From: smith@ctron.com (Lawrence C Smith)
Newsgroups: misc.rural
Subject: Re: Problems heating with wood
Date: 9 Nov 92 17:37:38 GMT
Reply-To: smith@ctron.com
Organization: Cabletron Systems, Inc.

In article <9211080128.AA0045i@bpc.UUCP>, bernie@bpc.uucp writes:
>Recall that what I have are fireplace inserts.  The downstairs one has
>a thermostatically controlled fan that circulates air through the
>plenum.  Mostly, when it is making 'hot' it all works fine and
>generates a reasonable amount of heat.  If I can get up the energy to
>get the upstairs fireplace going, too, [it has a simlar insert], that
>should actually make a fair amount of heat.
>
>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].
>  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.

At first I was wondering what the _heck_ you were talking about, since I've
never had problems like these and I consider myself a virtual beginner when
it comes to wood heating.  But then something clicked in my mind, and I
visualized a U-shaped grill thingy of hollow tubes, placed on its side in
the fireplace and stocked with wood for burning - if that is what you mean
by an "insert" then perhaps I have a clue.

At first I thought you were talking about a insert like Vermont Castings
sells, which had doors and a firebox and is made of sheet metal, but yours
still leaves the fireplace open.  The sad fact of the matter is: fireplaces
are a lousy way to heat a house.  I'd _love_ to have one, I _love_ an open
fire, and I'm a hopeless romantic (as is my wife), but the fact is quite
inescapable: fireplaces, even those with inserts like yours, do a lousy job.

That they are high-maintenance heaters is a ramification of the design.  You
have no control over the amount of air they suck in, so the wood burns at
full speed, and I've never seen a fireplace that could keep a load going for
more than a couple of hours.  As a primary source of heat - well - it's just
right out.

I haven't any advice for improving fireplaces, but I _can_ tell you that most
hardware stores carry firestarters - little, oil-impregnated squares of
cardboard-like stuff - that burn like nobody's business.  Toss a couple of
squares of those into your coals and put your fresh wood on those.  My wife
and I have also used "fatsticks" - sold by Brookstone and LL Bean, I think.
They burn very fiercely, and can get a fire going no matter what the wood.

The wood itself: it needs to be split, quartered, at least.  The name of the
game is "surface area".  The more, the better - more will also help in keeping
the fire going, and the splinters are saved for kindling.  Yes, logs are seldom
square - for that reason, you need an anvil - an old tree stump will do - that
is tilted a bit.  Sometimes an especially large hunk of tree truck will serve.
The tilt will let you find a balance point for every log, then just bring the
maul down as close to center as possible.  Really odd pieces are propped up
_against_ the anvil.  If you're rich, a log spitter would be a good investment.

For most logs, you use the maul just like an axe.  It's heavy enough to split
on the first stroke.  For larger pieces, you wham the maul in and remove it,
and replace it with the wedge, then whan that with the flat end to drive it in.

You might also try to keep more wood stacked in the hearth area if you have
the storage (not somewhere where the fire can spark it) near as possible to
the dry heat of the fire.  This will help dry it out and condition it for
burning.

The dirt is largely from transporting the wood.  Get yourself a canvas
carrier with handles.

To set up a fire for a long time you need to bank it.  Normally you have
a couple thin logs on the botton and a larger one on top kind of slaunchways,
to maximize air circulation.  You want to _minimize_ the air, so you rotate
the upper log to drop down between the lower ones and generally tuck up the
aches and cinders around the base.  Not as good as turning down the air intake
on a wood stove, but that's the principle.  Some inserts have actual levels
of wrought iron for good circulation, but you can't bank a fire with one of
those.  Woodstoves will still throw a lot of heat, even when banked, because
the iron (or soapstone) gives them a lot of thermal mass, but with fireplaces
the heat is _supposed_ to warm the chimney and hearth, so _they_ will radiate
in the night.  Problem is, your fan-forced gizmo is real good at taking the
heat out of the fire, so you never get to that point - or else the fireplace
is too small for the amount of space you have to heat with it.

The best real advice I can give you is to look for a good woodstove.  Lehman
carries a complete line, from around $300 on up.  They can be set up right
in your fireplace (Vermont Casting sells the Winterwarm, which is a woodstove
that goes right _into_ the fireplace, with big doors.  Woodstoves give you
excellent control of air flow and burning, and the new ones have catalytic
combustors for even more efficient burning.  My wife and I have an old, cheap
unit (not even really air tight) that will hold a fire for over eight hours.
Check out Yankee magazines for manufacturer ads.

My take on this is that for the amount of heating you are going to do, a
couple of small woodstoves put into your two fireplaces would pay for them-
selves in wood alone inside of a year or two at most.  Woodstoves also can
have thermostats, so heating is not only more efficient, but less fiddling
is needed.  Used stoves should be pretty cheap at auctions or yard sales.

Larry Smith (smith@ctron.com)  No, I don't speak for Cabletron.  Need you ask?
-
Liberty is not the freedom to do whatever we want,
it is the freedom to do whatever we are able.