newbie wood burner needs advise

mrs.puff

Lovin' The Homestead
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We use wood for heating and cooking. You should really be careful about buildup in the chimney. If you build a very hot fire, and you hear crackling in the stovepipe, try banging on it with your fireplace poker or something. You'll probably hear little bits falling down. The crackling is actually the creosote catching fire. If you hear a loud wooshing sound, you have a fire in your chimney. Needless to say, this is bad. I have had a fire in the chimney, and you can actually go outside and see sparks and chunks of burning creosote flying out. BAD. I agree that cleaning out the pipe is a two man job. One to hold the bucket to catch soot, the other to take off the pipe. You MUST do this.

And, they're right about the soot all over the place. Try cleaning your windows after you've been burning wood a while. You'll be amazed how black the towel will be. My stoves are kinda old and a little leaky though, and Man-o-the-house tends to leave the stove door open too much.

We burn elm, oak, a little ash, and sometimes a bit of hickory or cherry. Nobody in our area burns cottonwood, and we don't have poplar.
 
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