Saturday, February 10, 2007

how not to load a woodstove

Glass windows are nice on woodstoves. They allow one to enjoy a view of the fire, and to easily know when it's time to add more wood.

However, if you're adding a particularly large piece of wood to the fire, and having a problem getting it in place with the poker or by hand, the glass window should not be used to push the wood into place. Particularly if one accidentally uses more than minimal force when closing the door. The glass is tough, but not that tough.

Oops. I didn't pick a good night to put the woodstove temporarily out of commission, as it was -12 F outside. Luckily we had the backup propane heater, but it's nothing compared to wood heat.

$60 and an 80 mile round trip to the nearest specialty glass store later, The Hermit successfully replaced the window.

I am getting very sick of winter.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch! I absolutely cringe thinking about the propane furnace kicking in. I can't really remember the last time it did, but it may this coming week, as we are supposed to have some 50 degree days and it's just hard to keep the wood stove drawing right in that kind of warmth, but I still want some heat in the house. What's a gal to do?

R.Powers said...

Now, if you're buff enough to swim a Klick, you are certainly too strong to be closing stoves that way.

"What Was I Thinking?"
Sounds vaguely similar to a label I use for my ...errors.

gtr said...

Yikes, Deb! Watch out, those wood-loading (and chopping) muscles must be getting really strong during this cold snap! Our stove has a window, too; I'll be more careful now. It seems like such strong glass!

Glad you're staying warm, even if it is with inferior propane. Horray for "real" heat from wood!

Deb said...

50 degree days? Do temperatures really get up that high this time of year? But you're right, I would still want a heat source, and I would want it to be wood.

FC- "buff enough to swim a Klick"--I like that!

I thought about using "Stupid things I have done", but I didn't want to infringe on any copyrights. :)

gtr- My new-found strength amazes me! But I have learned my lesson: never overestimate the strength of glass. And I'm enjoying wood heat again as we speak; nothing like it!

Unknown said...

60 dollars for a piece of glass???? Was it some sort of special heat resistant glass.

arcolaura said...

Glass is unpredictably tough, I've found. A bunch of us were loading an ATV into the back of my little truck one time, and found out that said ATV didn't fit as well in my truck as it had in the larger truck that had brought it out to the work site. We had to get it home though. With great grunting and struggling, we coaxed the ATV wheels up over the truck wheel wells, and with great relief, let the ATV wheels drop forward - taking the bumper of the ATV into the back window of the truck. Mike said he had never seen glass bend before.

MojoMan said...

This is a scary reminder about the risks of living on the edge as you are. With the extreme cold you have, just a little mishap like that could cause real trouble. It also reminds me that we should be more grateful for the modern conveniences we take for granted.

Deb said...

dragonfly- Wood stove glass has to be very heat resistant. It's like buying a sheet of Pyrex, only more so. Hence the price.

arcolaura- that must have been some tough glass to bend like that!

mojoman- If we didn't have a backup I suppose we could have burned an open fire all night, but that would have been risky business. I have a healthy respect for fire.