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Friday, December 16, 2011

Life Lesson




When you heat with a wood stove there are some things you will not find in books or remember from year to year. Probably no one will tell you either because it should be obvious but then if it were so obvious why do I forget from year to year? It is all those 2-3" logs you cut for firewood last summer should be stacked where they are quickly and easily accessible. Totally separate from the larger pieces. Oh, I remember now, those pieces that were so easy to toss up the mountain where I could get to them with the trailer.

Now that it is 8 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 40 to nothing, isn't the time to have to sort through mixed sizes of firewood to find the larger pieces. When you need heat in the house and don't want to jump up every 15 minutes to feed 2" pieces into the wood stove you need more substantial firewood. What you really need are larger pieces that will be more dense and burn longer. Those 2" pieces burn pretty fast and make a good bed of coals. You also need them to get the fire started each morning. You don't need them after you get the wood stove stoked up though. Then they go from being an asset to a liability. You can also freeze to death sorting through them looking for more substantial pieces.

So if you stack the small 2-3" diameter pieces in a pile by themselves you will know right where they are and be able to bring in the right amount each day. Otherwise if you mix them in with your regular firewood you will be pushing through hurricane force winds in 8 degree temperatures to get the pieces of firewood you need. On the other hand when you have to get up every 15 minutes to feed the wood stove you get exercise which serves to warm you up a little.

Now if I can just remember that for next firewood season all will be good. Probably next summer though I'll end up doing the same thing as I have forgotten now for 14 years running. Now that it is written down, I may remember it for next year. Then again......


10 comments:

Mike said...

You know, for some reason I just don't want to deal with that..... I started my life living like that,,,,heated with a wood stove, but we didn't have many trees so we couldn't use wood. The cheapest fuel we could stock up on was Cow Chip's,,,now I'm sure you know what that is.. We would gather them in a wash tug tied to a saddle horse using a rope........tub by tub,,. We were 45 miles out in the country and no paved roades like they have now....

No it would be a kick in my face to go back to that for me.............I'll just flick a switch, adjust the thermostate a little and live with it... But thats just me!!

Carol said...

No switch to flip here, Mike. We figure that doing all of this work keeps us in good shape health-wise and so far it seems to be true. Also we love our electric bill! :)+

Patricia said...

I think you two are pretty brave to rely solely on wood. DH and I have discussed this. We decided that while we would like to rely primarily on wood heat, we'll also probably have an electric heater. We're just not the tough pioneer type. Kinda like those modern conveniences.

Bruce said...

Patricia: I must confess that we do have an electric portable heater in the bathroom. The wood stove heat doesn't get to the bath due to the door. We also have a sun heater that helps the back of the house. Those small heaters do not even start to heat the house. Wood stove heats the majority, and portable heat supplements the area's radiant heat won't reach.

Carol said...

one thing Bruce left out is that I turn on those other heaters only in the a.m. to get the chill off...then they get turned off. love the little electric bills!

Raylene said...

Tee Hee! I try, at least,not to use a double barrel shot gun each time I shoot myself in the feet!! What a beautiful firewood box!

Carol said...

Bruce made that wood box (when we lived in Harrisburg) out of cherry. It has a top too so when we aren't using firewood and it is empty, the top goes on and a pretty plant on top. You can't see the dovetails at the ends but he hand cut each and every one of them. Absolutely beautiful....almost hated to use it for a wood box!

Anonymous said...

You should take at a look at this portable infrared heater. I use it when my Father and I take my daughter Ice Fishing, but I had to rely on it to heat the house once when the heat went out and it did a surprisingly good job. You might be able to use it to supplement the stove's heat and save yourself some trouble.

Bruce said...

Thank you for that suggestion. We did buy an infrared heater for the back of the house and it does very well like you indicate. I would agree with your recommendation. Thank you, I get so used to seeing it sit there doing its heating I forget about it. Thanks again..

Anonymous said...

You're welcome!