I had my first fire of the year this morning in the woodstove.

[panader0]

I try to wait until Halloween, but this morning it's 29 degrees and will be colder before dawn.
Once you have the first fire you are addicted and won't be warm without one. Luckily, I cut
quite a good stash of wood this year--I'm sure it'll be gone by May....
Cheers all, stay warm, and stay safe. The pendulum is swinging back our way, in spite of
Amy Covid Barrett.

[TEB]

1. We have

Had our wood stove on maybe three times stay warm.

[procon]

2. Had to switch to a pellet stove last year

due to age and health problems that made it too hard for us to carry in firewood. Prior to that, I used the same Blaze King since 1971, moving it 3 times.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my pellet stove. It's easier to carry a bucket of pellets than an armload of firewood. I still get the lovely radiant heat that warms up old bones and heats the body from the inside out. The one I bought has a glass door to watch the flames, a nice touch over the Blaze King.

[panader0]

4. I hear you. This morning I used a small stool to sit on when I built the fire.

I used to just kneel in front of the stove but the knees are getting old. I turned 70 and got
a smaller chain saw that's lighter. Ah, the joys and challenges of age.

[procon]

5. I remember the days spent cutting, hauling, spitting

and stacking firewood for the season. Now I think that backbreaking work probably contributed to all our various joint problems.

Take care.

[mopinko]

3. i have a big house. down-converted 2 flat

w a finished bsmt. there is a fireplace down there w a fan.
in a pinch, i can heat the whole house w it. w an enclosed back porch, the stairway on either end make for a perfect plenum.

i used to need a fire when it got below zero, but i got a new high efficiency boiler last year. so, now it's just for entertainment. or to burn paper and cardboard.

[better]

6. I've fired mine up a couple of times so far this year.

It's in my outbuilding, heating the part that's my temporary woodshop, until I can finish insulating and wiring the back section where the woodshop will eventually live. The woodstove is kind of a mixed blessing. Heats the place well enough for it to not be painful to stay out there and work in the winter, but I can tend to get hypnotized and just sit there watching the fire for hours, instead of working!

That said, it has kept it warm enough for me to at least some progress...

[panader0]

8. Please tell me about this guitar. Is it your work? Very nice.

I don't make 'em but I have 12.

[better]

9. Well, it's a 7-string bass, yes it is my work, and thanks!

Though honestly I'd be a whole lot happier with it if it worked. I just spent the whole afternoon hunched over soldering all the connections, and something's wrong. Stepped away for a while, because I was about ready to throw the damn thing IN my wood stove!

[Ptah]

7. I had a wood stove a while back.

It was made out of maple and was only good for one fire.

[Phentex]

10. Nice!...

we have rain coming in so it's hot and muggy.

I'm jealous of your weather!!

[icwlmuscyia]

11. Many years ago, we used to have a corn stove

Pretty much like a pellet stove only burns corn.
Corn would give off much more heat than a pellet stove. We could easily heat the house with it even in the super cold.

Unfortunately corn has a lot of corrosive residues. Between that and the price getting up to $9 a bushel, corn became too expensive and unwieldy.

[Kali]

12. I refuse!

I was in the pool Saturday!

[yankeepants]

13. We fired up ours earlier this week.

I agree, once it starts you just keep it going until April. We have 14 cord of wood put up for the duration of a Northern New York winter. All best to you.