Tricks to the wood stove

[hqueen13]

Yes, that's true. We have a shovel that we use for getting most of it out. I think we'll only sweep it (or vacuum it) when there's not much left and we're doing a total clean out.

 

[Mini Horses]

@hqueen13 Yep, what you want is the glowing wood in there, not so much flames, so it is "banked". You seem to be getting ist going well now. Are there any registers you can open/close either in the floor or as a system with piping to other areas?

FEM only thing you REALLY missed -- was the work of hauling trees, cutting, splitting, hauling, sweeping -- got the picture? I loved my wood heater but, not the work & mess. 20 yrs ago it was ok. Now, my "looks like wood burning in there" propane is great! Heats well, no ash to clean, wood to cut & haul --- truck comes & fills me up.

 

[hqueen13]

@Mini Horses Thanks for the tip! I was beginning to notice that. The part I'm still figuring out is how much to get it going while I have the doors open so that it's properly banked when I close the doors.

And yeah, all that other stuff is work, but it was way better than the pesky pellet stove! Ours ate through a bag every 24 hours on low, and it could hold 2 bags. So if we had to turn it up any more than that, we had to make sure we had plenty of bags really handy. And those buggars are HEAVY, which made it difficult for me to move them around. I could but it wasn't pretty. The BF would usually try to bring them in 8 to 10 bags at a time on a handtruck, but if the weather was really bad that was difficult.

 

[Denim Deb]

Best thing I've found for cleaning out a stove is a mason's trowel. That pointed end is great for getting in places a shovel can't, plus it's much shorter, so it's easier to maneuver. The only time I'll use a vacuum on mine is when it's completely cool.

 

[hqueen13]

Good tips, Deb!