New Hampshire – Page 51 – New England's Narrow Road

The Cost of a Used Wood Stove

I took this photo right after two strong guys brought this stove into my basement. It is now hooked up and running…I had my first good fire in it last weekend.

It took a couple of hours, but the house warmed right up except for the bedrooms, which I don’t care about during the day. It’s in the basement at the bottom of the stairs and situated under the living room. So I leave the basement door open and the heat comes up through the floor as well.
I am relieved to have the alternate heat source – and I have a new grill sitting on the deck, both of which will come in handy in the event of a bad storm.

Last year my neighbor and I (I am in a duplex) melted snow on top of her stove to use for flushing toilets during the 8 days we were without electricity. I also used her stove to heat the soups and food thawing out in my big freezer (I lost a lot of it).

New wood stoves are very expensive, so I went the used route. And I learned some lessons.

I bought this one (an All Nighter) for $450. Paid the guys who went to pick it up -about 30 minutes from my house-, bring it here and slide it down the sloping back yard into the basement (what a job!) $100. Oh and the stove pipe and install was $70 for the pipe and $20 for the install. Then I discovered that I needed fire brick for the inside since most of it was broken and missing (the guy who sold it to me said it wasn’t necessary to have brick- what did I know). But I found out that without bricks, the stove could warp if it gets too hot. 2 boxes of fire brick cost $70 and $50 to install it. So my total output for the used stove was $760.

I still made out well since new stoves – small ones – are around $900 and thats not including delivery and installing. And my stove is big.

I also just found out about a new kind of burning material – sawdust compressed logs of some kind. I went by the fireplace store in Hillsborough “The Heat is On” and the guy there gave me some to try. He said they can be burned in place of wood. Anyone heard of these? They break apart and can be used as fire starters too, which is what I will use my little pieces for. By the way, now that I don’t need a stove I have found that he sells consignments and new stoves. If you live in the southern NH area and need a stove, check out his little place in Hillsborough.

***WHAT’S THE BEST KIND OF wood to BURN? Check out this chart.

Demanding Squirrels, A Picture Story

My squirrels are crazy…and bold! Once all the seed they can steal from the birds is gone they come looking for more – even if it means coming inside!

: Heading to the food source

: Hello..I need more seeds…

: Don’t worry honey, I’ll find a way in..(his wife is in the background)

: I see how this door opens…

I sit next to the slider most of the day while working on my laptop at the kitchen table
and when I hear the scratching at the door this is what I see.

Maybe I could train them to fill the feeders for me.

New Fire Brick – The Heat is On!

Last December the northeast had a horrific ice storm and the electricity was off for 8 days at my place. I had just moved in and although there was a spot in the basement for a wood stove, I didn’t have one.

So due to the kindness of my landlord and neighbors, I didn’t freeze, but I sure was cold. Inside my house the temp. hovered around 38-40 degrees. In fact one day it “warmed up” enough that I opened the windows because it was warmer outside.

So I made it my quest to find a wood stove before the next winter arrived.
I also don’t have much money, so a used one was what I hoped for and I ended up with a good size “All Nighter”, but it was missing most of the fire bricks inside.

I was told that it could be run without the bricks, but if the fire was too hot the sides could warp so I got some bricks just to be safe.

The bricks just set in along the sides and it’s not difficult to do if the bricks are the correct size and if there are not old bricks, broken off and stuck to the sides already! That was my problem.

So someone came out and put them in for me. I don’t know for sure, and information online is hard to find, but a friend bought a new stove and had to burn on a low temp for 40 hours to “cure” the bricks so I will do the same just to be safe.

I just found lots of helpful info at the UNH Cooperative Extension site, so go there if you have questions about heating with a wood stove.

Make Your Own Suet

It’s November and was only 27° this morning so I started to feed the birds. I had made up some suet about a month ago and kept it in the freezer to use this winter. The birds seem to like my homemade suet much better than the store bought kind.

Although we don’t eat much bacon, I save the grease in a can in the fridge to use for making suet. When I have a full can, I add it to store bought fat (beef usually) and melt it on low heat. Then I add peanut butter, and whatever else I have to bind it together – such as old bread, cornmeal, crackers, cereal, etc.

I’ve found that using a disposable tin pan is best, since clean up can be a chore, and a nice square or rectangular one is perfect for cutting the suet (once it’s cold) into the right size for my feeders.

I don’t add seeds of any kind to my suet as it is intended mainly for woodpeckers. I put out plenty of sunflower and thistle seeds for the seed eating birds so I don’t waste it in the suet.

A tail prop feeder works best for woodpeckers since they use their tails for balance. Also the upside down suet feeders are good for keeping the squirrels from chowing down.