Fire restart and care

[Havlikn]

I have a pacific energy wood insert. Works well provides good heat, Northern state location.

I have a concern with fire restarts. When I restart the fire I take care of providing air and getting the flames going. When my boss starts the fire, she just throws the logs on and walks away.

No concern is for any build up in the liner. Should I be worried about this or just do the normal maintenance for cleaning the liner?

 

[bholler]

I have a pacific energy wood insert. Works well provides good heat, Northern state location.

I have a concern with fire restarts. When I restart the fire I take care of providing air and getting the flames going. When my boss starts the fire, she just throws the logs on and walks away.

No concern is for any build up in the liner. Should I be worried about this or just do the normal maintenance for cleaning the liner?

Yeah it's absolutely going to cause more buildup

 

[Wildflush]

I have a PE stove and at first it was a learning curve for my wife. Keeping the air open long enough and closing it down in stages. At first I’d find only a few splits in 😂 Choking out the stove will lead to more buildup. Run it open for a bit and get a hot fire going quickly. Less smoke, less creosote.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

You already know the answer, you're just looking for backup when you take on the boss .

Good luck with that !

 

[TomMcDonald]

Get her up on the roof to sweep the chimney and she'll change her ways.

 

[joop]

like thats going to happen lol

 

[kborndale]

Just explain to the boss that what they are doing can lead to a chimney fire which could burn the house down.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I have a PE stove and at first it was a learning curve for my wife. Keeping the air open long enough and closing it down in stages. At first I’d find only a few splits in 😂 Choking out the stove will lead to more buildup. Run it open for a bit and get a hot fire going quickly. Less smoke, less creosote.

This is where I struggle with my family and my stove. I have a VC but pretty much the same scenario.
In fact if you dont get my fire going well, all it will do is build up a massive amount of creosote in a very short time. If you burn low/slow from there a few times then let a fresh restart go and REALLY catch, I'll get creosote burn off in the stove pipe! Yes that soon.
For me, those first few hours are the most critical and require the most babysitting. Keeping a flame visible at all times is super important. But at the same time, I can't let the firebox fill too much with flames as I'll have flames rushing up the stove pipe several feet, and that's hard on the stove pipe as well as scary.
Once my stove gets rocking, it's fairly carefree from there. Set it and check on it every 30 - 60 minutes to make sure Im running it in the middle of the operating zone.

 

[Woody Stover]

The idea is to get the stove up to temp as soon as possible, so that the secondary burn can reduce the amount of smoke exiting the flue. If she is concerned with the environment, you could approach it from that angle.
Or from the 'reduce the chance of chimney fire due to creosote buildup' angle. Or the 'getting the most heat out of our wood' angle. Or the 'being a good neighbor' angle.
Or the "you'll overfire and destroy our stove investment if you just throw in wood and walk away without sticking around to reduce the air to the cruise setting, as the fire gets going" angle. But you may have to smooth the edges on that one a little more than I just did.

 

[Woody Stover]

For me, those first few hours are the most critical and require the most babysitting.

You can cruise a PE in about twenty or thirty minutes. I have a different stove but the procedure is similar. I don't sit there the whole time, I just use a phone timer to make sure I check back in and make adjustments when I need to.

 

[GrumpyDad]

The idea is to get the stove up to temp as soon as possible, so that the secondary burn can reduce the amount of smoke exiting the flue. If she is concerned with the environment, you could approach it from that angle.
Or from the 'reduce the chance of chimney fire due to creosote buildup' angle. Or the 'getting the most heat out of our wood' angle. Or the 'being a good neighbor' angle.
Or the "you'll overfire and destroy our stove investment if you just throw in wood and walk away without sticking around to reduce the air to the cruise setting, as the fire gets going" angle. But you may have to smooth the edges on that one a little more than I just did.

Great post.
The WHY is clearly defined here. People tend not to care until they know the possible reasons for changing behaviors.

Why should I stop pushing on the pull door, well because:
1. You'll never get inside unless you are the hulk.
2. You'll be late for work, or your appointment, you may freeze or get sunburn.
3. You'll end up in a far side cartoon and potentially get kicked out of the school for the gifted.

 

[Wildflush]

You can cruise a PE in about twenty or thirty minutes. I have a different stove but the procedure is similar. I don't sit there the whole time, I just use a phone timer to make sure I check back in and make adjustments when I need to.

Yup my PE roughly 30 min. Get the top down burn going fast cracking the door for a few minutes.

 

[Wildflush]

This is where I struggle with my family and my stove. I have a VC but pretty much the same scenario.
In fact if you dont get my fire going well, all it will do is build up a massive amount of creosote in a very short time. If you burn low/slow from there a few times then let a fresh restart go and REALLY catch, I'll get creosote burn off in the stove pipe! Yes that soon.
For me, those first few hours are the most critical and require the most babysitting. Keeping a flame visible at all times is super important. But at the same time, I can't let the firebox fill too much with flames as I'll have flames rushing up the stove pipe several feet, and that's hard on the stove pipe as well as scary.
Once my stove gets rocking, it's fairly carefree from there. Set it and check on it every 30 - 60 minutes to make sure Im running it in the middle of the operating zone.

That’s what happened to my buddy in Maine. His family was tossing in wood on coals and shutting air down right away. Glass getting black and had one good fire and pow chimney fire with his Jotul Oslo 500. Not to mention he insists that it is ok to burn Oak over 20% when adding to hot coals 🙄

 

[bholler]

Yup my PE roughly 30 min. Get the top down burn going fast cracking the door for a few minutes.

Is that on a cold start?

 

[Wildflush]

Is that on a cold start?

Cold start. But after thinking about it secondaries start sooner than 30 min. I’d say 15-20. This AM 2 medium splits on two N/S sleeper chunks with smaller 3” splits across the top and I was climbing quickly. Ended up SST 600.

 

[begreen]

Cold start. But after thinking about it secondaries start sooner than 30 min. I’d say 15-20. This AM 2 medium splits on two N/S sleeper chunks with smaller 3” splits across the top and I was climbing quickly. Ended up SST 600.

Cold start times vary a lot with the wood, draft, and how it's loaded. We are in that 15-20 minute range usually, on a lucky day it might be 10 min., but sometimes either I don't get it right or the fire decides to be balky and then it might take another 5 minutes. On a good reload this could be as low as 5-10 minutes depending on the state of the hot coal bed.

 

[Wildflush]

Just as I said this I got the worse reload time today. Had some coals would have liked more. Put a long piece of bark along the coals with a small thin split of oak on top to get things going. Back of the stove had 4 splits on the smaller size and medium cherry end chunks on top. Seemed like it took forever to get going. Cracked my window next to the stove to help with draft. Was wondering if one of my kids had a bathroom fan running. This load did not run as hot with STT @ 550.