Helping the wife cope.........

[soupy1957]

I noticed, when we were in our "learning curve" last winter, with our wood stove, that often times, my wife had trouble keeping the fire from smoldering. Perhaps it was because as a busy wife, she can't babysit the fire as much as needed.

Since that time, we've BOTH grown a bit, in our understanding of what it takes to build and maintain a healthy/safe fire, and I decided that perhaps it might be a good reminder for she and I, if I put down some of the fundamentals for burning wood, on a couple of sheets of paper that could be stuck to the refrigerator, as a guide.

I don't suggest that all my statements are completely accurate, and I realize that there are differing schools of thought on some issues, but I have cut-n-pasted the text here, for your scrutinizing eye to review. If there are any obvious errors, please advise before I print it out and hang it up. If there are any modifications that need to be made, also let me know. I don't claim to "know it all" when it comes to this stuff.

By the way, I DID order the Flue Thermometer I asked about, and will be installing it next week.

_________________________________________________________________



USING THE WOOD STOVE MORE EFFICIENTLY:

A) USE PROPER FUEL:
USE ONLY DRY, (CHECK WITH MOISTURE
METER) SEASONED WOOD;
NEVER BURN GARBAGE

B) START YOUR FIRE RIGHT:
BEGIN BY WARMING THE FLUE SO YOU
DON’T GET SMOKE BLOWBACK. (YOU
NEED A GOOD DRAW IN THE CHIMNEY FIRST).
USE SEASONED DRY KINDLING AND
SMALL PIECES OF WOOD, AND NEWSPAPER.
GET A GOOD BURN GOING WITH THE DOOR
SLIGHTLY AJAR FOR THE FIVE MINUTES OR
SO, THEN SHUT THE DOOR. ONCE YOU GET
THE FIRE GOING, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO KEEP
IT GOING. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED OF
RESTARTS, UNLESS A CLEANING IS NEEDED,
OR IF WE ARE AWAY.

C) GET YOUR STOVE HOT:
ADD ONE LARGER LOG AT A TIME. KEEP THE
DAMPER FULLY OPEN FOR NOW. GET A GOOD
FIRE GOING (A HOT FIRE BURN IS GOOD FOR
CLEANING THE CHIMNEY. LET IT STAY “HOT”
FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR OR SO, BEFORE
GOING INTO “MAINTAINING THE FIRE” MODE.

D) MAINTAIN THE FIRE:
1. GRADUALLY EASE OFF THE DAMPER
(CLOSING ONLY ENOUGH TO KEEP A
FLAME GOING AND TO KEEP THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE STOVE
WITHIN A 450º - 750ºF RANGE.
2. DON’T FILL YOUR FIRE WITH TOO MANY
LOGS AT A TIME. LEVEL OFF THE ASHES
AS NEEDED.

3. KEEP THE AIR INLET FREE OF ASH.

"BALANCE IS THE KEY HERE. A CONSTANT FLAME
AND EVEN TEMPS. NOT TOO LOW, NOT TOO HIGH.


E) KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED:
ONLY OPEN THE DOOR TO ADD MORE WOOD
OR WHEN CLEANING OUT ASHES WHEN THE
FIRE BURNS DOWN.

F) TEMP VARIANCES:
YOUR FLUE GAS TEMPS WILL TYPICALLY BE
HIGHER THAN YOUR STOVE TEMPS. YOU MAY
SEE TEMPS AS HIGH AS 1100ºF IN YOUR FLUE
WHEN THE TEMPS IN THE STOVE ARE IN THAT
450 - 750ºF RANGE.

G) OVERNIGHT BURNS:
LOAD UP THE STOVE WITH WOOD FOR A HOT BURN
AS ABOVE, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE GOING TO
BED. LET THE FIRE RELAX A BIT, AND CLOSE THE
DAMPER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT PUTTING
OUT THE FLAMES…………LET IT BURN.



____________________________________________________________

-Soupy1957

 

[Fsappo]

Thats a good guideline. I told my wife the following when she wanted to light a fire while I was at work:

Take 5 fire starter squares (I use three, but I wanted things to go easy)
Light them, put them in the ash on the bottom of the stove, put 4 splits in the stove so they make a bridge over the fire starters (bridge is a term she can understand)
Open the air inlet, close the door. Check in a half hour, if you see lots of fire, close the air control all the way and dont touch the stove again till I get home. (of course, she had fun and kept adding logs, which was ok with me)

Nice and simple

 

[soupy1957]

Biggest issue I've had with our stove.........closing the Damper (air inlet) all the way seems to snuff out the fire.........I have to be careful with it. Don't know "why" it snuffs things out, because I would think that even when fully closed, I'd imagine that there is SOME airflow (I need to look at the inner airflow patterns as designed by the manufacturer to confirm this).

-Soupy1957

 

[Backwoods Savage]

USING THE WOOD STOVE MORE EFFICIENTLY:

A) USE PROPER FUEL:
USE ONLY DRY, (CHECK WITH MOISTURE METER) SEASONED WOOD; NEVER BURN GARBAGE

B) START YOUR FIRE RIGHT:
BEGIN BY WARMING THE FLUE SO YOU DON’T GET SMOKE BLOWBACK. (YOU NEED A GOOD DRAW IN THE CHIMNEY FIRST).

How do you warm your flue? Stick paper in the pipe and light it? Use a propane torch?
This step is not always needed; I've never had to do it at all. Simply lighting the kindling takes care of heating the flue.

USE SEASONED DRY KINDLING AND SMALL PIECES OF WOOD, AND NEWSPAPER.

GET A GOOD BURN GOING WITH THE DOOR SLIGHTLY AJAR FOR THE FIVE MINUTES OR SO, THEN SHUT THE DOOR. ONCE YOU GET
THE FIRE GOING, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO KEEP IT GOING. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED OF RESTARTS, UNLESS A CLEANING IS NEEDED,
OR IF WE ARE AWAY.

Leaving the door slightly ajar might be okay but make certain someone stays with the stove while this is done as it is too
easy to bet busy with something else and forget that door. Stay with the fire until it is established!

C) GET YOUR STOVE HOT:
ADD ONE LARGER LOG AT A TIME.
Why only one log at a time? If you plan on filling the stove, then fill it once your kindling is going good.

KEEP THE DAMPER FULLY OPEN FOR NOW.

Keep that damper full open but only until you have a fire established. The wood will char and then begin dialing down the draft.

GET A GOOD FIRE GOING (A HOT FIRE BURN IS GOOD FOR CLEANING THE CHIMNEY...

That is the poorest way of cleaning a chimney! The only reason for the hot fire is to warm that chimney and burn most of
the gasses rather than create creosote. A chimney is cleaned with a brush, not a roaring fire!

LET IT STAY “HOT” FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR OR SO, BEFORE GOING INTO “MAINTAINING THE FIRE” MODE.

And keep the telephone handy to call 911 because the house has caught on fire!
This is one of the biggest mistakes wood burners make! There very well might be times when you need to keep the draft open full that long
but that would be because of poor fuel or poor draft or a combination. Let the fire burn hot only long enough to establish the fire and then
dial down. If you dial the draft down in increments, then that can be very good but not leaving the fire burn "hot" for a half hour or so. As an
example, we usually have our draft dialed down as low as we want for a long burn after 15-20 minutes and sometimes as little as 10 minutes.



D) MAINTAIN THE FIRE:
1. GRADUALLY EASE OFF THE DAMPER (CLOSING ONLY ENOUGH TO KEEP A FLAME GOING AND TO KEEP THE TEMPERATURE OF THE STOVE
WITHIN A 450º - 750ºF RANGE.
2. DON’T FILL YOUR FIRE WITH TOO MANY LOGS AT A TIME. LEVEL OFF THE ASHES AS NEEDED.

Why not? I can agree with this in spring/fall but if it is winter and you want heat, fill the firebox.

3. KEEP THE AIR INLET FREE OF ASH.

"BALANCE IS THE KEY HERE. A CONSTANT FLAME AND EVEN TEMPS. NOT TOO LOW, NOT TOO HIGH.


E) KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED:
ONLY OPEN THE DOOR TO ADD MORE WOOD OR WHEN CLEANING OUT ASHES WHEN THE FIRE BURNS DOWN.

F) TEMP VARIANCES:
YOUR FLUE GAS TEMPS WILL TYPICALLY BE HIGHER THAN YOUR STOVE TEMPS. YOU MAY SEE TEMPS AS HIGH AS 1100ºF IN YOUR FLUE
WHEN THE TEMPS IN THE STOVE ARE IN THAT 450 - 750ºF RANGE.

Wow! My stove top might be at 600 degrees but the flue temperature only around 350 degrees.
(Stove top temp with thermometer sitting center. Flue with temperature taken on top 12" from stove (horizontal flue)


G) OVERNIGHT BURNS:
LOAD UP THE STOVE WITH WOOD FOR A HOT BURN AS ABOVE, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE GOING TO BED. LET THE FIRE RELAX A BIT,
AND CLOSE THE DAMPER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT PUTTING OUT THE FLAMES…………LET IT BURN.

___________________________________________________________

-Soupy1957

Many folks don't realize they can load their stove during the daylight hours the same as they do for night hours. There is no reason you can't and there are many here who can not be with their stove all day so they fill it in the morning the same as they do at night.


Soupy, it appears you almost have all the fundamentals down pat and with just a little bit of change you will be a very seasoned veteran very soon. Good luck to you.

 

[begreen]

Dennis, fire start up and stove behavior vary a lot between different stove models and flue installations. It will also vary depending on how the wood is loaded. A fire loaded E/W is going to start differently than a fire loaded N/S. Especially if all the primary air is supplied from the front of the firebox. With a shallow firebox, you must load E/W if all you have are normal length splits. This is how our Castine was started. Then I had a batch of small cut offs and I tried N/S in the Castine. It made a big difference in quicker starting.

Soupy, I have to agree with the point on the flue temps. Normally, except on first start of a fire, our flue temps are cooler than stove top temps. It might be worthwhile to have the thermometer checked. Last year we found some of the newest generation of probe thermometers reading way too high.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

BeGreen you are correct and that is why each person has to learn how to run his stove the best. But first get the fundamentals down and then vary from that. My biggest point and the one that scares me the most is leaving the draft open full for a half hour or more. If I left my stove draft open that long there would be nothing left of our home! I can get the flue thermometer (not internal) up to 500 degrees pretty fast (usually less than 10 minutes) so inside the flue it gets really hot. What would it be after a half hour?

This is why I have stated many times that each person has to learn his stove, installation and fuel. For example, Todd won't run his Fireview less than .5 on the draft control. I usually run at .25 or less! Many times I have to close the draft and we have a good hot fire for a long time. If Todd did this, he would freeze. Yet, they are the same stove.

 

[North of 60]

Definitely your flue temps should run below your stove temps once your stove is up to temp and is in the proper burn cycle.

 

[begreen]

BeGreen you are correct and that is why each person has to learn how to run his stove the best. But first get the fundamentals down and then vary from that. My biggest point and the one that scares me the most is leaving the draft open full for a half hour or more. If I left my stove draft open that long there would be nothing left of our home! I can get the flue thermometer (not internal) up to 500 degrees pretty fast (usually less than 10 minutes) so inside the flue it gets really hot. What would it be after a half hour?

This is why I have stated many times that each person has to learn his stove, installation and fuel. For example, Todd won't run his Fireview less than .5 on the draft control. I usually run at .25 or less! Many times I have to close the draft and we have a good hot fire for a long time. If Todd did this, he would freeze. Yet, they are the same stove.

It depends on the stove, draft and wood. With the Castine loaded E/W and some not perfectly dry soft maple, we needed the draft open all the way for 30 minutes. Of that time the door was ajar for 10-15 min. The 90 on the rear exit really slowed down draft until the stove was warm. In the Alderlea, starting from cold stove, it takes 30 minutes for the big box to warm up. For us, even N/S loading, it's not uncommon for a cold start fire to get full air for 20-30 minutes. But we put some big logs (8-10" splits) on over the' tunnel of love' and they take a while to get burning.

 

[Bobbin]

I'm the "skirt" in our home. I was a teen when the oil embargo sent fuel prices sky-rocketting in the early '70s. My old man was a plumbing/heating contractor and he went mental about "turning down the thermostat". Jesu! you'd have thougt the "end was near". It sucked for me... my bedroom was partially below grade and on its own zone. But the old man disconnected the thermostat and my bedroom maintained about 55 degrees. Real comfy. It sucked. And I decided that being cold was really stupid when other options were available.

When the husband I built a home in 1991 we knew we wanted a stove. I lobbied hard for a new one and I won that arguement. We bought a Woodstock Fireview (I wanted a Jotul). But here's the crucial point: I learned how to operate the stove properly from day 1. There was none of the " only the man knows how" crap. The stove is part of MY home, I own half of that home and half of the operating expenses are MY responsibility! End of story.

I was adament that the stove we selected was to be new, EPA compliant, and installed properly and meet all code requirements. NO "yard sale" specials and NO shortcuts. End of story. I had no idea that the only EPA compliant stove the husband "liked" was about $500 more than the lovely ivory porcelain stove I'd ogled for months... lol.

So, we bought the Woodstock. But, the most important thing is that I was "on board" with the whole stove enterprise from the "get go". I made it my business to learn about the stove and how to operate it properly and efficiently. And there are some funny anecdotes that go right along with that. But the most important thing about burning wood and having a stove is making sure that everyone in your home is "cool" with it. I can't stress this enough. The very notion that there is fire contained inside a box inside your home and family members have no real notion about how to operate it or control it safely chills me to the very bone.

A stove inside a dwelling must be understood and easily maintained by EVERY household member old enough to be reasonably expected to understand the basic workings. It's just common sense.

(stoves are so easy to operate, there is NO reason for any woman or teenage kid to be afraid of them or not know how to operate one safely).

 

[Dix]

Bobbin, I have a real feel for the "trained" and the "untrained" in this thread, already

 

[fossil]

My wife (all 115# of her soaking wet) operates the Lopi at least as well or better than I do. She stacks wood more carefully than I do. She gets up earlier than I do, and (bless her heart) always has the morning fire up and running quite nicely when I roll out of the sack during burning season. She operates the splitter with me. The only woodburning related things she doesn't do is operate a chainsaw or handle an axe. To each her own. Rick

 

[soupy1957]

I have not yet had the resources in place to check the Flue temps, but recently ordered a probe style thermometer for my double-wall flue, because there were so many individuals posting in here, in strong favor of using the flue thermometer to gauge what was going on inside.

that being said, I was taking what I had heard in here, from a particular poster, who had stated that 1100ºF was not uncommon for the temp of the flue gases. Apparently that was incorrect information. A number of you seem to support the opposite, which is that the gases are lower in temperature, than the firebox. I have to say that that makes more sense to me.

The 1/2 hour burn for warm up is not needed, to get up to temp in my stove. A good start can get me up to 750ºF in 15 minutes easily. I figured it was a good idea to let it set there for a tad, before kicking it back. Perhaps I need to re-think that.

In my particular stove, I have fine draft, but my damper seems to kill the fire if fully closed, so I'm going to have to explore this issue more this year, as we move into a 24/7 burn cycle, something we haven't done yet. Loading the stove with wood makes perfect sense, with full-open oxygen, and perhaps one way or the other I'll learn what it is that is killing my fire, when closing down the damper.

-Soupy1957

 

[North of 60]

In my particular stove, I have fine draft, but my damper seems to kill the fire if fully closed, so I'm going to have to explore this issue more this year, as we move into a 24/7 burn cycle, something we haven't done yet. Loading the stove with wood makes perfect sense, with full-open oxygen, and perhaps one way or the other I'll learn what it is that is killing my fire, when closing down the damper.

-Soupy1957

Your 1st year was a burning year with DRY wood? I know you said stove can get to 750F in 15 minutes. That sounds like good dry wood to me. Loosing your secondaries after turning the stove down sounds suspicious if you have a good coal bed on a reload with good dry wood. :coolhmm:

 

[jadm]

I too made a list of 'how to's' for fire building and maintenance in our home.

My husband refuses to take it seriously.

I am the one who builds and maintains the fire 99.91/2% of the time.

I have 'taught' everyone in our house how to build and maintain a fire safely and all the reasons why I do what I do the way I do it.

I will not let my husband build fires when I am not awake anymore. Last winter he started one up before I was awake and,despite the fact that I have told him 1000x's at least, he left the door ajar and left the room. Not only did he leave the room but he went and took his shower.....when I got up and went into the room the therm. was at 850* and climbing. Luckily no flames outside of the door....Luckily I knew what to do to lower the temp.....(All learned here over the past 5-6 years of burning wood..)

I have explained over and over until I am blue in the face that one cannot leave the room with firebox door ajar EVER. I have also explained the properties of dry firewood and how much hotter etc. it burns.
He still doesn't listen so I finally told him hands off.

Luckily my kids are more responsive and have learned how to burn safely. For that I am grateful.

Lists are a great help - especially when something out of the ordinary pops up BUT lists must be read and understood. ALways safety first.

 

[btuser]

I do most of the fires, but only because I get up earlier. My wife can do it, but why bother when she can get me to do it? Good dry wood is the deal breaker. If its too hard its not worth it, and I feel the eyes pining for the thermostat.

 

[BrotherBart]

My wife ran the old stove like a champ. I could come home from a month long trip to Europe to the smell of wood smoke and a warm house. Now that she is physically impaired at least a dozen times a winter she says how much she misses running the stove.

Funny story about that. We have a breezeway between the house and the garage. One time I came home from a long trip and there was a huge pile of tree limbs in the breezeway. Whole limbs. I asked her what that was about. She said she got tired of going out to the woods to snap off little branches for kindling so she just drug the whole limbs into the breezeway. I started doing the same thing until I started splitting stuff just for kindling.

Learned from the little brown haired girl.

 

[gibson]

I have a similar note on my fridge. It says "Stay the hell away from the stove!". She has a superior rule in the house, it is "Shut the hell up!". Works well for us.

 

[soupy1957]

Perplexed...........will you marry me?! (lol)

-Soupy1957

 

[begreen]

My wife is a real champ and runs the stove when I am away for work. She loves the nice warmth of the stove as much as I do. Her burning skills are different, she tends to put on a couple splits in the fire to keep it going, where I will do a full load and let it rip. But the house is always warm and cozy when I get home and that's what it's all about. To make life easier for her, my job is to be sure the wood box on the porch is stocked and there's always a nice supply of good dry kindling next to the stove. That's a job I'm happy to do.

 

[cmonSTART]

My dear wife doesn't mind running the stove or helping with the firewood (when she's not pregnant.) She's actually gotten pretty darn good at it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

When the husband I built a home in 1991 we knew we wanted a stove. I lobbied hard for a new one and I won that arguement. We bought a Woodstock Fireview (I wanted a Jotul). But here's the crucial point: I learned how to operate the stove properly from day 1. There was none of the " only the man knows how" crap. The stove is part of MY home, I own half of that home and half of the operating expenses are MY responsibility! End of story.

I was adament that the stove we selected was to be new, EPA compliant, and installed properly and meet all code requirements. NO "yard sale" specials and NO shortcuts. End of story. I had no idea that the only EPA compliant stove the husband "liked" was about $500 more than the lovely ivory porcelain stove I'd ogled for months... lol.

So, we bought the Woodstock. But, the most important thing is that I was "on board" with the whole stove enterprise from the "get go". I made it my business to learn about the stove and how to operate it properly and efficiently. And there are some funny anecdotes that go right along with that. But the most important thing about burning wood and having a stove is making sure that everyone in your home is "cool" with it. I can't stress this enough. The very notion that there is fire contained inside a box inside your home and family members have no real notion about how to operate it or control it safely chills me to the very bone.

A stove inside a dwelling must be understood and easily maintained by EVERY household member old enough to be reasonably expected to understand the basic workings. It's just common sense.

(stoves are so easy to operate, there is NO reason for any woman or teenage kid to be afraid of them or not know how to operate one safely).

This post should be read in every household that either burns wood or plans to do so!

Thanks for posting this Bobbin.

 

[firefighterjake]

[quote author="soupy1957" date="1280594029"]I noticed, when we were in our "learning curve" last winter, with our wood stove, that often times, my wife had trouble keeping the fire from smoldering. Perhaps it was because as a busy wife, she can't babysit the fire as much as needed. I think it comes down to the individual . . . to some point if they want to learn . . . and also to their personality and if they are the type of person to recognize the potential danger and take tending a fire seriously and realize that they must give the stove their undivided attention for a bit. For the record, my wife runs the stove as good, if not better than I do . . . and it seems to me that more than once I've read stories like Perplexed where the husband or boyfriend was the one who refused to listen or just didn't burn safely. It is not necessary to have an extra appendage to burn wood safely and efficiently.

Since that time, we've BOTH grown a bit, in our understanding of what it takes to build and maintain a healthy/safe fire, and I decided that perhaps it might be a good reminder for she and I, if I put down some of the fundamentals for burning wood, on a couple of sheets of paper that could be stuck to the refrigerator, as a guide.

I don't suggest that all my statements are completely accurate, and I realize that there are differing schools of thought on some issues, but I have cut-n-pasted the text here, for your scrutinizing eye to review. If there are any obvious errors, please advise before I print it out and hang it up. If there are any modifications that need to be made, also let me know. I don't claim to "know it all" when it comes to this stuff.

By the way, I DID order the Flue Thermometer I asked about, and will be installing it next week. As I have said many a time . . . I really think you'll like the probe thermometer . . . I know for a fact that it has allowed me to run my stove more efficiently and effectively . . . I find it especially useful for reloading.

_________________________________________________________________



USING THE WOOD STOVE MORE EFFICIENTLY:

A) USE PROPER FUEL:
USE ONLY DRY, (CHECK WITH MOISTURE
METER) SEASONED WOOD;
NEVER BURN GARBAGE

I like the fact that you put this first and foremost . . . since quite honestly . . . this is where it all starts . . . if you're burning with unseasoned wood you're setting yourself up from failure from the start.

B) START YOUR FIRE RIGHT:
BEGIN BY WARMING THE FLUE SO YOU
DON’T GET SMOKE BLOWBACK. (YOU
NEED A GOOD DRAW IN THE CHIMNEY FIRST).
USE SEASONED DRY KINDLING AND
SMALL PIECES OF WOOD, AND NEWSPAPER.
GET A GOOD BURN GOING WITH THE DOOR
SLIGHTLY AJAR FOR THE FIVE MINUTES OR
SO, THEN SHUT THE DOOR. ONCE YOU GET
THE FIRE GOING, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO KEEP
IT GOING. THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED OF
RESTARTS, UNLESS A CLEANING IS NEEDED,
OR IF WE ARE AWAY.

As Dennis mentioned pre-warming a flue is not always necessary . . . although some folks do need to do this step. In my own home I have an outside chimney, but I don't need to pre-warm my flue . . . although truth be told since I burn 24-7 it's almost always warm enough already . . . and even going from a cold stove simply opening my door for a few minutes is generally enough to let the flue warm up. Again, individual results may vary.

As for the time . . . I think once you have the probe thermometer you may change your notes . . . in my own case I wait for the probe thermometer to indicate that the temps in the flue have reached a good temp to let me know when to close the door and then when to start dialing back the air . . . in time you will be able to determine what these temps are in your own case. As others have mentioned . . . it is very important to stay with the stove when any door is left open.

C) GET YOUR STOVE HOT:
ADD ONE LARGER LOG AT A TIME. KEEP THE
DAMPER FULLY OPEN FOR NOW. GET A GOOD
FIRE GOING (A HOT FIRE BURN IS GOOD FOR
CLEANING THE CHIMNEY. LET IT STAY “HOT”
FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR OR SO, BEFORE
GOING INTO “MAINTAINING THE FIRE” MODE.


D) MAINTAIN THE FIRE:
1. GRADUALLY EASE OFF THE DAMPER
(CLOSING ONLY ENOUGH TO KEEP A
FLAME GOING AND TO KEEP THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE STOVE
WITHIN A 450º - 750ºF RANGE.
2. DON’T FILL YOUR FIRE WITH TOO MANY
LOGS AT A TIME. LEVEL OFF THE ASHES
AS NEEDED.

3. KEEP THE AIR INLET FREE OF ASH.

"BALANCE IS THE KEY HERE. A CONSTANT FLAME
AND EVEN TEMPS. NOT TOO LOW, NOT TOO HIGH.


E) KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED:
ONLY OPEN THE DOOR TO ADD MORE WOOD
OR WHEN CLEANING OUT ASHES WHEN THE
FIRE BURNS DOWN.

F) TEMP VARIANCES:
YOUR FLUE GAS TEMPS WILL TYPICALLY BE
HIGHER THAN YOUR STOVE TEMPS. YOU MAY
SEE TEMPS AS HIGH AS 1100ºF IN YOUR FLUE
WHEN THE TEMPS IN THE STOVE ARE IN THAT
450 - 750ºF RANGE.

G) OVERNIGHT BURNS:
LOAD UP THE STOVE WITH WOOD FOR A HOT BURN
AS ABOVE, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE GOING TO
BED. LET THE FIRE RELAX A BIT, AND CLOSE THE
DAMPER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT PUTTING
OUT THE FLAMES…………LET IT BURN.



____________________________________________________________

-Soupy1957[/quote

 

[firefighterjake]

[quote author="soupy1957" date="1280594029"]I noticed, . . .

C) GET YOUR STOVE HOT:
ADD ONE LARGER LOG AT A TIME. KEEP THE
DAMPER FULLY OPEN FOR NOW. GET A GOOD
FIRE GOING (A HOT FIRE BURN IS GOOD FOR
CLEANING THE CHIMNEY. LET IT STAY “HOT”
FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR OR SO, BEFORE
GOING INTO “MAINTAINING THE FIRE” MODE.

I have a few issues here . . . and others have noted these as well . . . first if you haven't tried the top-down method of burning . . . or a variation of this . . . I would encourage you to do so . . . I was a a traditiionalist in making teepees and log cabins in my woodstove . . . figured the top down method was a bunch of balooey and my first few attempts were less than impressive . . . but I kept at it just to see what all the fuss was about . . . and when I finally managed to get it to work with a few modifications I realized how nice it is to use this method since you don't need to keep opening the door to add more wood and you don't need to worry about the larger wood on top collapsing and suffocating the fire underneath . . . think of the top down method as a complete fire kit . . . once you assemble it you just light it and stand back . . . just adjust the air . . . but there is no need to keep feeding wood to the fire.

Also . . . while I occasionally will feed the fire one or two splits at a time in the spring or fall, this is atypical . . . rather I will load the fire, set the air and if things are good temp-wise leave it . . . I have plenty to do without having to hover around a fire and keep fussing with it by adding one or two splits at a time.

As mentioned there is no need to have a hot fire "clean out the chimney." You keep your chimney clean by a) only burning seasoned wood, b) burning at the correct temps (and the flue thermometer will help you establish these correct temps) and c) regular inspection and brushing. All you're doing by leaving the draft wide open for a lengthly amount of time is causing the temp in the chimney to climb high . . . and if there is creosote there then it could ignite . . . there are far better and safer ways to clean a chimney rather than burning out the creosote. As a side note, while you have the draft wide open you're also causing the stove to heat up to some pretty hot temps and you're losing a lot of potential heat up your chimney.

As an aside I have left my air control open all the way for a lengthly amount of time (15 minutes or so) when I took a "quick" shower . . . and I have come out to find the temps approaching the "danger zone" in the flue . . . I'm a guy and pretty dense at time . . . it took me two times of having this happen before realizing that I need to stay near the stove whenever the air control is open all the way . . . and also that leaving it open for any length of time can be dangerous.

What I might suggest instead is to use the top down method . . . get the fire going by leaving the air control open (and the door if necessary) until you start to see the temps in your probe thermometer increase . . . then shut the door . . .when the temps increase to the point where you've burning in the safe zone start to cut back the air to the point where you have a sustained secondary combustion and the temps are in the green.

D) MAINTAIN THE FIRE:
1. GRADUALLY EASE OFF THE DAMPER
(CLOSING ONLY ENOUGH TO KEEP A
FLAME GOING AND TO KEEP THE
TEMPERATURE OF THE STOVE
WITHIN A 450º - 750ºF RANGE.
2. DON’T FILL YOUR FIRE WITH TOO MANY
LOGS AT A TIME. LEVEL OFF THE ASHES
AS NEEDED.

3. KEEP THE AIR INLET FREE OF ASH.

"BALANCE IS THE KEY HERE. A CONSTANT FLAME
AND EVEN TEMPS. NOT TOO LOW, NOT TOO HIGH.

You can fill a firebox full with wood . . . maybe not in the Spring or Fall when you don't need the full potential of the stove and the heat, but in middle of winter if you want the heat you can fill the firebox . . .

Also, depending on your stove, set-up and wood you may or may not get a constant flame and still be burning efficiently and effectively . . . while I most often get the Bowels of Hell effect in my stove once in a while I also get the Northern Lights effect -- there is little to no flame, but every few seconds the smoke at the top of the firebox bursts into flame . . .


E) KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED:
ONLY OPEN THE DOOR TO ADD MORE WOOD
OR WHEN CLEANING OUT ASHES WHEN THE
FIRE BURNS DOWN.

I agree . . . once the fire is going the only time the door is opened is when I'm back to coals and need to add more wood.

F) TEMP VARIANCES:
YOUR FLUE GAS TEMPS WILL TYPICALLY BE
HIGHER THAN YOUR STOVE TEMPS. YOU MAY
SEE TEMPS AS HIGH AS 1100ºF IN YOUR FLUE
WHEN THE TEMPS IN THE STOVE ARE IN THAT
450 - 750ºF RANGE.



G) OVERNIGHT BURNS:
LOAD UP THE STOVE WITH WOOD FOR A HOT BURN
AS ABOVE, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE GOING TO
BED. LET THE FIRE RELAX A BIT, AND CLOSE THE
DAMPER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT PUTTING
OUT THE FLAMES…………LET IT BURN.



____________________________________________________________

-Soupy1957[/quote

 

[firefighterjake]

I noticed,. . .

F) TEMP VARIANCES:
YOUR FLUE GAS TEMPS WILL TYPICALLY BE
HIGHER THAN YOUR STOVE TEMPS. YOU MAY
SEE TEMPS AS HIGH AS 1100ºF IN YOUR FLUE
WHEN THE TEMPS IN THE STOVE ARE IN THAT
450 - 750ºF RANGE.

Uh, an emphatic no on this item . . . typically the flue gases will be cooler than the stove temp . . . the exception perhaps being at the start up when the mass of the stove hasn't warmed up to the point where the surface thermometer has registered the heat.

G) OVERNIGHT BURNS:
LOAD UP THE STOVE WITH WOOD FOR A HOT BURN
AS ABOVE, ABOUT A HALF HOUR BEFORE GOING TO
BED. LET THE FIRE RELAX A BIT, AND CLOSE THE
DAMPER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WITHOUT PUTTING
OUT THE FLAMES…………LET IT BURN.

As Dennis mentioned . . . at least I think it was Dennis . . . in my case my re-load procedure is the same at night as it is during the day . . . the only exception being that if I'm up and around during the day I may not use my "good" wood since I'll be around to re-load the stove more frequently . . . otherwise the load and technique is the same night and day.

Gave me a chuckle though . . . I was imagining how you would relax the fire a bit . . . give it a nice glass of wine . . . rub its shoulders . . . talk in a quiet, mellow voice . . . maybe put a bit of Barry White on the stereo.



____________________________________________________________

-Soupy1957

 

[oldspark]

I'm the "skirt" in our home. I was a teen when the oil embargo sent fuel prices sky-rocketting in the early '70s. My old man was a plumbing/heating contractor and he went mental about "turning down the thermostat". Jesu! you'd have thougt the "end was near". It sucked for me... my bedroom was partially below grade and on its own zone. But the old man disconnected the thermostat and my bedroom maintained about 55 degrees. Real comfy. It sucked. And I decided that being cold was really stupid when other options were available.

When the husband I built a home in 1991 we knew we wanted a stove. I lobbied hard for a new one and I won that arguement. We bought a Woodstock Fireview (I wanted a Jotul). But here's the crucial point: I learned how to operate the stove properly from day 1. There was none of the " only the man knows how" crap. The stove is part of MY home, I own half of that home and half of the operating expenses are MY responsibility! End of story.

I was adament that the stove we selected was to be new, EPA compliant, and installed properly and meet all code requirements. NO "yard sale" specials and NO shortcuts. End of story. I had no idea that the only EPA compliant stove the husband "liked" was about $500 more than the lovely ivory porcelain stove I'd ogled for months... lol.

So, we bought the Woodstock. But, the most important thing is that I was "on board" with the whole stove enterprise from the "get go". I made it my business to learn about the stove and how to operate it properly and efficiently. And there are some funny anecdotes that go right along with that. But the most important thing about burning wood and having a stove is making sure that everyone in your home is "cool" with it. I can't stress this enough. The very notion that there is fire contained inside a box inside your home and family members have no real notion about how to operate it or control it safely chills me to the very bone.

A stove inside a dwelling must be understood and easily maintained by EVERY household member old enough to be reasonably expected to understand the basic workings. It's just common sense.

(stoves are so easy to operate, there is NO reason for any woman or teenage kid to be afraid of them or not know how to operate one safely).

My wife and you are not from the same planet!