[simi-steading]

LOL.. love the dogs.. Kinda like "Hey, where's my heat?"

 

[Jaime918]

The red one lays under it. I don't see how she can tolerate the heat. They are rotten. That is mom and baby. Dad is behind me huddled in a blanket. They are a bunch of sissies. Lol.

 

[Jaime918]

thank you. Lol.

 

[Jaime918]

Yay. The house is at 76° Perfect!!

 

[light rain]

54 just means you have to put pjs on instead of walking around in your skivvies...

 

[Jaime918]

Lol too funny. Very true. Crazy Indiana weather your in shorts one day and hunting down winter items the next.

 

[Jaime918]

54 just means you have to put pjs on instead of walking around in your skivvies...

Gave me a nice little chuckle.

 

[where I want to]

Almost every day I bless the person who posted on this forum to try heating the house with the wood stove in the evening and not starting the stove in the morning. I've developed the pattern of getting most of the open areas hotter than the blazes at night, keeping the bedroom doors closed and closing the door where I spend the evening when it starts getting too warm.
Then in the morning, it is still acceptable warm outside the bedroom, where the window is open at night, until noon when I repeat. It's so much easier, even if I have to get it way too hot for comfort in the evening. For some reason, it even uses less wood, probably because I'm moving during the morning with chores.
It doesn't get much colder here than the teens so I do wonder if it would work that well in a colder climate. Good insulation makes the heat loss slow for me.

 

[Danaus29]

It's not the stove. My dh does the same thing. I've had to open windows because it's so hot in here. I keep the temp nice and even. You might need a sweatshirt unless you're used to mid 60 temps but I'm comfortable. (toes are chilly, might need to find some socks and put them on)

 

[light rain]

Danaus29, look for some Wigwam socks. They're a good price, warm, hold up a couple of years or longer and with darker colors you can walk around without shoes and when they wash look great. Made in WI. :thumb: I hang to dry them.

 

[KIT.S]

The red one lays under it.

My DIL went into the front room the other day, looking for something smelling bad. Their 3-legged 13 YO lab-type dog was smoking. He was sitting so close to the fire that she had to put his tail out!! They hauled out the gates they used when the kids were little so he can't get that close any more.
Kit

 

[partndn]

The red one lays under it.

My DIL went into the front room the other day, looking for something smelling bad. Their 3-legged 13 YO lab-type dog was smoking. He was sitting so close to the fire that she had to put his tail out!! They hauled out the gates they used when the kids were little so he can't get that close any more.
Kit

Poor ole fella!

Aww... I just want to hug him.




p.s. jaime918, I want to kidnap your pooches too

 

[Jaime918]

The red one lays under it.

My DIL went into the front room the other day, looking for something smelling bad. Their 3-legged 13 YO lab-type dog was smoking. He was sitting so close to the fire that she had to put his tail out!! They hauled out the gates they used when the kids were little so he can't get that close any more.
Kit

Oh no. Poor thing.

 

[Jaime918]

Partndn- lol. Thank you. Theyre the best.