First Ever Wood Burning Stove...Couple Questions for the Experts

[CJJLK]

My wife and I just moved into our new home this past spring where we decided to install a Lopi Leyden wood burning stove (all 8" duravent pipe, approximately 30' of exposed black pipe inside the house, a large vaulted ceiling with no attic in the home, and approximately 10' of exterior stainless steel pipe of which I'd guess 5-7' rise above the roofline, and two each roof ridges that are approximately 8-10' from the top of stove pipe cap). We began burning for the first time late November 2009 and have ultimately had very good luck for a couple of amatuers. We have been burning a lot of walnut, elm, hickory, and some oak that we cut down where our house is now located on the property a couple years back; however I finally got around splitting it this past fall. We have not had to run the furnace but maybe a half dozen days this winter and that had mostly to do with the fact that we were away from the house for a day or two. Our fires have started fairly easy, the stovetop reaches around 400F after about an hour of warmup at which time I reload the stove and begin to close the damper and supply less air to the chamber. Most fires burn 400F-550F and after we reload before going to sleep at night in the morning the stovetop is still around 300F and doesn't take much effort at all to get it back up in action.

However, just the last couple of weeks we have been having some trouble. We are burning all hickory for the most part now and I don't know if its just me but it seams like the hickory burns best when its in a "hot" fire and not as good of a wood for starting a new fire? Lately, when I go to open the stove (topload) it "burps" up a little puff of smoke back in my face which the stove really has not done at all to me earlier this season. And last night for the first time ever we must have had a terrible "cold air blockage" at the top of the stove pipe where it exits the house and the smoke got so bad inside the stove and the cold air must not have let it break through that the smoke actually started coming out into the house where the interior black pipe connects to the exterior stainless steel pipe; and not until a whole lot of smoke later and some better oak kindling that enabled the pipe to heat up did it finally break through...has anyone else actually had "cold air blockage" this bad before? And is it common for a top load wood stove to "burp" back at you a little puff of smoke when reloading? I don't know if it was possibly just the conditions last night outside (only 10F) and some flurries, or if it was that I just had some bad/wet kindling and small chordwood that didn't take off like it should have during fireup, or what? And with regards to the smoke when we reload if that might be in effect due to the fact that possibly our exterior pipe is not tall enough with respect to the near-bye roof peaks and our downdraft is too bad?

Any suggestions or comments would be great. Thank you for your help.

 

[agartner]

Inspect your stack top to bottom. Creosote buildup on the cap could be hindering airflow and subsequently your draft. Also check all elbows and joints. Might be time for a good sweeping. The condition of your pipes will tell you the condition of your wood. Dirty pipes = wet wood and/or cold burns.

 

[Pagey]

If you are burning oak and hickory now that you split in the fall, chances are it contains far more moisture than you would imagine. Oak holds on to water like nobody's business, and it really takes 2 years cut/split/stacked for oak to be truly seasoned for a modern EPA stove. Now, this is not to say that you can't burn it before then or can't get it to burn before then, but be aware that it still holds a ton of moisture, and when you burn it that water vapor is entering your flue and cooling the gases on their way up, allowing creosote to condense. Combine that with 40' (if I read that right) or flue, and you've really got a greater chance for buildup.

As suggested, check your flue sooner rather than later. One of the first signs of creosote accumulate can be the changes in performance which you have just described. Good luck, and burn safely.

 

[boostnut]

Anybody else willing to bet he's got a plugged cap? You're burning wood that is not properly seasoned ("however I finally got around splitting it this past fall"), this causes creosote to form, usually can be found first built up on the screen in your cap. One of the first symptoms is usually a "burp" of smoke. Clean your cap, sweep your pipe, and start preparing for next year NOW.

 

[CJJLK]

All,

I appreciate the comments/suggestions. I actually have a chimney sweep scheduled for tomorrow morning so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm guessing that most of you are right in that although the wood has had a couple of seasons to "dry out" that I didn't do myself any favors by waiting to split it this fall!

Thanks for your help and again any other comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[Pagey]

You will find that most wood seasons very poorly in the round. In fact, it will even rot before seasoning if left in the round. The only wood I've had luck seasoning in the round was a cord of white pine that was like burning matches, even when fresh out of the round.

Hardwoods are just too dense to do any real, appreciable seasoning in the round. You gotta expose that surface area, baby!

 

[Fsappo]

Checking the chimney cap would be my first step

 

[firefighterjake]

+1 to Pagey, Agartner and Boostnut's comments . . . the comment about splitting in the fall, "burping" stove, smoke in the home, etc. would lead me to think the cap or chimney may have a partial clog from burning unseasoned wood. Best solution for future use: burn hot, inspect and clean the chimney regularly and burn seasoned wood (cut and split 1-2 years in advance.)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Millington.


Please heed the advise that all new wood burners should do. Check that chimney once every month for the first couple of years of wood burning. Clean as necessary. If you have to clean the chimney 2, 3 or even more times each year, then do it. Once you get to the point to where you can clean only once per year, then you will be happy and your stove will give you much more heat.

This is why you see wood burners having big wood piles. They cut and split the wood, then put it out into the sun and wind (wind more important than sun) to dry. Different woods take different lengths of time to dry. For example, you could cut an ash in the winter and burn the wood the following fall with no problem. But if you cut a red oak at the same time, you'd best wait 2-3 years before even trying to burn it.

Good luck and I hope that sweep does a good job for you.