am i being efficient?

[ainsleychew]

hi everyone. this is my first winter heating primarily with wood and just am trying to get the hang of it. so once i get my fire going, what is the best position for my flue blocker? ive been keeping it about 3/4 closed and it seems to be the hottest. is it best to keep the door open a crack? my stove has a tiny little air vent, but it seems like it doesnt allow enough air in. ive been trying to get it so i can hear a woosh of air going through the coals. am i on the right track or is my method stupid?

 

[fossil]

Tell us a whole bunch more about the stove and the installation, and we'll tell you a whole bunch more about how we think it's workin'. Welcome! Rick

 

[ainsleychew]

thanks rick. im using a combo of woods, birch, pine, maple and i wish it was drier. i have a a atlanta stove works old hickory stove. an antique of sorts...i just found a matching one selling on ebay...check out the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Wood-Burning-Stove-Old-Hickory-w-Farm-Scene_W0QQitemZ200260691793QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item200260691793&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:4|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

[karri0n]

Ha! I have this thing in my woodshed. Nice find, I've never managed to find anything on the stove myself. Sorry, I can't offer much advice on it, I've never burned it. Mine is green. I would say, in order to be efficient, you would need to somehow mod this thing so it has a secondary burn. I would also recommend against opening the door, as these aren't sealed and I'm fairly certain it's getting plenty of air. I don't think you need to hear a whoosh of air, as long as it looks like it's burning steadily. if it's not, your wood probably isn't dry enough.

Trying to steer away from "buy a new stove", as lots of people use their old smoke dragons on here. any old stove users out there with some good advice?

 

[Jags]

ive been keeping it about 3/4 closed and it seems to be the hottest. is it best to keep the door open a crack? my stove has a tiny little air vent, but it seems like it doesnt allow enough air in. ive been trying to get it so i can hear a woosh of air going through the coals. am i on the right track or is my method stupid?

This is kind of a tough nut to crack. First off, I would not recommend cracking the door on an established fire. It simply should not be needed. If you are keeping your stack damper 3/4 shut but need to have the door open to keep the fire established, then I would also guess that you have the damper closed too much.

Try this, first if you don't have one, get a thermo for the top of your stove. On an established fire, keep the stack damper at full open and adjust the fire by the primary air control (tiny little air vent) so that you establish the desired stove top temp (lets say 500F for discussion). Next, start to slowly close the damper, say 15% at a time (and wait 10 min.) until you see the stove top temp start to rise (lets say 550F). Leave it at that setting and see what your stove acts like. Please monitor the stove so that no dangerous situation occurs. If your fire does not stay "well fired" with this method, you may need to look at your fuel or draft.

Older stoves usually have the ability to provide tons of combustion air to the fire. By using the above method you will feed the fire the needed oxygen, but cut down on some of the air "rush". Above you stated that you adjust to hear the "woosh". I would suggest you are feeding too much air to the fire and possibly could be creating a "cooling" effect. I know that sounds weird, but I have seen it happen on an old earth stove.

Just try it, it sure won't hurt to experiment.

 

[karri0n]

sorry for OT, but, Jags, about what burn times do you get on a full load in your IR?

 

[Jags]

sorry for OT, but, Jags, about what burn times do you get on a full load in your IR?

Full load of hard woods, coal base established and packed to the gills give productive heat (above 400F) for about 7.5-8hrs and at 10 hours the stove top will be at 250F with a fairly good coal base. This is without touching or adjusting the stove in any way.

 

[karri0n]

I think I might have inadvertently assassinated this guy's thread. Courtesy bump. Anybody else got any tips for this guy burning his "Old Hickory" smoke dragon?