Anyone have a woodstove?

stewball

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I actually meant the outside as it's so old.
Your poor little bottom. I bet you did scream bloody blue murder.
No scars I presume?
 
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MoochNNoodles

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my personal opinion is for cast iron wood stoves. the new steel wood stoves will heat up quickly, but once the fire dies down or goes out, they'll be cold in no time flat compared to a cast iron stove. it takes 4 hours minimum before my cast iron stove is cool enough to touch, and then it still feels warm. and cast iron is built to last. my dad had a jotul cast iron wood stove and loved it -- it's a very good brand.

something that might be worth considering is that your idea of how much you use your wood stove may very well change. i had my stove installed in the fall of 2012. the first and second winters i used it to heat the whole house all day and until it went out during the night, then i'd start it up first thing each morning. towards the end of last winter (the second winter), after figuring out why my natural gas heating bill had increased so much (when i was heating primarily with the wood stove), i decided to do like they used to in the "olden days" and get up and add wood to the stove through the night several times. part of my decision had to do with our local utility having had a 3-year tiered increase -- total increase for the 3 years was close to 10%. i had an alternative, and my wood stove made so much better heat than their natural gas did. and i'm spending less for the wood stove heat than i would be for the natural gas heat. this year/winter i'm heating solely with my wood stove, the gas furnace hasn't even been turned on. i will run the furnace for a few days this coming may though, just because it's good to run a furnace at minimum for 3 days each year. i do buy my firewood "green"/unseasoned and by the dump truck load (10 face cords) from a local wood pallet manufacturer. i stack the firewood myself and lay a tarp over just the top of it, with field stones to weight the tarp down. so it might be that at first you'll use your wood stove to add a little extra warmth to your house and for power outages, but then you might decide to lower your utility heating bill more by using your wood stove more.
Thank you; we decided to go with the cast iron stove from jotul. 
  I chose a classic dark gray slate hearth pad for underneath it and a more traditional flat black finish.  They had it in a brown enamel in the store.  Because of the location we are installing it; the cost of the chimney pipe went way up; but oh well.  At least it'll help insure the smoke is directed higher up.  Our old neighbors house has a much lower roof and the smoke would blow into our yard at times.  The smell doesn't bother me if I'm outdoors; but I didn't want that coming inside like Anne mentioned!  I also chose to have the pipe come out of the back instead of the top.  I'd like room for one of those steamers!  They had an ADORABLE one in the store that had a cast iron cabin scene for the top.  The steam would vent through the chimney!  It was just so cute!  (But expensive...so it's not coming home with me just yet!)

You must live near my family in Upstate New York. My Grandparents and Aunt both have tiny houses; but it costs them an arm and a leg to heat!  My Aunt's house is old enough that it probably had a stove or old fashion boiler at one point.  It's such a small house; I'm not sure where that would have been.  I believe she has a dirt floor in her cellar.  

It will be nice to have an alternative down the road; when the kids are bigger.  When we were in the store singing the paperwork for the stove I noticed they had the same gate for sale there.  It's also $10 cheaper than Amazon was asking; so we will probably buy  that when we purchase the other accessories we still need.  They also had one set up in the store; so it was nice to see it in action.  My son's room is close enough to the living room that he will probably feel the heat in there.  DD's room is farther and I would have to put a vent in to get heat in there.  We'd also have to install a fan I'm thinking.  DH was reading some things and watching some videos on youtube today.

All the permits are handled by the company selling us the stove.  That's a relief.  DH had to handle the permit when we bought our shed.  Fortunately we are outside city limits so we don't have to deal with as much of that sort of thing.  

The next thing we are trying to figure out is how we want the hearth pad laid.  The salesman said they lay it right on top of the carpet; but we would like hardwood floors installed someday.  (I really dislike our carpet!)  Apparently they won't set the hearth pad on wood floors; but they will on carpet or the sub-floor.  I think DH needs to get that clarified!  He was going to ask if he can pull back the carpet and cut it to the shape of the hearth pad.  Hopefully he can get the day off when they come to do the installation.  Otherwise when it's time to change our floors (in a few years at the soonest) the stove company will have to come back out to adjust everything.  
 

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Rick and I were talking on the way into work this morning; he brought me in because we have freezing rain this morning. He was telling me that he heard on TWC about a woman who was taken to court by her neighbor because of her wood-burning stove. Evidently the smoke was constantly on his property and he was tired of being outside and smelling her smoke. Rick said he didn't get the whole story, but he did hear that the court gave him an injunction to stop her from using her wood stove until the case gets to court.

Also, have you talked to you house insurance company to see if your homeowners insurance will increase and if so, if it's a large increase? I'm just curious about how insurance companies deal with wood-burning stoves and the like.
 

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Thank you; we decided to go with the cast iron stove from jotul. :clap:   I chose a classic dark gray slate hearth pad for underneath it and a more traditional flat black finish.  
Nice! :clap: Do you have an installation date yet?
 

micknsnicks2mom

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Thank you; we decided to go with the cast iron stove from jotul. 
  I chose a classic dark gray slate hearth pad for underneath it and a more traditional flat black finish.  They had it in a brown enamel in the store.  Because of the location we are installing it; the cost of the chimney pipe went way up; but oh well.  At least it'll help insure the smoke is directed higher up.  Our old neighbors house has a much lower roof and the smoke would blow into our yard at times.  The smell doesn't bother me if I'm outdoors; but I didn't want that coming inside like Anne mentioned!  I also chose to have the pipe come out of the back instead of the top.  I'd like room for one of those steamers!  They had an ADORABLE one in the store that had a cast iron cabin scene for the top.  The steam would vent through the chimney!  It was just so cute!  (But expensive...so it's not coming home with me just yet!)

You must live near my family in Upstate New York. My Grandparents and Aunt both have tiny houses; but it costs them an arm and a leg to heat!  My Aunt's house is old enough that it probably had a stove or old fashion boiler at one point.  It's such a small house; I'm not sure where that would have been.  I believe she has a dirt floor in her cellar.  

It will be nice to have an alternative down the road; when the kids are bigger.  When we were in the store singing the paperwork for the stove I noticed they had the same gate for sale there.  It's also $10 cheaper than Amazon was asking; so we will probably buy  that when we purchase the other accessories we still need.  They also had one set up in the store; so it was nice to see it in action.  My son's room is close enough to the living room that he will probably feel the heat in there.  DD's room is farther and I would have to put a vent in to get heat in there.  We'd also have to install a fan I'm thinking.  DH was reading some things and watching some videos on youtube today.

All the permits are handled by the company selling us the stove.  That's a relief.  DH had to handle the permit when we bought our shed.  Fortunately we are outside city limits so we don't have to deal with as much of that sort of thing.  

The next thing we are trying to figure out is how we want the hearth pad laid.  The salesman said they lay it right on top of the carpet; but we would like hardwood floors installed someday.  (I really dislike our carpet!)  Apparently they won't set the hearth pad on wood floors; but they will on carpet or the sub-floor.  I think DH needs to get that clarified!  He was going to ask if he can pull back the carpet and cut it to the shape of the hearth pad.  Hopefully he can get the day off when they come to do the installation.  Otherwise when it's time to change our floors (in a few years at the soonest) the stove company will have to come back out to adjust everything.  
congratulations! that's really a lovely stove. nice choices for the hearth pad color and the flat black finish for the stove. as i mentioned, my wood stove chimney pipes go straight up and out the roof. we're talking up two stories and then probably another 8-10 feet or so above the roof. so when i'm outside i do catch faint whiffs of wood smoke, but no strong wood smoke smell and i never actually see any smoke -- even coming out of the top of the chimney pipe. with the convection part of my wood stove, the smoke is slightly greyish white, not black. i went with the chimney pipes going straight up because my wood stove is at the front of my house, so didn't want it being the focal point of the front of the house.

i'm not familiar with the steamers you're referring to. it sounds lovely though. i'm wondering why it would vent through the chimney pipe. i would want the moisture from the steam for the air in my house during the winter. but, as i say, i'm not familiar with steamers. i have a plain black cast iron kettle on a cast iron trivet on my wood stove (both kettle and trivet are seasoned cast iron), to provide moisture.

i live about half way between rochester and syracuse, near sodus, ny. my house was built in the 1880's. i'll be having spray foam insulation put in in all the outer walls of the house and all the old windows replaced with new energy efficient windows over the coming years. i've got a brand new metal roof over the whole house now, and had more insulation added under the uppermost roof.

i'm so glad you got to see the fireplace fence and try it out! that's great, that the store is selling it for less than on amazon! i have peace of mind with my fireplace fence -- i know it's safe around the wood stove for my cats.

there's a lot to learn about wood stoves. it's really fascinating stuff to me.

when i eventually have new wood flooring installed in my living room (if there isn't old hardwood flooring below the icky laminate tiles -- i'd love to find nice flooring under it, and would be glad to have it sanded down and refinished), i'll have to have the wood stove people come out and adjust things.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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Nice!
Do you have an installation date yet?
I think we are scheduled for February 2nd or 3rd.  I think it's the hearth pad we have to wait on; not the stove itself. 
Also, have you talked to you house insurance company to see if your homeowners insurance will increase and if so, if it's a large increase? I'm just curious about how insurance companies deal with wood-burning stoves and the like.
That's a question for DH!  I don't recall him mentioning it to me.  
 
congratulations! that's really a lovely stove. nice choices for the hearth pad color and the flat black finish for the stove. as i mentioned, my wood stove chimney pipes go straight up and out the roof. we're talking up two stories and then probably another 8-10 feet or so above the roof. so when i'm outside i do catch faint whiffs of wood smoke, but no strong wood smoke smell and i never actually see any smoke -- even coming out of the top of the chimney pipe. with the convection part of my wood stove, the smoke is slightly greyish white, not black. i went with the chimney pipes going straight up because my wood stove is at the front of my house, so didn't want it being the focal point of the front of the house.

i'm not familiar with the steamers you're referring to. it sounds lovely though. i'm wondering why it would vent through the chimney pipe. i would want the moisture from the steam for the air in my house during the winter. but, as i say, i'm not familiar with steamers. i have a plain black cast iron kettle on a cast iron trivet on my wood stove (both kettle and trivet are seasoned cast iron), to provide moisture.

i live about half way between rochester and syracuse, near sodus, ny. my house was built in the 1880's. i'll be having spray foam insulation put in in all the outer walls of the house and all the old windows replaced with new energy efficient windows over the coming years. i've got a brand new metal roof over the whole house now, and had more insulation added under the uppermost roof.

i'm so glad you got to see the fireplace fence and try it out! that's great, that the store is selling it for less than on amazon! i have peace of mind with my fireplace fence -- i know it's safe around the wood stove for my cats.

there's a lot to learn about wood stoves. it's really fascinating stuff to me.

when i eventually have new wood flooring installed in my living room (if there isn't old hardwood flooring below the icky laminate tiles -- i'd love to find nice flooring under it, and would be glad to have it sanded down and refinished), i'll have to have the wood stove people come out and adjust things.
I didn't describe the steamer very right; it's just a cast iron pot with a decorative top.  This is similar to the one I was looking at in the store: .  I remember my mother's cousin always having a kettle with water on top of their stove.  They have a log cabin and heat with the wood stove.  I've been running a humidifier in my kitchen because the air is so dry we are all uncomfortable.  Adding steam with the stove would be a great help!  

You are pretty close to my family; most are about an hour east of Syracuse but some are in Rochester and Syracuse too.  My Dad swears by the blown foam insulation.  His good friend has a business doing insulation and Dad has worked with him over the years when he needs help. He started to update the insulation on my Grandparent's house; but the drywall was up up with very small nails; so the foam was popping the nails and caused a few tiles to come off the wall in the bathroom.  They only ended up doing the bathroom and 1 bedroom.  Good insulation makes a huge difference as do quality windows.  Before we bought our house DH and I had a single-wide trailer he'd bought when he was 20.  It costs us the same to less to heat our house. That's adding on +600 square feet of living space and all the head room with taller ceilings.  At our hold house if I put my hand in front of an unused electrical outlet you could feel cold air coming in.  I put baby outlet covers in them to stop it!  A friend of my FIL has a huge single pane glass window in her living room. and you can really feel the cold coming off of that!  There was snow on the ground when I visited her house; I don't know how she uses that room during the winter!
 

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@MoochNNoodles -- oh, those are very nice! i don't recall ever seeing the kind with decorative tops.

i plan on having all the old drywall on the outer walls taken down, the spray foam insulation put in, then new drywall put up.

brrrrr!!! i can't handle feeling cold -- at all.
 

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Nice, Mooch! Very nice! When it's all done and installed, please post some pictures; I'd love to see it!

Love that steamer!
 
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Hey, Mooch, is today the big day for your stove installation! Good luck! Hope it all goes well!
 

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@MoochNNoodles -- wow! just beautiful!

i notice that the chimney pipe is going up as opposed to out the wall behind the stove. if i remember correctly, the pipe was going to go out the wall behind?

are they going to install the fireplace fence around it today?

btw -- what did they end up doing as far as the carpeting and placing the hearth pad on it? just curious to know the why's of that.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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@MoochNNoodles -- wow! just beautiful!

i notice that the chimney pipe is going up as opposed to out the wall behind the stove. if i remember correctly, the pipe was going to go out the wall behind?

are they going to install the fireplace fence around it today?

btw -- what did they end up doing as far as the carpeting and placing the hearth pad on it? just curious to know the why's of that.
My husband is installing the fence now.  Because they had to pull the stove out a tad for everything; the fence isn't quite working like we thought.  It's just going to be a bit closer to the stove with one less panel.  I'm more worried about a fall hazard than the kids reaching through; but I'm trying to drill it into their heads not to touch.  Hopefully the gate is ok as it is.  If we kept all the panels in and followed the hearth; it would end about 6" into a doorway.  Apparently my chair rail (that DH installed) and the floor molding is also in the way... 


The stove is on an interior wall; so it's going up through the attic.  They told DH they had to put some angles in the chimney in the attic.  I'm thinking cleaning might be more difficult.  I think it was too close to the ridge of the house.

It took a lot less time than I expected; not even 4 hours!  And only 2 workers.  

They told us the paint on the stove will give off a non-toxic smoke until it gets hot enough.  We cracked a living room window and the front door storm window since the stove is right between those.  It still set the smoke detectors off!  We ended up opening a lot of windows and it's better now.  I can still smell it; but it might be on my clothing too.  I'm just glad our alarm company didn't call.  Maybe because DH shut the alarms off fast enough. 

They just put the pad right on the carpet.  I'm glad DH didn't try to cut the carpet out of the way because the pad isn't completely in the corner!  If we ever replace the flooring they will have to come out and move the stove.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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Thank you!  DH is working at installing the hearth gate still.  Nothing is ever as simple and straightforward as you think!  He's had to chisel out some of the chair rail; so its taking time.  We also played around with the position a little bit.  

My kids got up early today because of the workers being here.  It's showing; they are fighting with each other a lot.  I'm very tempted to drive them around till at least the little one falls asleep. 
 

micknsnicks2mom

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My husband is installing the fence now.  Because they had to pull the stove out a tad for everything; the fence isn't quite working like we thought.  It's just going to be a bit closer to the stove with one less panel.  I'm more worried about a fall hazard than the kids reaching through; but I'm trying to drill it into their heads not to touch.  Hopefully the gate is ok as it is.  If we kept all the panels in and followed the hearth; it would end about 6" into a doorway.  Apparently my chair rail (that DH installed) and the floor molding is also in the way... 


The stove is on an interior wall; so it's going up through the attic.  They told DH they had to put some angles in the chimney in the attic.  I'm thinking cleaning might be more difficult.  I think it was too close to the ridge of the house.

It took a lot less time than I expected; not even 4 hours!  And only 2 workers.  

They told us the paint on the stove will give off a non-toxic smoke until it gets hot enough.  We cracked a living room window and the front door storm window since the stove is right between those.  It still set the smoke detectors off!  We ended up opening a lot of windows and it's better now.  I can still smell it; but it might be on my clothing too.  I'm just glad our alarm company didn't call.  Maybe because DH shut the alarms off fast enough. 

They just put the pad right on the carpet.  I'm glad DH didn't try to cut the carpet out of the way because the pad isn't completely in the corner!  If we ever replace the flooring they will have to come out and move the stove.
the way my fireplace fence is installed, it's along two side of the hearth pad. one side, the fence is right up against the edge of the hearth pad. the other side, there's about 7-8 inches between the fence and that edge of the hearth pad. so if your fence ends up close to that distance from your hearth pad/stove, you should be good.

does your fireplace fence have ends (the parts that attach to walls) that swivel? mine does. in fact, one end of my fence has the last steel fence pole turned at a right angle away from the wall. this is so my fence fits and looks like the two sides are straight.

cleaning the chimney pipes shouldn't be more difficult to do, just maybe harder to peer up the pipes with a flashlight to make sure you've done a thorough job of cleaning them. the rods used (to attach the brush to) are what are called flex rods, they're bendable. i have three 6-foot flex rods, but really only use two (attached together) to clean my chimney pipes.

here's a very helpful video i found on youtube --


this is the method i use when i clean my chimney pipes. no mess with this method.

wow! that's a nice quick installation. your guys must know exactly what they're doing.

ahhh, yes! i had forgotten about the paint on the stove giving off smoke.

interesting that they can simply lay the hearth pad right on top of the carpet.
 
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We got the fence up; with enough clearance I think.  It does have hinged sides so it moves around a little.  The one they had on display in the store was next to a lit stove and it was much closer; so I'm not too concerned about it.  

DH went out and found a place to get firewood.  There was a house up the street with a sign in the yard saying they had some; but no one was home.  So he drove farther and someone else had another sign with a phone number.  It turned out that person has a tree company; so DH drove to his business location.  Our wood rack is filled now.  It wouldn't be enough for us to heat all the time; but it's enough for now.  I think we can get it by the cord from them as well.  

Oh; I've bookmarked that video for DH! Thank you!
 
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I have a wood stove in the kitchen. It's so lovely in the winter time. I buy in different kinds of wood, but generally oak and ash burn longer and better in my stove. I do the all in one method when wanting a fire, paper, kindle and logs on top, then once the wood is down to white/smoulder (very hot!) I add another log on top and the fire rages again. There is something hynoptic about a real fire.

To clean, I use the ash that's left over mixed with water. It's so much better than vinegar!

 

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DH went out and found a place to get firewood.  There was a house up the street with a sign in the yard saying they had some; but no one was home.  So he drove farther and someone else had another sign with a phone number.  It turned out that person has a tree company; so DH drove to his business location.  Our wood rack is filled now.  It wouldn't be enough for us to heat all the time; but it's enough for now.  I think we can get it by the cord from them as well.  

Oh; I've bookmarked that video for DH! Thank you!
the fence looks really well placed/positioned. my fence doesn't move around because the contractors put a few screws through different spots on the lower horizontal bars, screwed down into the floor.

yay! i'm glad you all found a place to get firewood! if you need more storage (than your log rack) for firewood at some point, i just use 2x4x8's and lay two of those the right distance apart for the firewood to lay across them. at tractor supply they sell log rack brackets (http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/redstonetrade%3B-adjustable-log-rack-bracket-set) to use with lumber to easily put together a log rack. much less expensive than buying a metal log rack, though not as nice looking.

you're welcome!
 
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