Chimney height, proper gasification and smoke in your face!

[markpee]

Tomorrow will be the end of my first week burning my EKO 40. So far it's been great! I've been tweaking and playing, and today learned that by adding another 3 foot section of chimney, I have much less smoke in my face when I open the door to load wood. My unit also seems to burn better and hotter. Is there any truth to my observation, or it is psychological?

So far I have 3 sections of 3' pipe installed, and will add one more to make a total of 12' high. I am hoping this will provide enough draft and help the furnace run properly, most important though is that the smoke that blows back in my face should go the other way right? Thats really the only thing I dislike about this furnace - smoke in my face!

 

[JMann]

Two ways to get smoke in the face (that I know of):

Lack of "make up air" in the room. Can be fixed by opening a window for a few moments before you open the door.

Poor draft from the chimney. The chimney should be at least 2ft taller when measuring 10ft from the peak of the roof. I'm not sure what the draft measurement is with the EKO (it's .05-.07 with the Seton).

 

[Nofossil]

There's a technique that helps with any wood appliance, but it's much more effective with boilers.

Open the door just a crack, and let the fire pick up a bit and get the flue filled with hot smoke before opening the door all the way. The flue gas from a boiler is much cooler than from a conventional woodstove, so the initial draft available when you first open the door is much less. By the way, I think EKO used to specify a minimum 20' chimney height. Not surprising that you don't have a lot of draft.

There's one more technique that I'd suggest: Don't open the door until the fire has burned to coals. It can still be at the point where there's a lot of coals, but if you wait until that point, there's very little smoke being generated. That's probably the right time to refill anyway.

 

[markpee]

There's a technique that helps with any wood appliance, but it's much more effective with boilers.

Open the door just a crack, and let the fire pick up a bit and get the flue filled with hot smoke before opening the door all the way. The flue gas from a boiler is much cooler than from a conventional woodstove, so the initial draft available when you first open the door is much less. By the way, I think EKO used to specify a minimum 20' chimney height. Not surprising that you don't have a lot of draft.

There's one more technique that I'd suggest: Don't open the door until the fire has burned to coals. It can still be at the point where there's a lot of coals, but if you wait until that point, there's very little smoke being generated. That's probably the right time to refill anyway.

Thanks Nofossil. I wish I could go 20', but it would look crazy off the shed, and I'd probably need guide wires and a red flashing light!

I've noticed that when there are only coals on the bottom, that there is little smoke. Since I've only been burning a week, I'm still experimenting - you understand. My wife thinks I smell like a smoked sausage! I want to talk with you sometime about storage - I now see why it is a good idea.

 

[Donl]

We are experiencing the same thing. I have 3 X 3 foot sections of 8" insulated chimney. At first I got lots of smoke coming back into the shed during loading. I thought at first I may need to put up another 3 foot section. Since then I have learned how to open the two doors so that I get little smoke coming back. I think a draft inducer operating during load time would eliminate the smoke and I could keep the top door wide open to load. Other than that I get a really good burn going.

If you do add a 3 foot section let us know the results.

 

[barnartist]

I added a draft inducer last season and it helped very little-except I forgot to shut it off one night and overheated my sytem badly, so make sure you add a timer to your inducer if you go that rout. I may need more stack hieght as well. I still dont know how some have their boiler inside, but some are really good at fire control.

 

[markpee]

I added a draft inducer last season and it helped very little-except I forgot to shut it off one night and overheated my sytem badly, so make sure you add a timer to your inducer if you go that rout. I may need more stack hieght as well. I still dont know how some have their boiler inside, but some are really good at fire control.

My thoughts exactly. A friend of mine is considering an inside install - after seeing mine operate, I think he is reconsidering.

 

[Nofossil]

I added a draft inducer last season and it helped very little-except I forgot to shut it off one night and overheated my sytem badly, so make sure you add a timer to your inducer if you go that rout. I may need more stack hieght as well. I still dont know how some have their boiler inside, but some are really good at fire control.

My thoughts exactly. A friend of mine is considering an inside install - after seeing mine operate, I think he is reconsidering.

We have an inside install. Virtually no smoke or even noticeable odor. Just a hint at startup sometimes, but that's it.

 

[MrEd]

I have mine in the attached garage (err, workshop with oversized door), total chimney height is about 15 feet from the top of the tarm, I can open my door at any time, (even with the fan running) and never get even a puff of smoke out-the-door. I am glad mine is not in the cellar(mostly for ease of wood handling), but if your draft is working well, I don't think it would be a problem smoke-wise to do an inside install.

I suspect the wide open fields around my house, and being at a high spot on the property help my draft quite a bit. Seems to me that maybe the local terrain and availability of combustion air has as much to do with your draft as the height of the chimney.

 

[Sam Ralph]

I have an Attack 45 Profi sitting in my garage ready for install. It will become my primary boiler and the Buduras diesel will become the backup. The manual that came with the unit calls for 39 feet of 6" flue, or 24 feet of 8" flue, and so on. I called the rep in the states and was told,"just install it with 12 to 16 feet of flue and it will be fine". I also emailed the factory in Slovakia, and they confirmed that the flue needed to be as the manual called for (39 foot) to operate correctly. Class A pipe is pricey, so I,m considering using an 8" or even a 10" flue?? I,m also wondering about the need for a barametric damper like I have for the diesel boiler, or is that a no-no on a wood fired unit.