Any wood burners on here?

[Angus]

After a long drawn out saga, I`m finally getting my Vermont Castings Montpelier wood burning insert installed next week:
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b637/Double0Angus/MontpelierWoodInsertMeadClassicBlack-600x600_zps20b27e61.png (http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/Double0Angus/media/MontpelierWoodInsertMeadClassicBlack-600x600_zps20b27e61.png.html)

I`m really looking forward to using the VC Montpelier and have been learning a ton about it on Hearth.com. Anyone else using an insert or stove to heat their home?*


*except for Ron who I know is enjoying a beautiful warm day in sunny Florida ;)

[Ronkh]

After a long drawn out saga, I`m finally getting my Vermont Castings Montpelier wood burning insert installed next week:
http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b637/Double0Angus/MontpelierWoodInsertMeadClassicBlack-600x600_zps20b27e61.png (http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/Double0Angus/media/MontpelierWoodInsertMeadClassicBlack-600x600_zps20b27e61.png.html)

I`m really looking forward to using the VC Montpelier and have been learning a ton about it on the Hearth.com forum. Anyone else using an insert or stove to heat their home?*


*except for Ron who I know is enjoying a beautiful warm day in sunny Florida ;)


Beautiful !!!!

Actually kinda cool here today/tomorrow.

I do miss my Vermont casting bbq grill

[Angus]

Beautiful !!!!

Actually kinda cool here today/tomorrow.

I do miss my Vermont casting bbq grill

Thank you, sir! I`ve been wanting an insert for a long time. Vermont Castings makes nice stuff but have gone through a lot of changes in management. They seem to be on a good path with better management now however.

Your VC bbq grill must have been awesome! Any pics?

[mnehls86]

I burn wood in this.............all year round :P


http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp341/mdnwrathchild/IMG_20120707_095241.jpg

[fdresq4]

We have a Harman P61 Wood pellet stove...Love it! Direct vent and easy to load. We also have a generator so that secures a power source if we loose power.

Steve

[JohnZ3MC]

I burn quite a bit of wood over the cold seasons too. A huge, ugly as the dickens Johnson Energy Converter wood stove in the basement takes care of the majority of the heating. An additional fireplace insert can heat up the upper levels quickly.

The newest addition is a nifty heavy duty wire basket that allows me to burn wood pellets in the wood burning fireplace insert.

[Angus]

We have a Harman P61 Wood pellet stove...Love it! Direct vent and easy to load. We also have a generator so that secures a power source if we loose power.

Steve

Nice! I looked at pellet stoves as well but decided on a wood burner. I love the idea of hooking the insert`s blower fan up to a generator for when the power goes out. Last winter we lost it for a week after a particularity bad ice storm. Our fireplace did squat at keeping the house warm!

[fdresq4]

Nice! I looked at pellet stoves as well but decided on a wood burner. I love the idea of hooking the insert`s blower fan up to a generator for when the power goes out. Last winter we lost it for a week after a particularity bad ice storm. Our fireplace did squat at keeping the house warm!

When we were in the market, we wrestled about which way to go. Where we live hard wood is abundant, especially after the freak October snowstorm of 2011 and a year later Sandy. The generator and bags of pellets, for us, seemed the way to go. It really has been a great addition to our home and has saved us $$$$$. Friends of ours in Alabama are thinking of getting an insert for their fireplace. Funny thing is that the nearest stove store is two hours away and no one sells pellets near them.

Ours looks similar, just some differences in aesthetics.
P61A Pellet Stove (http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/P61A-Pellet-Stove.aspx)



Steve

[RaysWay]

How I feel in this thread:

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/96/9642ed212bbced00885592b39880ec55218e922245e0637cf9 4db2e41857d558.jpg

[Angus]

I burn quite a bit of wood over the cold seasons too. A huge, ugly as the dickens Johnson Energy Converter wood stove in the basement takes care of the majority of the heating. An additional fireplace insert can heat up the upper levels quickly.

The newest addition is a nifty heavy duty wire basket that allows me to burn wood pellets in the wood burning fireplace insert.

One day I hope to finish our basement and plan on a free standing stove down there too. I bet the Johnson is a beast!

Tell me more about this wire basket for burning pellets. Is this something you DIY`d? Or a new product to the market?

[Trouble]

I burn tree. Sorry no pics

[Stokdgs]

Angus -
congratulations on a beautiful Insert !

I have had a few wood burners and a gas fired insert..

What I always got was one with a big, clear ceramic, plate in the door, because ceramic lets the heat come through and you get to see what is going on in there easily..

Is yours going to be a straight wood burning, no other means of combustion insert ?

If you are going to be burning just wood and starting the fire yourself, I have years of experience there too..

Nothing beats outright heat like the hardest wood you can find in your area..

Hard, dry, wood will burn longer and give you the most heat..

I used to heat our house with an Insert in the Fireplace and it was wonderful..

You need 2 kinds of wood - soft wood to get the fire started and the box hot to get you a good draft, and then hardwood to put on the fire started after a bit, to keep it going a long time..

You will learn alot about how much air to give the box to regulate the burn and of course the corresponding heat output..

If you have a fan behind the box, that will really help get all the heat out of the Insert and into your living area.. If its on a thermostat, even better, remote control - score !!!

I cut down I dont know how many trees but probably close to 50 over the years for firewood for me and for sale, and to quote many people who do this - "There is no Cheap Cord of Wood".. And this is so true...

If you are going to either cut or get wood delivered, I would really impress upon the people that you really want a full cord of dry, seasoned, wood - especially the hard wood...

I built myself a set of wooden racks to put the wood into, measured out how long and high they needed to be and stacked split wood into them tightly to accurately know how much wood fit into a cord..

The racks were 4 x 4 x 8 to give me 128 cubic feet of wood, stacked tightly, very little light showing through..

You can stack it haphazardly and get less wood, but that is not what you want, right ?? It takes time but if you like to do this, its very good exercise and your hands and arms will be very strong after a season or 2 of doing this..

You will learn to look at wood differently, and will now notice very much the ends of the split or otherwise logs and look for dryness and checking, splits, etc., in the ends which indicates the amount of dryness at the center..
The more checking, splits, the better...

I would recommend always first, any red cedar for starting your fire - its absolutely the best, cleanest, smells great - my favorite..

Next - the pines which come with a certain amount of pitch in the middle which is absolutely a very good firestarter all by itself.. its like solid, semi-sticky lighter fluid...starts instantly and burns hot... be careful...

Hardwoods - dry, split, seasoned for a year, Oak, Maple, Ash, Hickory, give out the most heat and last the longest.. Other woods are ok if thats all you can get, but those 4 really rock...

If you have access to Eucalyptus, its pretty hard and has a lot of oil in it and burns very hot.. But its a bear to split because of the incredibly twisted grain pattern - you need a log splitter for this..

Almond - also burns nicely, has a lot of oil in it and burns hot, nice straight grain pattern..

Fruit trees - apple, burns ok, not really a hardwood, but its fine.. Smells great..

If you do this a lot and start to like it, perhaps chainsaws and log splitters will become your friends, and I have had and used many chainsaws and own a log splitter today that is at Roger`s house... :)

I can talk much about chainsaws, cutting big trees, and splitting wood in a variety of ways, if you want..

Dan F

[Ronkh]

Your VC bbq grill must have been awesome! Any pics?

Have to go through my photobucket

That was in CT, so she got custody of it

[Angus]

That was in CT, so she got custody of it

Boo!

[Ronkh]

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b395/ronkh/IMAG0443.jpg


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b395/ronkh/IMAG0178-1.jpg


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b395/ronkh/IMAG0264.jpg


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b395/ronkh/Mobile%20Uploads/1272667361.jpg


missing a whole bunch
have to keep looking