Loading Time

[HummerBeachBuggy1982]

Just a quick question, when you guys are loading your insert from when your temp has dropped to around 250 or so, do you have your damper all the way open and fan off until you hit 450 or 500 then turn the fan on and damper down or do you let your fan run the entire time while it gets to temp and damper down when it hits its mark??

 

[Jim41]

I leave the fan on. To reload I open the damper all the way, reload with wood and leave the damper open until all the wood is charred and the fire is going good. Then I start to shut the damper a little at a time over the next 20 minutes or so. If I'm reloading after burning a long time with lots of hot coals, I shut the damper off right after the wood is charred and going good. The secondary burn should be visible when the air is all the way off.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No insert here but I can say you need to have the draft full open on reloads. Of course you soon start closing the draft part way and when depends upon the fire you have.

 

[egclassic]

Just a quick question, when you guys are loading your insert from when your temp has dropped to around 250 or so, do you have your damper all the way open and fan off until you hit 450 or 500 then turn the fan on and damper down or do you let your fan run the entire time while it gets to temp and damper down when it hits its mark??

I turn the blower off while reloading and bringing the temps back up. I do not turn the blower back on until the stove is back into cruise mode.

 

[stejus]

Just a quick question, when you guys are loading your insert from when your temp has dropped to around 250 or so, do you have your damper all the way open and fan off until you hit 450 or 500 then turn the fan on and damper down or do you let your fan run the entire time while it gets to temp and damper down when it hits its mark??

I turn the blower off while reloading and bringing the temps back up. I do not turn the blower back on until the stove is back into cruise mode.

+1. I'll also add that knocking down the air to its final resting postion before turning on the blower.

 

[Joey]

I have tried it both ways hummer and they both work. With the fan on,,,it takes the insert a bit more time to come up to temp,,with the fan off, it is a bit quicker. If i'm puttin in my last load before bed,,,I shut the fan off when I start the reload, this way ya can get to bed a little bit earlier.

 

[shawneyboy]

Do you all not use a blower that uses a snap disc? I don't have an insert but a freestanding stove with a blower. My blower switch is set it and forget it, turns itself on and off.

 

[pastera]

fan gets shut off whenever the door opens on my insert - if you leave it on the blower air hits the door as it opens, bounces off and stirs up ash (unhappy wife)

Reloading on a hot bed of coals and the damper gets closed right away, otherwise two or three moves over ten minutes

 

[oldspark]

Do you all not use a blower that uses a snap disc? I don't have an insert but a freestanding stove with a blower. My blower switch is set it and forget it, turns itself on and off.

Mine is too herky jerky on start ups and cool downs, stove starts to warm up turns the fan on and then the stove cools a little and the cycle starts all over again. My chimney draws better this year so it might not do it as bad as last year but I just turn it off and on manualy. To answer the OP most of the time I do turn it off and let the stove come up to temp before I turn it on again.

 

[seeyal8r]

i usually open the air up and crack the door while i grab a drink or use the head. allowing all that air flow really gets the draft moving up the chimney. I turn the blower off (mine has a snap disc but the blower stirs up smoke, ash, and blows in my face while the door is open). After turning the blower off I open the door, stir coals to the front, load, and close the door back to just cracked open. The added air at this point gets the new wood going good and gets the draft moving again. After a few minutes I close the door. After 10-20 min (depending on wood, coals, etc) I adjust air to maximize secondary burn and usually don't touch it again for 4-6 hours. At night before bed I do the same thing but I close the air a little more than normal. This gets me 8 hrs of heat.