speaking of the potbellied stove...

[myronman3]

just got my wood stove installed today at the house.  going to have the first fire tonight.  no more cold winters for me!

[ms]

You need to open a bottle of ripple and celebrate.

[Old Syko]

Myron what did you get?  I'm looking at getting an outside wood furnace.  Right now I have a heatpump with electric backup which is backed up by gas, which is backed up by oil.  Will be nice to use the wood as the primary.

[powderman]

I really miss the wood heat, last chimney fire bout did me in. Burn only seasoned wood, preferably hardwoods. No green or fresh cut. Keep chimney and stove pipes clean, don't  allow soot or creosote to build up. Clean at least once a month, preferably more or as needed. Burning a low fire will build up the soot and  creosote quicker than a hot fire. A triple walled pipe is best to go through the roof with, mine is a 70 year old brick chimney. Buy a good fitting brush for the chimney, a log chain works well. Enjoy the heat, I used to. POWDERMAN. 

[myronman3]

i got a blaze king princess model.  it is an inside stove.   i could have gone with an outdoor woodburner, but you need electricity to run those, although they can be run by battery for a little while.  i wanted something so if the shtf and there is no power i could keep the house warm; up here how you heat your home is an issue for at least 6 months out of the year, sometimes more.   i worry about these things and the biggest worry now, as you guys mentioned, is chimney fire.  i will clean it twice a month and keep a really close eye on it.   beats the hell out of paying 5000 in gas to heat.  the whole setup cost me less than 3700 to buy and have installed.   just my time and effort now to get wood.  i have the inside track on that angle as well.

[Cheesehead]

Did you light it yet?

Cheese

[nodlenor]

I'd love to put my wood stove back in but the little woman won't let me. She doesn't like the mess and the smoke, besides my back won't let me cut firewood anymore. How I long for the good old days.

[Old Syko]

No more mess of a wood stove inside for me either.  Did that for many many years and yes it is great heat but unless and until it becomes an absolute necessity, never again.  Used to set a pot of ham, beans, and onions on top to cook all day or until we couldn't wait any longer.

BTW "Princess Model?"   That just ain't right.

[Cowpox]

Save the wood for when it gets cold enough to load it up and let it roar.  The short "take the chill off" fires are responsible for most creosote build up. 
   The chiminey is cold, so a short fire causes condensation, which the creosote sticks to.  After a few weeks of small short fires, there gets to be conciderable build-up.
    When the cold weather hits, and the fire gets bigger and hotter, THEN, the creosote gets enough heat to burn !!! 
   

[myronman3]

oh i lite it already.  let it go all night long.  loaded it up with a few nice pieces last night and it went all night withou having to be filled.  plenty of wood left as i woke up.  wife just walked by and said exactly "it is so nice to wake up and it isnt cold".    i am loving this thing. 
  as for cresote, i will be on that like white on rice.   

[Glanceblamm]

Myronman3
I ran a Blaze king for over 10yrs and I figure that it payed for it'self several times over. Once you get that coal bed established you can add large pieces of wood and get great burn times out of them.
You have to watch the flu temp because most of the time it will be on the cold side and there is a specific temperature that you will need to meet or exceed for at least 10min a day as said by your manual
And this will help keep the creosote down. Do not buy any of that expensive aluminum powder that is designed for cleaning out creosote but instead just throw in a couple three aluminum cola cans per week
As they will do the same thing and completely burn up.

When it is time to clean your flu simply let your fire die and the stove to cool off and drop a live chicken down the top of the flu pipe. It's furiously flapping wings will clean the pipe out good on its way down.
Others would simply use loose sheaths of newspaper and light it then hold it up to the pipe from inside the stove to burn the creosote out...It sounds like a rocket taking off when that pipe catches fire but will often burn out quickly! While these methods worked for our fathers & grandfathers, I chose to buy what was known as a porcupine. This is just a round ball made up of small diameter spring steel rods and it works very well with either a rod attached to one end, or sections of rope on either end to pull it back & forth. I really did like that porcupine because you dont have to chase a soot blackened chicken around the house...they tend to be very angry & indignant after using them for this.

[myronman3]

a few weeks ago i was working in a very remote area here and drove by an abandoned cabin that was caving in and there was a table out front with a "free" sign sitting next to it with a pile of crap on top of the table.  one of the things there was a "porcupine" with the fiberglass rods to go with it.  i snatched that sucker up so fast your head would spin.  twice a month i will clean it out.  my dad and grandpa used to do it once a month when i was a kid; so i figure twice will be fine.  i will keep an eye on it anyway just in case.