Wood stove question - help?

[MountainMeg]

We just had our wood stove installed today.  The installers said we could fire it up.  We're not getting wood smoke in the house (yay) but seemed to get some steam off the top.  It keeps setting off our fire alarms!!!  Is this normal?  Will it go away? 

On the plus side, we had all of our doors open in 35 degree weather and it stayed around 65 in the living room.

[MountainMeg]

Never mind.     We finally found the small print that explained that the first fire would cause a paint smell for 2-4 hours.  We simply shut off the fire alarm circuit until bedtime.  The kiddos and dog LOVE the new stove.

[MamaBear]

Congrats on your new stove! Sounds like a winner. When we get ice storms this winter, can we all stay at your place? 

[Stump Rancher]

Congrats, Meg! I just put my woodstove in as well and it's working well. The burnoff smell gave me a headache though. It was 20 F the other night here in TN, and the stove was up to the challenge! Just what WILL I do with the money I save using my own fuel? Such a dilemma...

[MountainMeg]

We turned off the electric heat, but with the stove on medium burn it got up to 77.5 degrees in the front half of the house.  Time for some door blowers to move the heat into the back!

[Mike]

Yester-night I told my wife, "We're in for a real treat tonight.....  We're going to be burning Black Walnut!"

That was a treat!!  It burns slow and hot and even.  It reminds me of coal.

I'm not particular about what I burn; whatever is free.

Locust - is supposed to be the hardest wood in north America.  It is hard to split, which is why it is given to me.  It burns slow and even; not quite as readily as black walnut.

Siberian Elm - I burn a lot of it.  Locust and Siberian Elm are about the only trees that grow naturally around Pendleton.  Siberian Elm is regarded as a weed by wood cutters.  It burns kind of fast and leaves a lot of ash.  It is easy to cut and not that hard to split.

Red Fir is plentiful in the mountains.  Wood cutters love it.  It is easy to cut; really easy to split; burns very evenly.

Birch has a really nice smell.  I'm not an expert on any of this.  These are just my impressions.  My impression of Birch is that it is like Catholic incense.

I have never burnt Alder, but my grandmother did.  The smell of Alder is nostalgic for me.  Alder is also used in furniture manufacture and smoking smelt.

I've got Central Heat, just like MountainMeg!  And I've also got 77 degrees in the living room.  I'm sure if my thermometer were accurate it would read 77.5.

It is currently 6 degrees outside.

Earlier today I checked the internet for weather conditions.  My wife thinks I should just go outside.  But I want an accurate assessment of reality.  The internet said it was 8.8 degrees, and the wind chill was 9 degrees.  Funny!

It was so cold that the wind chill was a + .2 degrees!!

or

The wind was SOOOO still that the wind chill was + .2 degrees!

I should've gone outside.

[The Future]

Do you monitor CO or CO2 levels?

[MountainMeg]

Yep, we have a CO monitor in the main living area.  I'm picking up another one today.  I read that you want to put one near the sleeping areas high on the wall.

30 degrees last night and we didn't turn the heat back on.  I'm out of our test stack of wood, but it's still in the 70s inside.  We're having our first full cord delivered in a few days.  After that, hubby has free wood sources.  His work allows him to turn in a request for wood that's been cleared at his installation and a buddy has 163 acres.  A group goes up once in a while with trailers & equipment to cut & split - free but for the sweat equity.  My next project is canvassing for a used wood splitter.

[Ryder]

Here is the temp this morning in Helena Montana. Luckily we are surrounded by beetle killed pine. Lots of firewood till the next major forest fire.

[The Future]

Yep, we have a CO monitor in the main living area.  I'm picking up another one today.  I read that you want to put one near the sleeping areas high on the wall.

30 degrees last night and we didn't turn the heat back on.  I'm out of our test stack of wood, but it's still in the 70s inside.  We're having our first full cord delivered in a few days.  After that, hubby has free wood sources.  His work allows him to turn in a request for wood that's been cleared at his installation and a buddy has 163 acres.  A group goes up once in a while with trailers & equipment to cut & split - free but for the sweat equity.  My next project is canvassing for a used wood splitter.

Does the CO monitor report instantaneous levels? Peaks?  Curious what it shows before/during stove use.

[Beeherder]

Hi MM,

Great news on the stove. Lots to learn about the craft of burning wood as Mike pointed out. Pine is available here and free if you will cut your own. I get lots of wooden pallets for free, cut them up using the carbide blade on the circular saw and no problem with those nails. Bet you can get lots of hardwoods for free around an Army post.

Check those mounting instructions for the CO monitor. Do they instruct placing it at head hieght for a sleeper? instead of high on the wall? I mount my smoke detectors high and my CO monitor on the book shelf at the same height as my pillow. Yes there are instantaneous readouts and if you read anything more than your ambient background (which should be near zero) then there is a problem. Even small amounts of CO are a problem. Mine has only gone off once and that was when el stoopeedo put some still hot ashes in the ash bucket then went to bed. Not a good idea!

I like to have a small ash can near the woodstove and a medium metal trash can (15 - 20 gallons) with a tight fitting lid in the garage. Woodstove to ashcan to empty dog food bag to medium trash can in garage. Mostly I let the ashes get cool enough to put in a empty dog food bag made of paper, roll it shut tight and leave it set at least a few days then if no fire or hot spots on the paper put it out with the trash. Its not nice to put hot ashes in your trash on trash pickup day. Ever see a trash truck dump its entire load because its on fire? it happens.

Being warm on a cold day is truly delightful!

[opsec]

Remember to put a layer of sand in the bottom of the stove to keep the bottom from burning through over time.

[Harold in Kentucky]

YAY!!!!! Glad to hear your stove is in place.

About that smell..... the first fire is the absolute worst; however, on a new stove, it will come back in a milder form when you burn a hotter fire than you ever have before. So if you smell it again a few times, don't worry, it's normal and after you've burned the hottest fire you're ever going to burn, it's "cured", there won't be any more smell and you're good to go.

Opsec-no need for sand, these stoves have a layer of fire brick all the way around, including the bottom.

Meg-I know this sounds backwards, but the best way to distribute the heat with fans is to blow the cold air toward the stove. We've tried it both ways. Blowing cold air toward the stove wins out over trying to blow hot air into the cold parts of the house. Try it both ways and see what you think.  We haven't used fans much at all tho. It takes a while but the heat seeps into the rest of the house after the first couple of loads in the morning. We use a small electric heater in the bathroom when we shower and such since the bathroom is on the opposite end of the house from the stove.

We've had fires going since somewhere around Nov 17. Love it, love it, love it. So much better than forced air heat.

Don't forget to put a teapot on the stove for humidity.



 

[Mike]

I'll second that, "blow the cold air towards the stove." and especially the part about trying it both ways.  In my case the "blowing cold air towards the stove" was so much better that it was obviously better.

When I think about it,  There are probably natural flows where warm air at the top of the doorway flows into a cold room while cool air flows at the foot of the door towards the heat source.  I'll bet a match flame will confirm this....?

I just tried it.  With a match flame it wasn't conclusive.  But smoke from a smoldering match did confirm it.  I am surprised that it wasn't more pronounced (in my case.)  Still!  There is an obvious difference using fans.

I guess it is another case of 'going with the flow.'

[MountainMeg]

Well, thanks you you Harold.  Your testimony pretty much sold me on the Lopi stove, we got the 1750.  Good dealer, great installers and my husband is in heaven with the quality, efficiency and heat.  The tax rebate doesn't hurt either!   

I picked up one of the humidifier pots with the lattice work tops on clearance nearby.  Works great and one cinnamon stick in the water makes the place smell yummy too.