Can you tell I'm on a learning jag for our new wood burning stove? Now that I've learned about woodstove safety options for grandchildren and elderly parents, I'm on to investigating what I can burn in my woodstove.

Of course, wood is at the top of the list. I already knew seasoned Oak was one of the best woods to burn, along with Elm and Hickory, among others. I went with Oak and now have two lovely ricks stacked neatly inside my garage just waiting for me to add it to my firewood holder beside the woodstove. From there to the log rack inside, and then, glorious heat. Hmmm, but how do I start it burning? For that, I'll need a good firestarter. My grandkids and I collected all the twigs we found from our own trees plus a few from walks and filled a box. It's enough for a fire or two. Then what?

When my kids were young, I used newspaper to help start our fires so I headed for Google to get some more ideas and hit the jackpot. First I found a great ebook to help with using woodstoves, A Guide to Residential Wood Heating, from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It is loaded with information about burning wood efficiently, purchasing and preparing your fuel supply, and wood stove accessories for the hearth.

Continuing on with my search I then found the directions for making actual fireplace logs out of newspapers at Instructables. I also found a site that discussed that process. Most of the writers think it makes too much ash. If you decide to make fireplace logs with your paper, they suggest two paper logs to one wood log. I think I'm going to wait on that idea for now. At least until my grandsons are old enough to do it and then I'll see if they would like a job!     

Finally, though, I came to the perfect site for me. As a busy Sandwich Generation senior home care giver and grandmother, speed and easiness are two of my favorite words. Woodheat has simple directions for tying newspapers into knots to use them as firestarters! I LOVE it! I can do it. My grandkids can do it NOW. My senior mom can do it. And it even looks like fun! It could even be a good research project for their homeschooling programs.

Some of my grandkids got to spend the night. This morning, I  had fun knotting away with them, and we added several of these to the firewood racks along with the logs.

After we had a serious talk about woodstove safety rules, I started the fire. I have to admit, the knots worked great but the fire dwindled quickly. I went back to Woodheat and found more help from them on how to build the fire. I later tried the top down version and I'm thrilled to tell you it's burning fairly well as I type.  Don't you love it when you find practical solutions that all the generations can have fun working on? Especially when it's one of those fun ways to save money like using the newspaper you already subscribe to?  I know I do!

Do you have more suggestions for what to burn in our new woodstove? We'd love to hear them. We'd also love to have you sign up for the SandwichINK free email so you don't miss any info or resources to encourage Sandwich Generation senior home care givers and grandparents.

In my whole life, I have probably started a whopping 50 or so fires in fireplaces. And some of those fires were with a gas stove and fake logs. Now I've embarked on a whole new experience to me – using wood burning stoves! The house we are currently renting in our new state has a Buck woodstove in it. I just had a wonderful gentleman come and do a full woodstove and wood stove fan maintenance visit. He cleaned it, put in a new seal, and recommended a different grate than what was already there. Needless to say, I followed his advice and now have these two separate grates that hold the logs nicely, yet allow me to clean the ash out easily,

instead of this single grate that is too high and too difficult for easy cleaning.

You'll notice I have about an inch of ash in my woodstove. He explained it is wise to keep about that much in there to assist with the fire. Very useful to know!

Another bit of important information is that three sides of my stove will stay cool but the front and top of it will get quite warm – warm enough to heat water! Needless to say, that means I will have to be very careful to talk to my grandchildren about woodstove safety!

I did a little research and discovered that they do make fences to go around woodstoves. My grandkids are older, so I'm hoping I won't need them. We've already been teaching them not to go on the brick floor around the stove or touch the stove even when it's not in use, as I didn't want them to accidently damage it. So far, they've done really well. I'm glad to know I do have a good option if I decide I need it. And if I had younger grandkids, especially babies, I would definitely invest in one of those. For that matter, depending on where the woodstove is located, a fence could be a wise investment for elderly parents who may be a bit unsteady on their feet or who use a walker, rollator, or wheelchair.

I also learned that ashes are best disposed of in a fireproof container and it should not be kept in the garage or near the house. My grandkids are good about not messing with those kinds of things, but if you have an ultra-curious grandchild, you might want to have a fence around that as well.

My "chimney sweep" advised me to have the woodstove checked annually if I decide to use it regularly through the winter. At this point, I'm only planning on using it occasionally, but that could change after I get my next electric bill!

A good article on safety precautions is at Frugal Living Freedom. She recommends not even burning the woodstove if children are in the house. Due to power outage concerns, that might not be an option. Yet another reason to think about the woodstove fireplace gate! 

Another vital safety need is a good fire extinguisher. Every home really should have one or more of these on each level. I had an old one from a previous tenant, so I just purchased a new one and have set aside the old one to research how to refill it.

I'm looking forward to using this woodstove and doing it in a "safe and sane" way for grandchildren and senior parents alike, not to mention myself. How about you? Do you have any other great safety tips to share with us woodstove newbies? We'd love to hear them.