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Zach & Annie's Nomadic Adventure Bus, "Stormy"—@naturalstatenomads
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Dwarf Stoves on TV
Hello! Back in August, I bought a Tiny Wood Stove from this business. What a Treasure!! What a Blessing!!
I live in the mountains of Tennessee, and even though it doesn’t usually get below 0′ F, it does often get below freezing. I have already had many fires in my little stove. I have learned some little ‘tricks’ about the small stove compared to bigger stoves.
1. All that small wood that most people overlook or only use as kindling? Yes, the small stove works Great on those. If you need an idea of the length of wood you need? Just think of a tube from a paper towel roll. Nothing longer than that can fit, and that size can really only fit crosswise. I Glean a Lot of wood from fallen branches. Have not had to cut down any trees yet. Just using up from the stacks of fallen branches that have been made over the years since I had a wood stove.
2. A Wood stove Thermometer is a Really Good item to have. It is hard to gauge if you have your fire going good enough or hot enough by feel alone. The thermometer lets you know if you should get it burning just a bit hotter to help prevent that creosote build up.
3. Speaking of Creosote, it is a little too easy to build up creosote in this stove. Perhaps because of my location and Not needing a hot hot fire? More than likely there are several reasons. Backing up, I am gleaning from Old tree branches that have fallen in previous years, so all my wood is over a year old. Some just falls apart when I pick it up. So, not burning green wood … at all. I think the creosote is building up because I usually just need a fire to get chill out and don’t get fire hot enough. That is what the thermometer is showing anyway.
That being said, I have tried a few Creosote buster products. The creosote logs need to be sawed into at least 3 pieces just so they fit and burn up. So, not a good option. Rutland makes a good Powder that comes with a scoop and can be tossed onto hot coals. This works pretty well. If you don’t want to mess with the powder, Rutland also make small cylinders that can be tossed in. They work well too and are easy with less mess.
4. Small billows are a wonderful tool to have on hand to boost that low burning fire back up to creosote burning level. Tractor & Supply carry nice small ones for under $20 here.
5. Fan(s). When I bought the stove, I bought a little fan to go with it. The kind that when it heats up, the fan blows. This is a Wonderful tool as well. The stove is within sight from almost anywhere in my tiny home ( my home is 10 ft x 16 ft, with a small loft, so less than 200 sq ft) so I watch for those fan blades to start slowing down. As soon as they do, I know I better get up and add wood, unless I am letting fire go out.
Overall, I am Just So Happy to have been Blessed with this stove! Thank You So Very Much! Your staff were Wonderful to work with! So patient and kind! Never made me feel stupid when I had a question.
May God Bless you with this business, You get top stars from me!
Hi Juanita! Thank you so much for your feedback. So glad to hear you’re enjoying your wood stove in your tiny home.
To your issue regarding creosote — I agree that building lots of cool fires will cause creosote buildup much faster. Periodic use of creosote remover can help, but it’s no substitute for mechanical sweeping. We like to use a rotary chimney cleaner kit that attaches to your drill, which gives your flue system a thorough scrubbing in just one or two passes. You can find our favorite creosote remover and rotary cleaner kit in the Accessories section of the store.
Keep in mind that downed wood might still not be properly cured even if it’s been down for a year. The structure of the wood and its bark can slow drying quite a bit. That’s why the clock on curing doesn’t start moving very quickly until the wood is chopped and stacked. That’s not to say that whole branches and logs don’t dry out naturally—they do, just slower. The best way to know if your wood is properly cured is with a wood moisture meter, which we also have in the Accessories section of the store.
Even if you do have wet wood, though, the cooler burning or smoldering fires are more likely the cause of creosote buildup. Wet or improperly cured wood isn’t impossible to burn clean, it’s just more difficult since the water absorbs a significant amount of heat.
My suggestion for days when you’re just trying to take the chill off and watch the fire, is to get the stove up to temperature quickly, and then let the fire die down to coals. Then, instead of feeding the fire with larger logs and tightening down the air controls, add smaller logs more frequently with more open air controls.
Just getting the stove and flue system up to temperature once a day will help reduce creosote buildup, and keeping your air controls more open will help avoid smoldering fires.
As always, feel free to drop me a line at support@tinywoodstove.com if there’s anything else I can do to help in the future.