Charnwood Skye 700 - automatic wood burner

[EatenByLimestone]

I’m trying hard to word my thoughts correctly. I tried many times to type it out but kept thinking it’d come off as trolling, which wasn’t my intention.

I see this stove appealing to those who want the convenience of a pellet stove but want to burn lower quality fuel.

The problem I see is they aren’t going to understand that the fuel they bought as seasoned likely isn’t high enough quality for something like this.

Wood burning cordwood is an art based off math. There are too many variables in it to successfully burn kiln dried pine in 1 load and a load of hickory that was in tree form last week in the next load. Over time, we’ve all figured out how to deal with that arm load of hickory. I’m not sure a programmer can write a program for that. Flame health is a judgement call based off experience. A flame that is satisfactory on one load may not be on the next.

One of the reasons why dry wood is so important is it removes a huge variable from the equation and makes it easier to learn to deal with the other variables. Throw wet wood into it and it’ll give you an error code… and limp the stove through the load?

 

[stoveliker]

I’m trying hard to word my thoughts correctly. I tried many times to type it out but kept thinking it’d come off as trolling, which wasn’t my intention.

I see this stove appealing to those who want the convenience of a pellet stove but want to burn lower quality fuel.

The problem I see is they aren’t going to understand that the fuel they bought as seasoned likely isn’t high enough quality for something like this.

Wood burning cordwood is an art based off math. There are too many variables in it to successfully burn kiln dried pine in 1 load and a load of hickory that was in tree form last week in the next load. Over time, we’ve all figured out how to deal with that arm load of hickory. I’m not sure a programmer can write a program for that. Flame health is a judgement call based off experience. A flame that is satisfactory on one load may not be on the next.

One of the reasons why dry wood is so important is it removes a huge variable from the equation and makes it easier to learn to deal with the other variables. Throw wet wood into it and it’ll give you an error code… and limp the stove through the load?

This all depends on *what* they are actually sensing. Exhaust gases? (like your ICE management!)

Moreover, these are marketed in Europe - where there are actually very strict guidelines (I know in the UK and The Netherlands) about wood that one is allowed to burn (and "brother" is "bigger there") and that one is allowed to sell. My brother in law has a stove, buys wood, and I can tell you it's below 18% (properly measured). The law says it has to be below 20%. ANd he randomly buys from different suppliers.

In situations like that this is much less of an issue.
And again depending on the range of control the "brain" of the stove can exert on the fire, and based on what inputs.

 

[begreen]

I’m trying hard to word my thoughts correctly. I tried many times to type it out but kept thinking it’d come off as trolling, which wasn’t my intention.

I see this stove appealing to those who want the convenience of a pellet stove but want to burn lower quality fuel.

The marketing info and video make it clear that dry wood is a priority. No stove performs optimally with poorly seasoned wood. It's unlikely that there would be good secondary combustion in this stove if the firebox doesn't get hot enough. That said, there always will be someone that ignores directions.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Yeah, it doesn’t even have to be on purpose. The more developed (advanced?) the stove is, the stricter the tolerances are for proper operation.

 

[begreen]

Gimme fire in cave, ugga ugga.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The original masonry heater!

 

[qwee]

I wonder exactly how this stove 'thinks' about the burning fire. I see the small holes of different sizes at the top of the firebox in the back. Fire consumes oxygen, so as the oxygen decreases the sensor measures this? How do pellet stoves do this? Or fire creates CO2 maybe it measures CO2, also. If the fire is big and burning good a little pump kicks on and pushes more air into the fire through those back holes?

Those little varying sized holes would be better if they were on all 4 sides (and the top?). I wonder where the chemical rxn in the fire is the highest - 3-6" above the wood? I wonder if this tech could be integrated into a hybrid stove and what % increase in efficiency could be had? 5%? This is probably part of the future of NA wood stoves. 5 year NA lag behind Euro tech? I bet there is a German Stove that resembles this stove (probably better, though).

 

[weee123]

It probably measures based off heat. I think that’s what pellet stoves do.

 

[EbS-P]

I have the same concern. The stove does have a battery backup for power outages though I don't know how long that is good for.

I’m sure it has some power off position that been tested as safe. But anyone relying on this for emergency heat probably should get something like and Ecoflow delta 2 or 3.

 

[begreen]

It looks like the backup is 9v. A battery bank of sufficient size could handle it. Or put the stove on a decent sized UPS. The power draw appears to be low.