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61

Fire Wood / Re: seasoned wood

« on: January 13, 2014, 09:51:05 AM »

Count me in as another guy who likes to do the leaves on method for a week or two minimum.  I was taught this way from my BIL from Vermont and it does work quite nicely.

62

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Burn Time

« on: January 07, 2014, 08:34:16 AM »

My first year with my owb, I had stove/fireplace pieces only and didn't have any troubles when the weather got cold. 

63

Portage & Main / Re: firebox door seal/gasket

« on: December 19, 2013, 07:38:35 AM »

I called P&M a while back about getting a new rope gasket and was told to run a bead of high temp silicone on top of the existing gasket to save on buying a new one.  I haven't done anything with this yet but would like to.  Does this sound right?

64

Portage & Main / Re: optimizer 250 4th season review

« on: December 12, 2013, 04:42:07 PM »

I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to all the parts of my opt 250 but what exactly does a broken nozzle mean to the running of the unit?  I've noticed mine has chunks missing from around it but it burns flawlessly part way into its third year.

65

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Gassers - what's the longest you've gone between cleanings?

« on: December 11, 2013, 04:34:53 PM »

6-7 gallons of ash?  Holy cow!  After 6 weeks and close to 3 cords of punky wood, I only had about 3-4 gallons worth.  I do like the sounds of that thermometer on the stack.

66

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Gassers - what's the longest you've gone between cleanings?

« on: December 11, 2013, 08:16:32 AM »

I am just curious as to how long people have gone without a cleaning.  And how often you are cleaning on average?  I got a little busy and neglectful and went 6 weeks.  I live in NJ and our weather hasn't been that cold until now so I figured I needed to get to cleaning my P&M 250.  The brushes were a little tighter than usual going through the heat exchange tubes but not terrible  Ashes at both ends of the heat exchange tubes were pretty deep but the stove was still burning relatively smoke free.  I burn a lot of partially rotted yet well seasoned wood that is a by product of me selling firewood and try to clean it every other weekend during the heavy burning season. 

67

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Loading wood into boiler question

« on: November 07, 2013, 11:09:14 AM »

I have the P&M Optimizer 250 and have never had an issue with wood bridging.  Don't know if it's because of their set up with a strong fan or I have just been lucky.  I pay no attention to how I load it other than just mixing big pieces with smaller pieces.

68

Portage & Main / Re: Burning spruce in my gasifier?

« on: September 04, 2013, 03:12:30 PM »

Last year I burned about 6-7 cords of yellow pine and had no issues at all.  Sure I had to throw more in at a time but I would do it again without thinking.

69

Fire Wood / Re: Rain Rain Rain and more RAIN

« on: July 02, 2013, 05:47:41 PM »

I know your pain.  We got just over 16" of rain here in south Jersey in the month of June.  We've had thunderstorms 9 out of the last 10 days.  Even when it's not raining, humidity is extremely high.  Supposed to be low to mid 90's and sun on its way for the weekend though.

70

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Typical number of cords.

« on: May 17, 2013, 08:31:01 AM »

Full - is there any other kind?

71

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Typical number of cords.

« on: May 15, 2013, 12:25:10 PM »

P&M Optimizer 250 in south Jersey.  Fired it up the first weekend in October and shut it down the last weekend in April.  Heating 3000 square feet - 9 cords this year.  About 6-7 of that was pine.  Last year my heating season was shorter and I used 5.5 cords of hardwood.

72

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: This is a miserable spring in Michigan!

« on: April 15, 2013, 08:36:17 AM »

Guys commenting about global warming...you do realize what the term global means right?   :bash:Sorry I couldn't resist.

73

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Smoke

« on: April 05, 2013, 09:31:26 PM »

Wow, so glad I went with a gasser from portage and main.  Have never seen smoke like that coming from mine and rarely get a smoke smell on me while loading

74

Fire Wood / Re: firewood prep

« on: March 18, 2013, 08:21:08 AM »

12 cord of oak in MA - what is your heat load?

75

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Actual Electric Savings...

« on: March 13, 2013, 07:07:30 AM »

2.5 years ago I moved into a new (to me house).  It's 34 years old, fairly well insulated, 3,000 square feet, has a fireplace, and oil for heat.  I burned a little over 5 cords of wood that first winter in the fireplace just trying to keep the heater from kicking on so often.  Now, I know that's not efficient at all but I sell 60-75 cords of wood a year so throwing 5 cords in there really wasn't a big deal to me.  We kept the heat at 60 at night and 66 during the day.  The living room and kitchen were always nice and toasty with a fire going but I was a slave to it when I was home.  I weighed a lot of options and decided to put out the most money up front and bought a P&M Opt. 250.  I spent $2000 on oil that first year and zero since.  I now keep my house at 66 at night (bedroom window open though so I can actually sleep) and 72-74 during the day.  With the rising cost of oil, I figured I would be spending at least $3500 a year on oil to keep the house warm.  And now I have a place to get rid of all the uglies/partial rotten/pine from my wood operation.  Before that, I had a hard time getting rid of that stuff.  With all of the money invested, including the unit, underground pex, concrete slab, and installation(since I'm not the handiest guy in the world), the stove will pay itself off in 3.5 years max.