Quick burning tip for newbies

Adios Pantalones said:

I see some frustrated newbies here- maybe a post gathering some tips would be helpful. Post 'em if you got 'em.

2 things I know for sure- One of them has to do with Scarlett Johansen, and the other has to do with running my insert. Maybe the new to EPA2 stove folks expressing some frustration could give this a thought.

We all know about dry wood, etc etc. Also- my insert runs better when it's completely full of wood. It gets going with secondaries all lit etc if it's completely full of small splits.

If I screw around with a couple/few splits in there for a "low fire"- it's a pain to get it operating. If I want a "low fire"- I put a couple in NS, and lay the rest EW on top of them so that there's wood near the secondary burn tubes (and airspace under the charge- less wood in a load, but still burns great). Maybe it's because there's coals providing more heat where needed. Maybe because it restricts the airspace up there- forcing combustible gas to mix with secondary air. I really dunno- but it works better.

So load that sucker up and see what happens.

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Building an acceptable fire in a modern metal wood stove to help heat your house is not that complicated.

First, start with dry firewood. Make some small kindling.
Stack it in the firebox with air spaces between the pieces, larger ones on the bottom, kindling on top.
Fully open the incoming air and the damper.
Ignite the kindling using some loose paper or cardboard.
Leave the door open a crack to help it get going, then close it.
Let it get hot, then close down incoming air to regulate the temperature.

The only difficulty I can think of is if your stove and chimney are on an outside wall making for a cold chimney for start up or, possibly, in a basement where negative pressure is often an issue. Chimneys should be warm to start a fire which means having the unit installed near the center of the house and basement installations can be tricky.

Aye,
Marty
Grandma used to say, "Work smarter, not harder."

PS:

I just posted the above in the thread "Proper Burning Techniques. part 2" and think it applies here as well.

I'll add I do not agree a newbie should fill their firebox full of wood. I believe learning how to control the fire should precede seeing how hot you can get it which is what will happen with a firebox full of wood - maybe way too hot for a newbie.

I believe in making small hot fires and building them up as your knowledge builds. And, unless your full firebox is stacked "top down", igniting that pile adds to starting off with an inefficient and polluting burn - NG for a newbie or anyone else.

Adios Pantalones said:

(SNIP)

2 things I know for sure- One of them has to do with Scarlett Johansen (SNIP)

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Another thought, sorry:

If you are thinking of Scarlett when starting your fire, not enough blood may be going to your brain to accomplish the task in a safe and prudent manner.

Aye,
Marty

Adios Pantalones said:

(SNIP)

I wanted to add: "Building an acceptable fire in a modern metal wood stove to help heat your house is not that complicated."

I won't say it's complicated, but it is giving some people fits, according to what I read. Secondary burn is that I see issues with most.

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As I said, the remedy is "small and hot". By default, small and hot includes acceptable secondary burn.

Aye,
Marty

starting a fire with a propane torch is much easier than starting it with matches and news paper....

Jags said:

Marty S said:

And, unless your full firebox is stacked "top down", igniting that pile adds to starting off with an inefficient and polluting burn - NG for a newbie or anyone else.

Click to expand...

I have found that this does not hold true for my setup. I can actually obtain secondary fire faster when the stove is loaded vs a partial load in the firebox (starting from cold). And I don't do no sissyfied bow tying, top down stuff.

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How can this be true? What is your set-up? Logic says, from a cold start, smaller splits will heat up faster and burn hotter than large ones.

Oh, you're just messing with me...

Aye,
Marty

par0thead151 said:

starting a fire with a propane torch is much easier than starting it with matches and news paper....

Click to expand...

...and a lot more whattya' call it.

What happens when the propane runs out?

Aye,
Marty

Marty S said:

Building an acceptable fire in a modern metal wood stove to help heat your house is not that complicated.

Click to expand...

Having just moved this month from old stoves to new epa stoves, I would say that it can be tricky if you are used to building fires for non-epa stoves or fireplaces. And it is much easier to burn the old stoves versus the new as they are way more forgiving of larger splits, less than perfectly seasoned wood, less airflow and cold starts. If you can get out of the old way of thinking and doing, you can adjust quickly. But if you keep trying to run the epa the same way as you do a non, you're going to get very frustrated very quickly.

I would agree with Adios that the bigger the load, the better and more controllable the burn is that I get. I figure bare minimum for a successful small burn is 3 decent sized splits on the bottom and 3 smaller on top - alternating NS-EW. I didn't really get what I would consider a "picture-worthy" burn until I stuffed the box to the top of the bricks with smaller splits going NS. Once that was going I didn't have to play with the air and door.

Things I have learned this month -
1 - resplit all my wood. My epa large split is now as small or smaller than my old small split. Next year my wood will be better seasoned due to the splits being smaller. All around a good thing.
2 - change the way the stove is loaded. instead of alternating NS-EW with lots of spacing, I pack the splits in pretty tight.
3 - all about the coals. If I have a cold stove and I'm not in a hurry, I'll build a smaller, quick fire with poplar just to get a nice bed of coals that I can build the bigger hardwood fire on. With the short burn times of the non-epa stove, almost all my fires were in a cold stove.
4 - load NS until you have a real handle on getting the fire going.
5 - patience. the heat in the box is so much greater in the epa stoves. Load the wood on the coals and give it a little bit of time for the heat to ignite the wood.

Marty S said:

Jags said:

Marty S said:

And, unless your full firebox is stacked "top down", igniting that pile adds to starting off with an inefficient and polluting burn - NG for a newbie or anyone else.

Click to expand...

I have found that this does not hold true for my setup. I can actually obtain secondary fire faster when the stove is loaded vs a partial load in the firebox (starting from cold). And I don't do no sissyfied bow tying, top down stuff.

Click to expand...

How can this be true? What is your set-up? Logic says, from a cold start, smaller splits will heat up faster and burn hotter than large ones.

Oh, you're just messing with me...

Aye,
Marty

Click to expand...

Never found "top down" to be any better, in fact it's a lot more work. Top down is effective for campfires because the air enters from the top. In a stove, it enters from the front. Front to back fires are what you want.

1. Shove the firebox as full as you possibly can. Don't leave "air spaces". You want that space to be filled with fuel. There is more than enough air available for a stoichiometric mix.

2. Leave a little space in front center, so that you can put some kindling and paper, or a firestarter directly in front of the primary.

3. Light it up.

4. crack or close the door depending on if you have enough draft to just close it.

5. Wait.

6. close the primary.


you're done. No fussing around building a small fire, waiting 15 minutes, and adding more, no newspaper bows, no reloading every 2-3 hours.

Well I'll be...

Snookered again. Blast!

Aye,
Marty
PS: Why make a new fangled stove fussier 'n the oldies? Maybe that's just the way of things now a days - heading for entropy, chaos....

I think this video is in favor of bottom-up, stuffing the box full. Or perhaps it's the Vivaldi music in the background. Either way, it's basically how I start from cold. One match, half a firestarter, and loads of wood.

http://rais.profilfilm1.com/