Just fired up my wood burning insert for the first time!!! :)

[Sundog]

Got our first full month gas bill in our house we just bought...//DOH!:Q

The house has a fireplace (built in '65) that has never been used. So we decided to supplement our heat with a very efficient wood burning insert (this one, Quadra-Fire 3100i).

We got the one with the best EPA rating available:
EPA Certified: 1.26 grams/hour
Efficiency: up to 78%
Weight: 383 lbs.

Got the SS flu liner installed and the liner inserted yesterday, picked up some red oak at the in-laws and fired it up for the first time about 40 minutes ago.

 

[Hoober]

Wow, looks nice. We have a gas fireplace, one of those Heat 'n Glos. It works pretty well. It hadn't been used either, until we moved in.

 

[Armitage]

Yea, last months gas bill has me firing up the wood stove a bit more as well.
Just wish I had some of that e. coast hardwood though.
Pine sucks, but at least I have alot of it.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: ergeorge
Just wish I had some of that e. coast hardwood though.
Pine sucks, but at least I have alot of it.

Luckily my in-laws have 16 acres loaded with red oak (burns very clean). And a lot of it is standing dead because of some storms that came through 3-4 years ago. I have free oak for at least 10 years. I just have to cut it and split it.

<edit> and also will be replanting some new oaks in the spring.

 

[MichaelD]

Hey, that's pretty cool. Congratulations. A buddy of mine has one of these and it has a speed-controlled fan that actually blows the hot air out into the room. It gets SO hot in front of that thing that you can't stand within 10 feet of it when it's at full blast. They work, that's for sure.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: ergeorge
Just wish I had some of that e. coast hardwood though.
Pine sucks, but at least I have alot of it.

Luckily my in-laws have 16 acres loaded with red oak (burns very clean). And a lot of it is standing dead because of some storms that came through 3-4 years ago. I have free oak for at least 10 years. I just have to cut it and split it.

Yea, my dad has about 50 acres, maybe 60% wooded. Lots of oak, maple, hickory, etc. But that's about 1700 miles away. I'm stuck with ponderosa & aspen. I can fill the firebox @ 9:00 p.m., and close the air down hard, and I'll be lucky to have hot coals by morning. You stack it full of hardwood and you'll still be good 12-15 hours later.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: ergeorge
I'm stuck with ponderosa & aspen.

Now that is funny to me. My father in-law is a woodworker (for 27 years). Has his own 2500 sqft shop out his back door. The only wood he uses (to build with, not to burn) is Ponderosa Pine.

He actaully has a hard time getting ahold of it anymore. He has to order it directly from the mill for his annual order, and wait for them to even get any in. Then when it does he gets about 15-20,000 board feet.

Ponderosa at the local yards is almost a 4-letter word.

 

[Tates]

Get the marshmellows out

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: ergeorge
I'm stuck with ponderosa & aspen.

Now that is funny to me. My father in-law is a woodworker (for 27 years). Has his own 2500 sqft shop out his back door. The only wood he uses (to build with, not to burn) is Ponderosa Pine.

He actaully has a hard time getting ahold of it anymore. He has to order it directly from the mill for his annual order, and wait for them to even get any in. Then when it does he gets about 15-20,000 board feet.

Ponderosa at the local yards is almost a 4-letter word.

With all that great hardwood why does he want ponderosa!?!
I'm a woodworker also (not proffesional), and I'd kill to get decent domestic hardwoods at a reasonable price. Here, it's about 2 to 3x higher then new england prices. I don't haul firewood back from the east coast, but I have brought back lumber!

Actually, I have some big ponderosa logs that I had to take down to build my addition, but I can't find any local mini-mills to cut it for me. Was thinking of getting some plank flooring out of it.

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: ergeorge
With all that great hardwood why does he want ponderosa!?!

He makes wooden toys for children. Ponderosa is the wood of choice due to the amount of cutting, sanding and routing he has to do on each toy. Not to mention weight considerations (hard wood is heavy).

Hard wood also tears through his sanding belts and is very hard on all his equipment.

Also since he uses ponderosa, he doesn't need to wear breathing protection while sanding like he would with hardwoods.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Sundog

Originally posted by: ergeorge
With all that great hardwood why does he want ponderosa!?!

He makes wooden toys for children. Ponderosa is the wood of choice due to the amount of cutting, sanding and routing he has to do on each toy. Not to mention weight considerations (hard wood is heavy).

Hard wood also tears through his sanding belts and is very hard on all his equipment.

Also since he uses ponderosa, he doesn't need to wear breathing protection while sanding like he would with hardwoods.

Ok that makes sense. I do more furniture & cabinetry.
20,000 bd ft of toys ... WoW.

 

[ElFenix]

i guess thats not the nice crackling fire they sing about, eh?

 

[Sundog]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i guess thats not the nice crackling fire they sing about, eh?

That would be nice, and I had the fireplace to do that before I put the insert in. But that type of fire is not efficient at all. It burns dirty and you lose the vast majority of the heat up the chimney. It looks nice though.