Newbie to Vermont Castings Sequoia and Wood Burning

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Oct 25, 2012
93
Eastern Tennessee
Last May my husband and I relocated to East Tennessee. The house we bought has a Vermont Castings Sequoia (mfg. 11/2005) fireplace insert. We sought the help of a professional and made the necessary changes and replacements necessary for the safe operation of the unit. Good thing, too. Won't go into that.
We are learning quite a bit about the unit and have used it as a primary heat source when our heat pump blower died a couple of weeks ago during a cold spell.
Over the summer we split and stacked about two and one half cords of wood for next year which came from three trees on our property. They were Hack berry, Yellow Poplar and Elm. Not high output burners but hardwood nonetheless. That was a lot of work. We've gotten seasoned White Oak for this year.
Going forward can we mix seasoned woods of different varieties or is that not a good idea?
Thanks in advance for your advice.

Charlene
 
Use whatever is dry. There is no issue with mixing woods varieties. As long as it is dry, wood burning is a lot easier.
 
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Use what ever is dry. There is no issue with mixing woods varieties. As long as it is dry, wood burning is a lot easier.
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Please clarify something for me about seasoned wood. I've read that seasoned oak doesn't generate white smoke when burning. The drier the wood, the less smoke, right? If I'm burning white oak and see white smoke coming from the chimney does that mean that the oak I'm burning isn't seasoned? I would think it should generate some smoke.
Thanks.
Charlene
 
Thanks for your prompt reply.
Please clarify something for me about seasoned wood. I've read that seasoned oak doesn't generate white smoke when burning. The drier the wood, the less smoke, right? If I'm burning white oak and see white smoke coming from the chimney does that mean that the oak I'm burning isn't seasoned? I would think it should generate some smoke.
Thanks.
Charlene
I've never heard that, but I am no expert. But, I don't see how that is possible. Yes, the drier the wood, the better the stove will burn which will result in little to know smoke when the stove is burning properly.

You well know when the wood isn't dry. The fire will be sluggish. The stove will take a very long time to come up to temp. You will need to keep the door cracked for a very long time during a restart. The fire will have a tendency to smolder.
 
Welcome to the forum Charlene. To respond to your mixing wood species question, it took me some time through trial and error to find a combination that worked well for me. Simple, overnights I use strictly oak and during the day I use 1/2 oak 1/2 whatever else I have. You find through time what works for you.
 
I don't practice this method, but a lot of the old guys where I live will put all seasoned wood in a fire with one green log. They claim the seasoned wood dries out the green log and it burns slower and you get a longer burn. I don't see why you can't mix the wood.
 
If you don't have the manual, get it online. I think that heater may have a catalytic combustor, info would be in the manual. If it has a properly working combustor, you shouldn't see much if any smoke once the stove us up to temp and the combustor is lit off.
The Poplar BTU is a notch below the other two woods so you might want to use that for Spring/Fall fires when you don't need a lot of heat or a long fire.
 
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