Finally, my first fire

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

spadafore

New Member
Sep 4, 2008
128
northwest ohio
Yep it's official I have woken up another old smoke dragon. After nearly three months of searching, reading, lurking, waiting, waiting, waiting, and wasting time waiting I was able to fire the stove up last night. I had good intentions on waiting till Friday night to burn, but last night I thought what the heck. It was a small fire that was more of a test fire than anything. I was quite impressed with the results for such an old beast. In the firebox I put in some pine kindling and some red oak on top of that, lit a firestarter and shut the door. It sure was neat to sit and wait and watch the fire keep growing and growing. Over the course of the next hour I bet I ran this routine 6 or 7 times, it goes as follows. Get up grab the flashlight, run outside, look at the chimney, look for smoke, run back inside check the firebox, look at the stove temp, feel the stove pipe, feel the ceiling support box, feel the trim collar, feel the drywall on the ceiling, feel the walls, then last check the temp on the wall. The stove got up to a temp of 350 after about an hour of burn time. I closed the damper and shutair down and took a shower after about a half an hour the stove was at 160 degrees with the stove pipe warm but not hot to the touch. Mission accomplished. I was even able to sleep not worrying too bad about first timer thoughts. I would have burned it longer, but work rolls around pretty early in the morning. I'll let it rip tonight and see what happens. Looking forward to a warm winter. Does that make any sense?
 
You're getting there. It seems somewhat cool burning though. What stove is this and where are you taking the temperature reading? I'd watch the flue temps and try to keep them in the 3-400 range, especially if the flue is exterior.
 
Perfect sense. Its always best to take things easy the first time through. As long as you you followed all the required specs you should be all set.
 
Begreen it is an old Franklin Fireplace. Not ashamed to admit it. It's like having a pet, ya gotta watch it. I'm telling you I could sit and watch that fire all night. The cool temp was probabaly from the fact that I really didn't put much wood in it all, forseeing staying up late if I did. Also the fact that I was very nervous on this inital fire not to let anything you read about happen to me. I have the thermometer on top of the stove now. Do you think putting it on the stove pipe would be a better place.
 
If the flue is single wall, that is where I'd place it. If you can keep the surface flue temp in the 300 degree range it will help to keep the creosote condensation in check.

In the meantime we'll be happy to assist you as you transition to the modern world and a good EPA stove. The wood you save and the heat you get back will make a convert of you too.
 
Yeah i hear you about the EPA stove and if I could afford it I would have one in ASAP. Turns out if I would have found this site before I spent 6,000 on a new furnace I could have spent alot less on a cadilac of a stove. Thanks for all your help.
 
Congrats on the success. Keep doing the fires at increased increments. That will allow you to monitor your system as well as YOU getting more comfortable with the stove. A warm house is a wonderful thing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.