Fantasy Football Cafe Forum

by **Metroid** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:41 am

Art Vandelay wrote:
Metroid wrote:
Art Vandelay wrote:I heat with wood exclusively, and I regularly leave the house with a fire going. I don't think it's anything to be concerned with at all, assuming you're up on your maintenance.

Depends on what type of fireplace you have, like what type of covering you have over the face opening. My buddy heats with wood exclusively as well, one time we were hanging out and a log "popped" and a large ember actually flew over his fire screen and rolled onto his rug....I'm glad we were there.

If you have an "insert" I wouldn't worry, flue fires are pretty rare and even if that happens when you're home most likely your neighbor will notice first.

Right. I've got a wood stove, not a fireplace, and it has a door that latches closed, not a screen. I definitely wouldn't leave home with a fire burning if there was any chance of an ember escaping. Although, sometimes when I'm home, particularly when I'm first getting the fire going, I leave the door cracked open to create more airflow, and the other day the fire popped and shot an ember all the way across the room. It hit me in the back of my head and fell behind me into the chair I was sitting in, burning a small hole in it. Another time a couple weeks I went to open the door and put a piece of wood on and when I did a piece fell out and rolled onto the floor. Apparently the wood inside had shifted as it burned and was resting against the door. Luckily we keep a fire-proof rug in front of the hearth, so it didn't burn the carpet or anything, but it certainly put a scare into me. And I clean my flue once in the fall when it starts to get cold and again halfway through the winter, plus I get up there and check it a couple times between cleanings, and I burn a lot of madrone, so I'm not too worried about a flue fire.

Gotcha. Yeah wood stoves or wood burning inserts are where its at, pellet stoves are actually very efficient too. Sadly the home I'm in now has none of those nor a fireplace of any kind, kind of a tough one for me being a mason. :-[

Man you clean your flue a lot, it's probably a good thing but you may be doing more than you need to, you know your flue better than I though. Stove pipes have a much more narrow opening so they do have to be cleaned out on occasion. You can also do "controlled flue burns" from time to time that help burn out the gooey creosote that sticks to the walls of the stove pipe, and turn it into carbon. You could probably find a book or site on the web on how to do that, I have never done it myself. :-?

It's funny I asked my bosses dad(77 year old mason) how often he cleaned his flue(open face brick fireplace and chimney) he laughed and said never. Cleaning flues, he said, was BS and a just a way for people to make money. Obviously flue fires happen so he is just being silly, but he was partially serious. :-o

Funny story Knapp, I imagine you running around in your feety-jammies, screaming, with your arms flailing about over your head. :-b

by **Guru13** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:06 am

Metroid wrote: kind of a tough one for me being a mason.

You went back to school didn't you?

by **stomperrob** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:15 am

FantasyFutballGuru13 wrote:
Metroid wrote: kind of a tough one for me being a mason.

You went back to school didn't you?

Yeh,the bum is a college student now so he's prohibited from doing any manual labor! ;-7

by **Art Vandelay** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:23 am

I do clean mine often. If I had to pay someone else to do it, I would probably only have it done every other year or so, but it takes me all of 15 minutes to get up there and do it, I can do that twice a year to lessen the risk of my house burning down.

by **Metroid** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:24 am

Yup just finished my first term...first 4.0 ever. :-B

by **Metroid** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:27 am

Art Vandelay wrote:I do clean mine often. If I had to pay someone else to do it, I would probably only have it done every other year or so, but it takes me all of 15 minutes to get up there and do it, I can do that twice a year to lessen the risk of my house burning down.

Totally, better to be safe than sorry. And yeah it is really easy, and actually kind of fun in a way....one of those "manly" things to do, like everything that has to do with the fireplace is, chopping wood, starting the fire, cleaning it. ;-)

by **Omaha Red Sox** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:45 pm

Growing up we used to get changed next to the wood stove because it was the only warm place in the unfinished basement we were living in at the time. We had a very large rottweiler and, like most dogs, he liked to lean into you so you could pet him. Well, wouldn't you know, I was in the middle of getting changed and this dog, about twice my size, leaned against me right into the wood stove. This stove had a ridge that ran around the top so I ended up with a burn line across my ass. Still there today. !+)

by **scottaa1** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 2:59 pm

Omaha Red Sox wrote: This stove had a ridge that ran around the top so I ended up with a burn line across my ass. Still there today.

Coulda been worse... you could have been facing toward the wood stove. 8-o

by **Omaha Red Sox** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:56 pm

scottaa1 wrote:
Omaha Red Sox wrote: This stove had a ridge that ran around the top so I ended up with a burn line across my ass. Still there today.

Coulda been worse... you could have been facing toward the wood stove.

That just hurts to think about... !+)