A cabin without a wood stove is just unthinkable. Without the warm glow of a wood stove to keep you company during long winter nights, the cabin feels dark and dreary . A wood stove warms up the 450 square foot cabin quickly with its intense dry heat, killing the damp and mildew that is an issue from humid summer and fall days. Despite the hours dedicated to having this cozy accomplice in this off-grid life, It is an important source of heat and protection.
A regular size wood stove was not an option for my little space. I found a small family-run company in Idaho, Tiny Wood Stove (pretty easy to find) who specializes in tiny-living wood stoves and are the “unofficial sponsor of warm and cozy.” I selected one of their largest models, the Dwarf Stove that has a glass door, a must for me.
With the generous help from a friend who designed and built a fantastic chimney, it wasn’t long before my new stove was burning its first logs. Then all the fun began.
First I had to learn to use a chain saw and cut wood. Then I had to split the wood. Then there was the stacking of wood. It is fun at first, but quickly becomes a big chore. And after three years, I still have not got this big chore figured out. It is only mid-February and I am almost out of cut wood. I am still nervous about attempting to cut logs that are frozen. The chainsaw struggles so much that it is hard to control. Maybe we will have an early spring thaw like last year, but right now I am in the same boat as the past two winters.
Buying logs is not a great option because they are too long for my stove. I buy some and split it to help with my wood that is still wet, but I have this free resource right here and with the number of dead trees I seem to have in my woods, I can’t see ever running out. Right now, I am still cutting up the logs from trees I had felled around the cabin three years ago. The ones that looked like they could fall on the cabin. A remaining Maple did split and fall this winter, but fortunately went the opposite direction and crushed my fence instead. I don’t want to take them all down, but may have to in the near future. But I digress.
Wood they say takes a season to season. Maybe I misinterpreted that phrase, but I found out it’s not a season such as from spring to summer, wood takes at least a year. That first winter in 2021, my wood was so green it caused a chimney fire in my new chimney. The wood wouldn’t burn well, smoked a lot and produced a ton of creosote which collected around the chimney cap. One night out of nowhere I heard a sound that immediately tells you something is very wrong. Smoke was pouring out of the stove, and the pipe seams. I looked outside at the chimney to see flames leaping into the sky. I didn’t know what to do but call my sister who has had a wood stove for years. Put the fire out she cried. Duh. I doused the fire and the flames in the chimney died out. My heart rate began to go back to normal.
This next part might convince you that I am a total idiot. I did take the chimney apart and cleaned it as well as I could. I knew the chimney cap didn’t look right but there wasn’t a chance in hell I was climbing up 20 feet to take a look. So yep, I continued using the wood stove. I didn’t really notice at first but smoke was seeping out of the pipe and vents as the cap was so clogged it had no where to go. My cabin filled with smoke, which I thought it would stop after the fire got hotter. It didn’t. In the daylight, I found everything covered in a film of black soot and ash. It got into my closets and drawers, staining my clothes a yellow brown hue. I had to get everything cleaned. And wash the walls, the windows, the ceilings. I went out and used my chimney brush to knock that clogged chimney cap right off the pipe. Problem solved. Except then I needed a new cap.
Last year was another smaller chimney fire, not because my wood was green, but because the chimney needs cleaning a lot more frequently I discovered. This year, I clean it every three months. Fortunately it is isn’t a hard chore, just messy. I disconnect the inside pipe and take it outside to get the creosote off with a metal brush. I use my long chimney brush to go up the opening on the outside and brush it out. No fires yet this winter, but I probably still have three more months to go. If I chop more wood.
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