Wood Stove questions...

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Just moved into the new place here in Boone (freakin amazing place for a college student. Ive got 2 rooms + bathroom to myself for 345 a month!!)

Anyways, the focal point of the living room is a wood burning stove, which we hope to use for heat. Question is, I have no idea how to use these....

I semi cleaned it out today, at least the firebox that I could get to.

Questions...

How exactly is the thing used? I cant see any output for heat. Does the box just heat up and the residual heat spread throughout the house? Do I open the firebox? It came with some kind of screen but I dunno what to do with that...

How much does a chimney sweep cost to get out here and check it out/clean it? It looks pretty clean but Im no expert at all.

What's the deal with lighting one of these? What do I need to do? There is a pail full of newspaper beside it but Im not sure what to do with all that.

Is there any other precautions I need to take? I read something about using a magnetic thermometer to measure temperature on the stove pipe? Is this a good idea?

We also have kerosene monitor heating here throughout, as well as baseboard...seems kinda over kill to me.
 
It all depends on what powers it. It may be just for looks. Who knows.
 
Well, it's just something you gotta figure out. Haha. So there's no place for the smoke to exit?
 
DodgeRam2500 said:
Well, it's just something you gotta figure out. Haha. So there's no place for the smoke to exit?
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yeah its connected to a chimney. Actually the chimney is really awesome, has random decorations thrown in with the rock, also has a stone shaped like NC with 2 more below it shaped like SC.
 
You may want to spend the $$ to have a sweep come out and check the chimney before he dweeps, to make sure it is safe to still use.

There should be a valve somewhere between the stove and ceiling/wall where the pipe exits, that is the dampener. You'll want this open all the way for lighting.

I ball up the newspaper and line the stove with it, then take some cardboard and lay it over it. Then throw in some kindling (i use pine for this) and get bigger and bigger pieces with the more you put on. I then light the newspaper, leaving the door open for a few seconds, and then close the door, making sure that the two airways on the door are completely open.

Once the fire gets going, and you add larger pieces, you can close off the "valves" on the door a little to make the wood last longer.
 
I used to use one in SD and it was great for a heat source in the winter time. What we did was put a fan near it on low so the heat would spread through the house. The heater in the house was never turned on even when the temp dropped below zero. One good thing that we did was put a pot of water on while the fire was going to add some humidity in the house.
 
x2 on the fan and pot of water. Wood stoves put out dry heat and with the pot of water, you will feel better.
 
1 have chimney checked out
2 Check out condition of stove pipe and dampener.
3.Check out condition of stove
4 make sure stove is sitting on something that is fire proof. They sell mats and some times owners have them on a rock, brick or concrete pad.

When all checks out and it's cold....
Open the dampener wide open(this should create a draw, so little to no smoke comes into the house
Use the newspaper as something to light. You will also need some dry pieces of wood for the paper to light. Just like building a camp fire. no difference.
When the small pieces of wood are burning good, add some split wood. When the wood is going good, close the dampener to control the heat and rate the wood will burn. You can use dry wood, I always used some dry and some more green wood to make it last longer. You should also have a dampener on the front of the wood stove. This will control the amount of air that can get to the fire. Doing this will also slow the rate of time the wood will burn. Anytime you add wood, open the dampener on the stove pipe. (less smoke in house.)
Different wood stoves react differently you will just have to get the hang of it. I used to always fill it at night before I went to bed and close it off almost all the way, when I woke up, I opened it up to get it going and added some more wood. Before I left, I filled it up and closed it off just like at night, when I got home, same thing. Use the monitor to keep it warm if it gets too cold. When it gets cold up in Boone, you can keep your fire going day and night, for weeks, never having to build a fire. When fire box gets full, let it burn down. It will take days to go completely out. So you need a metal bucket to clean out the coals and ash, it also has to sit on something that won't burn. When you empty it, you will need to water it down so you don't catch the outside o fire
Buy yourself a chain saw. It will pay for it's self. I used to stop by places where they logged and cut my own wood out of the stuff they left laying.
Get you a good maul to split the big stuff.
Build yourself a supply, sucks trying to cut and split wood with several feet of snow on the ground.
I probably forgot something, but that's most of it.
Enjoy!
Oh and the pot of water, Go to the flea market and buy yourself one of those cast Iron pots. Or find a large one that won't melt.
 
Another ditto on the pot of water-it will be DRYin tehre, especially in Boone.

Is th sa house you're renting? That's quite a deal.
There are quite a few quaint old place (and some real oddballs) around Boone.
 
If you are going to use it make sure you start getting fire wood now. I prefer a fire starter brick or log. Makes starting a fire a no brainer.
 
Yeah we are renting. Once we get moved in I'll throw some pictures up. For being 10 minutes or so from campus, we got a great deal with a freakin huge house.

The house is actually a duplex, but we bought out the basement apartment too (which is still connected via the original basement stairs), so we basically have 2 places for the price of one.

As for the stove, its on a stone base that matches the fireplace. I see these knobs on the front of the doors, which Im guessing control the door dampener? I cant see any way to move the dampener inside the stove though...?

Also, the stuff inside was really shiny. From what Ive read thats a bad sign?
 
Ask the landlord.
 
Your Hot Dog Guy! said:
Ask the landlord.
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She told us not to use it. The lease does NOT state we cannot use it however.

The previous tenants used it alot, and the landlord clearly knew because there was wood for it everywhere...

Apparently the landlord had a chimney fire when she was a child and was kinda traumatized about the whole deal...as long as we use it safely she definitely wont mind.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
She told us not to use it
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I told my tennats NOT to have a dog in the house. I went by, saw a dog in the house, told them again "no dog". I drove by the house and saw a dog looking out the door, I stopped and told them they had 30 days to get out, period. If she asked you not to...why would you? Also the people before may have known how to use it, obviously you don't.
 
awheelterd said:
sounds like she told you not to use it
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BIGWOODY said:
I told my tennats NOT to have a dog in the house. I went by, saw a dog in the house, told them again "no dog". I drove by the house and saw a dog looking out the door, I stopped and told them they had 30 days to get out, period. If she asked you not to...why would you? Also the people before may have known how to use it, obviously you don't.
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ding ding ding!
 
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