Do the down draft stoves burn wet wood any cleaner then a standard reburn tube non-cat epa stove?
Down draft stoves and burning wet wood.
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No. If anything, they are worse. If the wood is too wet/green, the secondary burn stalls and you get a smoldering burn when you close the bypass. Anytime I have wood that is less than optimal, I need to leave the bypass open much longer, and give the fire more air.
Unfortunately, it's about like asking if a ford burns bad gasoline any better than a chevy. The quality of the fuel determines most everything about your burn.
pen
pen
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
There is no excuse for burning wet wood.....in any stove. You may as well take out a $100 from your wallet and burn that. At least you'd lose only the bill and wouldn't have the ugly mess afterward like you will with wet wood.
Somehow I get the feeling that this thread was just a teaser.
Somehow I get the feeling that this thread was just a teaser.
BrowningBAR
Minister of Fire
Backwoods Savage said:
I don't know about that. Seems a bit harsh. We've all done it, some due to lack of understanding, some out of circumstances. Burning wet wood is a pain and takes a lot of time, but it is possible to get decent stove temps if no other options exist.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
BrowningBAR said:
Not trying to be picky or start anything but perhaps that should be re-phrased a bit. Can't say, "WE'VE ALL DONE IT." When you say we all have, that includes all. Perhaps most have done it, but certainly not all.
Backwoods Savage said:
Dennis, you've even done it, if you've done it I'm ok with BB saying we've all done it. :lol:
Backwoods Savage said:
Copied from here
BrowningBAR
Minister of Fire
Backwoods Savage said:
I believe my statement was pretty accurate.
I guess I could rephrase it to "the vast majority."
The only wet wood I have burned was punky/ugly stuff in the outside burn barrel or for campfires.
I'll turn on the boiler before I throw wet wood into a $5000 dollar stove setup!
I'll turn on the boiler before I throw wet wood into a $5000 dollar stove setup!
NATE379 said:
I haven't burned any really bad stuff as in right off the stump but my first year I burned wood cut/split/stacked in March, thankfully a lot of it was ash and burned good, the oak on the other hand was far from perfect. I actually picked up a little more than a cord of well seasoned "Dennis wood" to get me through the end of my first season.
I had wood my first year that the firewood dealer said was seasoned, of course it was split that fall. It burned like cr p. I got it to work by bringing it into the basement split into 3" splits and leaving it their for at least two weeks. I do have in-floor heat down there. It worked but not great. I now have three years of wood stacked and split. You learn that seasoned wood is only seasoned if you do it yourself!
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
rdust, burning ash right after is has been cut is not what I call wet wood because it will burn. Not good for sure, but it will burn. Try that with others, like oak and you have some big problems.
Seeing I am in michigan there is not going to be a problem finding dead fall ash. I just got 3 cords oak stacked up on my covered back porch, that stuff doesnt burn worth a **%#. compaired to Ash. That oak takes forever to dry out. I had a cord of cottonwood(dripping wet when spilt), an apple tree that I cut and stacked in the spring. It only seasoned for six months or so and it burned great. This oak has been setting on porch for a month now an I still have to leave the stove door cracked for 10 minutes to get it burning good.
I could just go with straight pellets in my bixby. I just like the wood. I would rather have the bark the the pastic bags any day. Man last year if I missed a garbage day, it would take me 3 weeks to get back to a normal garage load, I have one of those huge automatied dump truck cans. Now I burn half of my trash and mail.
I can't wait until it gets Zero'ish so I can see if wood stove can hang by its self.
This Magnolia is nice, I picked it up at TSC at the end of winter. I wanted the 30-nc but everyone was sold out. I think this magnolia is somewhere aroung 5 grams an hour, I would like something a little cleaner that kicks out the BTU's (3,500 sq ft, ish) and low BTU's like 300TL and still burn clean, thinking its not as picky as a CAT. Because keeping 30ish cords sitting around for a CAT isn't going to fly. Even though the cover porch will hold 10 very easly.
I could just go with straight pellets in my bixby. I just like the wood. I would rather have the bark the the pastic bags any day. Man last year if I missed a garbage day, it would take me 3 weeks to get back to a normal garage load, I have one of those huge automatied dump truck cans. Now I burn half of my trash and mail.
I can't wait until it gets Zero'ish so I can see if wood stove can hang by its self.
This Magnolia is nice, I picked it up at TSC at the end of winter. I wanted the 30-nc but everyone was sold out. I think this magnolia is somewhere aroung 5 grams an hour, I would like something a little cleaner that kicks out the BTU's (3,500 sq ft, ish) and low BTU's like 300TL and still burn clean, thinking its not as picky as a CAT. Because keeping 30ish cords sitting around for a CAT isn't going to fly. Even though the cover porch will hold 10 very easly.
branchburner said:
If you are using "optimal wood" do you still have to run it bypass open for awhile, or can you load an go? Seeing that I have a large room 1,200 sq ft 16ft ceilings and a large house 3,500 sq ft, I would be pretty much running it hot all the time, do you think I would have a hard time getting a clean burn with sub optimal wood, with out overfireing the firedome?
branchburner said:
Just curious... How do you know how well the secondary burn is working in your stove? It all happens behind the "Iron Curtain" in the back of the stove, doesn't it ?
WayneCoBurner said:
Yes, have to run it bypass open for awhile, no load and go. From a cold stove it's at least a half hour, sometimes an hour, depending on wood. But when reloading on a real good coal bed, only 5-10 minutes.
I have had much better luck with two-year oak than one-year oak. Two month-oak? Better off with an old smoke dragon with a huge firebox.
A combination of undersizing the stove and under-seasoning the wood probably would do a number on the Firedome, as well as the bricks. People who have run these stoves too hot/too hard have been disappointed. If getting a downdraft for a room/house that big you are going to want good wood - these stoves are really just as picky as a cat.
If I had a space that big I'd go with pellets for another year and then get one of the big cats w/ an 8" flue, like Buck or Country Flame. The cat means you will burn less wood, so ten cords on hand and you are set for sure.
http://www.buckstove.com/wood/model91.html
https://www.americanenergysystems.com/productDetails.cfm?productID=847
Battenkiller said:
The outdoor way (look for smoke) OR the indoor way (therm on back of the stove - huge difference when AB is working, 400-900F vs 200F).
Troutchaser
New Member
Even with the Leyden where you can see the combuster it's often blocked by splits so that you don't really know for sure what's going on.
I'm getting pretty good at determining by flue temps. And who knows how many times I ran out into the cold with a flashlight to get a look at the pipe.
I think that less than optimal wood is going to cause some serious headaches. I've tried it. Give it a go and burn hot.
I'm getting pretty good at determining by flue temps. And who knows how many times I ran out into the cold with a flashlight to get a look at the pipe.
I think that less than optimal wood is going to cause some serious headaches. I've tried it. Give it a go and burn hot.
I have a downdraft which I love.
The company's literature says that it will let you burn "wet" wood just fine.
My first year burning with it I was burning stuff that was somewhat less than ideal. We used way more wood than I planned on (my wife LOVED the stove heat). I thought we were just going to use it occasionally. We ended up using it almost 24/7.
Because of using more than I planned, I burned what I had. Some of it (especially towards the end of spring) had a higher moisture content that I would have liked. Probably mid 20's%, maybe higher.
Did it burn? Yes.
Did it keep my house warm? Yes
However, now that I have had time to get ahead, the wood I am burning is MUCH, MUCH drier. And the stove works MUCH, MUCH better. Starting it is easier, I use less wood, I get more heat, etc. etc.
Like others have said, just burn dry wood.
The company's literature says that it will let you burn "wet" wood just fine.
My first year burning with it I was burning stuff that was somewhat less than ideal. We used way more wood than I planned on (my wife LOVED the stove heat). I thought we were just going to use it occasionally. We ended up using it almost 24/7.
Because of using more than I planned, I burned what I had. Some of it (especially towards the end of spring) had a higher moisture content that I would have liked. Probably mid 20's%, maybe higher.
Did it burn? Yes.
Did it keep my house warm? Yes
However, now that I have had time to get ahead, the wood I am burning is MUCH, MUCH drier. And the stove works MUCH, MUCH better. Starting it is easier, I use less wood, I get more heat, etc. etc.
Like others have said, just burn dry wood.
The Sedore is a low-tech downdraft, without the fancy (and expensive!) burn chamber found in the Harman, Lopi, VC stoves. I'm sure it performs much better with green wood than those stoves.
Dune
Minister of Fire
branchburner said:
All things considered, it did perform quite well. It ate whatever I put in it, and some of it was shamefully wet.
This year is sooo much better. I've learned my lesson about dry wood.
This thing has made me a believer in down-draft stoves. Top loading is the only way to go.
I'm pretty sure that the harman & lopi stoves are more efficient than mine. However, there is something to be said for simplicity. Simple is usually reliable.
IA Burner said:
Simple is also usually easier and cheaper to maintain. I think the Sedore design is great - it is a true downdraft. The stoves like mine should really be called cross-draft.
Backwoods Savage said:
I have to say that you are wrong. There are some situations where wet wood is the only option. Not everyone owns acreage like you. Not everyone has access tp the money or connections to get dry wood. After last year purchasing 5 cords of wood from three different firewood "dealers" and finding them all to be varying degrees of wet and green, I had to make do and used the help on these forums to make it work. This help came from many who said that it is best to burn dry wood, but you could get by with wet if you had to. They gave pointers and tips on how to make that work instead of pontificating on the evils of wet wood. I got by with the wet wood and religiously cleaned my chimeny each month and tried to scrounge pallets to burn with the wet stuff. However, that was all much cheaper and less painful than paying the propane guy $600 a month.
So yes, your statement is inaccurate and mildly offensive. There are times when there is an excuse to burn wet wood. Many of us have done it out of necessity, the rest of you are awaiting canonization.
Dune
Minister of Fire
fran35 said:
I disagree. I go to pretty great lengths to burn dry wood.
When I decided to install a wood stove, I waited untill I had fours cords of seasoned wood and then installed the stove.
I don't blame you or anyone else for not knowing that, I heated with a stove for most of my life, still didn't know much about it till I got here,
but did know you don't burn wet wood.
I have cut untold hundreds of pallets for firewood.
I have burned a great many standing dead tree branches and trees.
I have dried tons (literaly) of seasoned but wet firewood by storing it in the stove room.
Last resort, I would buy bio-logs.
Over the years (mostly from Dennis), I have moved from considering "seasoning" to be 1 good year to 2 years, to now 3 years. Thanks Dennis.
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