Cool secondary burn vids on other thread...but...

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Dexter

Member
Aug 9, 2007
208
Boulder County, CO
So, how long does a "floating" gasification burn last for you?

If I get a hot fire going, and stop it way down, the primary flames are gone in a few minutes, and I get the eerie hovering Spectoral Effect. It's cool (or hot), but I've never been able to make it last over an hour. It diminishes, then does the intermittent flare thing, and then it's gone. (But the hot coals last a long, long time.) If I add air, the secondary will last a little longer, but they share the stage with some primary flame.

How long can others get that non-cat secondary floating flame to last?

Regards,
 
Ah, the "floating" secondary burn. The holy grail of hearth.com noncat woodburners. Not until you're able to get your stove to do it will you earn the title of Pyromaniac Extraordinaire, that most exclusive of cliques.

It may be cool to look at and it may give the slowest burn rate, but it's also cool burning, and doesn't necessarily represent the most efficient mode of operating a stove - most of the air supplied bypasses the flame and goes right up the chimney. I wouldn't count on it being a clean burn without looking at your chimney exhaust over the whole burn cycle.
 
I usually do add that bit of extra primary, and "yellow up" the fire just a bit. It burns cleaner, and doesn't seem to hurt the longevity of hot coals in the morning much, if at all.
 
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