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I so enjoy this time of year. When I can fire up the wood stove :)
I love the glow it gives the entire Main Room,
from the windowed door of the stove, in the darkness of the evening.
I rarely run the electric lights...unless I'm reading.
Nearly every night, It is getting below 32º F.
have only gotten a little snow so far...it hasn't stuck yet.
last weekend I spent plenty of time splitting wood for Next year,
from a huge white Oak I cut down last April. The base of the Oak
I couldn't even cut...it was 43" in diameter...WOW !
The landowner sold that log to a saw mill.
my biggest chainsaw has a 20" bar,
it is just too difficult to cut anything over 36".

Hey there Minnesota, welcome back. Haven't seen much of you on the forum lately

Hey Minnesota, glad to hear you're getting ready for the big freeze

I am semi-retired.
BUT...I do some electrical contracting.
Why do I mention this...
I have been working nearly non-stop since april.
I did very little garden/yard type of projects this summer
I cut my PC time...only Facebook and Castboolits forum.
I made a ton of money...But will pay a ton of taxes.
work has slowed, thank God !

Hiya Minnesota!

I so agree about the wood stoves - was just thinking the same thing yesterday. When we have our central heating on it's all the same temp everywhere downstairs (underfloor heating) so there's nothing welcoming about our living room - whereas right now I love going in there as it's the warmest room and when I'm cold I can just stand in front of the stove and warm up my bum!

I have to agree with you, Minnesota, I love the wood stove. The house is so nice and toasty when it is on. I've been making a small fire in the mornings to take the chill off the house and a larger one in the evenings. The days are getting cool enough and cloudy enough that we aren't getting much passive solar, so it's time to keep the stove going all day. Last winter I was starting to get good at making an all-night fire.

We have our wood stove in the basement. Even though the only airflow to or from the basement is via the stairwell, it does a beautiful job of heating the house fairly evenly, aided by a ceiling fan in the living room. We also have a thermostatically-controlled fan that blows warm air from the room where the stove is into the crawlspace under the rest of the house and keeps the floors warm.

We have had our woodburner going for the last 2 nights and with temps forecast for -2c tonight I am just about to light another one. What I like doing is turning down the central heating stat so the rest of the house is cool but the lounge is toastie. It saves money and also makes you appreciate the fire when you come into the lounge. The bedrooms always seem to be warm as the heat rises upstairs so no problem going to bed either.

KeithBC - what struck me about rural Canada was the year long supply of logs that every house seemed to have stacked outside in their garden! We were there in July when it was 30c but at every campsite we stayed at there was a fire pit going at most pitches each night - it was fab!

I remember sitting by a fire with a Canadian sweating the preverbials off having a cold beer and asking him why they had these campfires during the heat of the summer and he said "because we can" He also said that they do it in the winter when it is -30c. I vowed to dig a fire pit in our garden when we got home but the horizontal rain and howling winds soon changed my mind.

TheGoodEarth wrote:KeithBC - what struck me about rural Canada was the year long supply of logs that every house seemed to have stacked outside in their garden! We were there in July when it was 30c but at every campsite we stayed at there was a fire pit going at most pitches each night - it was fab!

Well, Canada is a big country, and conditions vary a lot from one area to another.

We have a two-winter supply of firewood, because that's what you need. A two-winter supply means the wood can season for two summers, and the second winter's supply means that you have a reserve in case you have a hard winter and burn more than you anticipated.

We don't burn wood in the summer. An indoor fire would be nuts in summer because it's far too hot. Outdoor campfires are a tradition when camping, but they are typically banned at the height of summer because of the risk of wildfires. Most areas of the country, even where I live in the so-called rain-forest, get far too dry in summer to risk a single spark. Where I live, open fires of any kind were banned in April and not permitted again until mid-October. The campers grumbled, but there was just no way we could risk it.

Had ours alight most evenings for a month already

Mind you it is in our sun lounge which has a glass roof so no heat retention at all and we tend to live in there all year

Fortunatly been burning free wood so far, but when we start to keep it in overnight we will need to use coal as its only small.

hey folks... great wee stories about wood stoves... i am in the middle of making one for myy mobile home... have the door and ash pan opening cut out of old propane bottle should be picking up the steel to make ash pan and grate today then its door hinges, door catch, hot plate and flue :)

cant wait til she is ready to fire up!i have no money to buy one so hoping that this woodstove i make works

Aww Minnesota, that was quite poetic. I love our woodburner - we turned the lights off last night and it was enough to bathe the room in an orange glow...lovely. I agree with you MMM, much better for the soul than central heating, and provides a focal point for the room that you just don't get otherwise.

I think it is a prinmal thing...fire and humans go quite well.

giggles wrote:hey folks... great wee stories about wood stoves... i am in the middle of making one for myy mobile home... have the door and ash pan opening cut out of old propane bottle should be picking up the steel to make ash pan and grate today then its door hinges, door catch, hot plate and flue :)

cant wait til she is ready to fire up!i have no money to buy one so hoping that this woodstove i make works

Giggles, don't suppose you are in Wiltshire? I have about 2m flue liner going spare if you want it!

ah jasus bonnietom i'd luv it but i am in county dublin ireland! how far do u reckon u could throw it? :)

Our central heating / water heating is run from a wood burning Godin stove. I'm so pleased to have it working again!

Plus, I've never yet seen a gas or oil boiler that one can cook bread in...

Hello there ,

our stoves have been working for the past 3 weeks . A court ruled against the gas company , they had been charging to high prices , so they had to pay back around €100 million ! , 2 days later the bastards declared the gas prices are to rise because of higher external cost's, + 16 % ! . It is only a German outfit , not even Maffia , or are they ?

So the Stanley and the Esse have been doing their thing since half Oktober .
At the moment the fuel is from the local woods , have enough in stock for the next year , even if the winter is as severe as last .
From December 13 2009 until April 15 2010 we had snow and frost , the energy companys are looking forward to this prospect .

The Stanley heats the living room and supplys hot water , the Esse heats the kitchen , cooks diner , bread , makes tea water , toast ............
It is nice to see the cold season come .

regards ,

Paul