So, as I mentioned in the last post, we had three tons of wood pellets delivered yesterday. While the delivery isn’t all that exciting by itself, the fact that my mind has now turned to adding a pellet stove insert to the fireplace is. I have told you that I am feeling all sorts of […]
Firewood & Heating
If there's one thing I know, it's firewood. I was pretty much handed a piece of split firewood the moment I was born. I've been dealing with home heating and fireplaces since I was a young child and as I got older, I learned the ins and outs of pellet stoves and wood burning stoves. I'm an avid woodsman who enjoys cutting and harvesting my own firewood. Living in Western Maine, that's almost a must. I've owned and operated my very own tree care service, am an experienced tree climber, have used and dealt with a good amount of arborist related heavy machinery as well as personal equipment, and have owned multiple brands of chainsaw, most markedly, Husqvarna and Stihl. In this category, I write about my many adventures and experiences cutting and collecting firewood to burn in my two wood stoves, as well as how to install and maintain both wood and pellet stoves. I'll also discuss home heating in general as it pertains to different types of fuel sources.
Wood Burning Stove Update
I have some disappointing news for you. There will be no wood burning stove. Not now and probably not ever. Oh well. I called the fireplace guy yesterday and told him that I wanted to go ahead with the install. We were at the point of having my debit card in hand for the deposit, […]
DutchWest Cast Iron Non-Catalytic Wood Stove
As promised (almost), I drove down to the wood stove store today to check out the scene. I was having a little trouble with the price of the wood stove insert that I wanted and needed to see if there was anything less expensive. I also wanted to see what the free standing wood stoves […]
Hampton HI300 Wood Insert
This is terrible, just terrible. I think I have found myself walking down a very bad path. Okay, so I already told you that I am taking some trees down in the woods next to the house. This is a good thing and it’s really starting to look nice over there. I actually took two […]
Cleaning Up The Woods
Man, I have been a busy boy these past few weeks. It’s been raining a lot and I seem to get myself into a bunch of work when I sit at the computer. Writing blog posts hasn’t been part of the work, if you haven’t noticed. Believe me, there’s guilt about the blog thing. I […]
Is Installing A Pellet Stove Worth It?
I received a message this morning from the heating fuel oil company we use. The person who left the message was inquiring about the low quantity of oil that we used throughout the year and wanted to update their system with whether or not we were burning wood or some other source of alternative energy. […]
How Many Tons Of Wood Pellets Do I Need For Winter?
That’s a pretty good question. I thought four tons was more than enough. I think that’s 200 bags. Here’s the kicker…it’s February 22 and we only have 30 bags left. In the last house, I bought two tons per season and we had about a half of a ton left over towards the end of […]
How To Clean Out A St. Croix Prescott EXL Pellet Stove
I hope you forgive me for typing this post with dirty hands. I just got finished cleaning out the St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove. Actually, I gave it more than a regular cleaning, I gave it more like one of those seasonal cleanings that everyone says you should do, but no one does. I […]
Pellet Stove Vacuum Switch Error – St. Croix Prescott EXL
As I mentioned earlier in the season, we had a St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove installed in the basement. Before the Winter season really began, I had my doubts on whether or not the pellet stove would heat the entire house. I was worried that it’s location would hinder the airflow to all the […]
My Firewood Pile
This is one of the firewood piles I made so far. There are three others about this size. I am not sure how much wood that is, but it’s a pretty good amount. I did a little wood splitting this afternoon. It was so nice outside. The temperature was cool, so I didn’t sweat like […]
The Pellets Have Arrived
The pellets were delivered yesterday, all four tons of them. That’s 8,000 pounds. What did I do with all 8,000 pounds of pellets? I moved all 8,000 pounds of pellets downstairs, alone. I did that all by myself in about an hour and a half. I don’t mean to brag about my feats of strength, […]
Are Fireplaces Obsolete?
First of all, let me just tell you how much I hate the word “obsolete.” I hate it almost as much as I hate the words “green” and “organic.” Gee, how much can we overuse these words? I didn’t use one of my lights today, therefore I am running a “green” company. Hmmm. Basically, everything […]
A Business Idea – Start Selling Wood Pellets
I keep trying to tell anyone who will listen that they should get into the wood pellet selling business. I mean it. If you want to get into a “carbon-neutral” business, start selling wood pellets. The demand for wood pellets has been rising like absolute craziness. There are no licenses and no classes to take. […]
The First Fire Of The Season In The Fireplace
It was a bit chilly last night at around 50 degrees. It wasn’t chilly enough to make a fire, but I did anyway. I wanted to see how everything worked. I mean, I know how everything works, I just wanted to see it in action. I made a fire with some fairly green wood I […]
The Pellet Stove Was Inspected
The town inspector came by today to inspect the freshly installed pellet stove. It passed, but with a little story. When the inspector was reading through the manufacturer’s installation manual, he couldn’t find the part that said exhaust vent clearances only need to be 9″ from windows and doors if a fresh air vent is […]
Installing a St. Croix Prescott EXL Pellet Stove
Well, the guys came over yesterday to install the new St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove. As you might recall, our previous pellet stove was a Harman P38. I was a little nervous about switching brands because I had gotten used to Harman. Also, Harman has very good reviews. The reason I couldn’t get a […]
Pellet Stove Update
Last Saturday, the pellet stove installer came out for a site visit. He checked out the location of the installation and took a few pictures for the file. It’s good to have a site visit, just to make sure everything will be OK for the installation. He gave me some papers to bring down to […]
Cleaning Out The Chimney
When we first moved in, there was a slight chill in the air. I guess it was early May or something, when it still gets chilly at night. I am not too good with the cold, so I got a fire going in the fireplace. As the fire was burning in the fireplace, I thought […]
How Long Does It Take For Firewood To Dry?
From what I have been reading, it takes about a “season” for firewood to dry (or season) enough to burn. That’s about nine months. There are a bunch of factors, including temperature, if the wood is covered or not, stacked in sunlight or not, air flow, wood type and a bunch of other things. It […]
The Search For The Pellet Stove Begins
I know it’s only July, but believe it or not, that’s about two months too late when someone is trying to get a pellet stove installed. I stopped by the local pellet stove store the other day to pick out my new Harman P68 Pellet Stove. This is top of the line and has everything […]
What Happens To a Pellet Stove When the Power Goes Out?
Well, we found out last night. Back when I was trying to make my decision between purchasing either a pellet stove or a wood burning stove, I heard that a major benefit of the wood stove is that it will keep burning if the power goes out. Ok, that was a factor, but not a […]
The Remaining Wood Pellets Have Arrived
I am a little hot. I just finished bringing the remaining two tons of wood pellets downstairs to the basement. There were one hundred forty pound bags. I don’t even know how many trips I made with the wheelbarrow. I brought down six bags per trip. I am sure if I did a little math, […]
Harman Pellet Stove P38 Auger Not Turning
Last night, I started a little fire in Harman P38 pellet stove. I usually fill the little area with pellets, squirt some gel on them, light it and start to eat dinner. It usually takes a few minutes for the gel to get the pellets to start burning. Well, Laura and I got into a […]
The First Fire of the Season
I will keep this short… Last night, the tempurature dropped into the 30s, so I thought it was a great time to get the new Harman P38 Pellet Stove kicked into high gear. I think I will get the knack of getting the fire started soon enough. I filled up the pellet tray and squirted […]
Installing Our New Harman P38 Pellet Stove
Last year, in the middle of winter and after the second delivery of heating oil, I made a vow to myself. I said that I would get either a wood burning stove or a pellet stove. I said that I would get it over the summer as to avoid the rush. Well, August rolled around […]