Burning in Low Mode W/O a Cat

[oldspark]

Guyz:

The determinant of a "proper" burn is not in the numbers
on a guage or in what colored flame you observe in the firebox.

It is what is actually coming out of your chimney and what is
left inside.

Aye,
Marty
PS: "Proper" meaning what is good for the majority to do
having least impact on the environment and individuals.

I never see smoke coming out the chimney except a little on start up, does that count, low for me is probably medium for some, I have burnt for over 30 years in this house and never have had a creosote problem and thats because I monitor flue temps, I checked one day and the smoke from my stove quits at about 300 stove top.

 

[wkpoor]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

 

[Huntindog1]

OldSpark,

I wonder if your blower cools your secondaries as it takes too much heat off the top of your stove. As many report better performance having the blower off as the stove is hotter that way.

If your stove has to have the blower running set it at its lowest setting.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I have to DISAGREE that a clean burn on low is not possible on a non cat stove. Depends on a lot of factors and also on the stove itself. On my harman my after burn is either on or off depending on the stoves internal temp. when its ON its self sustaining meaning it creates so much additional heat it easily stays in the optimal temp range once it starts,even on low air setting.Remember the reburn air is usually NOT Regulated so it cant be choked down like the primary air.
THe 30 is a different beast but here as well once the stove hits reburn territory i usually keep the primary air open enough to encourage very active secondaries, on this stove it seems you can turn the primary air down enough for the secondaries to fade, but this too depends on your draft,if your draft is strong enough the secondaries will still fire at a much lower primary air setting. Strong draft greatly improves a cleaner burn at lower air settings on both my stoves.

 

[oldspark]

OldSpark,

I wonder if your blower cools your secondaries as it takes too much heat off the top of your stove. As many report better performance having the blower off as the stove is hotter that way.

If your stove has to have the blower running set it at its lowest setting.

I can turn the air all the way down but sometimes I cant get the blue flames even at the low setting as there is a fair amount of orange fire, I can get the blue flame effect with the right kind of wood an packing but the flue temp seems to run lower than I feel comfortale with, been a while since I tried it so not sure exactly what the flue temp was. Makes me nervous to see low flue temps. The fan thing is worth a try as I really dont need it for an overnight burn.

 

[oldspark]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

I hope that question is for Marty cause if its for me my posts are misunderstood.

 

[Huntindog1]

Spark

Dont know about your stove and its requirements it may be a cast iron stove and painted?? But my stove is plate steel so I dont ever turn my blower on.

 

[oldspark]

Spark

Dont know about your stove and its requirements it may be a cast iron stove and painted?? But my stove is plate steel so I dont ever turn my blower on.

I need it for the heat, large open area to heat and some times its balls to the wall, older stove put out more heat so its more of a struggle with the Summit. Still have some more tightening up on the house to do this summer. Its a convective with shields on the sides.

 

[jeff_t]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

Marty has a masonry heater. He's just..

 

[Huntindog1]

Seasoned Oak,

You may be perfectly happy with your NC-30 performance but With those stoves there is a good opportunity for a easy stove mod to maybe increase performance as you could add the blanket of ceramic insulation to the top of the baffle plate.

 

[oldspark]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

Marty has a masonry heater. He's just..

 

[Huntindog1]

Masonry heaters are bad on your health. Dont get too close to the fire.

 

[wkpoor]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

I hope that question is for Marty cause if its for me my posts are misunderstood.

Yeh I should have quoted him. You guy posted while I was typing, sorry.

 

[wkpoor]

If you only have one burn mode than you must not have very long burn times. No one is suggesting a smolder here. Just a burn mode that is both clean and efficient but not asking for all out heat. I said I had a 500 degree stove top. Is that a low temp to you?

Marty has a masonry heater. He's just..

Now this thread is going somewhere hehehehehelololll Good one!

 

[Burd]

I allways thought that the blue part of the flame was the hottiest and cleaniest part of any burn

 

[oldspark]

I allways thought that the blue part of the flame was the hottiest and cleaniest part of any burn

I think it is, I seem to get more blue flames off of Oak and White Ash compard to Green Ash and Elm, Cherry.

 

[Burd]

I allways thought that the blue part of the flame was the hottiest and cleaniest part of any burn

I think it is, I seem to get more blue flames off of Oak and White Ash compard to Green Ash and Elm, Cherry.

You should try some locust

 

[oldspark]

I allways thought that the blue part of the flame was the hottiest and cleaniest part of any burn

I think it is, I seem to get more blue flames off of Oak and White Ash compard to Green Ash and Elm, Cherry.

You should try some locust

I have, I cant tell much difference between Oak and Locust, I am sure the Locust is a little better but for me not a game changer.

 

[wkpoor]

Well I gotta say bull crap to no slow clean burn. 2 hrs ago I threw one large split on top of a deep bed of coals and the stove has been rock steady at 450 with a perfectly clean chimney. The split has nothing but nice blue flames coming off of it. I will say I've gotten lucky with some unusually good dry wood as of late and we are under high pressure right now which makes for good burning. So with the right fuel and the right weather conditions it is possible to have a slow clean burn with no cat.

 

[oldspark]

Yep I agree 100%.

 

[Burd]

I allways thought that the blue part of the flame was the hottiest and cleaniest part of any burn

I think it is, I seem to get more blue flames off of Oak and White Ash compard to Green Ash and Elm, Cherry.

You should try some locust

I have, I cant tell much difference between Oak and Locust, I am sure the Locust is a little better but for me not a game changer.

you're right there but when it's free it's for me

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Well I gotta say bull crap to no slow clean burn. 2 hrs ago I threw one large split on top of a deep bed of coals and the stove has been rock steady at 450 with a perfectly clean chimney. The split has nothing but nice blue flames coming off of it. I will say I've gotten lucky with some unusually good dry wood as of late and we are under high pressure right now which makes for good burning. So with the right fuel and the right weather conditions it is possible to have a slow clean burn with no cat.

I said the same a few posts back although not in those exact words,

 

[rdust]

So with the right fuel and the right weather conditions it is possible to have a slow clean burn with no cat.

All this talk about burning low like a cat with a non cat with the stars aligned makes me think buying a cat stove would be the easy solution. :lol:

 

[wkpoor]

So with the right fuel and the right weather conditions it is possible to have a slow clean burn with no cat.

All this talk about burning low like a cat with a non cat with the stars aligned makes me think buying a cat stove would be the easy solution. :lol:

I dunno about that. How many threads can you read on here at any one moment about cat problems and fiddling with them and routine maintenance and replacement. Now I've never owned one so I don't want to judge but if your stove is putting out a half day of good usable heat on a single load do you think it necessary to go there. I mentioned on another thread how there are many people currently operating cat stoves in a pre epa mode with a cat that was burnt up years ago and they refuse to buy another. I know of a couple myself right now. But folks here are into wood burning and doing it professional so on this level maybe its the cats meow.

 

[rdust]

But folks here are into wood burning and doing it professional so on this level maybe its the cats meow.

Yep, people here are not the normal crowd I will give you that. I'm so happy with the way my stove burns I'd replace the cat ever year if I had to.