A tip I read in an old survival book, said to keep the wood pieces about half an inch apart along the grain. that way, they get enough air, but can share the heat between each other.
Its amazing how when you discover wood burning you can talk about it for hours and hours and hours LOL. Im in my 4th year and keep learning. keep up the great work!
I would look at adding a chimney damper to keep that fire hotter and retain some heat from escaping up your stovepipe. Love what you guys are doing, keep it up. Very jealous of your freedom.
I am glad to see that your stove didn't kill you I started to worry after you stopped putting up videos. The issue is your wood isn't dry enough. Look at rocket mass heaters.
I have years of experience heating with wood. Your stove isn't drawing right if you can't put a halfway decent sized log in it. Most wood stoves will burn several hours without needing to be tended. Like others have said, it looks you have too many bends in your pipe. One thing you can fix mid-season is to knock together a small wood crib inside using some scrap 2x4s so you can store several days worth of wood at a time inside. You should be able to store 3-4 days worth of wood inside without too much trouble. That really helps with having to deal with wood in the rain, blizzards, etc. because you can often plan your wood replenishment around the weather. Use a wheelbarrow to carry your wood as close as possible to your inside crib. Only having 12 hours worth of wood inside the house is way too little. Leaving the loading door open too long is an excellent way to catch your roof or house on fire. Do that only to get the fire going to the point it won't go out, then stop. It should be the case that if you leave the loading door open for a while, the fire first gets well established but then fairly quickly starts to rage so hot that hot embers are shooting out of your chimney still on fire. If you don't believe me, do yourself a favor and go outside at night while your fire is really cranking and the door is open a few inches and take a good look at the end of your chimney. If what you see does not scare the crap out of you (live embers still glowing coming out of it), that pretty much guarantees that you have too many bends, dirty pipe etc.
I appreciate you are using materials you can make do with, and learning as you go. I also burn wood to heat my home, and have for many years. I have to agree with others, that if you solve your wet wood problem, you will have more success with your fire, and less trouble maintainng it. A wood shelter and seasoned wood can't be beat! I think you are doing the best you can with your current resources, and I am enjoying your journey. I hope you keep it up and look forward to seeing more!
the big problem is the single wall pipe it's fine inside but as soon as it get's outside the cold cools it down to much. You still need to put larger pieces in for over night but also the bulk of the heat is going up the chimney! Try if we get a warm spell putting a baffle in the stove where all the fire is going up. this baffle will make the heat go around each side before going up the chimney and allow more of the heat to stay in the stove. but the pipe outside still needs to be double wall for the pipe to stay hot enough for efficient draw! that's why burning small pieces hotter work for you!! amazing posts and enjoy watching your progress!! Thanks!!
ok first I would like to say I live off grid also and if you put a damper in your straight pipe it will give you more heat and make them 3 chunks of would last an hour instead of a half hour, if your burning slab wood which on the video that's the type of wood you have. buy it in the spring causes its cheaper and cut it up right away and put it in a wood shed, or something with a roof on it, slab wood is usually green when you buy it so buying it in the spring gives it all summer and fall to cure. putting a tarp on the wood helps keep the snow of the wood but the wood in the middle can stay wet. I love to watch your show, so please don't leave the stove door open unattended. and the best wood you have is all your dead fall on your own property even if its got a little rot to it. its the best price free.
Thanks for these vids I plan on doing the same thing getting land and setting up a small home as soon as I can your vids have helped on a few points like the camper and the 3/4 minus rock. Please keep them coming!
I didn't learn anything! BUT THAT'S GOOD! I really wish I saw this video when I first started burning wood. You covered all the of vitals here. Very good and descriptive video. Thank you for this!
Looking at your setup you may want to look at reducing the angles of your chimney The 90 degree bends will slow down the smoke and allow sut to settle in Try 45 Bends to keen the debris being pushed through with the smoke You may also get a better draw when running normally And allow more air flow
Hmm, I figured there would be a few comments after mine over the last few days. Ok, Ive thought about your issues with your stove, and here is some ideas to to look into. (1) look into secondary burn wood stoves. This would reduce your soot problem, as well as fuel consumption. It basically utilizes wood gasification. An easy modification to make to your stove. (2) Adding a chamber above stove would act as a radiant heat chamber. A 30-55 gal. barrel could easily be built to sit on top of stove. Stove vents into barrel, barrel vents into stove pipe. This would also act as soot collection chamber.
WOW I have never seen a wood stove that needs to be fed so often. Good reminder to invest in the best wood stove that needs feeding twice a day, not 4-6 times.
Homeless I definitely agree. I have a nice 2nd hand stove with a secondary burner. it's pretty efficient. But it took a long time to understand how to adjust the intake and exhaust for the type of wood I am burning. This year I put on a new gasket, and ceramic coated my stove pipe. What an amazing difference. It makes a much stronger draft and pulls air in where it's needed I stead of all around the door. but now we are making charts to see how to set it again.
Good vid, thanks. Im junking normal 16" rounds into thirds then splitting down i to small 'billets' for our cookstove. Like you say, burns clean and we can control temps with smaller fuel packets. Thumbs up.
Congrats on your new adventure. I wish you well so I am going to say that along with too many elbows in your stove pipe another issue looks like it might be that you are burning pine slabs from a sawmill. That's what it looks like in the video so please forgive me if it's not pine. Pine burns hot, it burns fast, and it creates lots of creosote in your stove pipe. Pine should be used only as kindling or added in small doses to hardwoods.All the elbows are slowing down the air flow and the pine is creating creosote that's going to add up very quickly to a glazed stove pipe which is a chimney fire waiting to happen. A glazed chimney or pipe is the worst kind of chimney build up. it gets as hard as a rock inside your chimney and then will burn with a vengeance.
Hey folks your very quiet hope all is well with ye looking forward to your next video post , ps enjoyed this one and understand your doing your best to help other beginners in starting setting up a stove and loading it . As you said ye have done so much in a few short months > I for one think ye both are doing great and work so well together ..............Harry
I know this is an old video but, your stove lacks a dedicated space to burn. Weld a plate to the roof, blocking your stove pipe exit so that the smoke has to travel to the ends/sides of the stove before it travels around the blocking plate and out the stove pipe. The flame will heat up the plate above it and give the smoke a longer path of travel before it exits the stove. Doing this will give the smoke a chance to more fully burn, Wich means more BTU, less wood used and bigger pieces allowed to burn successfully since you've created a burn chamber at the top. Also, I don't know if your stove is plumbed to the outside air or if it breathes from the inside of your cabin, but it needs to be outside air so your cabin doesn't lose so much heat. Again less wood burned, so you can damp it down and feed it less often.
Couple of good tips in the video. I have been burning wood all my life and it seems like your wood must still be a little wet if you are having problems burning what you are calling a big stick. May be an issue with your flue not being very straight which would reduce your draw also. I recommend bringing in a full row of wood and stacking it inside. If you have several weeks instead of 12 hours you may notice your wood dry much better and you will get that little stove roaring. Best of luck!
I can throw an 18 inch long x 12 inch diameter onto a bed of coals and have it burn for 8 hours at "half throttle". Full bore will eat the bed of coals. Eventually the chunk has an arch and resembles a burning bridge. lol.
I have a woodburner and found many of these suggestions for myself, meaning, these tips are accurate. The best tip is when starting the stove, get it really hot, then back off. That initial heat works wonders. What I'd like is more info on the wood, I have bought kiln dried seasoned hardwood from a local sawmill, it really didn't burn too well. I try and get softwood which burns faster and gets very hot quick (so vanishes quickly too). Also as suggested here, thick logs don't burn too well, maybe there is an optimum cross sectional area for a given stove volume. There is a lot to learn to get the best from a given stove, it ain't plug and play! But I much prefer the heat type, it is so much better than electric or gas.
In the first 20 seconds of your video of inside the firebox it's clear most of your flame is going right out the chimney. This is because your chimney design is creating a vacuum. I understand it's a cheap temporary heat source that needs to make a winter, but you major reason for heat loss is the chimney pipe- not the stove. At the top of the list-all the bends in the pipe are dangerous, the heat and flame can get trapped in the pipe which will cause it to crack, go on fire and burn your cabin down. Next is the pipe outside is single wall which is causing the heat to cool down rapidly as it exits the stove thus forcing the exhaust downward...that's a major problem as well. In order to maximize your burn (heat) and increase the longevity ( burn time) you need to vent the stove straight outside from the back ( eliminating the adjustable 30 degree twisty pipe you got there. for that you need something called a clean-out tee. Once that is anchored to the wall you need insulated pipe going up the side of the house, through the eave and continuing a couple feet higher than the roof, thus eliminating all the elbows in the pipe. I really like you guys and don't want to lose you. That slip together stove pipe has done more property damage and cost more lives that it should never be installed inside a living area- not even temporarily. But since your going to tempt fate anyway please get a few smoke detectors- at least 2 or 3 just to be on the safe side.
+Tim Saunders Watching the video, I've wondered if installing a baffle in the stove would help. It's obvious that flame is going right up the stove pipe (which should be double or triple wall). Would a baffle help put out more heat and cut down on the danger, do you think?
a damper would work. You would spend a lot of time adjusting it. The correct path is controlling the temp and draw in the chimney so the firebox does not have to work as hard. This creates longer burn times and allows them to fill the box less often. I have a little Yodel coal stove that size that get 12-14 hours out of 1 lb, coffee can of coal. Heats my 300 sq. ft shop just fine.
if you remove the 90 degree elbows and put two 45 degree elbows on it that will give you a more longer sweep elbow giving you a better draw that will give you a better burn. do this where you have tight 90s
Beat me to the punch...even insulating the stack with Rockwool and chicken wire then putting cladding over same would allow the transit of flue gasses to heat up quicker maintaining a warm reserve within the stack, and stop the rapid cooling effect kicking in, so less cool combustion gases crashing out internally as maybe partially burnt fuel / soot...[a 'cheapo' stove or pipe thermometer showing the optimum burn zone, or even a cheap lazer thermometer gun could come in handy...great looking stove...
Woodconsin, below has a good idea to use 2 45 degree elbows. Just twist the 90's into 45's also I split wood into triangles and squares, no rectangles. Do you have a damper? You need one. Start the fire open, then close partially to keep the heat in the stove. The stove gets hotter.
Relax people. He clearly is educated and not a simpleton. The way he is explaining things is more geared towards someone that may be considering becoming a homesteader. Thorough explanations that are simple and easy to understand goes a long ways to retaining the information given. I already knew most of the information in this video. That said, is refreshing to hear the same information from a new source and possibly pick up on something new.
Edumacated? lol, take a city folk into the woods & most will die. This guy is internet taught - aka 99% crap. He then tries to teach others the same bs. Mr Beyer, wise up & learn from the critics. The harshest 1s actually know what their talking about. what u already "know" is bs. Man, talk about the blind leading the blind or the fool affirming another fool.
son your on the right track and dont take these people as insults they just dont know a good way to explain this to you but ill try you seem like a good guy 1 different stove use that one at the shop put another burn box on top with glew coming out of bottom of it 2 different types wood different temperature heat and burn time 3 your working at that two hard which tells me you love it you'll get better and you won't use 1/3 the wood slab wood goes quick it will work your nuts off but is usefull 4 cut firewood to anout 1and half inches legth of stove fire on ends heat up still rather than going out flew 5 put in pipe damper 6 your right filling it ip full just waste firewood and mix drywood with green logs longer burn your on the right track if you need anything i can help with just holler back and keep enjoying life
Great tips. If at all possible de- bark your firewood. It holds the most moisture and subsequently insects that may be brought out of hibernation, when the wood comes to room temp. Thanks
I love the learning process... I'm not a expert but i have been burning wood at my cabin for 40 years. Started out with a barrel stove and after a few years I realized its only a controlled camp fire... Moved on to a air tight heater/ pedestal glass front energy efficient burner. This means you can get stove hotter and you won't loose the heat out your chimney. It will have a damper in the back of the stove to recirculate unburnt wood gas across a heat plate and you'll see flames dancing in midair.... as your stove will burn at a higher temp/ cleaner... This is not a magic stove I bought it at Menards/Homedepot .... If you go look at the design of the stoves you will see what I mean. Maybe you could add a chimney damper at the exit of your stove, don't get to high up your chimney because it is not designed to handle the heat/ it will glow red. Thats the heat you r loosing... I have also gone to a straight out the roof stove pipe. Out the wall stovepipes cool, condensate and build up creosote. Adding insulated pipe through the roof will help with condensation also... I'm enjoying your videos, keep warm.... ;)
yup yup same here and Im tellin ya its so efficient!! While every one else is loading up on wood every year I am still burning the two chords I bought two seasons ago on my third and will still have enough for 2 more seasons at least!!! An the glass is a great touch for the ambience as well.
we grew up with a wood stove, still have it in an old garage, I can load one or two big logs and it will burn all night. Sometimes I would put a small piece under a 12-14 inch across, log and it would burn with a good bed on coals, all night. Use a damper on the pipe and a screw in dampers on the door. use insulated pipe also.
ive been in a number of cabins that have a heat activated fan on the top of the wood stove. No power needed and they work pretty well to move the heat around. Should look into it, help even the heat out and move the air around, would help dry the wood box too. Cheers
Question, Now that you have sealed on end of your RV garage how are you venting the off gases from the trailer? I would hate to see you Cabin fill with carbon monoxide cause that would be very dangerous. Really enjoying your videos
Awesome! we have never used a woodstove but just ordered a HQ issue tent stove we were hoping to utilize in our very small house basement in case of emergency(price seemed so sensible). Not doing too well getting info on guiding flue out of basement window..seems it is for outside tents only and no elbow conversion available. If you have any ideas on this or can recommend a stove to use for emergency use in a 10x14 basement (mainly to keep few pipes from freezing and us in case of power outage-rural area). Your info was great though, even for making regular fires and you have explained what we have been doing wrong with our rocket stove..gee, wish we saw this first. Thanks a bunch for all that info and any extra you can add in. Love the video.
No, we are not. Did a lot of learning and you are right...seriously ridiculous idea. Not too many options...no wall for wood stove, pellet stoves need electricity during power outage, leaves us with kero heater. :(
If you put a damper inside your stove pipe it will keep the heat down in the stove instead of going up the pipe. Install damper about 18"-24". Can be purchased at any hardware store.
1. You might be doing this already, but I learned from another video to make sure the stove is drafting air from outside, rather than from inside the heated room. Otherwise your burn up your heated oxygen and create a low relative pressure in the house that causes cold air to seep in through any cracks around the windows/door. 2. Also, a trick my mom taught me: Humid air retains heat much better than dry air because there are simply more molecules flying around bumping into each other. So you can put a pot of water on the stove to simmer for no reason but to add humidity to the air. Make sure it's not a pot that will not burn once the water evaporates. 3. Also, you probably know this but, you should be able to limit the burn rate by closing the air intake, so that you can stoke it full of wood without it getting super hot and burning all up at once.
Cool video. some great tips there. My wife and I are about to jump into the self sufficient lifestyle ourselves. Will be great with 4 kids in tow. Keep the videos coming. subscribed. Maybe ill put our homestead build on the tube Aussie style lol
As +Michael Harris stated, the type of wood burned also matters in a clean burn. Softwoods with a lot of pitch such as spruce or pine can create a fair quantity of creosote that can soot up your stack. Hardwoods such as birch, oak, or hickory burn hotter and cleaner.
+john sherdahl well said mate !!!!! eather redgum or box gum are the best woods on the planet for firewood !!!!! burns hot , clean and also lasts !!!! put a big log in when you go to bed and shes still burning in the morning! !!! i suppose though im here in Australia and we are very spoilt to have this on our door step !!!! different states here have different laws on colecting but most of them its $25 for a permit and you can collect upto a tone with that !!!! some states its free but you not aloud to collect as much !!!!!
+john sherdahl as i said mate we here are very lucky it is Australian native wood so unless its inported or someone is farming it there you probably wont find it in the us.... box gum can be called yellow box here !!! and redgum is also know as river gum as this is there natural habitat !!!! they grow all around the Murray ,Darling river system !!!! my favorite part of this country of ours !!!! these 2 wood also take a long time to grow !!!!
+David Sharrow This is a very common misconception. In reality pine will burn just fine once dry without creosote build up. Once dry they burn very quickly which still makes them much less than ideal for holding a fire but they do not cause creosote build up. Wood that hasn't been properly seasoned will cause a build up no matter they type.
My family burns wood. We have a new stove that is very energy efficient because it has a secondary burn which is the particles of the wood in the air that is being caught on fire because of extremely hot air blown on it. Also, I wood recommend an indoor wood rack. You can store more wood and you can see everyrhing laid out in a nice neat row. We have 8 quords at the moment but here in new england its been pretty warm. Thirties and twenties with an occasional 40. Ideally like what you guys are doing. Good luck!
Where I come from, people just stack it nice and neat right next to the wood stove. Some folks leave the wood in the open with just basic framework to ensure the stack is stable, and others like to build a covered enclosure. At our place, we didn't have much space so instead we built a nice outdoor frame with a roof right outside where it was sheltered from the wind, one layer deep, stacked tall. We'd transfer from the main pile to that, when it ran low, rotating the remaining wood to the top, and always had nice dry wood ready to go and a neat tidy looking yard. We just brought an armload in with us whenever the chance arose, and that kept the little mini pile by the stove fed. As a helpful tip, we stored our birchbark on top of that wood stack. It didn't blow off since it was out of the wind and built parallel to any residual west breeze that did come through. Any snow, or rain that worked its way under the roof primarily landed on the birch bark, which will light wet. Of course, we always stacked the wood with the bark side up as well anyway, so it wasn't necessary. You don't need a very wide roof if you keep it out of the wind, so it will get plenty of sunshine. Behind your main woodpiles, if you keep them away from your buildings you have prime real estate for "planting" mushrooms as well. Mushrooms love that shady woody area that inevitably forms. I like to sort of slowly shift my piles around as I use them and take advantage of the mess they leave at the bottom for growing things.
hey guys new subscriber here! I enjoy the videos, they keep me inspired. I have been looking into homesteading for a while but not quite ready. these kinds of videos keep my goal in sight. also we face similar challenges with freezing temps so those videos are very helpful
Hi Guys, really like the channel. Is that pine you're burning? I wouldn't burn pine in a "indoor" fireplace or woodstove. Creates too much creosote... that might explain having to clean your stove pipe so often AND why your loading the box every half hour. Hardwoods, burn hardwood. Really worried about the design of the stove pipe. You might consider taking the same approach there as you did with the septic tank installation. Good luck and really enjoy the videos.
+TimeDrawsNigh You're right that hardwoods are better for burning. We aren't burning pine (pine / fir mixture) because we don't know any better, but because it's what we have. A large part of this journey is learning to live and sustain a home with the materials available to us rather than throwing money at every problem. We don't mind cleaning the stove pipe frequently or filling up our box more often (down to one box a day when we're burning). We don't mind keeping an eye on the stove. Our design isn't perfect but that's okay, that was never the plan. We understand the concerns folks have but in the end, our setup is working just fine and we're learning how we want our stove setup to be in our future home. All problems are easy to fix when throwing money at them but we are challenging ourselves not to do that and don't feel that our safety is at stake. If our $300 cabin burns down then so be it, but we doubt that will happen. Glad you're enjoying our videos!
Jesse - this was such a gracious reply. I have only now begun reading your comments after binge-watching most of your video content. I totally appreciate what you are trying to do. You come right out and SAY that you don't claim to be experts on various topics as you study, research, and then try various methods. Openly saying that you are trying to learn about this seems to be missed by some, but please don't let it get you down. I love you guys and your channel, blog and FB page. Keep up the good work. I doubt we'll ever go off grid, but I see ways to cut our expenses in our sub-urban life as I watch every vid you put out. I have another channel I watch (Keith Rucker - machine shop stuff) and he was very brave: he scheduled a work day and invited his viewers to come to a his home. It went well! Something to consider?
Build a good bed of coals, add a layer of dry wood and then a green log on top. I bed my stove this way and it burns for 8 hours without a problem. In the morning I have a nice bed of coals and just add dry wood...
bring your wood in during the day so it has time to dry out, you would also get longer warmer burns if you had a damper on your stove pipe and you need to put a fan on the pipe as well the heat will make it spin and it dose spread the heat
I am enjoying your videos. But I have some comments on this one. I have been around wood stoves for 60 years both as the only heat source and as a secondary heat source. I have spent spring, summer, and fall at an off grid camp for most of those years. I would like to give everyone some tips based on my experience. Plan on having your wood as dry (seasoned) as possible. Store it covered with ventilation on the sides. A classic wood shed is a building with slat walls and a roof. Rotate you wood and let it season for a year. This gives you good seasoned wood. Also if you get sick or hurt. You know you have heat for the winter. (Generally it is easier to find somebody to feed your fire if your wood is already.) The wood that you are cutting now should be burned two years from now. For minimum creosote build up burn dry wood. A small hot fire is better than a larger smoldering one. If you must burn wet wood burn it hot with a lot of air. I have never had much creosote buildup on any of my stoves. When I have replaced my stovepipes they have been quite clean in side.
with how "airy" your cabin is, you could build a sort of back splash of brick. This would help absorb some of the heat you are generating, and slowly release it throughout the day. A nice bank of thermal mass.
Tip1: To get the fire last longer during night, wrap the maximum size of wood, that normally burns good, with newspaper. Use every sheet separately, otherwise it would be too tight and the wood don't catch fire. Don't wrap to loose otherwise the paper is gone in a minute and don't change much. Tip2: Elongate the pipe, to get a larger heating surface and do only use bows with 45° ore lower. Harder elbows increase the friction to much. The smoke should be around 200C° after the state regulations (here) but you can go much lower, just about 100°C would work and safes you a lot of fuel. Tip3:get more wood inside to give it time to dry . Tip4:Use a basket (I use one of wire) if you don't want more wood near the oven ( a lot of creatures don't like it, so you have different kinds of Insects everywhere) in a closed box it don't dry as well. Tip5:Have enough wood to give it 2 years to dry. For that it is good to have the roof of your house extended to every side to store the wood there, what (the wood) also gives additional Isolation. Tip6:You can heat lumps of metal in or on your fire to heat with those corners of your home (more to dry then heat) Tip7:If you want a smaller fire that don not want to work in your oven, set stones(brick) in the combustion chamber to make it smaller and reduce the air income. You can find a lot of easy plans (about Oven, Window and...) here, in German but with that amount of pictures that, I thing, no language is required at all. www.packpapierverlag.de After hours!! on trying, now it allows to copy in a Link :-( www.packpapierverlag.de/?page_id=2 www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=558 EAN 978-3-924038-73-1 and others www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=551 www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=542 www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=590 www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=550
Your stove is not breathing. There are to many angles. I had one the did same thing. i changed pipe straight up. The exhaust must breath as easy as possible. no restriction Also i think i seen bricks stack up out side. take all the brick and stack them around the back and side of stove and under and up few feet. it called Radiant heat . works great.
Really enjoying your posts. When it is colder outside like the -18F it is right now it does not really matter much if the wood stove is to big for the space you are trying to heat. My two cents to this post would be to make sure the wood stove is properly sized for the space. It is better to have a smaller stove and burn it hot (clean) than having a big stove where you have to squeeze the air intake a lot to keep the place from getting to hot. Starving a fire from air and burning fuel like spruce can cause lots of buildup in the chimney. Stay warm!
This is a great video, excellent tips . When you finally get settled in . I would suggest looking into a rocket stove . Effenciecy maxima . Love your all your videos so far !!!
Careful burning pine/spruce bark, our friends house would have burnt to the ground if they were not home to see the chimney catch fire from all the creosote it creates in the pipe. Also had another friends house burn to the ground using that type of wood, it's worth avoiding just for peace of mind when you leave the building, specially a home.
We had a Fisher Grandpa Bear wood burner - heated our 2 story, 3 bedroom + basement for several winters - built a water block to bolt onto the back wall - ran water thru it and stored it in the water heater - didnt run the heater all winter. btw this was in Wisconsin
Have you considered thermal mass heater? It utilizes far less fuel and continues to radiate heat hours after the wood is gone. Numerous videos on the topic on youtube.
Thanks for the info! Have you tried one of those passive fans that sits on top of the stove to circulate the warm air? I'd be interested to know if they really work!
Evlevate the center of your fire box with firebricks so that the wood burns on a platform . Build the initial fire on the platform and when reduces to coals push them to both sides of the platform and add wood to the center which will ignite from the heat of the coals. Continue this process and you'll have hotter fires and a more satisfactory fire. I have one of those stoves. I didn't see that you are powering the fan and they aren't regulated with a thermostat so this is an improvement that's eaisilly rectified. Inverters are cheap and a battery bank and solar recharger must surely be on your list as well. Carry On!
Congrats on over 25k views... Yes you have a lot to learn... Yet the most hateful comments come from channels with NO videos of their own. Type of wood matters little. Just make sure it is DRY, Dry, Dry. Some burns hotter or longer or cleaner or slower or. Great luck and see you in the next vid.
+Mostly humble 1 Totally agree. We're doing the best we can. Critics are a dime a dozen, most watching from their heated massage recliner in their central air heated apartment with a TV diner in hand. Doesn't bother us much. We didn't get this far by letting other peoples opinions affect us much. Hah! Thankfully winter is letting up slightly so we've had the wood stove off for a couple weeks only running it to remove moisture in the cabin. That's been helpful. Ideally we'll have a whole different situation come this fall when we actually have time to do things properly. Thanks for the positive comments. Much appreciated.
I don't burn ponderosa pine . it is just to pitchey. in Oregon, you should be burning doug fir and tamarack. just using pond. pine clogs your pipes. lol I can blend it in if my supply is limited. I have about 5-6 cords at all times. I love wood heat even tho it's dirty. have fun..
You can hang your firewood to dry above the stove on some sort of steel net construction, just don't hang your wood too low or it could start to combusting at an unwanted time ;)
I'm enjoying your videos, and thanks for posting them. One thing about this video. Bringing wood into your home to dry out has some problems, and may not be as effective as people might think. Problem one is that if you are drying the exterior of your wood, that moisture is going into your home. That moisture has to go somewhere. Problem two is that you are just drying the surface of the wood. The interior of the wood is going to be largely unaffected by a twelve hour storage time. I'd also suggest being very careful with how you tarp ypour wood. Your stack needs to breathe, which a tarp stops. And tarps put directly on your wood will cause condensation to drip down into your pile, both of which will slow your drying rate significantly. If you are tarping your wood, do it when it rains or snows. And suspend your tarp above the pile somehow so it has room to breathe and have a big overlap as tarps will dump water off the edges unpredictably when they move. Having to burn wet wood is something I empathise with. We'r not long on our farm here, and in the first few years, wet wood is something you often have to deal with. Some species, such as ash, burn better than others when wet. You are still losing heat and creating soot, but they are easier to burn. You could also considering finding standing dead wood on your holding. If a tree has been standing dead for a few years, it'll be dreir. It'll be dangerous possibly to fell, as it may have rot making it's fall unpredictable. But it might give you wood that's a little bit drier. Best of luck this winter, and happy new year.
I came across your channel yesterday and breezed through all of your videos in one day. If I can make one suggestion, and I mean this as constructive not negative, I think that if you scripted what you were going to say just a bit more before your takes there would be much less repetition. It sounds like you are working off of bullet points, and they end up being repeated multiple times each video. As an example when you talk about how to place the wood in the stove, you talk through it, and show the wood spread out and say the same thing. By editing the first part out, it flows better, and you get the same point across. I love your channel and what you are doing. It has been a dream of mine to do the same thing for many years. Best of luck.
Did you take in consideration a single or double barrel wood stove? They generate a great amount of heat. I see you don't have a lot of room in your cabin, but if it can be done you won't be disappointed.Try to go straight with the chimney: easier to clean (don't have to take apart); as longer section of pipe inside, more radiated heat, less creosote, faster burning, etc. I have one of this stove in my 3 cars garage/workshop, not insulated, and I get 30 degree higher then outside in @ 30 minutes after starting the fire.
I would looking into building a wood gasification stove. This would end your soot problem in the chimney. More BTU's from your wood too. Also, your have an easy source of rocks with which to build a thermal mass sink around your stove, thus higher temps in combustion chamber and a BTU storage sink.
Heard this one for several years now. To have the fire Burn down instead of up, start the fire on top, not in the middle or at the bottom. Not sure why and how it works, most probable one i can come up it with is that it will burn up the fumes/gas leaving at the top and therefor be more effiiciant.
when you bring in wet wood try standing the wood on end water will run out of the wood following the grain instead of laying them flat to drain through the grain stand the wood up on end check it out
Joe of Homestedonomics uses a lot of canvas to collect rain water. He buys used canvas billboard signs from the billboard companies in his area. The paint on these billboards makes them extra waterproof...so...dry wood...cheaper.
I'm enjoying your videos. do you have any video on the homemade chainsaw mill? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd very interested in a video about that.
Sounds like you have issues with your stove and chimney system. Thinking you havent enough draw, should have able to use much larger wood and not fully dry.
ideally the would should have a week or at least 3 or 4 days to dry out inside before you burn it. Any spot to build a shelf to store that much wood in the cabin portion? A few hours to dry it is just enough time to melt the snow off not really dry the wood out at all.
Amazing how many people just have to comment negatively. This guy isn't telling any one what to do,he's telling his experiences.
+Schy Mark Bingo.
Pure Living for Life
liberals angry over Trump are flooding the internet
garybsg #MAGA 😁
Guess you missed the Title then.
A tip I read in an old survival book, said to keep the wood pieces about half an inch apart along the grain. that way, they get enough air, but can share the heat between each other.
Its amazing how when you discover wood burning you can talk about it for hours and hours and hours LOL. Im in my 4th year and keep learning. keep up the great work!
you might want to add a damper to that 8" pipe. Even in you have air control on the stove, a damper usually adds more control.
Tip for piling your wood outside, always make the bark face up. That way if ever you do have water, it will trickle down much better.
I would look at adding a chimney damper to keep that fire hotter and retain some heat from escaping up your stovepipe.
Love what you guys are doing, keep it up. Very jealous of your freedom.
I am glad to see that your stove didn't kill you I started to worry after you stopped putting up videos. The issue is your wood isn't dry enough. Look at rocket mass heaters.
I have years of experience heating with wood. Your stove isn't drawing right if you can't put a halfway decent sized log in it. Most wood stoves will burn several hours without needing to be tended. Like others have said, it looks you have too many bends in your pipe.
One thing you can fix mid-season is to knock together a small wood crib inside using some scrap 2x4s so you can store several days worth of wood at a time inside. You should be able to store 3-4 days worth of wood inside without too much trouble. That really helps with having to deal with wood in the rain, blizzards, etc. because you can often plan your wood replenishment around the weather. Use a wheelbarrow to carry your wood as close as possible to your inside crib. Only having 12 hours worth of wood inside the house is way too little.
Leaving the loading door open too long is an excellent way to catch your roof or house on fire. Do that only to get the fire going to the point it won't go out, then stop. It should be the case that if you leave the loading door open for a while, the fire first gets well established but then fairly quickly starts to rage so hot that hot embers are shooting out of your chimney still on fire. If you don't believe me, do yourself a favor and go outside at night while your fire is really cranking and the door is open a few inches and take a good look at the end of your chimney. If what you see does not scare the crap out of you (live embers still glowing coming out of it), that pretty much guarantees that you have too many bends, dirty pipe etc.
Great video! But I would like to add that burning semi-wet wood won´t be too popular if you live in an urban area, since it does not burn that clean.
I appreciate you are using materials you can make do with, and learning as you go. I also burn wood to heat my home, and have for many years. I have to agree with others, that if you solve your wet wood problem, you will have more success with your fire, and less trouble maintainng it. A wood shelter and seasoned wood can't be beat! I think you are doing the best you can with your current resources, and I am enjoying your journey. I hope you keep it up and look forward to seeing more!
the big problem is the single wall pipe it's fine inside but as soon as it get's outside the cold cools it down to much. You still need to put larger pieces in for over night but also the bulk of the heat is going up the chimney! Try if we get a warm spell putting a baffle in the stove where all the fire is going up. this baffle will make the heat go around each side before going up the chimney and allow more of the heat to stay in the stove. but the pipe outside still needs to be double wall for the pipe to stay hot enough for efficient draw! that's why burning small pieces hotter work for you!! amazing posts and enjoy watching your progress!! Thanks!!
ok first I would like to say I live off grid also and if you put a damper in your straight pipe it will give you more heat and make them 3 chunks of would last an hour instead of a half hour, if your burning slab wood which on the video that's the type of wood you have. buy it in the spring causes its cheaper and cut it up right away and put it in a wood shed, or something with a roof on it, slab wood is usually green when you buy it so buying it in the spring gives it all summer and fall to cure. putting a tarp on the wood helps keep the snow of the wood but the wood in the middle can stay wet. I love to watch your show, so please don't leave the stove door open unattended. and the best wood you have is all your dead fall on your own property even if its got a little rot to it. its the best price free.
Thanks for these vids I plan on doing the same thing getting land and setting up a small home as soon as I can your vids have helped on a few points like the camper and the 3/4 minus rock. Please keep them coming!
Great video for your first woodstove can't wait to see the next years keep up the good work
I didn't learn anything! BUT THAT'S GOOD! I really wish I saw this video when I first started burning wood. You covered all the of vitals here. Very good and descriptive video. Thank you for this!
Looking at your setup you may want to look at reducing the angles of your chimney
The 90 degree bends will slow down the smoke and allow sut to settle in
Try 45 Bends to keen the debris being pushed through with the smoke
You may also get a better draw when running normally
And allow more air flow
Hmm, I figured there would be a few comments after mine over the last few days. Ok, Ive thought about your issues with your stove, and here is some ideas to to look into. (1) look into secondary burn wood stoves. This would reduce your soot problem, as well as fuel consumption. It basically utilizes wood gasification. An easy modification to make to your stove. (2) Adding a chamber above stove would act as a radiant heat chamber. A 30-55 gal. barrel could easily be built to sit on top of stove. Stove vents into barrel, barrel vents into stove pipe. This would also act as soot collection chamber.
Just found your channel today and this is probably the best vid I have seen on how to use a wood stove. (And I've been looking for years)
WOW I have never seen a wood stove that needs to be fed so often. Good reminder to invest in the best wood stove that needs feeding twice a day, not 4-6 times.
PS--It takes 2 Years for a stove to teach YOU how to run it !!!
Homeless I definitely agree. I have a nice 2nd hand stove with a secondary burner. it's pretty efficient. But it took a long time to understand how to adjust the intake and exhaust for the type of wood I am burning. This year I put on a new gasket, and ceramic coated my stove pipe. What an amazing difference. It makes a much stronger draft and pulls air in where it's needed I stead of all around the door. but now we are making charts to see how to set it again.
Great video. We wish you both lots of warmth and cosiness in those beatiful surroundings
Good vid, thanks. Im junking normal 16" rounds into thirds then splitting down i to small 'billets' for our cookstove. Like you say, burns clean and we can control temps with smaller fuel packets. Thumbs up.
+Scott Girvan You're also a moron.
Congrats on your new adventure. I wish you well so I am going to say that along with too many elbows in your stove pipe another issue looks like it might be that you are burning pine slabs from a sawmill. That's what it looks like in the video so please forgive me if it's not pine. Pine burns hot, it burns fast, and it creates lots of creosote in your stove pipe. Pine should be used only as kindling or added in small doses to hardwoods.All the elbows are slowing down the air flow and the pine is creating creosote that's going to add up very quickly to a glazed stove pipe which is a chimney fire waiting to happen. A glazed chimney or pipe is the worst kind of chimney build up. it gets as hard as a rock inside your chimney and then will burn with a vengeance.
Hey folks your very quiet hope all is well with ye looking forward to your next video post , ps enjoyed this one and understand your doing your best to help other beginners in starting setting up a stove and loading it . As you said ye have done so much in a few short months > I for one think ye both are doing great and work so well together ..............Harry
I know this is an old video but, your stove lacks a dedicated space to burn. Weld a plate to the roof, blocking your stove pipe exit so that the smoke has to travel to the ends/sides of the stove before it travels around the blocking plate and out the stove pipe. The flame will heat up the plate above it and give the smoke a longer path of travel before it exits the stove. Doing this will give the smoke a chance to more fully burn, Wich means more BTU, less wood used and bigger pieces allowed to burn successfully since you've created a burn chamber at the top. Also, I don't know if your stove is plumbed to the outside air or if it breathes from the inside of your cabin, but it needs to be outside air so your cabin doesn't lose so much heat. Again less wood burned, so you can damp it down and feed it less often.
Great videos. Keep them coming. I look forward to homesteading in the next few years. I love your dedication to the lifestyle change.
Couple of good tips in the video. I have been burning wood all my life and it seems like your wood must still be a little wet if you are having problems burning what you are calling a big stick. May be an issue with your flue not being very straight which would reduce your draw also. I recommend bringing in a full row of wood and stacking it inside. If you have several weeks instead of 12 hours you may notice your wood dry much better and you will get that little stove roaring. Best of luck!
I can throw an 18 inch long x 12 inch diameter onto a bed of coals and have it burn for 8 hours at "half throttle". Full bore will eat the bed of coals. Eventually the chunk has an arch and resembles a burning bridge. lol.
I have a woodburner and found many of these suggestions for myself, meaning, these tips are accurate. The best tip is when starting the stove, get it really hot, then back off. That initial heat works wonders. What I'd like is more info on the wood, I have bought kiln dried seasoned hardwood from a local sawmill, it really didn't burn too well. I try and get softwood which burns faster and gets very hot quick (so vanishes quickly too). Also as suggested here, thick logs don't burn too well, maybe there is an optimum cross sectional area for a given stove volume. There is a lot to learn to get the best from a given stove, it ain't plug and play! But I much prefer the heat type, it is so much better than electric or gas.
In the first 20 seconds of your video of inside the firebox it's clear most of your flame is going right out the chimney. This is because your chimney design is creating a vacuum. I understand it's a cheap temporary heat source that needs to make a winter, but you major reason for heat loss is the chimney pipe- not the stove. At the top of the list-all the bends in the pipe are dangerous, the heat and flame can get trapped in the pipe which will cause it to crack, go on fire and burn your cabin down. Next is the pipe outside is single wall which is causing the heat to cool down rapidly as it exits the stove thus forcing the exhaust downward...that's a major problem as well. In order to maximize your burn (heat) and increase the longevity ( burn time) you need to vent the stove straight outside from the back ( eliminating the adjustable 30 degree twisty pipe you got there. for that you need something called a clean-out tee. Once that is anchored to the wall you need insulated pipe going up the side of the house, through the eave and continuing a couple feet higher than the roof, thus eliminating all the elbows in the pipe. I really like you guys and don't want to lose you. That slip together stove pipe has done more property damage and cost more lives that it should never be installed inside a living area- not even temporarily. But since your going to tempt fate anyway please get a few smoke detectors- at least 2 or 3 just to be on the safe side.
+Tim Saunders Watching the video, I've wondered if installing a baffle in the stove would help. It's obvious that flame is going right up the stove pipe (which should be double or triple wall). Would a baffle help put out more heat and cut down on the danger, do you think?
a damper would work. You would spend a lot of time adjusting it. The correct path is controlling the temp and draw in the chimney so the firebox does not have to work as hard. This creates longer burn times and allows them to fill the box less often. I have a little Yodel coal stove that size that get 12-14 hours out of 1 lb, coffee can of coal. Heats my 300 sq. ft shop just fine.
+Robert Lee Too arrogant to realize how little they know.
they learned everything from 'pinterest' 😳😛
+All inDueTime they're actually learning as they go. When did you take the leap and dump your job to try out full time homesteading ?
if you remove the 90 degree elbows and put two 45 degree elbows on it that will give you a more longer sweep elbow giving you a better draw that will give you a better burn. do this where you have tight 90s
Beat me to the punch...even insulating the stack with Rockwool and chicken wire then putting cladding over same would allow the transit of flue gasses to heat up quicker maintaining a warm reserve within the stack, and stop the rapid cooling effect kicking in, so less cool combustion gases crashing out internally as maybe partially burnt fuel / soot...[a 'cheapo' stove or pipe thermometer showing the optimum burn zone, or even a cheap lazer thermometer gun could come in handy...great looking stove...
Very nice presentation of the material. Easy and clear to understand. Thanks!
Woodconsin, below has a good idea to use 2 45 degree elbows. Just twist the 90's into 45's
also I split wood into triangles and squares, no rectangles.
Do you have a damper? You need one. Start the fire open, then close partially to keep the heat in the stove. The stove gets hotter.
Relax people. He clearly is educated and not a simpleton. The way he is explaining things is more geared towards someone that may be considering becoming a homesteader. Thorough explanations that are simple and easy to understand goes a long ways to retaining the information given. I already knew most of the information in this video. That said, is refreshing to hear the same information from a new source and possibly pick up on something new.
+Jeffrey Beyer Most simpletons I meet are educated. I would be sad if he died, or if his advice killed someone.
Edumacated? lol, take a city folk into the woods & most will die. This guy is internet taught - aka 99% crap. He then tries to teach others the same bs. Mr Beyer, wise up & learn from the critics. The harshest 1s actually know what their talking about. what u already "know" is bs. Man, talk about the blind leading the blind or the fool affirming another fool.
" know what their talking about"
LOL
let's. make a vidio and let every one see us . yea like echo man and farm girl...
son your on the right track and dont take these people as insults they just dont know a good way to explain this to you but ill try you seem like a good guy 1 different stove use that one at the shop put another burn box on top with glew coming out of bottom of it 2 different types wood different temperature heat and burn time 3 your working at that two hard which tells me you love it you'll get better and you won't use 1/3 the wood slab wood goes quick it will work your nuts off but is usefull 4 cut firewood to anout 1and half inches legth of stove fire on ends heat up still rather than going out flew 5 put in pipe damper 6 your right filling it ip full just waste firewood and mix drywood with green logs longer burn your on the right track if you need anything i can help with just holler back and keep enjoying life
Great tips. If at all possible de- bark your firewood. It holds the most moisture and subsequently insects that may be brought out of hibernation, when the wood comes to room temp. Thanks
The amount of soot buildup is also subject to the type of wood you are burning.
I use a large rubbermade garbage can with wheels for my wood box. It works great and fits alot.
That sounds awesome! Wheels would be a huge plus!
Good information.I suggest explaining difference between wet wood and green wood.
I love the learning process... I'm not a expert but i have been burning wood at my cabin for 40 years. Started out with a barrel stove and after a few years I realized its only a controlled camp fire... Moved on to a air tight heater/ pedestal glass front energy efficient burner. This means you can get stove hotter and you won't loose the heat out your chimney. It will have a damper in the back of the stove to recirculate unburnt wood gas across a heat plate and you'll see flames dancing in midair.... as your stove will burn at a higher temp/ cleaner... This is not a magic stove I bought it at Menards/Homedepot .... If you go look at the design of the stoves you will see what I mean. Maybe you could add a chimney damper at the exit of your stove, don't get to high up your chimney because it is not designed to handle the heat/ it will glow red. Thats the heat you r loosing... I have also gone to a straight out the roof stove pipe. Out the wall stovepipes cool, condensate and build up creosote. Adding insulated pipe through the roof will help with condensation also...
I'm enjoying your videos, keep warm.... ;)
yup yup same here and Im tellin ya its so efficient!! While every one else is loading up on wood every year I am still burning the two chords I bought two seasons ago on my third and will still have enough for 2 more seasons at least!!! An the glass is a great touch for the ambience as well.
we grew up with a wood stove, still have it in an old garage, I can load one or two big logs and it will burn all night. Sometimes I would put a small piece under a 12-14 inch across, log and it would burn with a good bed on coals, all night. Use a damper on the pipe and a screw in dampers on the door. use insulated pipe also.
ive been in a number of cabins that have a heat activated fan on the top of the wood stove. No power needed and they work pretty well to move the heat around. Should look into it, help even the heat out and move the air around, would help dry the wood box too. Cheers
I came to look for advice on how to use the damper and flew and hit paydirt with your final tip. Thanks!
Question, Now that you have sealed on end of your RV garage how are you venting the off gases from the trailer? I would hate to see you Cabin fill with carbon monoxide cause that would be very dangerous. Really enjoying your videos
A damper in your stove pipe would help a great deal, also try and use more wood less bark.
Awesome! we have never used a woodstove but just ordered a HQ issue tent stove we were hoping to utilize in our very small house basement in case of emergency(price seemed so sensible). Not doing too well getting info on guiding flue out of basement window..seems it is for outside tents only and no elbow conversion available. If you have any ideas on this or can recommend a stove to use for emergency use in a 10x14 basement (mainly to keep few pipes from freezing and us in case of power outage-rural area). Your info was great though, even for making regular fires and you have explained what we have been doing wrong with our rocket stove..gee, wish we saw this first. Thanks a bunch for all that info and any extra you can add in. Love the video.
Please tell me your are not serious?
No, we are not. Did a lot of learning and you are right...seriously ridiculous idea. Not too many options...no wall for wood stove, pellet stoves need electricity during power outage, leaves us with kero heater. :(
A wood stove in the basement, IF installed properly is a great idea. Just not that kind or installed that way. I was worried about ya.
you tube, pinterest, etc. look for gravity feed tube and hopper for pellets. simple, cheap, effective.
fair tips for operating under less than ideal conditions
If you put a damper inside your stove pipe it will keep the heat down in the stove instead of going up the pipe. Install damper about 18"-24". Can be purchased at any hardware store.
1. You might be doing this already, but I learned from another video to make sure the stove is drafting air from outside, rather than from inside the heated room. Otherwise your burn up your heated oxygen and create a low relative pressure in the house that causes cold air to seep in through any cracks around the windows/door.
2. Also, a trick my mom taught me: Humid air retains heat much better than dry air because there are simply more molecules flying around bumping into each other. So you can put a pot of water on the stove to simmer for no reason but to add humidity to the air. Make sure it's not a pot that will not burn once the water evaporates.
3. Also, you probably know this but, you should be able to limit the burn rate by closing the air intake, so that you can stoke it full of wood without it getting super hot and burning all up at once.
oh no!! the flames goin' straight out the pipe!! i noticed the problems right away and im a Phoenix Az native lol 😬
Cool video. some great tips there. My wife and I are about to jump into the self sufficient lifestyle ourselves. Will be great with 4 kids in tow. Keep the videos coming. subscribed. Maybe ill put our homestead build on the tube Aussie style lol
As +Michael Harris stated, the type of wood burned also matters in a clean burn. Softwoods with a lot of pitch such as spruce or pine can create a fair quantity of creosote that can soot up your stack. Hardwoods such as birch, oak, or hickory burn hotter and cleaner.
+john sherdahl Well it would help if they weren't living in the worst structure I've ever seen constructed.
+john sherdahl well said mate !!!!! eather redgum or box gum are the best woods on the planet for firewood !!!!! burns hot , clean and also lasts !!!! put a big log in when you go to bed and shes still burning in the morning! !!! i suppose though im here in Australia and we are very spoilt to have this on our door step !!!! different states here have different laws on colecting but most of them its $25 for a permit and you can collect upto a tone with that !!!! some states its free but you not aloud to collect as much !!!!!
+john sherdahl as i said mate we here are very lucky it is Australian native wood so unless its inported or someone is farming it there you probably wont find it in the us.... box gum can be called yellow box here !!! and redgum is also know as river gum as this is there natural habitat !!!! they grow all around the Murray ,Darling river system !!!! my favorite part of this country of ours !!!! these 2 wood also take a long time to grow !!!!
+MetusBatman V1 do you have anything positive to add to the conversation troll?
+David Sharrow This is a very common misconception. In reality pine will burn just fine once dry without creosote build up. Once dry they burn very quickly which still makes them much less than ideal for holding a fire but they do not cause creosote build up. Wood that hasn't been properly seasoned will cause a build up no matter they type.
My family burns wood. We have a new stove that is very energy efficient because it has a secondary burn which is the particles of the wood in the air that is being caught on fire because of extremely hot air blown on it. Also, I wood recommend an indoor wood rack. You can store more wood and you can see everyrhing laid out in a nice neat row. We have 8 quords at the moment but here in new england its been pretty warm. Thirties and twenties with an occasional 40. Ideally like what you guys are doing. Good luck!
You have a sick stove, turn those 2 90's into 45's and some of your difficulties will go away.
+watchthe1369 Turned wood into heat. Kept us warm during sub zero weather. Continue....
Where I come from, people just stack it nice and neat right next to the wood stove. Some folks leave the wood in the open with just basic framework to ensure the stack is stable, and others like to build a covered enclosure. At our place, we didn't have much space so instead we built a nice outdoor frame with a roof right outside where it was sheltered from the wind, one layer deep, stacked tall. We'd transfer from the main pile to that, when it ran low, rotating the remaining wood to the top, and always had nice dry wood ready to go and a neat tidy looking yard. We just brought an armload in with us whenever the chance arose, and that kept the little mini pile by the stove fed.
As a helpful tip, we stored our birchbark on top of that wood stack. It didn't blow off since it was out of the wind and built parallel to any residual west breeze that did come through. Any snow, or rain that worked its way under the roof primarily landed on the birch bark, which will light wet. Of course, we always stacked the wood with the bark side up as well anyway, so it wasn't necessary. You don't need a very wide roof if you keep it out of the wind, so it will get plenty of sunshine.
Behind your main woodpiles, if you keep them away from your buildings you have prime real estate for "planting" mushrooms as well. Mushrooms love that shady woody area that inevitably forms. I like to sort of slowly shift my piles around as I use them and take advantage of the mess they leave at the bottom for growing things.
hey guys new subscriber here! I enjoy the videos, they keep me inspired. I have been looking into homesteading for a while but not quite ready. these kinds of videos keep my goal in sight. also we face similar challenges with freezing temps so those videos are very helpful
Hi Guys, really like the channel. Is that pine you're burning? I wouldn't burn pine in a "indoor" fireplace or woodstove. Creates too much creosote... that might explain having to clean your stove pipe so often AND why your loading the box every half hour. Hardwoods, burn hardwood. Really worried about the design of the stove pipe. You might consider taking the same approach there as you did with the septic tank installation. Good luck and really enjoy the videos.
+TimeDrawsNigh You're right that hardwoods are better for burning. We aren't burning pine (pine / fir mixture) because we don't know any better, but because it's what we have. A large part of this journey is learning to live and sustain a home with the materials available to us rather than throwing money at every problem. We don't mind cleaning the stove pipe frequently or filling up our box more often (down to one box a day when we're burning). We don't mind keeping an eye on the stove. Our design isn't perfect but that's okay, that was never the plan. We understand the concerns folks have but in the end, our setup is working just fine and we're learning how we want our stove setup to be in our future home. All problems are easy to fix when throwing money at them but we are challenging ourselves not to do that and don't feel that our safety is at stake. If our $300 cabin burns down then so be it, but we doubt that will happen. Glad you're enjoying our videos!
Jesse - this was such a gracious reply. I have only now begun reading your comments after binge-watching most of your video content. I totally appreciate what you are trying to do. You come right out and SAY that you don't claim to be experts on various topics as you study, research, and then try various methods. Openly saying that you are trying to learn about this seems to be missed by some, but please don't let it get you down. I love you guys and your channel, blog and FB page. Keep up the good work. I doubt we'll ever go off grid, but I see ways to cut our expenses in our sub-urban life as I watch every vid you put out. I have another channel I watch (Keith Rucker - machine shop stuff) and he was very brave: he scheduled a work day and invited his viewers to come to a his home. It went well! Something to consider?
You might want to look into rocket stove type. Cleaner with more heat.
+Kevin R Thanks for the suggestion!
Good idea.
Yep. Also rocket mass heater to keep heat captured for hours.
Kevin R And plenty of bends in the pipe to bother people!
wood stoves vs fire places Questions??? off grid location building a small hunters cabin? need some advice. thanks
so your getting up every 45min during the night to feed the fire?
Not literally. More like every 3 hours when the temps are very low.
+Pure Living for Life you really need to shut your pie hole...
Build a good bed of coals, add a layer of dry wood and then a green log on top. I bed my stove this way and it burns for 8 hours without a problem. In the morning I have a nice bed of coals and just add dry wood...
Lol, some people just cant help being so stupid, pity the fool.....
You really need to shove that finger down your pie hole to purge all the other bullshit you spew..
bring your wood in during the day so it has time to dry out, you would also get longer warmer burns if you had a damper on your stove pipe and you need to put a fan on the pipe as well the heat will make it spin and it dose spread the heat
I am enjoying your videos. But I have some comments on this one.
I have been around wood stoves for 60 years both as the only heat source and as a secondary heat source. I have spent spring, summer, and fall at an off grid camp for most of those years. I would like to give everyone some tips based on my experience.
Plan on having your wood as dry (seasoned) as possible. Store it covered with ventilation on the sides. A classic wood shed is a building with slat walls and a roof.
Rotate you wood and let it season for a year. This gives you good seasoned wood. Also if you get sick or hurt. You know you have heat for the winter. (Generally it is easier to find somebody to feed your fire if your wood is already.) The wood that you are cutting now should be burned two years from now.
For minimum creosote build up burn dry wood. A small hot fire is better than a larger smoldering one. If you must burn wet wood burn it hot with a lot of air. I have never had much creosote buildup on any of my stoves. When I have replaced my stovepipes they have been quite clean in side.
Oh yeah, I also wanted to ask you, with that hillside you have, have you considered the benefits of living underground, or living earthship style?
with how "airy" your cabin is, you could build a sort of back splash of brick. This would help absorb some of the heat you are generating, and slowly release it throughout the day. A nice bank of thermal mass.
Love your videos. Looks like you need to caulk those walls to keep the heat in the building.
I can't wait for your next video, I love 'em so keep 'em comin'!
way to go guys you all are doing great
Tip1: To get the fire last longer during night, wrap the maximum size of wood, that normally burns good, with newspaper.
Use every sheet separately, otherwise it would be too tight and the wood don't catch fire. Don't wrap to loose otherwise the paper is gone in a minute and don't change much.
Tip2: Elongate the pipe, to get a larger heating surface and do only use bows with 45° ore lower. Harder elbows increase the friction to much. The smoke should be around 200C° after the state regulations (here) but you can go much lower, just about 100°C would work and safes you a lot of fuel.
Tip3:get more wood inside to give it time to dry .
Tip4:Use a basket (I use one of wire) if you don't want more wood near the oven ( a lot of creatures don't like it, so you have different kinds of Insects everywhere) in a closed box it don't dry as well.
Tip5:Have enough wood to give it 2 years to dry. For that it is good to have the roof of your house extended to every side to store the wood there, what (the wood) also gives additional Isolation.
Tip6:You can heat lumps of metal in or on your fire to heat with those corners of your home (more to dry then heat)
Tip7:If you want a smaller fire that don not want to work in your oven, set stones(brick) in the combustion chamber to make it smaller and reduce the air income.
You can find a lot of easy plans (about Oven, Window and...) here, in German but with that amount of pictures that, I thing, no language is required at all.
www.packpapierverlag.de
After hours!! on trying, now it allows to copy in a Link :-(
www.packpapierverlag.de/?page_id=2
www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=558
EAN 978-3-924038-73-1
and others
www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=551
www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=542
www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=590
www.packpapierverlag.de/?p=550
Your stove is not breathing. There are to many angles. I had one the did same thing. i changed pipe straight up. The exhaust must breath as easy as possible. no restriction Also i think i seen bricks stack up out side. take all the brick and stack them around the back and side of stove and under and up few feet. it called Radiant heat . works great.
really good tip! ...use those stacked up bricks outside for radiant heat 😊
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Those are some great tips. Awesome video!
Seriously. The rocket Mass heater uses 1/2 the wood, burns cleaner, retains heat longer, and distributes the heat more evenly.
Really enjoying your posts. When it is colder outside like the -18F it is right now it does not really matter much if the wood stove is to big for the space you are trying to heat. My two cents to this post would be to make sure the wood stove is properly sized for the space. It is better to have a smaller stove and burn it hot (clean) than having a big stove where you have to squeeze the air intake a lot to keep the place from getting to hot. Starving a fire from air and burning fuel like spruce can cause lots of buildup in the chimney. Stay warm!
This is a great video, excellent tips . When you finally get settled in . I would suggest looking into a rocket stove . Effenciecy maxima . Love your all your videos so far !!!
Careful burning pine/spruce bark, our friends house would have burnt to the ground if they were not home to see the chimney catch fire from all the creosote it creates in the pipe. Also had another friends house burn to the ground using that type of wood, it's worth avoiding just for peace of mind when you leave the building, specially a home.
We had a Fisher Grandpa Bear wood burner - heated our 2 story, 3 bedroom + basement for several winters - built a water block to bolt onto the back wall - ran water thru it and stored it in the water heater - didnt run the heater all winter. btw this was in Wisconsin
Have you considered thermal mass heater? It utilizes far less fuel and continues to radiate heat hours after the wood is gone. Numerous videos on the topic on youtube.
Thanks for the info! Have you tried one of those passive fans that sits on top of the stove to circulate the warm air? I'd be interested to know if they really work!
Evlevate the center of your fire box with firebricks so that the wood burns on a platform . Build the initial fire on the platform and when reduces to coals push them to both sides of the platform and add wood to the center which will ignite from the heat of the coals. Continue this process and you'll have hotter fires and a more satisfactory fire. I have one of those stoves. I didn't see that you are powering the fan and they aren't regulated with a thermostat so this is an improvement that's eaisilly rectified. Inverters are cheap and a battery bank and solar recharger must surely be on your list as well. Carry On!
Congrats on over 25k views... Yes you have a lot to learn... Yet the most hateful comments come from channels with NO videos of their own. Type of wood matters little. Just make sure it is DRY, Dry, Dry. Some burns hotter or longer or cleaner or slower or. Great luck and see you in the next vid.
+Mostly humble 1 Totally agree. We're doing the best we can. Critics are a dime a dozen, most watching from their heated massage recliner in their central air heated apartment with a TV diner in hand. Doesn't bother us much. We didn't get this far by letting other peoples opinions affect us much. Hah! Thankfully winter is letting up slightly so we've had the wood stove off for a couple weeks only running it to remove moisture in the cabin. That's been helpful. Ideally we'll have a whole different situation come this fall when we actually have time to do things properly. Thanks for the positive comments. Much appreciated.
I don't burn ponderosa pine . it is just to pitchey. in Oregon, you should be burning doug fir and tamarack. just using pond. pine clogs your pipes. lol I can blend it in if my supply is limited. I have about 5-6 cords at all times. I love wood heat even tho it's dirty. have fun..
You can hang your firewood to dry above the stove on some sort of steel net construction, just don't hang your wood too low or it could start to combusting at an unwanted time ;)
I'm enjoying your videos, and thanks for posting them.
One thing about this video. Bringing wood into your home to dry out has some problems, and may not be as effective as people might think.
Problem one is that if you are drying the exterior of your wood, that moisture is going into your home. That moisture has to go somewhere. Problem two is that you are just drying the surface of the wood. The interior of the wood is going to be largely unaffected by a twelve hour storage time.
I'd also suggest being very careful with how you tarp ypour wood. Your stack needs to breathe, which a tarp stops. And tarps put directly on your wood will cause condensation to drip down into your pile, both of which will slow your drying rate significantly.
If you are tarping your wood, do it when it rains or snows. And suspend your tarp above the pile somehow so it has room to breathe and have a big overlap as tarps will dump water off the edges unpredictably when they move.
Having to burn wet wood is something I empathise with. We'r not long on our farm here, and in the first few years, wet wood is something you often have to deal with. Some species, such as ash, burn better than others when wet. You are still losing heat and creating soot, but they are easier to burn. You could also considering finding standing dead wood on your holding. If a tree has been standing dead for a few years, it'll be dreir. It'll be dangerous possibly to fell, as it may have rot making it's fall unpredictable. But it might give you wood that's a little bit drier.
Best of luck this winter, and happy new year.
Drill some 1-2" holes in your woodbox for airflow.
I came across your channel yesterday and breezed through all of your videos in one day. If I can make one suggestion, and I mean this as constructive not negative, I think that if you scripted what you were going to say just a bit more before your takes there would be much less repetition. It sounds like you are working off of bullet points, and they end up being repeated multiple times each video. As an example when you talk about how to place the wood in the stove, you talk through it, and show the wood spread out and say the same thing. By editing the first part out, it flows better, and you get the same point across. I love your channel and what you are doing. It has been a dream of mine to do the same thing for many years. Best of luck.
nice vid good to see your learning curve and experiences as you learn along the way
haven't heard from you kids for awhile.How are things going?
Did you take in consideration a single or double barrel wood stove? They generate a great amount of heat. I see you don't have a lot of room in your cabin, but if it can be done you won't be disappointed.Try to go straight with the chimney: easier to clean (don't have to take apart); as longer section of pipe inside, more radiated heat, less creosote, faster burning, etc.
I have one of this stove in my 3 cars garage/workshop, not insulated, and I get 30 degree higher then outside in @ 30 minutes after starting the fire.
I would looking into building a wood gasification stove. This would end your soot problem in the chimney. More BTU's from your wood too. Also, your have an easy source of rocks with which to build a thermal mass sink around your stove, thus higher temps in combustion chamber and a BTU storage sink.
Heard this one for several years now.
To have the fire Burn down instead of up, start the fire on top, not in the middle or at the bottom.
Not sure why and how it works, most probable one i can come up it with is that it will burn up the fumes/gas leaving at the top and therefor be more effiiciant.
when you bring in wet wood try standing the wood on end water will run out of the wood following the grain instead of laying them flat to drain through the grain stand the wood up on end check it out
you guys do a great job on the videos. so when are you getting your own diy show?
Joe of Homestedonomics uses a lot of canvas to collect rain water. He buys used canvas billboard signs from the billboard companies in his area. The paint on these billboards makes them extra waterproof...so...dry wood...cheaper.
I was wondering where you got your stove thanks great video
I'm enjoying your videos. do you have any video on the homemade chainsaw mill? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd very interested in a video about that.
looking good, learned few things too.. keep up the videos..
Am i seeing between the boards in the wall to the outside? That doesn't seem to good.
Sounds like you have issues with your stove and chimney system. Thinking you havent enough draw, should have able to use much larger wood and not fully dry.
Was that free mill slab ?
ideally the would should have a week or at least 3 or 4 days to dry out inside before you burn it. Any spot to build a shelf to store that much wood in the cabin portion? A few hours to dry it is just enough time to melt the snow off not really dry the wood out at all.
have you looked into a rocket mass fireplace? that would be perfect for what you are doing!
You guys have a great channel here, you got my sub, kind regards .