New to wood burning

[xandrew4507x]

Hey guys, I have been burning coal for this season, but ran out of coal and also it seems that there isn't any coal because of all the breakers being shut down due to weather. I am really worried about chimney fires, so I want to make sure I am doing this right. I am burning seasoned hardwoods(not sure what type, was given to me by someone who had an outdoor wood boiler, but moved) When I load, I rekindle my embers with some pellets or some kindling if I have any. I open the MPD and open the air control on the door the whole way. I throw some logs on and let the fire build until the chimney pipe gets to be around the 500 degree range and the stove gets up to about 400, I then cut the air back to about 20% and let it keep rising in temp, then I close down the mpd some. There is very little white smoke coming out of my chimney.

Next year I plan on buying a wood/coal furnace but will probably burn wood due to how much cheaper it is than coal.

 

[Woody Stover]

Got pics? What make and model stove, burns coal and wood? What is the chimney setup, vented into a masonry fireplace? Metal chimney all the way to the top? What is the MPD, pipe damper?

 

[xandrew4507x]

Its an arrow stratford coal stove, can burn wood or coal. Chimney is a brick with terracotta liner, from basement to above roof. MPD is a manual pipe damper

 

[Woody Stover]

How is the stove pipe connected to the clay liner, and what are the inside dimensions of the clay liner? How long was the wood split and stacked, or was it in log form when you got it?

 

[xandrew4507x]

Its connected by 6" black stove pipe, I believe it is 8x12 inside dimensions. Don't know a lot about the wood, it was seasoned split wood, I got it over 6 months ago and was sitting stacked under a tarp since then.

 

[Woody Stover]

I would take a look at the chimney every few weeks to make sure creosote isn't building up too fast, which could be a fire hazard. When the chimney is oversized like that, deposits are more apt to occur. You might find some good info at a coal forum like nepacrossroads.com.

 

[xandrew4507x]

Its actually an 8x8 flue, it just looked bigger from the ground. I'm already a member at nepacrossroads but never really asked about wood burning over there.