Woodstove Recommendations

[fabsroman]

Originally Posted by M.T. Pockets

My house is 25 miles from Canada in Northestern MN. Minus 31 tonight.

I have a free standing stove in the great room that can heat the entire 1600 sq. ft. house to 70 something with very little electric supplement heat. The brand name is Cottage.

Wood heat just plain feels good, and it's also very satisfying. I'd compare it to eating wildgame that you harvested compared to meat from the grocery store.

I would also recommend having it professionally installed. You may also want to check with your insurance company to see if they have any further requirements.

I'm a firefighter, and I've been to more than a few fires involving wood stoves. Many are due to dirty chimneys, but the most I've seen involve people who don't dispose of the ashes properly and they reignite and start a fire. I feel safer heating my house with a wood stove than having my wife light a candle.

While I am cheap, I am not that cheap. I know absolutely nothing about installing a wood stove so I would hire a professional. Had a client burn down his house by installing one himself. What a mess that was. I agree, it is a personal thing for me, along with a cheap thing. I really hate paying to heat the house. As soon as they come out with something good in the form of solar and/or wind power, you can bet I will be getting it. Same goes for a plug in vehicle after the solar/wind power is installed.

My plan with the ashes is to suck them out with a shop vac and then dump them in the yard in a pit or in the garden. Any advice on that?

[multibeard]

Originally Posted by fabsroman

My plan with the ashes is to suck them out with a shop vac and then dump them in the yard in a pit or in the garden. Any advice on that?

Better find some metal buckets to put them in unless you are going right out side to dump them. If you suck a hot ember in that shop vac it can start to smolder a long time after you suck it out especially if it a plastic vac.

[M.T. Pockets]

I would not use a shop vac unless the fire has been out a week. An old fashioned metal bucket (with a lid) works great. A metal scoop from any fireplace store will work fine to scoop up the ashes.

Ashes are absolutely fantastic fertilizer, if you have a garden you have a place to put them.

Disposal isn't hard, just don't set that bucket anyplace where you don't want a fire to start. Don't set it down anywhere - take it to the garden & spread them out. Watch the wind, an ember can reignite and take off a few feet. I've seen many fires start when people leave the "cold" ashes outside in a bucket too close to a wood strucutre and the structure catches on fire. Those embers can stay hot for days and when they're exposed to a good oxygen supply they'll take off.