First Fire of the Second Season!!!!!!

Guess it's that time again

It's in the air. Just enough chill to make you want to fire up

Last year I started off on my first solid fuel stove. It's a godin big oval multi-fuel.

I burned very little wood in it. i bought it in january and started off on coal. Burned for about 40 days straight without a re-light.

Now i thought wood might be a good fuel this time of year. Last season i burned wood a little towards the end and my wife went ape-*censored* w the smell. i thought it over and decided to give it another try. I set everything up for a good burn and lit it. Making sure I wouldn't have to open the top feed door much and keeping the bottom glass door shut. Every time I had to re-load the house got a little smoky, but no major complaints. The downstairs stayed nice and warm. now the fire has all but burned out after about 5 hours and I'll be heading upstairs as promised.

This stove can make the transition from summer to winter using wood for the chilly evenings. Tho now I see firsthand why people use coal. Wood just requires a lot more attention and I had to feed it 2 or 3 times. I enjoy the ambiance, i enjoy feeding it. but I'm looking forward to the colder weather when i can just load it and shake it down twice a day. i don't look forward to waking up half asleep and having to tend to it every morning before i go to work, but it will be ok.

Guess I'm going to have some chimney cleaning to do before next fall

Chief

Chief - Many of us are recovering wood burners. It sounds like you may need a sponsor to call for support for those times you are losing control and are tempted to put wood in that godin. I'm in my 10th season of 100% coal burning. I heated with wood for 20 years before that. I enjoyed burning wood but its just too much work. Plus there's the creosote, the bugs, the smoke, the constant tending, etc. I still burn some wood in the firepalce just cause I like a wood fire. But once you try black you'll never go back.

LOL, yeah maybe I could use some support, If I had a fireplace I'd use that like you, but I don't. So this is kinda recreational for me.

My wife and the occasional cloud of smoke is my only obstacle. last year when I burned wood I was keeping the top feed open too long, and even the bottom door when I was lighting it, so the house did get quite smoky at times.

I realized that if I wanted to stay married AND have any wood fires in that stove, I'd have to mend my ways. I kept the doors on the stove shut except for feeding. The only time I screwed up was when I accidentally got a piece of sumac in there. The smell of it can put your stomach in a knot. In case ya never smelled it, trust me, when it burns it's sickening. Keep in ming that my wood rack is filled with a mix because I've only used the wood for outdoor fires for years. I don't usually even take junk like that but it got in there, just a little. I'll be using birch and maple from now on.

On the bright side the Mrs actually brought it up on her own today and told me to get the fire started downstairs. i wasn't intending on doing that today, but I figure I'll do a short one later tonight. I just have to demonstrate that it is possible to burn wood without stinking up the whole house. then when i want to burn wood it won't be an issue.

In a few weeks It will be a constant coal burn. I really don't see it feasible to run that stove on wood constantly unless maybe I had a bunch of Oak or cherry. I do have some cherry but it's not split or cured yet. Now that the wood will be used inside as well as out, I'll be keeping my eye out for the hardwoods and get a mix in there. Hardwoods would be an advantage in a stove like this, but they are kinda boring as far as use for short outside campfires.