More Confused Newbie Questions...

[Fire Goddess]

So I have been reading about 2 things that I am confused about: smoke and burn time.

Are you not supposed to see ANY smoke coming out your chimney? Or is it just black smoke that is bad? I have white, fluffy smoke coming out of the chimney, usually. Don't go out and check it constantly, but when I do that is what I see. Bad? Good?

I've been reading about burn times and 'second burn'??? which I don't get. I thought you would want to keep your stove going as long as you could. That's how it was with the coal stove, but with wood its different? I usually am home so keep it going nicely all day, then put in 6+ logs between 9-10pm and hubby will throw a few skinny logs on at 5am to keep it going until I get up betw. 7-8am. Then I throw on a bunch of logs and get it going for the day. I run the stove betw 500-600 degrees, with the cat air vent open low to med. Should I be letting it go out and starting over? How often?

Ahh, what's a fire goddess to do?

 

[SlyFerret]

I notice the stove in your sig. From what I know an airtight stove won't be one of the newer EPA stoves that does secondary burn, so you probably will see some smoke.

Some of the other folks here will probably either confirm or deny my statement shortly.

-SF

 

[Fire Goddess]

Chimney is brick on the outside of the house.
When I add wood during the day (and before bed) there is typically either the last of some logs or a fairly decent set of coals in there. Either way, if I open the door a crack and give it some air I get flames if there weren't some there already. I try to keep the stove pipe temp from falling below 300 degrees, which is the evil temp which below causes creosote build-up?

 

[eernest4]

Just to clear the air, as it were;

Firegoddess said" I run the stove btwen 500* to 600* , with the CAT AIR VENT open low to med.

Does this mean that firegoddess has a catalytic stove?????

Women don't always make sure they got the right name for something before they call it that; & then say , Oh well,you know what I mean!
Nope, sure don't. You are there, we are not.

KEEPING SOME FLAMES ON YOUR FIRE is the tecnique of having just enough primary air to let the wood burn a little bit but not have the fire so snarffeled down that all it does is to smoke & smolder, all night long, all night long, like the song!

It 's a delicate adjustment that takes some practice to get just right. Its no big deal unelse you have close by neighbors, as I do & then it becomes very important.

Dont want the fire dept knocking on the front door saying that your smoking out the neighborhood.

Just another reason to replace the 1960 smoking dragon with a EPA smokeless woodburner.

 

[BrotherBart]

Just to clear the air, as it were;

Firegoddess said" I run the stove btwen 500* to 600* , with the CAT AIR VENT open low to med.

Does this mean that firegoddess has a catalytic stove?????

Women don't always make sure they got the right name for something before they call it that; & then say , Oh well,you know what I mean!
Nope, sure don't. You are there, we are not.

The Federal Airtight is a Consolidated Dutchwest Cat stove with emissions numbers that are just fine. It ain't no 60's smoke belcher with a good cat and run right.

 

[begreen]

Hey ee, she's the goddess of fire. Be nice or there'll a thunderstorm in your flue. :coolcheese:

FG, a cold exterior chimney will have a tendency to allow the flue gases to condense and create creosote deposits. Just burn on the hot side and keep the chimney warm. Even with good practices I think it's wise to expect more frequent cleanings with an uninsulated exterior chimney. Twice a season should do as long as the wood is good. Ask your chimney sweep how it looks at the mid-season checkup.

 

[Fire Goddess]

Thank you for the responses.
Yes, my stove is not from the 60's, but most likely the late 80's...

The chimney sweep will most likely be the hubby, so I will ask him how it looks.

My new struggle is on warmer days like today when its in the 40's. If I keep a flaming fire, my house is a little on the hot side. Granted, I am heating 3000 sf but still...smaller fires don't seem to keep all the temperatures at the levels they need to be for 'optimal burning'.

 

[begreen]

That's correct. I burn shorter hot fires on these days and let the fire go out in between.

 

[Webwidow]

or just burn 1 or 2 smaller split logs at a time, use less wood in the firebox but keep a hot fire going.
less wood=less heat (btu's)
hot fires=less creosote

That's correct. I burn shorter hot fires on these days and let the fire go out in between.

 

[Webwidow]

BTW- I wish I had thought of Fire Goddess first, great name

 

[eernest4]

Just to reclear the air in here,somehow it got smokey and I see that I did a bad job of not making my meaning clear.

I was not making fun of firegodess's stove . I am the one that has the 1960 smoke dragon ,not her & I was making fun of my stove, because, it deserves it. :lol:

But I am glad to hear that she has a cat stove, there seems to be some kind of canatation
(is that the right word? not sure), something associated with the word "airtight" some meaning that is not clear to me.

If some one could explain it to me, the mystery surrounding the word "airtight" that would be one less thing for me to be confused about.

 

[Webwidow]

J something associated with the word "airtight" some meaning that is not clear to me.If some one could explain it to me, the mystery surrounding the word "airtight" that would be one less thing for me to be confused about.

Quick def.
Basically first there were the leaky Franklin Stove's and upright coal stoves, then around the early 70's came the new "airtights". An airtight stove had doors that closed and seams that were tight. During this time Jotul's were imported and the Fisher and Ashley Stove came into play. Next generation are the clean burning stoves when EPA set the first standard a few years later came the new mandate from EPA for even cleaning burning stoves. During this time stove companies needed to figure out a cleaner way to burn the secondary smoke, now we have the cat stoves. Hence many smaller stove manufacturer did not have the funding to comply to the new standards and dropped out of the biz. That is why today we only have a handful of companies, unlike the 70's-80's when anyone with a welder could build stoves. For the most part today's stoves are all clean burning and the consumer can simply choose based on the style, ease of operation, the reputation of the company, and most importantly the dealer.

 

[jpl1nh]

Fire Goddess, in the warmer weather, don't clean out ashes, let them build up a bit more because they will help you keep coals in your stove longer. Use smaller loads, or lower btu wood and go longer between refueling. Not only will the extra ash hold coals longer but it will do so while minimizing heat out put. Use the cat as much as possible and your stack temperature won't be too much of an issue.