Newsgroups: misc.rural
From: enenkel@cs.toronto.edu (Robert Frederick Enenkel)
Subject: Re: Problems heating with wood
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Distribution: na
Date: 10 Nov 92 00:53:52 GMT

bernie%bpc.uucp@bbn.com writes:

>Recall that what I have are fireplace inserts.  The downstairs one has
>a thermostatically controlled fan that circulates air through the
>plenum.   [...]
>
>I've instantly observed two things about heating with wood:
>  1) it is a dirty business.  It messes up the house, and keeps me pretty
>  messy, too.  [the mess is not from the heat, but from the effects of
>  carry loads of wood about, messing with the ashes, futzing with the
>  logs on teh fire, etc].

It messes up my house too, but that's okay because my house is pretty
messy anyway.  I hope you don't have any carpets or silly things like that.
Just sweep the mess into the fireplace.  Ooops, you can't, you have inserts.
Oh well...

>  2) it requires a fair amount of attention: if I ignore it for two
>  hours the thermostat will turn off [pending my nudging the logs and
>  generally stirring things up some]; if I ignore it for six hours, the
>  fire will virtually go out.  It is not a real big hassle, but for
>  example the other night I watched the Celtics game and totally forgot
>  about and ignored the fireplace [the TV is in a room at the other end
>  of the house, and that room has baseboard electric].  When the game
>  was over, I came out to a VERY cold living room/diningroom/kitchen
>  area.  Clearly I needed to pop out at half time [at least] to keep
>  the thing going and happy.

Make up your mind, man!  Do you want a TV or a fireplace?  :-)
Presumably, with your insert, you can't see the flames, or what
possible use would you have for a TV?
  
>Within that context, I have a bunch of questions about this whole process:
>
>1) I'm having a lot of trouble keeping the fire going and happy [as I
>mentioned above].  One of the problems is that I don't quite know how to
>manage the firebox.  It is really depressingly small: only about 16" wide,
>by about a foot deep by a foot hight.  

I can't help feeling this is the crux of the problem.  I remember a greenhouse
that used to have a wood-fired boiler.  They tossed in a good-sized log
and that would last all night.  Well, tossed is hardly the word, as the
thing was unsplit, about 20 inches diameter and as long, and must have
weighed about 100 lbs.  But even in my open fireplace, I burn unsplit
hardwood rounds 1 ft. diameter by 2 ft. long, and one or two of those
lasts quite a while.  (I don't heat exclusively with wood, though).

>In general, how do you split the things, and specifically, how do you
>hold up a log so you CAN split it.  I don't even know, quite, which end
>of the maul to use for what [I've been using the flat side to whack the
>wedge...  I have no clue what to do with the blade side].  It seems to
>me that a lot of my fire problems would be a LOT lessened if I could
>just split down the wood I got so that instead of have 6"-8" round logs
>I had nice quartered wedges, and so getting proficient at splitting
>looks like a useful/necessary skill.  

If they don't split right down with one or two whacks from the maul,
get the maul stuck in the end of the log and hold the handle over your
shoulder with the log and maul head hanging down.  Then heave the whole
thing high up in the air and bring the maul down, back end first and the
log on top, accelerating all the way, to whack down on to a nice hardwood
chopping block.  That'll usually do it.  Just watch the log doesn't come
loose from the maul and land on your head!

>3) Where do you get 'kindling' from?   There are lots of places where
>I can get a truckload of wood [in fact, I did just that], but I don't
>see anyplace that has kindling.  

That's one of the reasons you split wood, isn't it?  (You mean I've 
been doing it wrong all along? :-)

>I'm starting to run out and I don't know exactly what to do about it.
>[on the other hand, the 2x4s burned *great*: so one alternative is just
>to go and buy a 16' 2x4 and chop it up...:-)]

I had some 2x4's that just wouldn't burn.  I bet they must have been
treated with some sort of fire-retardant chemical:  a fine attribute
for construction material but not for firewood!

Happy heating,
  Robert Enenkel
Newsgroups: misc.rural