back in feb. we had a chimney fire that made its way into the attic and part of the second floor---all back together after six weeks and some great contractor buddies of mine helping. got lots of great advice from members of the forum.
so, here's where we are now: bought some two-year-old oak (and other species) from a friend--so i know it's that old (spilt next year's wood back in march). still running a harmon sf-160 add-on to my existing oil-fired system. upgraded the flu pipe to 7" inside diameter--6" coupling on stove, goes straight to 7" smokepipe on back of unit for about five feet, then 7" all-fuel to the roof.
we've had some wintry weather here in sunny, scenic nj so ive had a few good days of burning to try my new strategy. i have been running the harmon with a high limit of 175, just so the dump zone will pop a little early in case of an overheat. set the high limit on the oil burner at 160 (it has only run twice in the last three days for not very long) we've only been burning early morning and at night when the temps are below 40---in an effort to reduce creosote (source of my fire) i have been burning with a "wood stove mentality" only burning while we are home/awake and leaving the air intake open regardless of demand----NO IDLING at all!--i have a pretty substantial dump zone, so i'm not sweating the potential of an overheat (also have a lot of radiant in tile floors to heat up)
we seem to have great draft and the wood is burning completely. i am now burning much smaller fires than last year---3-4 logs max usually adding about one or two logs per hour. the harmon has been heating the house handily and the morning restarts have been easy.
anyone have any other tips or advice to help me make sure i dont have another creosote problem and/or fire?
btw: i plan on getting a chinmey sweep/inspection after about 30 days of burning this way just to make sure we are on the right track.
so, here's where we are now: bought some two-year-old oak (and other species) from a friend--so i know it's that old (spilt next year's wood back in march). still running a harmon sf-160 add-on to my existing oil-fired system. upgraded the flu pipe to 7" inside diameter--6" coupling on stove, goes straight to 7" smokepipe on back of unit for about five feet, then 7" all-fuel to the roof.
we've had some wintry weather here in sunny, scenic nj so ive had a few good days of burning to try my new strategy. i have been running the harmon with a high limit of 175, just so the dump zone will pop a little early in case of an overheat. set the high limit on the oil burner at 160 (it has only run twice in the last three days for not very long) we've only been burning early morning and at night when the temps are below 40---in an effort to reduce creosote (source of my fire) i have been burning with a "wood stove mentality" only burning while we are home/awake and leaving the air intake open regardless of demand----NO IDLING at all!--i have a pretty substantial dump zone, so i'm not sweating the potential of an overheat (also have a lot of radiant in tile floors to heat up)
we seem to have great draft and the wood is burning completely. i am now burning much smaller fires than last year---3-4 logs max usually adding about one or two logs per hour. the harmon has been heating the house handily and the morning restarts have been easy.
anyone have any other tips or advice to help me make sure i dont have another creosote problem and/or fire?
btw: i plan on getting a chinmey sweep/inspection after about 30 days of burning this way just to make sure we are on the right track.