A lot of smoke outside, normal / abnormal?

[pdga1]

OK...I'm new to all of this. Just finished breakin for my new Hearthstone Castleton stove. Ran a strong fire all yesterday; sitting around 400F all day.

I have a masonary chimney (13"x13") with clay liner. Its smack in the middle of the house and extends about 3 1/2 feet above roof line. My draft seems to be strong; however, I have nothing to compare against since I've never used a stove in my life.

PROBLEM: When I woke up this morning for work, walked downstairs and smelled smoke. However, it was definitely coming from the outside...not inside. When I walked outside, it was noticeably foggy from smoke and smelled strong. That stuff was getting pulled into my house.

I do live in a valley; large hill on both sides that go much higher than my roof. The fire this morning was still churning somewhat...stovetop around 275F.

QUESTION: I don't like that excessive smoke outside at all. Is it because the fire was a lower temperature during the night? Possibly...is it my wood? My wood moisture is around 22 -25% since this is my first season at this (I couldn't find any loggers that had better seasoned wood). I'll have that resolved for next year...

Or...is this expected?

 

[mikepinto65]

To me, 400 is on the low side for burning and I wouldnt call it running strong. Living in a valley i'd bet it was a mix of a pressure change and that your stove snuffed out the secondaries over the night and ran smokey from not being run hot enough.

Is this your first modern wood stove? Did you have the air turned down all the way or cracked open?

 

[pdga1]

I was measuring temps with this thermo: (broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/soapstone) I assumed that 400-450 was fine for soapstone.

First stove ever. Previous owner had a stove hooked up; but removed it before we moved in. I had the air cracked to 1/4. I'm guessing it was a mixture of a smoldering fire and the pressure change you mentioned.

Now that the fire raging again...smoke has dissipated from outside. Maybe I overreacted, but the smoke outside was fairly heavy. Caused quite a haze when I turned on my car headlights.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

I see very little, to no, smoke coming out of my chimney venting my Quadrafire 4100Insert I typically run it low, front steel temperature stick/magnet on shows no more than 300 degrees most of the time. Measures of the air coming out seem to be much higher, however.

I do not try to burn over-night and on a cold night will put in a couple of well seasoned hardwood rounds, about 30-40 pounds, and shut the air intake. This insert will not shut the air off, but the burn is low and will keep my geothermal heat pump off for two or three hours before the insert output gets too low to hold even the room it is in (thermostat location) above the HP setting. I also burn well seasoned White Pine,mostly for starting a new fire, and not much smoke there either. I have to really focus on the chimney (outside masonry with 6" Stainless inside, about 23' high) to see any evidence that there is a fire going on in the insert. I do not live in a low spot, in fact on the upside of a low rise, about a 40' drop from my house to a brook 200' feet away.

 

[mikepinto65]

I was measuring temps with this thermo: (broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/soapstone) I assumed that 400-450 was fine for soapstone.

First stove ever. Previous owner had a stove hooked up; but removed it before we moved in. I had the air cracked to 1/4. I'm guessing it was a mixture of a smoldering fire and the pressure change you mentioned.

Now that the fire raging again...smoke has dissipated from outside. Maybe I overreacted, but the smoke outside was fairly heavy. Caused quite a haze when I turned on my car headlights.

400-450 is a bit different than getting the stove top just at 400 and dampening down too much too fast. I'd try getting the stove top to 450-500 and then dampening down in stages...IE: Full until 400f, half until 450-475 and then down to the lowest sweet spot (you'll find that with time and experience seeing how your stove performs).

 

[pdga1]

Thanks man...I admit I had no idea when to close off the air. Guess that comes with experience. I'll warm it up more and watch closely...