The first winter we lived here, in our cabin, we hadn't found a small enough stove, so we tried to get by with space heaters. The worst part was, we still had cold pockets all over the house. We lived in thermal undies and lots of blankets. Over $1000 combined heating bills later, we vowed that we'd have a stove by the next winter.
Last year was our first winter with wood heat and while my husband grew up with a wood stove, I'd never had one. He told me all summer how hot it would get and how we'd be cracking windows even in the dead of winter. He was right! I love how cozy the whole cabin is.
Our cabin is a rectangle and the stove is in the center on one wall. We played with a couple of box fans and learned that placing a fan at each end of the house, facing toward the center, seemed to pull the heat down from the lofts and kept both rooms (our bedroom and the bathroom) almost the same temperature as the living room. It's pretty awesome.
We are fortunate to live where we can find trees already fallen and seasoned, so with a family wood haul every other week, we are usually well stocked on firewood. It's a bit of work, but it beats buying firewood. All things considered, minus the cost of the gas for the chainsaw, we're heating for free.
So there's a bit of back story. As I mentioned, I'm a novice at this starting and feeding a wood stove. My husband is an excellent teacher, but we birth have our own unique ways of handling things. As I've tried (and erred), I've learned some tricks that help get and keep a hot fire going.
I tried using dryer lint in toilet paper tubes, but it seemed to me that they burned too fast and not hot enough. I have burned cardboard boxes, paper bags, all kinds of things to try to start a fire. Finally, I think I've got it!
One side effect of having firewood piled on the floor is the presence of wood chips, bark, etc. I am always sweeping up. Late one night, when I looked forlornly at the bits of wood in front of the stove, I decided to throw it into the fire. Woosh! It lit up like tiny little fireflies and breathed life into the dying coals. So naturally I wrapped it in newspaper and tied it with twine!
Now, rather than transporting the dusty wood bits to another surface, I just plop down on the floor with newspaper or phone book pages, scissors, twine and make a bunch at a time.
Just put 2 or 3 little bundles of potential under your sticks or kindling and light. Or, if you need to bring the fire back to life, put a bundle in with another log.
Granted, this may seem too simple to explain. However, I'm an experimental pioneer, so I thought I'd share in case anyone else could benefit from my limited experience.
I hope at least one reader has an "a-ha" moment. ☺
