justin_case
Power Conserver
Well I am new here but thought I would post on how I heat my home and stay warm through a Canadian winter. I have heated with most every type of wood heater in my time, but about 12 years back I bought a Blazeking fireplace, the smaller princes model. it came from the factory with a bi metal thermastat control,catalitic converter, and bypass door. Now I should say I dont believe much in the way of advertizing, and this was no different before I bought it, I was sceptical of the claims, and burn times given, but I did know one person who had one of these, and was very happy with it, and had played around with them at the home shows, and decided to give it a try.
The first winter I used it was a learning experience (a good one). The most dramatic change from other heaters I used was the long even burn times.This meant no more getting up multiple times a night to feed a fire. Real important if you dont want to be cranky the next day.
The heat given off the surface was amazing, the catalitic converter actually burnt the smoke extracting the heat from it. I remember that first year going out side just to look up at the chimney and being amazed at not seeing any smoke from it.
That first year using it was a eye opener as to how far solid fuel burning has come.
After I think the second year I started giving thought to improving it and seeing how much better, and user friendly I could make it. I should add its not just the stove as it came, or what I have done to it, but also the wood itself. I cant stress enough the importance of stacking wood properly, and letting it dry out. I burn unsplit logs (up to 9inches in dia) I let this unsplit wood dry for 2 years stacked in racks before burning it (like money in the bank earning interest). That makes a huge difference in performance. Very dry, and large diameter= long even burn times.
over the years I built a water tank to heat my water with, modified the cat so I can pull it out when not needed, and put back in if temps go below -20 and I need the extra heat. I built a large ash box so I only empty the ash box twice a year, this also doubled the size of the firebox, (maybe empty the ashes 3 times a year depending on the type of wood being burnt).I found that I could modify the thermstat control a bit for a little longer burn time, and I think my last change was building a short section of chimney(from3/8 wall thickness pipe) that has a door on it that can be swung open so I can look straight up and out the chimney to check its condition.
All these little incremental improvements have made my heating with wood more economical, and trouble free.I am still always looking for ways to improve it....but I find myself short on further ideas lately. The house this heats is 1000sqft, not large but it keeps the house toasty warm through 6 months of winter using 3 cord of Birch (4 if using poplar).
The first winter I used it was a learning experience (a good one). The most dramatic change from other heaters I used was the long even burn times.This meant no more getting up multiple times a night to feed a fire. Real important if you dont want to be cranky the next day.
The heat given off the surface was amazing, the catalitic converter actually burnt the smoke extracting the heat from it. I remember that first year going out side just to look up at the chimney and being amazed at not seeing any smoke from it.
That first year using it was a eye opener as to how far solid fuel burning has come.
After I think the second year I started giving thought to improving it and seeing how much better, and user friendly I could make it. I should add its not just the stove as it came, or what I have done to it, but also the wood itself. I cant stress enough the importance of stacking wood properly, and letting it dry out. I burn unsplit logs (up to 9inches in dia) I let this unsplit wood dry for 2 years stacked in racks before burning it (like money in the bank earning interest). That makes a huge difference in performance. Very dry, and large diameter= long even burn times.
over the years I built a water tank to heat my water with, modified the cat so I can pull it out when not needed, and put back in if temps go below -20 and I need the extra heat. I built a large ash box so I only empty the ash box twice a year, this also doubled the size of the firebox, (maybe empty the ashes 3 times a year depending on the type of wood being burnt).I found that I could modify the thermstat control a bit for a little longer burn time, and I think my last change was building a short section of chimney(from3/8 wall thickness pipe) that has a door on it that can be swung open so I can look straight up and out the chimney to check its condition.
All these little incremental improvements have made my heating with wood more economical, and trouble free.I am still always looking for ways to improve it....but I find myself short on further ideas lately. The house this heats is 1000sqft, not large but it keeps the house toasty warm through 6 months of winter using 3 cord of Birch (4 if using poplar).