first time since the winter,, that I am fireing up the wood burner. I checked the pipe to see if it needs cleaning early this summer,,, but I do need to replace the door gasket. The first one lasted 2 years,, seems I am replaceing it every year now. Temps got into the mid 30's this morning, was a chilly start of the day,,,, with the windows open still,, and the furnace turned off,,,,,, getting out of bed, took some effort for sure. ( but I had to pee SSOooooooo BAD)

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 23, 2002

Answers

30's? Brrrrrrrrrrr!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), September 23, 2002.

It hit 43 here. I'm loving it, did chores in shorts & a T shirt-no shoes. Can you tell I like cold weather. We have to install a liner in the chimney this fall yet. Two weeks ago we checked it and found out it had never had a liner, just the original bricks, although the sellers said it was relined and the insurance company checked it before insuring the house. :) I guess we're just lucky we didn't have a house fire due to the chimney last yr.

Called a place that does it and they wanted $3000 since we need 26' of liner, so we're buying the stainless liner and doing it ourselves! Total cost should be less than $400.00

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 23, 2002.

Kathy...you sound like me!! Hubby is feeling "cold" at night when the temps drop to 50 degrees and I'm still throwing off the covers and running around in a t-shirt during the day. He thinks it's time to put the electric blanket on the bed.....NOT!!!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), September 23, 2002.

dont get me wrong,, I LOVE the cold,, just hasnt seemed like much of a summer,, since I hadnt worked too much,, and the agrden didnt produce too much, since I hadnt planted much. I much preferr the cold than the heat, my bedroom window will still be cracked open, most of the winter, and the heat vents will always be shut off in those rooms.

Kathy, what makes you think you NEED a liner?? Liners are installed if the motar is cracked/broken, its usually cheaper than rebuilding the WHOLE chimney

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 23, 2002.

Stan, the original chimney is just brick and my husband thinks that it is supposed to have a liner. Our old home had the clay liner and we've never had any experience with a chimney that is just brick. It's too tall to tell if there are any breaks in the mortar. The one place that will video tape the interior wants 475.oo to come out here to do the video inspection; they're located 80 miles away in TN so that's part of the high price. What would we look for without the aid of a video, we did the flashlight beam inspection but it just doesn't light up the sides well enough to be sure there's no cracks or breaks in the mortar. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I just don't want to burn down the house due to a bad chimney.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 23, 2002.

if your not sure,, and its just as cheap/expensive to put one in than to get it inspected,,, err on the side of prudence

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 24, 2002.

Now I don't know nuthin' but I've been burning a wood stove in two different houses for almost 20 years. My last chimney didn't have a liner and neither does this one. I used to be in the fire repair business and the flue fires and casualties from burning wood that I saw could be blamed on plain ol' stupidity. I've scraped creasote (sp?) out of my flue, put a propane torch to it and it didn't want to burn. If you are running a lot of very hot heat up your chimney, you are doing it wrong. If you are burning paper and crap and sending little sparks up you are doing it wrong. Like I said, I don't know nuthin' but it seems to me that people who burn down their houses with a (proper) woodstove are as likely to start their car and stand on the gas until the engine blows. If anyone wants any advice (no argueing!) e-mail me. Marty Stoetzle, Montrose, Mo. martys@iland.net

-- Zen Clown (martys@iland.net), September 25, 2002.