[shagen]

We are totally new to heating especially wood burners so have a few questions...

If you have a wood burner going, what do you do with the ash?

Do you put if off at night before you go to sleep or let it go off by itself?

Thanks for any answers.

[foolsgold99]

we let it cool down over night, and put it in the bin in teh morning

[AliJax]

We've made a decision to clean ours out once a week - just put the ashes into the normal bin (of course once they've cooled down though)

[miep]

In a previous house where we had a woodburner we were told it works better when you leave the ash in. Just make sure you don't let it build up too much (see how you go, once a week, maybe fortnightly should be more than enough) and only take it out the next day and put it in a fireproof container for a day or so before you use it as mulch in the garden. Provided you use untreated wood ofcourse!
I started with cleaning it out every day but the fire really is more efficient with a bit of ash in there.

You will probably have a damper on the fire, a lever to control airflow, if you want the fire to die down slowly and have some heat during the night, put the damper on low airflow and with a bit of luck it will still be going in the morning so you can just put in more wood and it will go again.

Have fun experimenting!

:cheers Miep

[jonSE]

Seems to work best with about 1" (25mm) of ash in the bottom - primarily when starting the fire because it provides some insulation. When the fire is going well this becomes irrelevant. Clean out about once a week - maybe when the ash gets about 2" deep, but keep the partially burnt charcoal like bits of wood these will light quickly when relighting.

If you want the fire to keep going over night you will need to give it enough fuel (wood) to do so, but you need to reduce the airflow so as not to having a roaring furnace for an hour followed by a cold fire in the morning. This is the most difficult thing to judge because depending upon the type of cowl on the chimney and the wind strength and probably the direction of the wind the amount of suction up the chimney will vary considerably. Lots of wind in the "correct" direction with a good cowl and you'll have a furnace a blacksmith would be proud of, - needing the vents to be closed almost completely off for the fire to last all night. No wind wrong directon and a not efficient cowl and the vents will have to be open a lot wider for the fire to remain alight.

Tip remembered from Moorf's chimney sweep - use a damp cloth dipped in the ash from the fire to clean the glass door - gets the black sooty stuff off a treat. Better than anything else I have tried.

Jon
pyromaniac

[shagen]

Thanks everyone!

Very useful and now needs lots of experimenting with...

[Miffy]

Tip remembered from Moorf's chimney sweep - use a damp cloth dipped in the ash from the fire to clean the glass door - gets the black sooty stuff off a treat. Better than anything else I have tried.



oooh thats useful to know!
Thanks will try that :smile

[Moorf]

We've finally cracked it with our woodburner and haven't had to "light" a fire for 3 days in a row as we've managed to keep it damped down with glowing logs - enough so that we can chuck a couple of offcuts on and it bursts back into action.

This only been possible to do since our new wood arrived - previously we had macrocarpa (which was a good burner) - we now have blue gum and it's marvellous :nice1 as it burns alot slower.

[veronica]

the denser and heavier the wood the longer it will burn for. can just see you hefting the logs to work out which ones are going to last all night. :nice1

[Moorf]

:laugh :laugh The building and maintaining of a fire is a new ritual and competition for us - we take turns in building them to see who can do it the fastest / hottest etc :laugh and it's a case of "if you built it, you maintain it" ( ALL night ) :laugh :laugh

It's also a good way to chill out after work :P

[Diny]

Have managed to get to grips with our wood burner fairly easily. We had one back at home so we have 'kind of' an idea what to do.

Ours burns down to a few embers during the night but it soon sparks up again once abit of kindling is applied, then on go the logs (delivered the other day by Barry the banjo layer) and we have lift off.

Now that we've moved the into the family room and decided not to use over half of this HUGE house, the wood burner is keeping us nice and warm.

Good luck.

Diny

[Bubbles]

Barry the banjo layer)

:eek Now that sounds painful :eek

I hope he didn't demonstrate Diny :laugh :laugh

[Soon2baKiwi]

This is probably a silly question but ... does the chimney still need to be cleaned the same as a chimney from an open fire at home does? i.e. every year?

[shagen]

I asked about starting a fire but forgot about the chimney! Can you clean it yourself or do you need to get someone to do the job?

[veronica]

chimney will need cleaning every year the fumes are the same whether its an open or closed fire. Shagen, are you in rented accom. might be worth asking the landlord when it was last done.

[Bubbles]

Can you clean it yourself or do you need to get someone to do the job?

Shagen, thats what the kids are for. :laugh :laugh

[shagen]

Thanks Veronica. The wood burner is in the new home we are moving into soon. Our present home has an inefficient gas burner.

Our gas bill was more than our electricity bill lasy month. Someone told us that was becasue the gas heater was ancient and did not have a thermostat.

[shagen]

Shagen, thats what the kids are for. :laugh :laugh

Then I will need to hire somebody to clean the kids, house, the chimney again and me! :laugh :laugh

[selchie]

If you keep the fire hot (about 500-600F), you shouldn't get too much soot buildup in the chimney. Dry wood is important for a hot fire. If you can get eucalyptus, go for it! Just don't get it so hot (~700F) that the firebrick starts to glow. I recommend getting the chimney cleaned AND inspected first thing, then have it recleaned in a year. Ask the sweep about how bad the buildup is, and decide how often from that. We've gone to every other year, and the sweep says there's hardly any soot. Yes you can do it yourself, but it can be messy, and the sweep should know how to spot signs of trouble. Hopefully he can also give you a lesson in operating the stove. That's how we learned not to burn the house down.

Oh, and if it's cold outside, you may need to burn a wad of newspaper to warm up the air in the chimney before starting the wood fire. It will get the air rising, and keep your fire from dying or smoke from flowing into the house.

Someone mentioned throwing ash in the garden. It is a great source of potash, but is also strongly alkaline. Not good if the soil already is alkaline, but good for acid soils. Because of high rainfall, I'm guessing that soil in much of NZ is acidic. Ask a local agricultural person for soil pH info.

[Moorf]

Someone mentioned throwing ash in the garden.

Just make sure that there are NO embers - after 2 days in the metal "ashes bucket" by the fire it was time to empty them - so Woz threw them under a tree in the garden.

Ten mins later, Veronica and I notice smoke rising.... yup, embers! And nearly a tree less in the garden :laugh

[CricketLover]

This is an older thread, but we had our first "cool" night 2 nights ago. Now there is lots of talk about getting wood!!

Can anyone tell me what I should expect to pay for differnt types of wood?
What is a good price and what is the best wood in your opinion.

Thanks,
Rosemary

[Biddy]

This is an older thread, but we had our first "cool" night 2 nights ago. Now there is lots of talk about getting wood!!

Can anyone tell me what I should expect to pay for differnt types of wood?
What is a good price and what is the best wood in your opinion.

Thanks,
Rosemary
And on that subject - anyone have experience of using 'free wood' - ie the piles of stuff you see in fields all over the place - with the landowners permission of course!

[Moorf]

CricketLover

Here is a site that lists the woods and their prices, it's for Chch area but I am sure they would be similar.

http://www.cityfirewood.co.nz/prices.html

We used macrocarpa and it was very good, slowish burning and mid-range price. At the end of last winter we had blue gum and it is great, burns almost like coal, but it tends to be one of the dearer woods.

Remember, when you order your wood, to order a good few metres of pine offcuts too to use as kindling :nice1

Oh, and here when you order your delivery you can ask for a stacker (or two). They will unload and neatly stack the wood where you choose. Otherwise, you'll end up with a load of wood dumped on your drive / entrance and a sore back the next day.

Here in Chch stackers cost $20 / hr, and to unload approx 6m3 took him 2 hours. Bargain.

We ordered twice during the winter and ended up using a total of around 8m3 wood. That was heating a very large lounge / diner area and sole heating in house so was often kept going for days at a time.

Hope that helps.

Moorf

[Moorf]

Biddy - if there's a sign that says free wood then I'd go for it, but remember if it's freshly cut down you'll need to leave it a year before you burn it.

Otherwise, be careful as many landowners cut down and chop up trees in situ and leave piles all over their land whilst it dries out over the year, before collecting it all up. Likewise DOC has a huge program of chipping and firewood.

[MB]

Bringing this thread back to the top.

We have a 1988-ish Masport wood stove in our 90msq cottage (brick, house built 1958, insulated attic, and thermal-lined curtains in bedrooms). Stove has a somewhat 'burned-out' look towards the back. Flat glass front.
When we bought the house we also inherited two lots of wood: paperback-sized chunks of (pine??) kindling in garage, and 30% larger chunks in outdoor woodshed (some of these a bit damp, of course).

Do most of folks' comments (above) on efficient use apply to us, or do they apply to more or less pristine stoves? As I say, ours is probably due for relpacement soon-ish. Maybe it will (have to!) stay in place for another one or two north-Waikato winters.

Thanks.

[captnron]

Wood burners have come a long way in the last few years. If your stove back is in bad shape don’t risk it: If its metal you mean, get another, if the firebrick is damaged, simply re-do the brick.

New ones: Wood burners: Only get an airtight unit, the door may be glass but the metal brackets seal allowing you fully control the burn, and to inject air where it will burn best and keep the glass clean(er). A bunkered fire, with air fully restricted will easily burn most of the night at a low heat.

If you regularly ie evenings, have a full on fire for a short time, it does a good job of keeping the flue clean of soot, however softwoods can generate sap and creosote, try to stay with dry hardwoods.

SOFTWOOD: in forestry areas like Taupo, the forestry people often set aside areas where they drop logs that you can cut up for free. Call them, you will need a chainsaw and safety gear and a truck or trailer. Mills and other wood users also often offer off-cuts for a low cost. :roll