Reflections of katlupe: woodstoves

Showing posts with label woodstoves. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2013

Adding A Fireplace Or Wood Stove To Your Home

Nothing is cozier on a cold evening than sitting in front of a fireplace or wood stove. I know this, as I am fortunate enough to have two wood stoves in my home. In a prior home, I had a fireplace and would build a fire before my son got home from school on a cold snowy day. We had to purchase wood, and I, of course, back then did not know anything about starting fires. I learned to buy those "starter logs" in the grocery store and that is the way I did it. My ex-husband did not know anything about starting fires, so it was up to me.

Now there are many other options for anyone wanting a fireplace in their home. You don't really have to start a fire with wood unless that is the type of fireplace you have. They are available at The Fireplace Element, a website where you can check them out and see exactly what you'd like in your home.They sell wood, pellet and gas stoves, fireplaces or fireplace inserts. You name it and they sell it.

I was fairly surprised by how many different products they sell. Be sure to view their Facebook page and "Like" it for more great ideas. It is important when considering a fireplace or stove that you have a reliable company to work with. They will answer all your questions and help you make the right choice for you home based on their experience and products.

This is a post I was paid to write about this company. If you have any questions please review my FTC Blogging Disclosure.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Firewood Harvest

I love the forest!

When you heat with wood it is a big plus if you have your own supply of firewood. Instead of buying wood, then you are cutting it. By taking down all the dead wood, it gives more room and light to the new trees just coming in. Too many trees, too close together, limits the sunlight coming in down below, to the ones just trying to get started. I have replanted a few pine trees myself, putting them in my front yard along the road. Presently, we have room for a few more.

Woods behind our house

Many trees die and stand for years until a wind knocks them over. On our land, we had a tornado take down over 300 trees, which we used for firewood for many years. Often a tree doesn't even appear to be dead, grows leaves and like the apple trees, even fruit. Then all of a sudden the tree falls over and you find it is all rotted inside.

Their wild instinct is to eat wood!

Hardwood is a good choice for burning in your wood stove. Hardwood according to Wikipedia: "Hardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods. The dominant feature separating "hardwoods" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels.The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall, such as spiral thickenings."

Cherry, elm, pine and oak

The hardwood we have in our forest and surrounding area here in upstate NY are Maple, Oak, Elm, Cherry and Poplar (or Aspen, as it is referred to). Elm had some years ago been victims of Dutch Elm disease and were history. Now though, our forest and surrounding area is rich with elms. They are everywhere and our forest is full of them. When we first moved here, Cherry, was plentiful. And I so love a fire made of cherry. Oh, the smell is so comforting! The forest changes over time though, now the cherry is not as plentiful as it once was. More Oak is coming up. The seeds will lay dormant for many years and all of a sudden, trees come up that you hadn't seen before. Nature's surprise!

Trees surround us!

Some people say not to use pine, a softwood, for wood stoves. We do though. It gives you a hot fire and will build up creosote in the chimney, but my husband cleans our chimney a lot, monthly. So its not much of a problem for us. If I need a hot fire for cooking something that requires a high temp, I will always make a fire with some pine. Pine is plentiful here and I'd hate to waste it. Mixing a softwood with a hardwood is something we do. It extends the softwood's burning time.

Ah........split firewood!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Cold, But Beautiful Morning!

Cold, But Beautiful Morning!

This morning my husband awoke to his horse, Dark Shadow, whinnying loudly. He hurried up and got dressed, and went outside to check on her. She usually does that when she wants him for some reason. And usually it is important. She doesn't just do that all the time.They had eaten all their night hay, and needed more.........it was cold! Hay warms them up fast. So he gave them more and went back inside.

Hay Keeps Horses Warm In Cold Temps!

He came in and started the job of getting the big heating wood stove opened up and then adding wood. He started the kerosene heater in the bathroom. Unfortunately, it had been moved, and the wick had become crooked, so it smoked. After he fixed it, we had a warm bathroom.

Below Zero This Morning!

We started off with temps of ten below zero, in a bit it had come up two degrees. After he got the stoves cranking to warm up the house, he went out to the woods quickly and brought back more kindling. We had been lax on stocking up kindling. So that won't happen again!

Tightening the chain

We have been getting our own wood and only buy some when we come across a great deal. Soon though, we will be getting our own wood lot since we do not want to cut our forest down. Up until now, we have used only dead wood or fallen trees. After our tornado in 2000, we heated with those trees for years.

Getting ready to add some more wood!

Once our fire is going in our big heating wood stove, you are warm and cozy. In fact, whoever sits in the chair in front of the stove, is almost guaranteed to fall asleep! The fire does that to you for some reason. I make it a point to never sit there. I am not one to take a nap during the daytime. The sun is now shining on our homestead and bringing in power to our solar panels. Just a busy morning here.........on our forest homestead.