Do you smoulder?

[guest5234]

Is it true that you you burn hot and fast with a stove? my neighbour smoulders with no visable flame overnight which I have read is not good...should you always see flame is what I am asking guys.

 

[bluefrier]

your neighbour must be using a "cat" stove. If so, it is ok to smoulder the fire.
A non cat won't be so forgiving with a smouldering fire, you have to keep a flame to get a clean burn.

 

[Hogwildz]

Once my insert is up to temp, say about 600F, I shut the air to low, and it will have small flames here & there, and after the wood will be glowing Like a big set of coals.
This is not smoldering, but is producing serious heat and with no smoke. I think you are confusing smoldering which is not up to temp & smoking like crazy to proper temp & combustion.
My wood may not be flaming but the secondary burn will be from the baffle. If your burning dry wood, and up to its proper temp, your doing just right. If your blazing from start to finish, you may not be getting the burn times you could be & also chance over firing if you let the temp run away. Look at your neighbors chimney and see if its smoking or not. Thats the tell all. Keep in mind, smoking may happen after just reloading, but once back up to temp, should be burning clean with little or no smoke. If its white, the wood may be wet and releasing steam.

 

[n3pro]

How do you tell the difference between smolder and bed of coals, or end of cycle. Why I'm asking is in the barrel stove at the cabin smolder is still some wood with lots of smoke, I have only had break-in fires but so far with the Napoleon 1100C, flames stopped but I still had what I thought was unused wood left with bright orange under the wood but no smoke, took a poker near it and it collapsed with little smoke but still bigger pieces then I would consider coals.

Also since I would not be reloading (break-in fires) when it got to only small coals left I opened the air control to full - really made a neat glow of the coals, is this alright or is it better to leave the air control alone and cool them selfs down?

 

[Hogwildz]

Smolder is creating blue. black or dk gray smoke due to lack of proper temp, lack of air &/or draft. White indicates steam from moist/wet wood. Glowing coals with good temp & no smoke is just that stage of the wood's burning.
By your description. sounds like the wood is at the end of its burning stage if its glowing coals & falling apart. If it is at the end of the burning life, you can either leave the air closed or open, as it should not have enough fuel left to over fire. I'd prolly close the air down just to be safe if leaving it unattended.

 

[Todd]

White steam isn't always wet/moist wood. My cat stove releases white steam that disapates a few feet away from the chimney. This is a sign of the cat doing it's job.

 

[Hogwildz]

Out of curiosity, if not coming from moist or wet wood, where is the moisture causing that steam coming from?

 

[Todd]

Well, from what I've read in a cat stove the particles are burned at such a high temperature whats left is carbon dioxide and water vapor, so the smoke appears white, almost like steam. Nobody burns 0% moisture firewood so I guess there will always be a little water vapor going up the stack. I never noticed this white steam with my previous non cats, just heat waves up there.

 

[Dexter]

At the very cleanest burn, it is literally the hydrocarbon in the wood breaking apart from the heat, and 2 hydrogens combing with oxygen to make, voila, water. The carbon portion combines with two oxygens (sometimes with a banked fire, only one oxygen) to form CO2 (or CO).

You can see water vapor just like it at the stack when methane burns in the furnace, or on a cold day, out the tail pipe of a car. It's all hydrocarbons, after all.

 

[skinnykid]

I try to have at least some flames for overnight burn. It is more because it tells me it is breathing and I am still just learning!