Well sorry the morning news is running late for, alas, we slept in after what passes as a late night for the old fellow. Then upon arising I decided to start the day by firing up the Dutch-West wood stove for the first time this year as the temperature was about 25 F (I'd guess that's about -4 C) out and a bit chilly in the house also. With my usual preparedness (none) I had no kindling etc so I grabbed a coat and hat (after making the morning tea) and went out to scavenge some dry twigs and branch-ettes (sorry about the made-up word I used for small branches a little larger than twigs). Sticking a nice twist of newsprint into the stove pipe opening and a few strips of torn news below the twigs I lit the large match (which when I was young was usually referred to as 'a barn burner') fired the twist/paper in the pipe to set up a good draft and then lit the twigs. In a few moments all was a-blaze and I added some bone dry 2 to 3 inch thicker branch wood (well a little preparedness I guess) and placed some nice split oak from last spring onto that. Voilá! We're on schedule for a warm entrance-way and hopefully some major assistance on the furnace oil.
As I add the morning photos I check on the wood stove and find the catalyst temperature has risen sufficiently to close the damper that diverts the smoke to exit through the catalyst which will then scavenge more heat by burning the smoke particles that would normally exit to the out-side. The wood I burn I gather from the property here - almost invariably oaks that have died from one reason or another. So the wood is almost always seasoned at cutting and if not I do try to keep it for six to twelve months, cut and split, so that the moisture content is low. Very little smoke is visible from the chimney, even with-out the 'smoke burner', and when it is in use all that is visible at the chimney exit are heat waves rippling in the morning light.
