Too Much Charcoal - suggestions?

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mbcijim

mbcijim

Member
Mar 10, 2008
419
Schuylkill County, Pa
The facts:
1. Wood is mixture of maple/oak/black birch c/s/s 2+ years, don't have a moisture meter but I'm pretty confident it's dry. I can give more details on the wood if needed.
2. Stove is PE Summit Classic bought & installed new with OAK (Outside Air Kit).
3. Burner is a newbie, just about burnt my first cord up
4. Ran the first 3 weeks or so without emptying the ash, no buildup to mention.
5. About a week or so I noticed the charcoal was building up (not ash) and about 2-3 days later stove was 50% charcoal - like at least 3-4 gallons worth. This wasn't happening to me before.
6. When it hit 50% charcoal I didn't worry about it too much, tried to burn it down unsuccessfully and just emptied it.
7. Stove has an ash pan, haven't used it, it's empty. Do need to figure it out...

Since this happened, which was about Tuesday or Wednesday it has already happened again. Last night I loaded it up (what I could, because so much charcoal) and went to bed with the air 100% open. I figured that would burn the charcoal down. Got about at 5AM and didn't really have any luck. The charcoal didn't seem to decrease.

I'm trying everything to burn down the charcoal, low air, high air, open door, paper with no wood and it doesn't seem to be decreasing.

Right now I have no wood in it, through some paper and lighter fluid in it and left the door open. I'm at a loss for what I am doing wrong here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Lighter fluid??

Just shovel them out and be done with it. Make sure you're burning hot enough, for most stoves that's about 600 degrees stovetop temp.
 
Has the temperature been colder lately for you? I find when temps are colder, I'm trying to reload sooner, and the coals are larger than they would be on warmer days (more time between loads to burn the coals). If this is the case (or if not), try increasing the primary air once the secondaries have died and the load has entered the coaling phase. This will allow you to burn down the coals faster while the stove is still throwing heat. In addition, if I'm getting too many coals, I rake the large coals forward into a central heap in front of the primary air 1 or 2 times about 1 or 1 1/2 hour prior to loading. Also, after raking the coals, you can place a small, very dry split on top and let the fire help to burn the coals down. See if this helps some. Don't expect to burn down a heap of coals quickly - it doesn't work that way. Cheers!
 
I did what Heem recommends back when we use to burn locust...coals would hold till spring. Yikes!

Otherwise try use smaller splits to burn hotter and melt those coals away, ever try that?

Sometimes new burners will leave too much ash in the stove that can disrupt air flow. Ashes are spent coals shovel them out even with a few coals if needed. they're still radiate heat from the bucket as it sits on the hearth.

If that's a CAT stove maybe what I said doesn't apply...just so ya know. Good luck.
 
couple of things i've learned from having a small insert over the years

seasoned wood - i know you say yours is two years old and it should be seasoned BUT has it been uncovered / just the top covered for two years - ie not wrapped up?

are you feeding the stove too quickly?

draft could be an issue is your stove is pulling enough air to burn down the coals - when the stove is cold maybe check your oak

also some wood just coals more than others - this is the reason i keep a cord or two of dry pine on hand during the burning season - if i suspect too many coals i rake the coals by the air intake give it full air and toss a few splits of dry pine on the coals this really helps
 
3 weeks is a little long to go w/out emptying ashes. do it once a week, 'cause the ash just gives the coals a place to hide out and sit forever! Also: get a little dry softwood (pine, spruce, poplar) split fine and let it rip, I find this helps burn thru the coal base in my summit pretty well.
 
I am experimenting with using EnviBlocks to burn down mid-day coal build up. I pile the coals in the middle of the firebox and then place two bricks on either side of the pile and one on top. Burns hot and fast and the sawdust blocks pretty much burn to ash. I'm going to order a pallet on Monday and may use these more. They are very convenient for me.
 
Sounds to me like you may have ash buildup that is blocking your airflow. Had some friends that bought a new stove but had never burned before. They were amazed at how "clean" the stoe was burning meaning that they were not getting any ash into their ashpan. Turns out the ash was just collecting in their firebox and blocking their air intake. I shoveled some ash out of their stove and voila, airflow returned.

A clean ashpan only means the ash is collecting somewhere else,a nd the timeframe you mention seems to be consistent with the amount of time it would take for sufficient ash to collect and block airflow.
 
I just open up the primary air wide open and let them burn down. I can sometimes maitain 500 degrees for over anf hour. them coals are good heat, why the hell shovel them out?
 
mbcijim said:
The facts:
1. Wood is mixture of maple/oak/black birch c/s/s 2+ years, don't have a moisture meter but I'm pretty confident it's dry. I can give more details on the wood if needed.
2. Stove is PE Summit Classic bought & installed new with OAK (Outside Air Kit).
3. Burner is a newbie, just about burnt my first cord up
4. Ran the first 3 weeks or so without emptying the ash, no buildup to mention.
5. About a week or so I noticed the charcoal was building up (not ash) and about 2-3 days later stove was 50% charcoal - like at least 3-4 gallons worth. This wasn't happening to me before.
6. When it hit 50% charcoal I didn't worry about it too much, tried to burn it down unsuccessfully and just emptied it.
7. Stove has an ash pan, haven't used it, it's empty. Do need to figure it out...
An Empty ash pan? Sounds like you've got a hard pan of ash in the bottom of the stove, which can only impede your primary air flowSince this happened, which was about Tuesday or Wednesday it has already happened again. Last night I loaded it up (what I could, because so much charcoal) and went to bed with the air 100% open. Loaded up on a bed of coals with air 100% open, then went to sleep? My stove would have melted. Really sounds like primary air is plugged off. I figured that would burn the charcoal down. Got about at 5AM and didn't really have any luck. The charcoal didn't seem to decrease.

I'm trying everything to burn down the charcoal, low air, high air, open door, paper with no wood and it doesn't seem to be decreasing.

Right now I have no wood in it, through some paper and lighter fluid in it and left the door open. I'm at a loss for what I am doing wrong here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
 
mbc, Two years ago I was a beginning wood stove user and faced the same dilemma as you do now. Here is how I solved the problem, thanks to someone on this board: I will assume your Summit Classic has about the same primary air intake system as my Spectrum. If so, this recommendation should work very well for you. The combustion air enters the burn chamber along the front width of the burn box, just below the door. Some time when the stove is COLD look or feel (use flashlight and no gloves) in that location to check for the vertical intake slots - about 5/8" tall across the width of the burn box. There will be a bunch of them - about 20 or 30.

Each time, before you reload the stove, rake all the large and/or glowing embers to the front of the burn box. Then use a rake or shovel to gently move the charcoal away from those air slots. Press down the ashes just a little bit. This will allow the full amount of combustion air unobstructed entrance to the burn chamber. Then close the door with the air fully open. If the embers are showing any red glow, they should soon all start glowing. Let them achieve a full, hot glow. Rake some other charcoal to the front of the stove as the ones up front begin to burn down - about 30 to 45 minutes.

When you are satisfied that you have raked most of the charcoal to the front of the stove and it is burning well you can add some kindling if you want. You can also place a couple of splits in a N/S direction if you want. The splits can be placed on top of the glowing embers or on top of the burning kindling. Either way, keep the air control fully open. Once the splits start burning, continue the burn as you normally do.

As you continue this process day after day you will notice there is little or no charcoal at the back of the stove However, there will be lots of fine ash at the front of the stove. This ash is easy to remove without removing valuable charcoal. You will also find that you will not have to clean your stove as frequently.

Sometimes when you are shoveling out the ash you might notice some thick and hard clumps of ash about the size of a hockey puck. This appears to be normal and seems to be the result of extreme heat at the front of the firebox. Do not worry about it. Enjoy the heat. :) John_M
 
Sometimes I think you get to certain sections of your woodpile that just are not as dry as other sections, ie closer to the ground or on top under the tarps, in the shade vs the pile out in the sun and wind.... And these do not burn the same as the drier softer stuff.

And I will add that the T6 (same firebox) burns best the first few days after cleaning it out, once it gets filled with hardwood ash and coals, it chokes off the airflow under the wood, excacerbating the issues.
 
They make charcoal around here by burning wood under low/very low oxygen conditions. Anything you can do to get air to the coals will complete the combustion process.
 
mbcijim said:
The facts:
1. Wood is mixture of maple/oak/black birch c/s/s 2+ years, don't have a moisture meter but I'm pretty confident it's dry. I can give more details on the wood if needed.
2. Stove is PE Summit Classic bought & installed new with OAK (Outside Air Kit).
3. Burner is a newbie, just about burnt my first cord up
4. Ran the first 3 weeks or so without emptying the ash, no buildup to mention.
5. About a week or so I noticed the charcoal was building up (not ash) and about 2-3 days later stove was 50% charcoal - like at least 3-4 gallons worth. This wasn't happening to me before.
6. When it hit 50% charcoal I didn't worry about it too much, tried to burn it down unsuccessfully and just emptied it.
7. Stove has an ash pan, haven't used it, it's empty. Do need to figure it out...

Since this happened, which was about Tuesday or Wednesday it has already happened again. Last night I loaded it up (what I could, because so much charcoal) and went to bed with the air 100% open. I figured that would burn the charcoal down. Got about at 5AM and didn't really have any luck. The charcoal didn't seem to decrease.

I'm trying everything to burn down the charcoal, low air, high air, open door, paper with no wood and it doesn't seem to be decreasing.

Right now I have no wood in it, through some paper and lighter fluid in it and left the door open. I'm at a loss for what I am doing wrong here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
i find that sometimes emptying the ash out a little more often helps them burn down a little better. when i have a lot of ash build up after a couple weeks or so there will be some pieces of charcoal buried under there. the ash insulates em and then donw get burned down.
 
mbcijim said:
The facts:
1. Wood is mixture of maple/oak/black birch c/s/s 2+ years, don't have a moisture meter but I'm pretty confident it's dry. I can give more details on the wood if needed.
2. Stove is PE Summit Classic bought & installed new with OAK (Outside Air Kit).
3. Burner is a newbie, just about burnt my first cord up
4. Ran the first 3 weeks or so without emptying the ash, no buildup to mention.
5. About a week or so I noticed the charcoal was building up (not ash) and about 2-3 days later stove was 50% charcoal - like at least 3-4 gallons worth. This wasn't happening to me before.
6. When it hit 50% charcoal I didn't worry about it too much, tried to burn it down unsuccessfully and just emptied it.
7. Stove has an ash pan, haven't used it, it's empty. Do need to figure it out...

Since this happened, which was about Tuesday or Wednesday it has already happened again. Last night I loaded it up (what I could, because so much charcoal) and went to bed with the air 100% open. I figured that would burn the charcoal down. Got about at 5AM and didn't really have any luck. The charcoal didn't seem to decrease.

I'm trying everything to burn down the charcoal, low air, high air, open door, paper with no wood and it doesn't seem to be decreasing.

Right now I have no wood in it, through some paper and lighter fluid in it and left the door open. I'm at a loss for what I am doing wrong here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...


Whoa! When I read this post it just made me shudder!!! Methinks you are a very lucky man to be able to post this after some things you've done. But to start from the beginning:

On the wood that was split 2 years ago. How was the wood handled after it was split? If that wood was placed inside a shed after being split then perhaps it is not seasoned! Yes, wood needs time but it also needs air circulation. That is best done by stacking it outdoors so the wind will hit the sides of the stacks. To season the fastest it is recommended to stack in single rows but many times you can stack a couple close together. We usually stack 3 rows together stacked 4' high. We split in the spring and do not cover the wood until late fall or early winter. At that time we cover only the top of the stacks and never cover the sides (so air can continue to circulate and moisture can evaporate). Even folks who have a wood shed will usually let their wood dry outdoors for a year before putting inside the shed. We have 3 cord of wood in our shed now but that wood saw 2 full summers before going inside.

To go 3 weeks without emptying the ashes and have no build up says either you do not burn much wood or someone else is emptying the ashes for you. All wood produces ash so where did it go? Or do you burn only part time?


Before going into the coals I'd like to point out where you are really a lucky man. See the red highlight in the quote.

1. Never, never, never leave the draft full open and then walk away from the stove! That can give you the sort of results that you do not want and it very well could cost you your home and possibly worse! With full draft you can really get a roaring machine going there and most of that heat goes straight up the chimney which then overheats the chimney, which spreads..... Usually our draft can stay full open about a maximum of 10 minutes and most times not that long else we have a too hot flue. Turning the draft down not only keeps that temperature from rising but it also makes the stove temperature go up, which is what we want. That is heat that is usable.

2. Never, never, never use anything like lighter fluid in a wood stove. A recipe for disaster to say the least.


Now on to the coaling problem:

First, realize that coaling can be worse with not properly seasoned wood. That may or may not be the case here. But what we have found to be the cure is to watch the stove and before it get to the coaling stage (part of a log is still showing its shape), we then turn the draft open full. This will burn the coals down before you need to reload. If there is still a problem, then adding some hot burning wood to the coals can help. This can be some kindling or a small split of fast burning wood. We've done this with soft maple before as the soft maple is a quick lighting wood and it burns hot and fast. Because of the flames and hot burning wood it probably causes extra draft and that is what you need to burn the coals down.

Just scooping out the coals is a very poor way of handling the problem as you are simply wasting dollars.


Last but not least is that you very well might have a partially plugged chimney. You may have too much soot and creosote in the chimney and that is blocking the draft. Or it could also be the chimney cap. Sometimes some caps have a wire mesh screen and that can plug up quite fast. A quick wire brush job on that can give you draft quick. Most folks end up cutting the wire mesh out or at least making the holes larger by cutting out half of it.

I hope this helps and good luck to you.
 
Random thoughts . . .

I would take Backwoods suggestion and check your chimney . . . just to insure the draft out of the stove is not the issue.

I would also take Remkel, Trout and John M's suggestions . . . before you reload stir the coals . . . I'm not sure if your stove has grates that allow the ash to drop down into the ash pan or if it's like some where you have to remove a plug . . . if it has grates and you say your ash pan has little to no ash in it I would say your issue could be that you are not stirring the ash and coals . . . even stoves with large, open grates need to have the ash/coals stirred up . . . otherwise the ash can cake and the coals simply block the grates and very little ash will drop into the ash pan and the result will be a build up of ash and coals in the firebox.

I would also take many folks' advice and when you stir up the coals/ash keep the ash/coals away from the incoming air inlets in the firebox . . . if you continually allow a build up of ash in front of the air inlets it will be as though you were stacking sandbags against a rising stream . . . in some cases there is enough pressure and the air (or water to use my sandbag analogy) will get through with either full force or more likely a partial force . . . and in some cases there is not enough pressure and the air will be held back (a bad thing with the woodstove . . . but a good thing if you're building a dike out of sandbags to stem the rise of the river.)

What I do with my stove after a long overnight or overday burn is to take my trusty shovel and stir up the coals and ash . . . by stirring them back and forth and making sure the grate holes are not blocked I easily lose 1/2 of the volume of the ash/coal mix . . . the result is more room in the firebox and the hot coals are left behind and with the air control all the way open they begin to glow. I make sure the air inlet is not blocked, toss on some small splits and larger splits on top of those and voila . . . I'm back in business in short order. . . . if for some reason I have a lot of coals (i.e. it's wicked cold outside and my wife or I have been loading the stove more frequently than normal) I will do the same procedure . . . but then toss on a single small split . . . preferably a softwood split and run the air open all the way open for a bit . . .

In any case, going with the air all the way open in this fashion is one of the few times you can do so relatively safely . . . the key here though is being right there near the stove while the air is open all the way. Like others I will say that I would never condone leaving the air control open all the way and then wandering off to do something else or go to bed . . . this can be dangerous.

Likewise, using any type of flammable fluid in a woodstove is generally frowned upon . . . mainly because it is a dangerous thing to do.

Finally, use your ash pan . . . and don't be afraid to dump it . . . depending on the usage, size of the ash pan, etc. you may be doing so more or less frequently than me . . . and in my case I tend to dump the ash pan 2 times a week.
 
Here's how I do it on the X33:
: Rake the coals into a pile in the center of the stove
: move the Burn Type lever from overfire to underfire air
: close the secondary air control
: adjust air control for coals burn rate (it doesn't take much)
First pic shows the resulting flame. It's much whiter that the camera captured.

Five minutes later, coals have burned down and stove body is very hot. Rake coals out, move Burn Type back to overfire, open secondary air, reload, and the wood takes off instantly with full secondary burn. See second pic.
 

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I have the PE Summit insert. I have used it for four years. Here is what I have figured with the coaling problem.

You may not be burning hot enough. The stove should be a 650 degrees or so at the height of the burn.

You wood isn't as dry as you think. The outer most part burns fine but the inner is still wet and turns to coals because it doesn't burn as well.

Don't buy in to the leave a little ash in the stove theory. These are big stoves and they will burn all night without needing ashes in them to half smother the fire like small stoves.

I really learned this year. I got a load of wood that is extremely dry. It puts out crazy heat and little coals. I have the same stuff in a less dry version and I get coal problems.

Here's your fix for right now.

Heat your stove up before you load it full of wood. Put some small splits or kindling in it and get it up to 450 or 500. Then fill the stove with the big stuff.

Get the stove as hot as you can during the burn. Not over firing or anything, but shoot for 650 and if it goes to 700 don't worry. 750 and i would start to worry a bit.

Close the air down and let the stove do it's thing.

As the wood burns down, stir it and break the pieces up and open the air a bit at a time to keep the stove as hot as possible for as long as possible.

If coaling becomes an issue. Shovel the stuff out. It's great to melt snow on a driveway and to add traction if you have a slope. It does get a bit gummy and slick once things start warm up. but I'd rather shovel some wet ashes, at my leisure when it's 40 than to shovel snow at 7 in the evening after working all day when its 20 out.

Here's a good test. Get a 4x4 and cut it to 18" lengths. Throw 4 or 5 piece in the stove and see if you get a coaling problem with that.

I bet your wood isn't as dry as you think it is.
 
Wow, thanks everyone for the tips. I've been reading and following some (or all) of them for the last few days and enjoyed more success!

Couple comments: About 5% of the wood is sitting directly on the ground (already corrected that problem for my 2011-13 wood). Yes that wood is coaling more than everything else. It was sitting on 2B stone, so I thought it was good, evidently it isn't. All of the wood has been c/s/s for 2 years in the open, no cover, no tarp, no roof, no nothing. Getting a tarp on the top of it will be one of my to-do projects.

I've been burning straight, not cooling down for 4 weeks tomorrow. I am about through a cord of wood in that time period, maybe slightly less.

I did start taking ash out daily, and it did seem to be blocking the air coming into the box. I am getting about a quart a day at the very front of my box. A lot of what I thought was charcoal, was ash. I think the air was blocked, or at least limited, as you guys suggested. Removing the ash definitely seems to help. I definitely need to let the thing cool down and inspect everything better so I can understand what I am blocking and where the ash is going, etc...

I am going to get some pine, something to burn hot & fast when I do have a charcoal problem.

I just have a flue thermometer. Sometimes it gets to 600-650, I don't have a stove top thermometer. I guess that needs to be on my to-do list too!

I won't open the air all the way for so long anymore! It doesn't seem to be a problem when I do, but I won't do it anymore. We have a very old stove at our cabin and when everything turns red, we know we have a problem. The problem with my new stove is nothing turns red so I don't know if I have a problem. I didn't think it was a problem to leave it open for hours. Point taken.

No more lighter fluid. Point taken. And I've learned I don't need it.

Question on the 'secondaries'. On the inside top of my stop I have 20-30 holes the size of pencil erasers. Certain times they will have flame coming out of them. Is that the secondaries? Also, should I see flame coming down the front of the glass (I don't)?
 
mbcijim said:
Wow, thanks everyone for the tips. I've been reading and following some (or all) of them for the last few days and enjoyed more success! And this is why many of us continue to post here . . . for the folks who take the time to listen to what we have learned and learn from our mistakes . . . vs. folks who come in don't like the answers and continue to keep doing it their own way.

Couple comments: About 5% of the wood is sitting directly on the ground (already corrected that problem for my 2011-13 wood). Yes that wood is coaling more than everything else. It was sitting on 2B stone, so I thought it was good, evidently it isn't. All of the wood has been c/s/s for 2 years in the open, no cover, no tarp, no roof, no nothing. Getting a tarp on the top of it will be one of my to-do projects.

I've been burning straight, not cooling down for 4 weeks tomorrow. I am about through a cord of wood in that time period, maybe slightly less. Are you talking a true cord of wood . . . if so I would be concerned . . . I go through many two cords of wood in 2-3 months . . . although running a stove with the air wide open will tend to chew through a lot of wood pretty quickly.

I did start taking ash out daily, and it did seem to be blocking the air coming into the box. I am getting about a quart a day at the very front of my box. A lot of what I thought was charcoal, was ash. I think the air was blocked, or at least limited, as you guys suggested. Removing the ash definitely seems to help. I definitely need to let the thing cool down and inspect everything better so I can understand what I am blocking and where the ash is going, etc... You may not need to remove this daily . . . but just keep the air inlets clear . . . some ash is good . . . too much can be a problem.

I am going to get some pine, something to burn hot & fast when I do have a charcoal problem.

I just have a flue thermometer. Sometimes it gets to 600-650, I don't have a stove top thermometer. I guess that needs to be on my to-do list too! I like having the two thermometers . . . gives me a better sense of where my stove is . . . and where it will be going.

I won't open the air all the way for so long anymore! It doesn't seem to be a problem when I do, but I won't do it anymore. We have a very old stove at our cabin and when everything turns red, we know we have a problem. The problem with my new stove is nothing turns red so I don't know if I have a problem. I didn't think it was a problem to leave it open for hours. Point taken. Very good . . . and if your new stove turns red you should be quite alarmed . . . this is bad . . . very, very bad
.

No more lighter fluid. Point taken. And I've learned I don't need it. We'll make a wood burning convert out of you yet. ;)

Question on the 'secondaries'. On the inside top of my stop I have 20-30 holes the size of pencil erasers. Certain times they will have flame coming out of them. Is that the secondaries? There are three types of secondaries that I have seen described. The one I most often see with my own woodstove is what I have dubbed the Bowels of Hell or Bowels of Hades . . . there may be a few,small, lazy flames on the wood . . . but in the top of the firebox it will seem as though a portal to hell has opened up . . . it will seem like a pent up and very pissed off dragon is attempting to huff and puff his way out of your woodstove . . . you may see this the first time and be convinced that you will be responsible for burning down your home . . . do not fear this. The second type I have not seen personally, but I have seen the pics here -- little blue jets stream out of the baffle's holes that you describe and the effect is almost like a propane BBQ grill. The final type I see occasionally . . . especially when my temps aren't as high as they should be -- I have small, lazy flames on the wood and then these Northern Lights kind of "explode" into view . . . I mean there is no concussive explosion . . . rather the smoke just kind of ignites . . . almost like a fireworks show . . . typically these last for a bit and then the Portal to Hell opens up in my woodstove. Also, should I see flame coming down the front of the glass (I don't)? No . . . at least I don't . . . unless the aforementioned Portal to Hell has opened up in my woodstove at which point you will be convinced that the glass is about to melt away . . . once you see this . . .you'll know it
Click to expand...
 
firefighterjake said:
I've been burning straight, not cooling down for 4 weeks tomorrow. I am about through a cord of wood in that time period, maybe slightly less. Are you talking a true cord of wood . . . if so I would be concerned . . . I go through many two cords of wood in 2-3 months . . . although running a stove with the air wide open will tend to chew through a lot of wood pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

I'm confused by your comment. I started burning 24/7 27 days ago. I've burned just under a true cord (4x4x8), not a face cord, in my opinion. Had a kid taking the wood from outside to inside and he took from the pile randomly... Are you saying I burned too much or too little? Keep in mind that I believe my stove is about as big as they come for a modern woodstove.

firefighterjake said:
Question on the 'secondaries'. On the inside top of my stop I have 20-30 holes the size of pencil erasers. Certain times they will have flame coming out of them. Is that the secondaries? There are three types of secondaries that I have seen described. The one I most often see with my own woodstove is what I have dubbed the Bowels of Hell or Bowels of Hades . . . there may be a few,small, lazy flames on the wood . . . but in the top of the firebox it will seem as though a portal to hell has opened up . . . it will seem like a pent up and very pissed off dragon is attempting to huff and puff his way out of your woodstove . . . you may see this the first time and be convinced that you will be responsible for burning down your home . . . do not fear this. The second type I have not seen personally, but I have seen the pics here -- little blue jets stream out of the baffle's holes that you describe and the effect is almost like a propane BBQ grill. The final type I see occasionally . . . especially when my temps aren't as high as they should be -- I have small, lazy flames on the wood and then these Northern Lights kind of "explode" into view . . . I mean there is no concussive explosion . . . rather the smoke just kind of ignites . . . almost like a fireworks show . . . typically these last for a bit and then the Portal to Hell opens up in my woodstove. Also, should I see flame coming down the front of the glass (I don't)? No . . . at least I don't . . . unless the aforementioned Portal to Hell has opened up in my woodstove at which point you will be convinced that the glass is about to melt away . . . once you see this . . .you'll know it
Click to expand...

Definitely the kind you haven't seen. Propane grill like flames is the perfect description. I have to pay more attention to my flames. Sometimes there is A LOT of flames inside and I just don't know where they come from.

I'd have thought after 27 days I'd have this figured out but I still have a lot to learn! I read my owner's manual again and between that and talking to you guys I definitely am not being as efficient as I can be.

The wood stove is in my basement (not where I wanted it) and am thrilled it has been keeping the geothermal off on the 1st floor 80-90% of the time. I didn't know what to expect but at this point I think it is saving me a couple of hundred dollars a month! Need to see that electric bill now.
 
mbcijim said:
firefighterjake said:
I've been burning straight, not cooling down for 4 weeks tomorrow. I am about through a cord of wood in that time period, maybe slightly less. Are you talking a true cord of wood . . . if so I would be concerned . . . I go through many two cords of wood in 2-3 months . . . although running a stove with the air wide open will tend to chew through a lot of wood pretty quickly.
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I'm confused by your comment. I started burning 24/7 27 days ago. I've burned just under a true cord (4x4x8), not a face cord, in my opinion. Had a kid taking the wood from outside to inside and he took from the pile randomly... Are you saying I burned too much or too little? Keep in mind that I believe my stove is about as big as they come for a modern woodstove.

OK, we're talking a true cord here . . . still seems like a lot of wood . . . although you do point out that this is a pretty large stove and I don't know the particulars of course on how large and well insulated your home is, how you run the stove, etc.
firefighterjake said:
Question on the 'secondaries'. On the inside top of my stop I have 20-30 holes the size of pencil erasers. Certain times they will have flame coming out of them. Is that the secondaries? There are three types of secondaries that I have seen described. The one I most often see with my own woodstove is what I have dubbed the Bowels of Hell or Bowels of Hades . . . there may be a few,small, lazy flames on the wood . . . but in the top of the firebox it will seem as though a portal to hell has opened up . . . it will seem like a pent up and very pissed off dragon is attempting to huff and puff his way out of your woodstove . . . you may see this the first time and be convinced that you will be responsible for burning down your home . . . do not fear this. The second type I have not seen personally, but I have seen the pics here -- little blue jets stream out of the baffle's holes that you describe and the effect is almost like a propane BBQ grill. The final type I see occasionally . . . especially when my temps aren't as high as they should be -- I have small, lazy flames on the wood and then these Northern Lights kind of "explode" into view . . . I mean there is no concussive explosion . . . rather the smoke just kind of ignites . . . almost like a fireworks show . . . typically these last for a bit and then the Portal to Hell opens up in my woodstove. Also, should I see flame coming down the front of the glass (I don't)? No . . . at least I don't . . . unless the aforementioned Portal to Hell has opened up in my woodstove at which point you will be convinced that the glass is about to melt away . . . once you see this . . .you'll know it
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Definitely the kind you haven't seen. Propane grill like flames is the perfect description. I have to pay more attention to my flames. Sometimes there is A LOT of flames inside and I just don't know where they come from.

I'd have thought after 27 days I'd have this figured out but I still have a lot to learn! I read my owner's manual again and between that and talking to you guys I definitely am not being as efficient as I can be.

The wood stove is in my basement (not where I wanted it) and am thrilled it has been keeping the geothermal off on the 1st floor 80-90% of the time. I didn't know what to expect but at this point I think it is saving me a couple of hundred dollars a month! Need to see that electric bill now.

Sounds good . . . I never see the propane grill effect for whatever reason . . . as for learning . . . trust me . . . I'm still learning . . . and still making mistakes and slowly learning from those mistakes . . . when you head into Year 2 you will be amazed at how much you learned during the course of Year 1.
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