Sunday Morning Burn-Along

[W.B.]

Well, I'm on my second year of wood burning and things are progressing nicely. Some of you may remember my posts last year as I dealt with wet wood and the growing pains of getting to know my new insert. Since it was a damp and chilly morning here, I thought I'd take you through my burning sequence.

I'm open to any constructive criticism you may have that could help me improve my burning efficiency. Ok, bring on the pics!

 

[rottiman]

Might want to take the lens cap off before u take the pics

 

[W.B.]

The insert is a Summers Heat 50-SNC13I, so basically a Englander 13-NCI.

This morning was the first fire in a few days, so we're starting off with a completely cold stove.

8:30am

This is my basic setup for my first fire. Two small pieces of 2x4 running n/s with a very small chunk of super cedar between them. On top of that rests 3 more pieces of 2x4 running e/w. Then I fill the rest of the stove up with smallish splits running n/s.

 

[W.B.]

Might want to take the lens cap off before u take the pics

Lol, patience...

 

[W.B.]

8:34am

Fire is burning well, so at this point I close the door, but only let the handle fall gently so it's not air tight yet.

 

[rottiman]

You might want to get er rollin before adding that top layer. Depending on your draft you might get some back smoke before your pipe gets warm.

 

[W.B.]

8:37

Things are starting to get rolling now, so I close the door latch completely. Air is still fully open.

 

[W.B.]

8:39

Time to dial the air back to about 75%

 

[W.B.]

8:44

Fire has been burning for 14 minutes at this point. Stove temp is at 300, time to dial the air down to 50%.

 

[W.B.]

Patiently waiting for the blower...

 

[W.B.]

8:50

Stove temp is about 400.

 

[W.B.]

8:52

Dial the air down to 25%. Secondaries really start to take off and temp jumps almost immediately to 475.

 

[W.B.]

8:55

Temp hits 500. This is generally the temp where I adjust the air to almost fully closed and turn the blower on.

 

[W.B.]

Temp in the house when I started the blower 66. Disregard the time on the thermostat...I never program it so I haven't bothered to set the time.

 

[W.B.]

They come running when the blower turns on!

 

[W.B.]

9:05 am

House temp at 69. Thermostat is in the hall around the corner from the stove room. I've never measured, but I'm sure stove room temp is at least 3 or 4 degrees warmer on average.

 

[W.B.]

9:09 am

Blower has been on high for 15 or so minutes and stove temp has risen to about 525. Everyone is nice and warm!

 

[W.B.]

9:27

Thermostat temp has hit a comfortable 72 and fire is cruising.

 

[W.B.]

11:28 am

Stove temp down to 350, time for a reload. I'm not burning my better wood at this point so reloads are more frequent than I like right now. I'm burning mostly hickory/elm and some of it is a bit punky.

 

[W.B.]

This is a typical reload. Some larger splits placed n/s. I had some longer stuff, so I ran that e/w to fill in the top.

I find I get better fires with this insert by burning n/s.

 

[W.B.]

By 11:49 the stove temp was back up to 500+ and the air was back down to cruising level.

As of right now (2:34pm) house temp is 77 with stove temp at about 340, blower running about half speed. If it was colder outside I'd reload soon, but I'm sweating as is so no reload until later.

So there is my burn sequence. Opinions?

 

[SlyFerret]

What is the weather like for you today? We are a grey and misty 60 degrees here in central Ohio.

I probably have only lit the stove 6-8 times yet this year. I'm ready for some winter weather so I can keep the stove going and get into a pattern.

-SF

 

[Iembalm4aLiving]

Nice thread, great pics. Love how the dogs hang out waiting for the heat to start pouring out. Looks like you have your system down just fine.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

Great post, thanks for taking the time to do it. Have you ever had a surround on your install. I have one now and am thinking about taking it down when I put my liner in (very soon now). I will add a block off plate and hopefully free all of that heat behind the surround to do it's thing in my house rather than in my chimney. Just wondering how you liked the install without the surround.

 

[rottiman]

Love the pic of the "Heat Inspectors" patiently waiting........................