What's your technique woodburners...

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GAMMA RAY

Minister of Fire
Jan 16, 2011
1,970
PA.
I am trying to perfect my technique...many of you will say...what's the big deal? Throw some wood in and freakin burn it? However, I am a creature of habit...I know every load is different and there are many variables that determine how the load will burn. But I see that my technique and my husband's varys alot. In my job, everything is cut and dry and when it comes to woodburning that's when I have trouble. You can load the stove the same way but the outcome will always be different. I think I crack the door too long...so now I only crack it until it really takes. But, I am not sure when to start turning down the air intake....I tend to leave it open too long...like other burners say their wives do. My husband turns it down too quick I think, but I am not sure. So I am curious ...how do you do it??? Do you have a technique that works everytime??? Do share burners...Do share with details, help me learn!
 
i think this must be a record for how long one of your posts goes unanswered!!!!!
at the cottage, i burn a fisher-type non-listed steel stove that will probably still be in service when we are both long gone. upon start up, if the building is cold, i stack n-s, e-w and use small splits to really get it to take off. after that, i turn the pipe damper down along with the two air inlets and re-fire with something more substantial in size. it has no ash drawer and only the two air inlets which are on the non-gasketed doors. so there is not too much to adjust...just make sure you open the pipe (flue) damper before you re-fire or you get a little smoke inside. the draft is real good.
 
I have a 13-NC also and I usually start turning the air down when the internal flue probe reads around 600 degrees. I don't know if my stove is normal or if I have a bit of a poor draft but if starting the fire from anything other than lots of hot coals I need to keep the door cracked a bit until it gets up to around 500 degrees.

Like you said, every load is different though. Basically I try to get the air turned down as quick as I can without smothering the fire. As long as I can keep the burn tubes going I keep turning it down. If I start closing down the air and the fire starts to peter out or the burn tubes quit I'll open it back up again. I usually have problems when I really pack it full and don't leave enough space for air to circulate.

Alan
 
I spread the coals, load it up good, close the door with the air wide open.
Let it burn for about 20 minutes or so, close the air down. Done Maybe open the air a tad if it looks like it is cooling off again.
 
GAMMA RAY said:
I am trying to perfect my technique...many of you will say...what's the big deal? Throw some wood in and freakin burn it? However, I am a creature of habit...I know every load is different and there are many variables that determine how the load will burn. But I see that my technique and my husband's varys alot. In my job, everything is cut and dry and when it comes to woodburning that's when I have trouble. You can load the stove the same way but the outcome will always be different. I think I crack the door too long...so now I only crack it until it really takes. But, I am not sure when to start turning down the air intake....I tend to leave it open too long...like other burners say their wives do. My husband turns it down too quick I think, but I am not sure. So I am curious ...how do you do it??? Do you have a technique that works everytime??? Do share burners...Do share with details, help me learn!

On my Jotul 12 I try to reload just about when the stove temp drops below 500F. I usually open the front door and push some of the ash away from the front, then rake back some coals front and center. Then I put a split or two on criss-crossing them with whatever is left from the previous piece to leave the as much air as possible between pieces. I shut the door with air wide open until the temp rises above 500+ or the stove temp is close to 500 and flue temps start to approach 400. (surface temp) then I flip the catalyst.. wait until the temp rises 550 or higher and dial back the air. With good wood I can cruise at 700F for a couple of hours.. With bad wood, the temp dips below 500 and after a good long while the temp will raise to above 500.. If I notice this I'll unflip and let it burn off the moisture before repeating.
 
What I'm finding out is that the N/S followed by E/W gives me my best run time and amount of heat. I'm still learning how to start the perfect fire, but if I can get a good strong fire started and then throw my good logs on. Then I slowing, every 5-7 minutes bump the air rod in. till its just about even with the ash lip. She'll just hummmmm away.
 
My hearthstone is in my basement and when I fire it up or on reload, it seems that I am more worried on what I have to do next, (projects)
It seems like I usually cut down the air way to early but when I go downstairs for a tool or some reason it seems to be cruizing just fine.

More times than not the stove would be roaring and Ill cut the air down and within a couple minutes the fire seems to be almost snuffing out. I dont want to give it more air and leave due to fear of overfireing. Usually I just leave and when I come back Its doing its thing.
Mabe you just have to be patient.
it is just a fire.
 
Put one of those magnetic thermometers on the stove top. This, as well as the smoke from the chimney, will give you a better idea of what you're getting out of the stove and allow you to see the effect of the small changes you make to tune things in. All stoves are different so there's no real universal technique except get the heat out (thermometer) with the most efficient combustion possible (watch the smoke). My 2 cents...I've been heating with wood since the late 70's and have had my current stove since 1982, and I'm still doing these things and still tweaking things...maybe I'm just a slow learner :)
 
My method for a reload . . .

I open the door and stir the coals . . . causing some of the ash to drop down into the ash pan . . . and evening out the coals. Air control is open all the way.

Depending on how far down the coals have gone I will either add some kindling or small splits on to the coals . . . i.e. after a long overnight or overday burn I will use kindling . . . if it is a case of doing a reload after a few hours and the coals are pretty large I will go with the small splits.

I load up the firebox according to my heating needs -- i.e. if it's very cold the load is full and it's my better stuff . . . if I just need to maintain the temp or need a bit of heat the load may be a partial load with my less than optimal wood.

I keep the door cracked open . . . until my probe thermometer is a bit above the "good burning" mark. I then close the door, but leave the air control open all the way . . . and monitor the fire and the stove top temp. If the stove top temp continues to rise or stay the same and the flames are still burning nicely I will start to close down the air in quarter mark increments . . . pausing for 5-10 minutes or so to see if the stove top temp is continuing to rise and if the fire is burning nicely. Confession . . . sometimes I will just shut the air halfway instead of to the 3/4 mark.

Once the stove top temp is in the "good burning" zone (or a little above that mark) I will close the air to the quarter mark or all the way . . . and again monitor the fire for 5-15 minutes . . . with the desired effect being a sustained secondary burn, the fire not suffocating and the temps on both the flue thermometer and stove top thermometer staying in the green zone.

All in all . . . this process generally takes me 20-30 minutes to do properly.
 
chvymn99 said:
What I'm finding out is that the N/S followed by E/W gives me my best run time and amount of heat. I'm still learning how to start the perfect fire, but if I can get a good strong fire started and then throw my good logs on. Then I slowing, every 5-7 minutes bump the air rod in. till its just about even with the ash lip. She'll just hummmmm away.

so this might be a newbie question...but what is N/S and E/W???

thanks.
Nate.
 
GAMMA RAY said:
... In my job, everything is cut and dry

When the wood is cut and dry, the startup is too.

I open the air all the way, pull coals forward, throw wood in, prop the door just open until it's roaring then shut the door, close air maybe 1/4 at a time, let the fire recover, close more until completely closed. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 
gnatboy911 said:
chvymn99 said:
What I'm finding out is that the N/S followed by E/W gives me my best run time and amount of heat. I'm still learning how to start the perfect fire, but if I can get a good strong fire started and then throw my good logs on. Then I slowing, every 5-7 minutes bump the air rod in. till its just about even with the ash lip. She'll just hummmmm away.

so this might be a newbie question...but what is N/S and E/W???

thanks.
Nate.

Gnatboy Nate.. I like that.....

If you think of yourself looking at a map and lay a piece of wood across the map from left to right, it is going E/W lay it straight ahead and it is N/S.

I wasn't familiar with the terminology when I first came it here either because my old stove wasn't deep enough to load anyway but E/W and I didn't know it had a term.

Hope that clears it up.
 
Gamma,

I burn the 13nc and this works for my set up. I've found like BB says you don't have to pack the stove full to get great burns, four medium logs for me works just fine. With the stove around 300 stove top from the previous load I'll rake the coals forward and plow a trench in the middle where the "dog house" air intake is, all the way to the back about 3" wide. Load 4 sticks in E/W and leave the door cracked open a bit. When my single wall pipe reaches 300 I close the door, then look at the fire, if it's rollin good I close the air 50% and wait, if not I leave it open for just a few minutes under a close watch. Then just closing the air down in small incriments until the fire settles in around 550-600 stove top and the pipe settles in to 300 and the air is either closed 100% or close to it, depending on the outside air temp and what species the load is.

Hope this helps,
Charlie
 
Gamma, as long as I've got some coals in the stove, I'll move the ashes and coal around a bit. That tends to break things up and settles the ashes.
Then, I'll pull larger coals to the front, and put a couple splits on top of that. Leave the door ajar (when is a door a jar? :lol: ) for as long as it takes to get the wood burning (usually less than a minute), then close the door with the air wide open. Once the fire is going well the air gets adjusted down a little or a lot. That's one method.
This a.m., I got up late and the house was under 60-brrr-, so I did the usual with 3 splits n/s. The house is now about 65 (an hour later) and the stove is cruising at 650-675. Flue (external) is about 350. Stove is going to start cooling in a few minutes, so I'll open the air for a while until there are just coals, then reload using the same method. That load will probably just burn out, since it's supposed to be about 30 today. I'll have to do another fire in the middle of the afternoon or maybe even closer to dinner time-ish. That one will require a different method unless coals remain.
If it makes any difference, when I'm gone for the day, if my wife will even approach the stove, she just throws some wood in and closes the door. The air stays wherever it was when I left, and the fire may or may not take off. The good thing about that method is that she's unlikely to overfire anything. The bad is that I'll end up cleaning the flue sooner.
Even with all that, um.....it depends. :lol:
It will take a while for you to learn how that stove works in different situations. Don't sweat it, just go with it. It'll come to you in time.
It's been 1.5 hours and the house is now at 67, and the stove is cooling. Time for a reload.....stove and coffee cup. :coolsmile:
 
[/quote]

Gnatboy Nate.. I like that.....

If you think of yourself looking at a map and lay a piece of wood across the map from left to right, it is going E/W lay it straight ahead and it is N/S.

I wasn't familiar with the terminology when I first came it here either because my old stove wasn't deep enough to load anyway but E/W and I didn't know it had a term.

Hope that clears it up.[/quote]

haha gotcha...makes sense now. Out west we don't have much variety in wood...so i thought it was some acronym for a type of wood species i wasn't familiar with. Thanks for filling me in!!

Nate.
 
Thanks guys for all your posts, I have learned a lot here and will take it all with me.......Michelle
 
gnatboy911 said:
chvymn99 said:
What I'm finding out is that the N/S followed by E/W gives me my best run time and amount of heat. I'm still learning how to start the perfect fire, but if I can get a good strong fire started and then throw my good logs on. Then I slowing, every 5-7 minutes bump the air rod in. till its just about even with the ash lip. She'll just hummmmm away.

so this might be a newbie question...but what is N/S and E/W???

thanks.
Nate.

North/South and East/West.
 
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