The signs say heavy snow and cold weather for Kansas City

The rabbits, cats, and dogs in the Kansas City area have a noticeably heavy coat right now – according to folklore heavier coats on any of our animal friends indicate very cold wet weather coming soon. But that is not the only way to predict the weather using non-scientific means.

Persimmon Seeds: According to Mike Dougherty of Tree Management Company in Lenexa, Kansas, find persimmon fruit in the supermarket or on a persimmon tree in your neighborhood. Note: You can eat persimmon fruit but most people don’t think it is very tasty and prefer to leave it for the deer, squirrels, and raccoons. The fruit should be locally-grown to reflect the area weather. Cut one of the seeds inside the fruit open and examine the shape of the white kernel inside.

• If the kernel is fork-shaped, we can expect powdery, light snow and a mild winter.
• If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect to be "cut" by icy, cold and cutting winds.
• If the kernel is spoon-shaped, lots of heavy, wet snow will fall. The spoon is supposed to represent a shovel, which you will need to have on hand.

Animal Folklore:

·         If a mole digs its hole 2½ feet deep, expect severe weather; if two feet deep, not so severe; if one foot deep, a mild winter.

·         When pigs gather leaves and straw in all, expect a cold winter.

·         When rabbits are fat in October and November, expect a long, cold winter.

·         Wooly Worms: According to folklore, the black-and-brown caterpillars can predict the weather for the coming winter. If you find one during the fall season and see that the brown band is narrow, winter weather will be harsh. Supposedly, wooly worm weather predictions have been accurate 80% of the time since tracking began in the 1950s.

·         Insects and birds nesting high in the trees in the fall indicate a harsh winter is ahead.

·         Tough acorns: A thicker, harder shell than normal on acorns is a sign of hard weather to come.

·         Squirrel activity: If the squirrels are bustling around and storing more food than normal, or burying their acorns deeper than normal, expect a hard winter.

The accuracy of these folklore traditions may be questionable, however, it will be interesting to see what actually happens this winter. If there is a lot of snow, I’ll be a believer.

Moon Signs:
“Clear Moon, frost soon.”  When the night sky is clear, Earth's surface cools rapidly—there is no cloud cover to keep the heat in. If the night is clear enough to see the Moon and the temperature drops enough, frost will form overnight, so expect a very chilly morning.

Farmer’s Almanac: I prefer to check a publication that has been around since 1792. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, December temperatures will average 30° (2° below avg.) and precipitation will be low at 0.5" (1" below avg.). The Almanac shows snowy and cold periods from December 12 – 27, then very cold. 

Negative House Pressure Problems

Smoking Fireplaces & Stoves —Smelly Fireplaces—Poor Indoor Air Quality

Many homes have negative pressure problems—this is common when homes are tightly insulated, or in larger or multi-story houses.  Not enough make-up air can get in the house for all of the things that need air, like fireplaces, wood stoves, gas ranges, furnaces water heaters — and people. Sick House Syndrome can also be a result of this issue and it is more common than most people think. 

Symptoms: Fireplaces or wood stoves smoke or smell when a second fireplace is used or when a furnace kicks on - or even when none of these things happen. This is because the furnace or fireplace needs air for combustion, and takes it from the place of least resistance which is often a fireplace.  This is a house problem—not a chimney problem.

When an exhaust fan is used in the kitchen or bath, or the furnace is used, this makes the problem worse.  You may notice cold air drafts coming from fireplaces, fireplaces that smoke, Carbon Monoxide backup from the furnace, gas fireplace, or hot water heater, or leaky doors and windows. These are all symptoms of negative pressure in the house. Sometimes unexplained illness and flu like symptoms can be an indication of negative house pressure as well.

GAS appliances may backdraft Carbon Monoxide without the occupant's knowledge - CO is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. Tip: don't ignore CO alarms-if one goes off there is a reason. 

 Solutions to the problem: 

The Draw Collar has an electric element that keeps the flue heated so that draft is always established and going up and out of the chimney. In addition to reducing or eliminating smells from the flue the inducer prevents back-drafting and smoking issues when starting a fire or at the end of the fire while it is cooling down. We recommend installation of a draft inducer with every stove insert or freestanding stove on a lower level of a home. However, it does not address the rest of the appliances or house. 

Condar through the wall ventilator: The Condar ASV-90 provides the ventilation you need without the drafts, energy loss and security concerns of an open window. Open windows can give you a blast of arctic air–along with dust, noise, and security concerns. The ASV-90 delivers diffused, filtered, fresh air quietly and efficiently. This is installed in a wall in the room where an appliance does not properly draft. 

NEW: The Padgitt MHV (Make-up Air Ventilator) system brings in needed air on demand from the house, heats it during the winter months, then distributes air through the house through the cold air returns. This supplies needed combustion air for all appliances in the house including the furnace, hot water heater, and fireplaces.  It also re-supplies the house with 6 fresh air exchanges per day as recommended by the EPA for occupants to breathe. Better health is a side-effect of this installation. A handy person, HVAC Tech, or Chimney Tech can do the installation. Sized to the house. 

See more information at www.chimkc.com
_____________________________________________________________________________

Marge Padgitt is the CEO of HearthMasters, Inc. She is the publisher of Wood-Fired Magazine and and author of chimney and venting books and articles. Marge is a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep and NFI Certified Wood-Burning Specialist. Contact Marge at hearthmastersboss@gmail.com 

Cures for hard-starting wood-burning stoves

In the middle of winter when temperatures are very cold and the wind is biting, a nice cozy fire to warm up to is what many people look forward to at the end of the day. But some wood-burning stoves just won’t start, or take forever to get going, and that can be extremely frustrating.

We had this issue just yesterday when my husband started up the wood stove at 630 p.m. after we had both been out all day. The stove was cold, there were few embers left from the morning fire, and the temperature outside was 22 degrees not counting the wind chill factor. The Class A stainless steel chimney was very, cold and the stove just didn’t want to start.

There are several factors that can affect wood stove starts:

• Cold air falls, so the air in the chimney pushes downward making it more difficult to get a stove started on very cold days. This applies to metal chimneys and masonry chimneys.
• Inadequate air supply will hinder or make it impossible to get a fire going.
• Wet wood is hard to start and burn and should never be used.
• Stoves located on lower levels are affected by negative house pressure.

Regency wood stove

Solutions to these issues can involve opening a door or window to get adequate air needed to start the stove, or installation of a whole-house ventilator to be sure that there is adequate air for the house in general, and for the stove in particular. If the stove is located on a lower level negative pressure will also work against it, so the installation of a chimney pipe heater will likely be necessary. The heater can be installed on a stove on any level to make starting easier. What the heater does is keep the chimney warm so that draft is easy to establish, and it also kicks in when the stove is cooling down so that there is no smoke backup.

Always use dry wood (hard or soft) with 20% or less moisture content. Investment in an inexpensive moisture meter will assure that the wood is dry enough to burn.
Start a fire using very small pieces of kindling or Fatwood (dry pine). Start a fire using the top-down burn method with kindling on top and larger pieces below it. This method makes the fire burn longer and is more efficient and easier to start.

According to the Midwest Chimney Safety Council, when planning location of a wood stove, try to place the stove in the center part of the house and have less chimney exposed to the exterior. Besides being the best location to distribute heat evenly throughout the home, the less outside exposure for the chimney the better. The house will keep the pipe warmer and make it easier to start a wood-burning stove and keep the fire going.

When starting a wood stove, open up the air supply doors fully to let in as much air as possible. After the fire is going, slowly close these doors, leaving enough of an opening for the fire to keep going without having roaring flames. A fire that is too hot can cause overheating of the stove and/or a chimney fire. Keep a stove thermometer on the stove to regulate temperature, which should be between 400 – 600 degrees.

For more information:
Chimney Safety Institute of America
Midwest Chimney Safety Council
Hearth, Patio, and Barbeque Association
National Chimney Sweep Guild

The signs say heavy snow and cold weather for the Midwest

The rabbits, cats and dogs in the Midwest area have a noticeably heavy coat right now – according to folklore heavier coats on any of our animal friends indicates very cold wet weather coming soon. But that is not the only way to predict the weather using non-scientific means.

Persimmon Seeds: According to Mike Dougherty of Tree Management Company in Lenexa, Kansas, find persimmon fruit in the supermarket or on a persimmon tree in your neighborhood. Note: You can eat persimmon fruit but most people don’t think it is very tasty and prefer to leave it for the deer, squirrels and raccoons. The fruit should be locally-grown to reflect the area weather. Cut one of the seeds inside the fruit open and examine the shape of the white kernel inside.

• If the kernel is fork-shaped, we can expect powdery, light snow and a mild winter.
• If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect to be "cut" by icy, cold and cutting winds.
• If the kernel is spoon-shaped, lots of heavy, wet snow will fall. The spoon is supposed to represent a shovel, which you will need to have on hand.

Animal Folklore:

·         If a mole digs its hole 2½ feet deep, expect severe weather; if two feet deep, not so severe; if one foot deep, a mild winter.

·         When pigs gather leaves and straw in all, expect a cold winter.

·         When rabbits are fat in October and November, expect a long, cold winter.

·         Wooly Worms: According to folklore, the black-and-brown caterpillars can predict the weather for the coming winter. If you find one during the fall season and see that the brown band is narrow, winter weather will be harsh. Supposedly, wooly worm weather predictions have been accurate 80% of the time since tracking began in the 1950s.

·         Insects and birds nesting high in the trees in the fall indicate a harsh winter is ahead.

·         Tough acorns: A thicker, harder shell than normal on acorns is a sign of hard weather to come.

·         Squirrel activity: If the squirrels are bustling around and storing more food than normal, or burying their acorns deeper than normal, expect a hard winter.

The accuracy of these folklore traditions may be questionable, however, it will be interesting to see what actually happens this winter. If there is a lot of snow, I’ll be a believer.

Moon Signs:
“Clear Moon, frost soon.”  When the night sky is clear, Earth's surface cools rapidly—there is no cloud cover to keep the heat in. If the night is clear enough to see the Moon and the temperature drops enough, frost will form overnight, so expect a very chilly morning.

Farmer’s Almanac: I prefer to check a publication that has been around since 1792. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, December temperatures will average 30° (2° below avg.) and precipitation will be low at 0.5" (1" below avg.). The Almanac shows snowy and cold periods from December 12 – 27, then very cold.

And then there is the Weather Channel, which reported today that a Polar Vortex is on its way to Kansas City. Oh, yea, winter is here already!

Use of fireplace for heating can cause house fire

Photo: CScottDorrett - Fotolia.com

During the extreme cold we are experiencing throughout much of the United States this winter many people attempt to use their fireplace as a source for supplemental heat. But what most homeowners are unaware of is that fireplaces are designed for ambient fires only, and are not meant to be used for heating purposes.

Open fireplaces are inefficiently designed so that most of the heat escapes into the flue, rather than the home. In fact, open fireplaces use heated room air for combustion, thereby lowering the temperature inside the house. Exception: Rumford style fireplaces.

According to the Midwest Chimney Safety Council, chimney sweeps are reporting record calls for chimney service, no doubt due to the unusually long and bitterly cold winter. What the chimney sweeps are finding out is that their customers have been using their fireplaces as a heating source, rather than for just the occasional friendly fire. That is when trouble can happen.

Open wood-or gas burning fireplaces are designed with clearances to combustibles set at certain distances with the idea that people will use their appliance for short periods of time – up to four hours in duration. Once that time has been exceeded, or before if improperly installed,  the nearby combustible materials may overheat and ignite. Combustible headers and studs, which are hidden from view by finishing materials may not be properly installed with proper clearance, which makes matters even worse. Unfortunately, improper construction around fireplaces is a common issue and many house fires have been the result.

Nearby combustible wood may pryolizes over time due to exposure to heat through the masonry or metal fireplace. Pyrolization is the chemical alteration of wood, which lowers the ignition temperature significantly. Wood normally ignites at 500 degrees, but pyrolized wood can ignite at 180 degrees or lower.

After a Raytown, Missouri house fire in 2009 Fire Investigator Gene Padgitt was requested to find the cause and origin of the fire. The customer had used their masonry fireplace as the sole source of heat for three days while they had no gas after moving in their new home on a Friday. Combustible wood framing, which was improperly installed above the fireplace without proper clearances, ignited due to exposure to heat for the prolonged period. Padgitt said that this scenario is all too common and that unfortunately, he sees it often.

In yet another fire investigation in Topeka, Kansas in 2012 Gene found that the homeowner used a manufactured gas fireplace for seven days straight when wood framing, which was properly installed, ignited. The fire caused a total loss. The homeowner thought that he could heat his house with the fireplace.

This type of burning is called "Over-firing" in the chimney and hearth industry. The fact is that masonry fireplaces do not come with a homeowner's manual, and rarely do new home buyers find a manual for their manufactured fireplace. So it is up to the homeowner to get operation information from his chimney sweep or from websites.

Certain wood and gas appliances are designed for heating, while others are designed for ambient fires. Since there are no standards in the industry that have been adopted for masonry fireplaces, Padgitt suggests that homeowners use common sense when operating a fireplace or stove.  He suggests the following:

Appliances designed for ambient fires:

• Wood-burning manufactured fireplaces (read the manufacturer instructions)
• Wood-burning masonry fireplaces
• Gas-burning manufactured fireplaces (read the manufacturer instructions)
• Gas-burning masonry fireplaces

Appliances designed for heating:

• Wood-burning freestanding stoves with proper clearances
• Wood-burning fireplace inserts in masonry fireplaces
• Wood-burning masonry heaters
• Direct-Vent Gas fireplaces (per manufacturer instructions)
• Non-Venting gas logs in masonry fireplaces (read the manufacturer instructions which likely state that they are not to be used for longer than four hours at a time)

All gas and wood burning appliances should be installed by a professional technician, and inspected annually and swept or serviced as necessary by a professional chimney sweep or certified technician. Wood-burning stoves and inserts should be swept at least twice per season if used for primary heating purposes, or used on a regular basis in order to remove flammable creosote.

Note: Non-Venting gas logs and wood-burning fireplace inserts should never be installed in manufactured fireplaces. To do so voids the warranty on the fireplace, and alters the fireplace which is a code violation. Any alteration can be a fire hazard.

Resources:
Masonry Heater Association of North America
Chimney Safety Institute of America
Midwest Chimney Safety Council
National Fire Protection Association

Be Prepared for Cold Winter

Farmer's Almanac predicts a very cold winter for 2013-2014 with large areas of below-normal temperatures over the Northern Plains and the Great Lakes.  Precipitation is expected to be higher than normal in the Midwest, Southeast and Southern Plains.

HearthMasters encourages people to be prepared for power outages by installing a wood stove or fireplace insert for heating. Gas furnaces do not work without a fan, which is run on electricity.

Hearthstone soapstone wood stove

Wood stoves or inserts may be used for everyday heating purposes as the primary source of heat or as a supplemental heat source to cut down on fuel costs.

Gene and I use a wood stove at our own house, and prefer using it to the gas furnace because there is low fan sound and it feels better than heated air coming through the registers.  Wood stoves produce convective heat, and radiant heat - like the sun - so the warmth penetrates the body, which helps people with conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

During 2013 a $300 tax credit may be applied to a high-efficiency wood stove purchase.  Stoves should be sized correctly for the home, placed in the correct location for even heating, and installed by a professional stove installer, who should also install the chimney or flue liner.  This is not a DIY project, and most cities require that a permit be pulled by a qualified contractor for the installation. An improper installation can be a fire hazard.



Wood-burning stove insert

Wood stoves are freestanding appliances and inserts are installed in existing masonry chimneys.  They cannot be installed in a manufactured fireplace.


Wood stove or insert flues must be swept on a regular basis - once per year for supplemental heating, and twice per season if used for primary heating.  In some cases, sweeping more often may be necessary. 



This wood is not seasoned yet - there are no splits
or cracks in the ends

Use of the proper wood is critical to the performance of the stove.  Use only dry, seasoned hard or soft woods such as oak, hickory or maple.  Less wood is used when hardwoods are burned because they are more dense.  Purchase or cut wood at least six months in advance of the burning season and be sure to check the moisture content before burning, which should be between 15 - 20%.  Wet wood does not heat, the moisture must be burned off first which delays the heating time. 

Inexpensive moisture meters can be purchased from us or a hearth retailer, but a quick way to tell if wood is seasoned is to look for splits or cracks in the ends of the wood or bang two logs together - if there is a hollow sound it is pretty dry.  Keep wood off the ground and covered to keep rain off, but leave the sides open for air ventilation.

Never use dry pine logs or discarded Christmas trees in a wood stove or fireplace because they burn very hot very quickly, and chimney fires often occur when this is done.   If using hedge, use only one stick of hedge and two sticks of other wood at a time.  Hedge burns hot and fast as well and can cause overheating and warpage of a wood stove, which is costly damage and a potential safety hazard. 

Chimney fires are caused by the accumulation of creosote in the flue which ignites from heat or a spark.  Avoid chimney fires by having the chimney swept on a regular basis.

See more information and homeowner tips at www.chimkc.com.