Is anyone here using thier wood stove yet?!

[3peeps]

I am in love with our wood stove...as soon as it gets an inkling of cold out, my husband starts hinting around and we get all excited.

This is our third season with our new Jotul stove. It has a glass front so you can really see the fire. The first season, we heated almost entirely with wood. It's in our living room. Last year we scaled back a bit. This year we have a load of cheap wood, so things are looking good so far.

With the wind so high the past two days, it's been starting up really well.

I am concerned about efficiency and polution, so I do sometimes get caught up thinking about how ethical it is. We chose a stove with really good efficiency and I'm an absolute stickler about burning it correctly to make it so. I've enjoyed the science of fire-building and can say I've figured out our situation really well. I can tell by the smallest observations if tweeking is needed and I always secretly gloat when my fire is "better" than my husbands!

However, I did overfire the stove a few times the first season and was thoroughly amazed that I didn't crack the stove or burn the house down. I packed it too full of oak and then didn't turn it down in time. HOLY SCARY HOT BATMAN!!!!

Anyway, who needs TV when you have a fire!

 

[schmoo]

I tell you what if the computer was in the same room as our woodstove I'd probably never move.

Mines is cranked up full blast right now. I love it. I can proudly say I build alot better indoor fires than my DH. It does take some practice to make a good fire. My cats are curled up out there right now, they'll be there until spring LOL

 

[speckledhen]

Yep, we're using it so we don't have a high electric bill. Plus we like direct heat, not coolish/warm heatpump heat.

 

[jenichick]

We have one in our shop (where the brooder is), and we love it. We'll probably be using it this weekend. I can't wait, I like to keep a pot of water on it for tea etc.

 

[Marlinchaser]

does my pellet stove count???

 

[3peeps]

Quote:
Well, certainly!!!

 

[3peeps]

Quote:
We keep water on ours, too, but for humidity. I do a separate pot, though, when I want to heat up water for tea. And on St. Patrick's Day the first year, I made corned beef and cabbage on the wood stove.

With water on the stove, our house stays a lot more comfortable humidity-wise than when we used just our furnace.

 

[buc]

3peeps, DW and I have used a wood burning furnace for over 16 years now, we burn aroung 4 cords of wood per year.

Last night was the first night I put a full load because the overnight temp was to drop to the upper 20's, we have propane fuel as the backup to the wood heat. Aobut 90 percent of our home heat is provided by burning wood.

 

[MissPrissy]

I have 2 and love them both! I am sitting by the fire now.

 

[chickbea]

We have ours on with the propane back-up, but we haven't had to go to full-time with the stove yet.
I like to spend all winter standing next to the stove, all sorts of toasty warm. I reposition the TV so that I can watch it while I stand there! Nothing warms through to your bones like wood!
We have a really old Jotul stove - the one with the moose scene on the side. I wouldn't worry about cracking a Jotul from heat; they are mighty sturdy. I've never burned oak (the few oaks that do grow around here sure aren't used for firewood!

), but I burn maple, which can get pretty hot. I've only had one fire get out of control with this stove. Unfortunately for our volunteer fire department, it was on Superbowl Sunday last year! The poor guys - but happily they had it out long before kick-off. Actually, they said that romping around on my roof and cleaning my chimney for me was a fine way to build up their appetites for the game!
You are lucky to have the glass front; I could watch a fire all day.