So tell me why.....................

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longboarder2

Member
Feb 14, 2012
87
southern NJ
okay, at my last house, i had an avalon insert with "fresh air" tubes across the top of the firebox----once hot, the flames used to dance above the coals and there was little or no smoke coming out of the chimney (secondary burn?) and it burned very hot and consumed not much wood.

in my new house, i have a harman sf160 wood boiler----love a lot of it except the black smoke that pours out of my flue and the accompanying odor (like burning diesel or chemicals) and the fact that even after blocking off the back third of the grates in the firebox it GOBBLEs wood---4 cords per year here in sunny, scenic NJ--even with the intake door only open about 1/4-3/8". seems that most/all non gasification boiler act this way (based on what i read in the forums). gassers too expensive to justify for our short heating season here at least they were five years ago when i was doing this project.

so tell me why................... these stoves cannot be manufactured with the air tubes that my avalon had to create a hotter flame, burn gasses, and emit a cleaner discharge with a pleasant "wood burning smell". is it a cost thing as far as fabrication? it has water tubes welded across the firebox, why not air intakes as well?

or is it a technology thing; either you're a gasser or not a gasser?

is anyone making one like that (with what i am calling secondary burn)? or are any wood stoves manufactured with said "intakes" able to support a water jacket?
 
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i actually called harman about the issue---i like the product, but the tech support there sucks. every conversation whether its about this or installation or anything else always yields the same answer: they designed it 30 yrs ago, it works, they build it, they ship it, good luck with it!
 
Well there ya go. They gave you an honest answer. Design from the 80s original fuel crunch. A lot of chimney fires and lost property from the influx of wood burning back then. Designs like this which is essentially an air-tight stove with a water jacket is why.

TS
 
Copy that, boiler man----had my chimney fire three years ago. Learned a lot since then, burning fine now, just looking to refine the operation while still making sense money-wise.
 
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