Running in High Winds

jatoxico · Jan 2, 2014

We are into a winter storm tonight complete with wind blown snow. Temps are supposed to dip into the teens then possibly single digits all with winds persisting.

I was on the roof on New Year's day and there was some crusties on the cap but nothing excessive and no blockage (too tall to see down into the liner). Draft has always seemed fine but with wind but I have a concern that with the combination of low temps and wind the smoke will condense on the cap. Am I over thinking?

fossil · Jan 2, 2014

Time will tell. You're not going up on the roof, nor are you going to stop burning. Sit back and relax and enjoy being snug as a bug in a rug during the nasty storm.

jatoxico · Jan 2, 2014

No roofs for a while. I may shut it down overnight and wait till the wind settles unless you think I'm just being silly.

fossil · Jan 2, 2014

I don't think for a moment that you're being silly. But this is a learning opportunity. If the stove is performing well, why shut it down? I seriously doubt that your cap will freeze completely shut.

Quentin2 · Jan 2, 2014

I was curious if my stove would draft or perform different in extreme wind and or blizzards. So far as I can tell, no real difference. Like fossil says it's times like these that you could lose power and truly rely on your stove for heat, might as well see if it works.

Severe wind and potential power outages is what initially drew me to wanting a wood stove, now it's an addiction.

Stay warm

jatoxico · Jan 2, 2014

fossil said:
I don't think for a moment that you're being silly. But this is a learning opportunity. If the stove is performing well, why shut it down? I seriously doubt that your cap will freeze completely shut.

I've noticed that the cap tends to blacken when running in rain presumably due to the cooler cap. So it got me thinking; wondering if during regular operation dust/ash/creosote form slowly but that most heavy accumulations tend to occur rapidly in poor conditions.

You're right hopefully I'll learn something. We may get rain a few days from now so if possible I will try to get a look at the cap and see if there is a noticable difference.

jatoxico · Jan 2, 2014

Quentin2 said:
I was curious if my stove would draft or perform different in extreme wind and or blizzards. So far as I can tell, no real difference. Like fossil says it's times like these that you could lose power and truly rely on your stove for heat, might as well see if it works.

Severe wind and potential power outages is what initially drew me to wanting a wood stove, now it's an addiction.

Stay warm

True Q2, it is such a pleasure to have the stove especially now and with the help of the hearth members I'm able to burn well. I'm hooked up to an APC battery backup to run the fans if I experience a short term power outage so I'm warm, comfortable and sipping a Spaten (Optimator ::-)

).

Swedishchef · Jan 2, 2014

I found black flakies on the snow in my backyard today. When lighting my stove I leave the bypass open for 3-5 minutes. The strong draft pulls some flakes off and throws them around the yard. I have seen it before and am not worried. I know my wood is dry, my burning habits are decent and my stove burns hot.
Amen!

Don't worry about it tonight.

Andrew

lopiliberty · Jan 2, 2014

Swedishchef said:
I found black flakies on the snow in my backyard today. When lighting my stove I leave the bypass open for 3-5 minutes. The strong draft pulls some flakes off and throws them around the yard. I have seen it before and am not worried. I know my wood is dry, my burning habits are decent and my stove burns hot.
Amen!

Don't worry about it tonight.

Andrew

Your osburn stove has a bypass? I thought lopi and Avalon was the only non-cat tube stoves to have a bypass. See you learn something new on this site everyday!!

lopiliberty · Jan 2, 2014

If your wood is dry and you get good secondarys, I wouldn't worry about junk on the cap. With the strong winds I would be more concerned with overdraft

Swedishchef · Jan 2, 2014

lopiliberty said:
Your osburn stove has a bypass? I thought lopi and Avalon was the only non-cat tube stoves to have a bypass. See you learn something new on this site everyday!!

Yes, the 2300 has a bypass since the box is so long. It helps prevent smoke rollout when reloading. I love the feature. Heats my stack quickly and helps prevent smoke in my house.
ANdrew

jatoxico · Jan 2, 2014

Swedishchef said:
I found black flakies on the snow in my backyard today. When lighting my stove I leave the bypass open for 3-5 minutes. The strong draft pulls some flakes off and throws them around the yard. I have seen it before and am not worried. I know my wood is dry, my burning habits are decent and my stove burns hot.
Amen!

Don't worry about it tonight.

Andrew

I sometimes over think things

. As for your flakes better your lawn than in the stove. When I was on the roof looking at the cap the stove was on and running clean. I was smacking the cap and poking my finger in the slots to see how loose the buildup was. A few little crunchies fell in, and all of a sudden the whole thing starts smoking and I thought; what you are doing is really dumb, if the chimney is a little dirty you're gonna set the whole thing off. This was from the smallest amount of creosote you can imagine, much less than a gram. I can only imagine what some of these stack fires look like.

When I cleaned it the first year (bad wood) I noticed flakes on top of the baffles etc. At the time I thought it formed in place, I now think it fell from up higher in the system.

Matt Ruggeri · Jan 3, 2014

If you've burned with no troubles so far, I wouldn't worry too much about it!. Last years blizzard was a learning experience for me, and something happened that I had never even heard of - 66MPH (NOAA Buoy Measured 92, 1/10th of a mile away) gust of wind started a complete, and unstoppable reversal of Draft. (original thread, if interested) Swapped out the cap (not my idea, but i was proven wrong) and most of the trouble was remedied. Then, recently I read another thread here about rapid change in barometric pressure, ground/basement installs, and back-drafting (not back-puffing). I'm almost sure this is what happened to me!

eclecticcottage · Jan 3, 2014

lopiliberty said:
If your wood is dry and you get good secondarys, I wouldn't worry about junk on the cap. With the strong winds I would be more concerned with overdraft

Same here. We have to be pretty watchful of ours when we get higher winds. A few nights ago I had to stuff some aluminium foil into the air intake on the bottom of the stove to actually get it to slow down since the air control was completely shut and it was still pegging the thermo. I loaded it, got it settled in and was ready to head off to bed when the winds picked up like crazy and got it drafting like mad.

Lumber-Jack · Jan 3, 2014

jatoxico said:
I've noticed that the cap tends to blacken when running in rain presumably due to the cooler cap. So it got me thinking; wondering if during regular operation dust/ash/creosote form slowly but that most heavy accumulations tend to occur rapidly in poor conditions.

I've always found a direct correlation to colder windier weather and faster, wetter creosote accumulation. In fact, the only time I have ever notice dripping creosote on my chimney was after a period of very cold windy weather, when I found signs that wet creosote had dripped off the cap on to the roof. Thing was, there was almost no creosote on the roof directly below the cap as you would expect, it was a couple feet away, down wind of the chimney, indicating that it was indeed windy.
Also, when ever I clean and inspect my chimney it is obvious that I get 90% of the creosote formation in the top few feet of chimney that is exposed to the elements, and get almost nothing in the rest of the chimney that is sheltered from the cold and wind in the attic area, which accounts for the largest portion of insulated SS chimney (8ft vs 5ft).
It makes sense, but it's not something I'm gona worry about, and I'm sure not gona stop burning when it's cold and windy, when I need the stove the most.

jatoxico · Jan 3, 2014

lopiliberty said:
If your wood is dry and you get good secondarys, I wouldn't worry about junk on the cap. With the strong winds I would be more concerned with overdraft

I'm having no issues with the burn just thinking the conditions might be right to further cool the coolest spot in the system. I've got an outside masonry chimney so I worry a bit more. There's roxul top and bottom so its not a disaster but I have a long chimney. Just to show you what those of us with external chimneys deal with, the other day it was 30 F and I went outside and shot the brick with the IR. It read 80 F just about where the damper is.

jatoxico · Jan 3, 2014

Matt Ruggeri said:
If you've burned with no troubles so far, I wouldn't worry too much about it!. Last years blizzard was a learning experience for me, and something happened that I had never even heard of - 66MPH (NOAA Buoy Measured 92, 1/10th of a mile away) gust of wind started a complete, and unstoppable reversal of Draft. (original thread, if interested) Swapped out the cap (not my idea, but i was proven wrong) and most of the trouble was remedied. Then, recently I read another thread here about rapid change in barometric pressure, ground/basement installs, and back-drafting (not back-puffing). I'm almost sure this is what happened to me!

Matt, I get a reverse draft once or twice a year at start up. Never had it reverse at any stage of a burn that must've been scary. My install/situation is a little prone to the stack effect. Have scheduled an energy audit in Feb. I expect them to tell me to seal/insulate the attic which would help that issue.

My draft is usually pretty good, I have a long run and don't shut the primary too far to try and keep a decent amount of hot air moving up the flue.

jatoxico · Jan 3, 2014

eclecticcottage said:
Same here. We have to be pretty watchful of ours when we get higher winds. A few nights ago I had to stuff some aluminium foil into the air intake on the bottom of the stove to actually get it to slow down since the air control was completely shut and it was still pegging the thermo. I loaded it, got it settled in and was ready to head off to bed when the winds picked up like crazy and got it drafting like mad.

I hear you about the wind/draft. I can't get to my primary air source. I posted in the Jotul 550 thread how I took apart my primary air control and adjusted it so I have more control. I've only shut it down fully twice since I changed it. Even fully closed it still allows air through the primary but I now have the extra control which is nice.

Matt Ruggeri · Jan 3, 2014

jatoxico said:
Matt, I get a reverse draft once or twice a year at start up. Never had it reverse at any stage of a burn that must've been scary. My install/situation is a little prone to the stack effect. Have scheduled an energy audit in Feb. I expect them to tell me to seal/insulate the attic which would help that issue.

My draft is usually pretty good, I have a long run and don't shut the primary too far to try and keep a decent amount of hot air moving up the flue.

Haven't had any troubles this year, I wanted to raise the chimney another 3 feet, but installer put in a vacu-stack instead. Now we have the exact opposite problem when it's really cold and windy. Doesn't matter at the moment, the stove finally fell apart and i'm burning oil now.

jatoxico · Jan 3, 2014

Matt Ruggeri said:
Haven't had any troubles this year, I wanted to raise the chimney another 3 feet, but installer put in a vacu-stack instead. Now we have the exact opposite problem when it's really cold and windy. Doesn't matter at the moment, the stove finally fell apart and i'm burning oil now.

Stove down, that stinks. What's the issue?

Matt Ruggeri · Jan 3, 2014

Finally bit the dust, did a bunch of band-aid repairs last year, a few held up, and a few didn't. Saving the pennies for something new-ish, and dont want to continue to run this one the way it stands. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/revisit-of-old-cdw2461-thread.121060/

Dix · Jan 3, 2014

J, read the thread.

I've found, in weather like this, that the stoves burn better. I'm maintaining 70F + in the den where the PE is when I'm cutting down for a reload (of which I have just done, to get 3 hours or so before the nights reload) on the first level, and 72F on the lower level with the 13 (connecting door open on the lower level for those in the know of house layout).

Tonight & tomorrow are a test as to your skills, to be sure.

I've already got my over night load set aside for both stoves. The primo secret stash that I keep for just such occasions, if you will

Cowboy up tonight

BrotherBart · Jan 3, 2014

If that cap plugs up your stove draft will tell you about it well in advance. Light that stove and keep the joint warm. Stuff collects on my caps and falls off all season long.

Matt Ruggeri · Jan 3, 2014

Doing The Dixie Eyed Hustle said:
I've already got my over night load set aside for both stoves. The primo secret stash that I keep for just such occasions, if you will Cowboy up tonight

Mine was Beech last winter! Reeeeally missing the stove tonight, I have visions of $20 bills burning every time I hear the furnace kick on!

jatoxico said:
Matt, I get a reverse draft once or twice a year at start up.

Hair Dryer, Heat Gun, or even burning a piece of paper near the flue collar connector can reverse that! As mentioned before I read an interesting thread on changes in Barometric Pressure, and if I open a window, or the outside door (located in the stove room) I can instantly reverse it.

jatoxico · Jan 3, 2014

I ran the stove through the storm, maybe a little hotter. Could see the fire moving during strong gusts otherwise no issues. This am I checked the cap (from the ground) while using snow blower and it looks fine. It sure is nice to have wood heat.

Running in High Winds

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