ESW 28-3500 Learning curve

[Badfish740]

I'm having pretty good luck learning as I go with my ESW add-on. So far I really am burning only at night for some extended periods on the weekends. Typically I start a fire when I get home from work (7:15ish), and I get it cruising with the air open 3/4 of the way until we go to bed. At that point (usually around 9:30) I load up with locust or oak, open the ash door for about 5 minutes (I NEVER leave it alone with the ash door open) to speed the charring process, and then close the ash door/leave the air wide open for another 10 minutes. Finally I'll go back downstairs, choke the air down to 1/4 of the way open, and very slightly open the spin draft. With this method and the average nighttime temperature at 35-40 degrees we've been waking to the house temperature between 68-70 degrees and a warm (not hot) bed of coals in the furnace. I haven't been starting fires in the morning because the house warms quickly (we have a lot of southern exposure) once the sun rises and the oil heat (set to 60) doesn't kick on until the sun goes back down around 6:30, so it runs for maybe an hour or two before I get home.

I'm wondering how different things are going to be once we begin to see temperatures consistently below 30 degrees. Anyone care to share their overnight burn experiences with the ESW? Assuming I really load the firebox to the hilt with good dry oak and locust can I expect to maintain 70 degrees through the night when it's 20 degrees outside? I know a lot of it depends on insulation, but I'm concerned that I'll be needing to leave the air open wide in order to get enough heat during overnight periods that I'll be going through wood very quickly. It's not as if I'll be getting up in the night to feed the furnace-I can just let the oil kick on-I'm just wondering how much oil I'll end up using.

 

[freeburn]

Sorry Badfish, I'm still in the infantile learning stages. I am using my heat pump right now in the shoulder season, waiting for the bitter cold to begin using the wood. I appreciate your tweaks though. That sounds about what I did for the few days I used it back when we had the first cold spell.

 

[Badfish740]

Sorry Badfish, I'm still in the infantile learning stages. I am using my heat pump right now in the shoulder season, waiting for the bitter cold to begin using the wood. I appreciate your tweaks though. That sounds about what I did for the few days I used it back when we had the first cold spell.

No problem-I'm assuming you have an Englander add-on too? If so, the ash door trick really does come in handy, but I cannot stress enough that you should never step away from it with the door open. With the firebox door closed, air control fully open, and the ash door even cracked, the underfire air coming up through the grate creates a blast furnace effect. The longest I've ever let it go like that is maybe 8-10 minutes. It gets even big splits going pretty good in a short amount of time. As a final warning though (getting redundant I know), I would guess that if you left the ash door open with a couple of good sized splits unattended for 30 minutes or so you'd have a white hot flue and firebox on your hands! I like to crack a beer, pull up my folding chair, kick my feet up and watch the flames fly until its time to shut the door and go back upstairs.

 

[freeburn]

I hear you on the ash door, it really gets the firebox full of flames. I tried it a few times, but I am going to try to make sure I don't make that into too much of a habit for "runaway" reasons. What I did is turn the handle to the right instead of left to keep the door closed, but not latched tightly. That keeps the air still moving, but not nearly as much. You can do this with both top and ash door. You probably have figured that out already though. Another added safety thing with the handle to the right is in case the door should come open or little children come around and want to play.

One thing I did notice, and this was pretty cool. After all my wood was good and charred, with bottom completely closed, (perhaps one cog open) I would close down my air almost 2/3 to 3/4 of the way, and it would almost appear like secondaries were kicking in above the wood. The only problem is, it wouldn't last very long, so I'd have to open it back up again. Not sure what tweak I could do with that. Maybe you know what I'm talking about already. Keep up the posting, we'll get this thing to burn long and clean yet!

 

[Badfish740]

One thing I did notice, and this was pretty cool. After all my wood was good and charred, with bottom completely closed, (perhaps one cog open) I would close down my air almost 2/3 to 3/4 of the way, and it would almost appear like secondaries were kicking in above the wood. The only problem is, it wouldn't last very long, so I'd have to open it back up again. Not sure what tweak I could do with that. Maybe you know what I'm talking about already. Keep up the posting, we'll get this thing to burn long and clean yet!

I know exactly what you're talking about-it never does seem to last very long though. I'm considering hacking mine eventually like this guy did for a true secondary burn:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=86675

 

[laynes69]

To get those secondaries you either need preheated secondary air, or a firebox thats hot enough to produce them. Basically by the time you burn up the available oxygen in the primary, there's not alot for secondary. Couple that with a firebox thats then cooling once dampering down and you'll lose it. My old furnace it would work, but took surface temps of 400-500 to get it and I had a plug removed to allow for some extra oxygen below to baffle over the fire. Waking up to a house thats 68 to 70 isn't bad. But when it gets to the teens and windy then that won't happen. You can try a little more air at a time through the night and monitor your fire in the morning to see where your sweet spot is. I got used to my old furnace and now I need to relearn, but so far things are going good for me. Good luck guys.

 

[freeburn]

Yeah, but as far as hacking it goes. That's what I don't want to do, is a hack job. Mine isn't very old and it most certainly voids any warranty, so . . . it's a tossup. Any ideas on how you would go about doing it? If you would. My thought is either through the front, or the bottom and up the sides in the back, then out into the firebox underneath the baffle. Then there is the issue of the baffle. It would get too hot and not keep the temps up high enough. The Caddy's got the insulated stainless baffle, that's the only one I've seen, that actually works and you can see it working through the glass. I don't understand why Englander doesn't just build a furnace with the same technology as their stoves. I would think it wouldn't be that difficult to add two channels of airway from the back and bottom of the furnace to the front (see Caddy). The inside would be identical to an EPA wood stove. That's the same concept as the Caddy, but with a jacket around it to blow out the heat. Maybe it's coming, but then again, the price would be more too! Therein lies your catch 22. . . OR Englander could come out with a retrofit kit. . . in the spirit of the do it yourselfer.

 

[laynes69]

If you add tubes, or secondary air you also reduce the firebox size. Less wood, maybe more heat but also a shorter burn. Adding a kit wouldn't be for the average homeowner. I would keep it stock and learn the furnace. Save your money up and someday upgrade. Took us a few years, but worth it. If you added preheated secondary air, it could quickly overfire due to excessive heat.

 

[lexybird]

this is my second year with mine ,took me a while to figure this bad boy out but i think i got my settings nailed now for best results on my setup ,cant speak for all applications of this unit but for me in the dead of january and february we would open up the windows .it is nothing to get my 2,000 sq ft house around 90 if i kickon the forced air furnance blower . seems the colder it is the better it performs because cold air drafts much better than warm air ,but you may find your wood is too wet still though .it must have dry seasoned wood *or it will suck to use and not put out the heat and burntimes your looking for ,i get overnight burns and easily keep the house at 75 when turned down all winter long despite outside temps and we got plenty of below zero nights out here in northern Pa.id guess i used around 7 cords(100% wood heat use) last year, this year hopefully closer to 6 now that i know whats going on better