12/2/2010 10:17:29 AM

Quote :

"so can I heat with wood if I have a chimney and fireplace. I really don't know much about this. But I have access to alot of wood."

not all fireplaces are designed to burn wood. a true fireplace has thicker masonry so you don't set your house on fire. nowadays, the majority of fireplaces are only designed thick enough to facilitate gas logs.

how old is the house?

12/2/2010 10:20:19 AM

1969 and it is the gem of masonry!

wait no, 1959

[Edited on December 2, 2010 at 12:02 PM. Reason : opps]

12/2/2010 11:50:14 AM

you could probably light a fire in it

12/2/2010 11:53:51 AM

of course I can light a fire, but can I heat with it?

12/2/2010 12:01:33 PM

Yeah, fire can get pretty hot...

12/2/2010 12:03:27 PM

how big is the house?

you may not be able to heat solely with it, but you can definitely supplement your electric/gas heat

[Edited on December 2, 2010 at 12:05 PM. Reason : adsf]

12/2/2010 12:04:53 PM

2,600sf.

12/2/2010 12:05:52 PM

i don't think a single fireplace will be sufficient

[Edited on December 2, 2010 at 12:07 PM. Reason : but just the ambiance of a fire is nice]

12/2/2010 12:06:32 PM

Yep, its wood.

12/2/2010 12:07:42 PM

Quote :

"but can I heat with it?"

I agree, you would need to supplement your existing heating source. Remember though, different types of wood burn hotter. I think the hottest burning wood is Rock elm, but you cant go wrong with oak.

12/2/2010 12:28:52 PM

I have two fireplaces.

12/2/2010 12:54:37 PM

there's no way I would ever heat with a fireplace, but I wouldn't mind owning a taylor wood stove. It's nice being able to burn any sized log you can pick up without having to split it. You can also burn limbs and garbage wood without worrying about smoking up the house.

12/2/2010 1:05:57 PM

Well I came home last night and it was 60 in my house. I went to turn on the heat for a few minutes to warm it up while I built a fire. Nothing. Went out to check the tank and it was empty, which is impossible considering I had it filled in September and we have barely used it. So yeah, there's a leak somewhere. That's a nice $260 wasted. Thank God nothing sparked it.

Anyway, built the fire and it has kept the house at a cozy 72 all last night and today. Will keep it going through today and tomorrow until the Gas company can come out and find the leak / refill the tank. I am hoping it is an issue with the tank (which we lease from them) and they will fill it back up for free. But I am not holding my breath.

[Edited on December 5, 2010 at 11:03 AM. Reason : a]

12/5/2010 11:02:59 AM

i never got around to telling the gas company to only come out and refill my tank when i called them. they came out last week and crammed 14 gallons in it

12/5/2010 11:20:12 PM

Our utility bill last year for Dec. was triple what we expected, so this year the goal is to not turn the gas pack heater upstairs on until Jan. (if we can stand it). So far so good, keeping the fire going and the downstairs furnace only comes on after the sun goes down most nights.

12/13/2010 2:06:02 AM

regular fireplaces make the rest of the house colder, as confirmed by Mythbusters.

They way the used to make them back in the days though didn’t have this problem.

12/13/2010 2:38:02 AM

Theoretically, they should make the rest of the house colder, but if you are in the room with the fire and have the doors closed to the other rooms, it doesn't really work that way, because it can't really suck the air out.

I have a wood fireplace in my apartment and I have used it about four times in the past few weeks, and it works better than the gas heat. The temperature at the thermostat across the room from the fireplace actually registered 71 while I had the fire burning, and the next night when I had the heat off when I came home, it was at 60.

12/13/2010 7:17:30 AM

I'll heat you up with some wood!!!

12/13/2010 7:59:23 AM

Quote :

"regular fireplaces make the rest of the house colder, as confirmed by Mythbusters."

Thats why old houses had either fireplaces at both ends of the house, or in every bedroom. Mine is a wood stove "insert", once its warmed up I keep the doors closed and the blower fans on. Most of the time the draft knobs on the doors are turned all the way down so the only air getting sucked in is what little bit gets by the knobs or between the doors. Additionally the chimney was built with the intention of the wood stove insert (as opposed to a chimney intended for use with a gas fireplace) and there is an air passage to the "cleanout" chamber at the bottom of the chimney which has its access in the garage- so any air drawn through there isnt sucked out of the house.

My biggest complaint this season with mine is that now that I can keep it burning 24/7, I have to let it die down some every couple weeks so that I can clean the ashes out. Other than that, I am quite pleased with the amount of difference it makes heating our house, which is ~3600 square feet, and has two staircases.



[Edited on December 13, 2010 at 9:01 AM. Reason : liyugmfd]

12/13/2010 8:57:57 AM

bttt

8/19/2011 4:58:28 PM

i bought a new stihl MS290 farm boss today

and then i came home, grabbed the maul, and started splitting

[Edited on August 19, 2011 at 5:02 PM. Reason : 20" bar]

8/19/2011 5:00:15 PM

bttt

8/19/2011 5:01:24 PM

Dear God how can anyone be thinking about fireplaces during this time of year

8/19/2011 7:02:28 PM

gotta stockpile now so it'll be dry in december

plus, i got a bunch that was already laid down by the tornado that hit up where i work

8/19/2011 7:04:24 PM

cut up some oak that was downed by the storm down here in goldsboro. hauling it back to roxboro today and then i'll get back to splitting.

my neighbor saw me swinging the maul and informed me that another neighbor had a splitter and he hooked me up. it's older than me and about 8" off the ground, but it beats the maul on the tough stuff like sweet gum and oak forks. maul is way faster on the straight-grained oak.

9/4/2011 11:13:35 AM

what i've got at the house now is all cut and split. just need to stack it, but i'm waiting for some large pallets to stack it on to be freed up at work after some equipment is installed. still gonna need more. gonna cut up a big oak that was taken out by the hurricane next week i think.

also, after reading a lot of reviews and threads, i bought a fiskars X25. only about 4.5 lbs and splits a hell of a lot better than my 8 lb maul. it does great as long as you keep the rounds under about 14". way faster than the splitter and almost effortless.



[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 6:20 PM. Reason : afds]

9/12/2011 6:20:25 PM

Thread should be re-titled, "NeuseRvrRat's Diary About Chopping and Burning Wood"

9/12/2011 7:22:38 PM

tww is a blog

9/12/2011 7:24:35 PM

Wood, Jerry. Wood.

9/12/2011 7:30:11 PM

Quote :

"also, after reading a lot of reviews and threads, i bought a fiskars X25. only about 4.5 lbs and splits a hell of a lot better than my 8 lb maul. it does great as long as you keep the rounds under about 14". way faster than the splitter and almost effortless. "

I bought a Gerber composite handle hatchet that was supposedly just a rebranded Fiskars and it broke the first time I used it. Returned it and bought a Estwing which has been 100% FTW. Good luck though...I hope they used a different material on their axes versus their hatchets.

9/12/2011 7:44:04 PM

it's got a lifetime warranty and the way it's made it's pretty much impossible for the head to separate from the handle

[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 7:58 PM. Reason : estwing is good stuff for the money]

9/12/2011 7:54:57 PM

On mine the handle broke a couple inches back from the head. I was probably slinging it harder than they would approve, but I did not hit the handle on the log or anything like that. I was camping on Carolina Beach and we had some very dry and very thin white oak logs. I split a couple with the hatchet and they cut very smoothly with a single swing. On the third or so the head just completely sheared off when it hit the log. Sure, a hatchet isn't the best tool for that job, but if it can't handle me swinging it and making proper contact then I don't want to carry it into the woods and rely on it when I need it.

I might have to fight a bear or something and that just wouldn't be cool.

[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 8:03 PM. Reason : s]

9/12/2011 8:01:18 PM

a hatchet isn't the best tool for any job

sounds like yours had a defect in the handle material

[Edited on September 12, 2011 at 8:05 PM. Reason : dfa]

9/12/2011 8:02:57 PM

low of 28 tonight.......crackle crackle

going to crank up the log splitter tomorrow and split the wood that has been seasoning in my barn since last year.

[Edited on December 17, 2011 at 6:26 PM. Reason : a]

12/17/2011 6:24:04 PM

I've been burning nearly non stop since early November

12/17/2011 10:43:28 PM

I'm jealous

My future home will certainly have wood heating of some sort

12/17/2011 10:46:35 PM

^^ seriously? where do you live? It has barely even been cold enough to keep the windows closed in Greensboro.

^ yeah, it's pretty awesome. I won't reiterate the things I have already said in this thread, but it saves me a fortune in the winter time.

[Edited on December 17, 2011 at 10:51 PM. Reason : a]

12/17/2011 10:48:08 PM

fireee

12/17/2011 11:45:55 PM

Top number is outside temp, bottom number is inside temp. Heating with wood FTW

12/18/2011 12:57:34 AM

Im 20 mins south of Raleigh. The way my stove is you are better off keeping it hot and not needing to turn the blowers on than trying to start it up every night. Upstairs we have an electric heat pump, downstairs we have a gas pack furnace and the big fireplace wood stove. Last year we kept the upstairs off till January but had to run little heater in the bedroom. this year with the baby we switched it up and have not turned the downstairs furnace on at all. Not buying propane FTW.

Once mine is going I can pull wood off the pile (even if its raining) and it'll burn. I have cut down 10" maples and same day, no seasoning, thrown 14-16" lengths in without splitting and they burn. But if she isnt nuke hot forget it. Last night it was 69 degrees downstairs, and this is a 33 year old, 3600sqft house on a crawlspace with little to no insulation under the floors.

My neighbor though really has it figured out. His house is a little smaller but he hasn't turned his heat on in 30 years. He manages to keep his burning 24/7 pretty much Oct to March. He gets a dump truck of red oak logs for 100 bucks then borrows a splitter then calls his daughters and sons in law over to help buck and split it. Takes about 4 hours and yields 3-4 cords.

12/18/2011 11:01:46 AM

I don't know that there's a better feeling than waking up in the morning and heating your clothes on top of the wood stove before you put them on for school/work.

When I was a kid, I'd roll out of bed and wouldn't even think about taking off my long johns until at least my socks and jeans were nice and warm from the top of the stove.

This was at a time when my Dad was stationed about 1.5 hours from our house, so he'd have to leave for work at 4:30... which means he'd put a few logs in the fire before he left to make sure it was warm for us getting up for school/work.

Great memories with a wood stove. Plus, chicks dig dudes who can wield an ax.

12/18/2011 1:02:35 PM

got to the section of the wood pile that's all nice dense white oak from the hurricane. shit's burning good.

12/18/2011 10:06:21 PM

Got the log splitter out last weekend, split about 2 winter's worth of wood, and stacked it all in my upper barn.

Lower barn has enough for this winter, but if it continues to be warm like this I may be looking to get rid of some of it. If anyone needs wood and is willing to drive to Greensboro for it, you can have it for free.

[Edited on December 28, 2011 at 2:57 PM. Reason : a]

12/28/2011 2:56:19 PM

the boyfriend ordered a stove for his house a couple of weeks ago and it's supposed to be delivered soon, sometime this week. I can't wait, because his place gets real cold!!!! He owns 37 acres of woods around his house has been building up a supply of seasoned wood to get ready.

Hearthstone Stoves "Heritage" not in the same color, polished soapstone


I shared this thread with him last week, he thought it was pretty awesome. Like I said, I can't wait to see how nice and toasty it will be.

12/28/2011 3:07:27 PM

^ how is he going to run the chimney pipe? I had ours cleaned by a chimney sweep a couple months ago and he said our set-up was one of the best he had ever seen. In fact, he said "I wish everyone did it this way". So if he hasn't run it yet, I can send you pics so he has a good idea.

12/28/2011 3:13:38 PM

yeah. he had the chimney cleaned, and a liner put in.

PM or post some pics I can share with him.

12/28/2011 3:17:42 PM

Shussssh, don't let any environmentalists see this thread, since wood as an energy source is less efficient and doesn't burn as clean as coal, oil or gas



Seriously though, I think what you guys are doing is awesome. Growing up I always lived in a house with wood burning fireplaces. While we didn't rely on them for heat (and I don't think they were designed as such) I always loved a good fire going. It is really hard to beat that smell. When I buy the type of place I want to have for a while I definitely want it to be wood burning fireplace equipped and now after reading this thread being able to heat the house with wood as well seems quite desirable.

How difficult is it to find houses (that aren't super old) within the city limits of Raleigh that are wood stove/heater equipped? (I'm not about to move to the country for this )

12/29/2011 8:36:42 AM

^ We saw a few houses that had their fireplaces retrofitted with wood stoves when we were house hunting. They're out there but to be honest I would just look for an older house I liked (newer houses have shitty ass fireplaces) and then retrofit it myself.

Quote :

"If anyone needs wood and is willing to drive to Greensboro for it, you can have it for free. "

I might take you up on that next time I visits my frans out in Gboro.

12/29/2011 8:39:25 AM

In my experience newer houses (unless you have a lot of loot to spend) are made of a pretty shitty quality.

12/29/2011 8:59:25 AM