You all inspired me about the woodstove, so I've been researching it for the last hour or so. I'm now afraid I'm going to set our house on fire.

Who knew it was so complicated?!? Can we boil this all down for me?

I know I need seasoned wood, but gosh it seems so "technical" about long something takes to be seasoned. Then, there is the flu (flew?), a fan, creosote....ack!

It makes me want to buy propane tomorrow.

Help!

Seasoned - you can buy it this way. :hug: Would that simplify things? You can't set anything on fire with green/unseasoned wood, but it makes a bunch of creosote in the stove and is hard to get burning. But if you buy wood cut split and delivered, it will generally already be seasoned.

The flue and fan - what do you mean? You don't "need" a fan. It just helps push the hot air into the room. The flue - what is your question about it?

It doesn't *have to* be complicated. Online resources probably make it seem more intense than it is. It's really pretty easy.

Ok, deep breath. Either buy seasoned wood or if you buy green, stack it and let it dry somewhere before burning. Most people around here sell it seasoned, it may be a litt more expensive than green. If you want to buy ahead for next year, save a little $ and buy green.

We don't have a fancy fan, but sometimes set a small box fan behind the stove to circulate the warm air. They do make little metal fans that you can set on top of the stove and they work without electricity, from the heat. Again, not necessary, but sometimes they can be helpful to push the warm air around on a chilly morning.

You start a fire, or stoke it with the flue open. Once the fire gets going well, you close the flue part or most of the way so it doesn't rage too hard. Open flue means more air feeding the fire and a hotter fire. Closing the flue means you're cutting down the air supply to the fire and it doesn't burn so hot and fast. Overnight, we often get the fire going really hot with a lot of big pieces of wood (the biggest pieces are called overnighters because they last all night) then shut the flue almost completely. The fire still burns, but slowly so that there are still coals left over in the morning.

Funny story I am reminded of.... A few years ago Jay was helping a friend deliver firewood to a couple of guys who just moved out here from the city. Like you, the one guy had spent a while researching woodstoves on the internet trying to get a handle on how to heat with wood. He tells Jay that he's come up with a GREAT idea. He wants to chop up all of the fire wood into as small of pieces as he can so it lasts longer. :lol: :lol: :hahaha: Not realizing, of course, that small wood burns hot and quick or that it would be a HUGE pain in the @ss to chop up 5 face cord of wood. :snort:

Now, a few things, I am assuming you know but just in case: You need some sort of heat resistant backer board behind the stove. Something like Durarock. Also, brand new stove pipe smells bad and can smoke the first time you have a fire. There's a coating on it that burns off, and I suggest taking the kids out the first time you fire up the stove if the stovepipe is brand new.

Just thought of two more "essentials" that are good to have. One is the round, magnetic thermometer that sticks to the stove pipe, to let you know if the fire is going too hot. The second is a cast iron kettle to put on the top of the stove. I love wood heat but it can be drying to the air in the home. The kettle on top puts out steam and keeps things from getting too dry.

Thank you Lauren and Meeshi. You have helped so much.

I'll start looking into wood to buy. I'll probably get it all split and seasoned the first year until I figure out more what I'm doing. I don't even own and axe right now or a hatchet.

My fireplace is an insert. So, it has a brick chimney on the outside, but the stovepipe is incased in that. I can't put a thermometer on it. It does have a place for a small pot of boiling water though. Good tip!

Also, mine has a cord attached to it. I need to get it replaced because the rubber casing is all cracked. I thought this was probably to a fan somewhere in it. I am so inept. :lol: What else could it be?

Meeshi has some great advice. There is probably an electric fan already on/in it somewhere if you have a cord. :) Check the back of your insert and see if you can find a manufacturer name and model number...then google. Will give you good info! I found my manual online.

It's well worth paying the $ to have a chimney inspector/cleaner come this fall before you use it, clean it all out for you, etc. A good one will teach you all you need to know about using your insert! Like, I'm sure he can show you where the fan is, how to use it. He'll make sure if there are any fire bricks that need to be replaced, that he does that. Etc. Just will give you lots of peace of mind for $80 (or so).

It's well worth paying the $ to have a chimney inspector/cleaner come this fall before you use it, clean it all out for you, etc. A good one will teach you all you need to know about using your insert! Like, I'm sure he can show you where the fan is, how to use it. He'll make sure if there are any fire bricks that need to be replaced, that he does that. Etc. Just will give you lots of peace of mind for $80 (or so).

I was going to recommend this too. If you can't find a listing for an inspector or chimney sweep, call your fire dept. There's usually one on staff that has a chimney sweep business on the side....or knows one.