First break-in fire

[op_man1]

After an installation false start back in May (we had an issue in our flue) and some remediation work done in July, we had our insert installed on July 27th. Yesterday, the city inspector came by and cleared everything. Finally!

I just could not wait to start burning - so I didn't! The weather here is cool recently in any case - it is supposed to be only 10 degrees celcius (50 F) tonight so I think I will do a second, bigger one tonight.

The first burn went without a hitch - I used mostly kindling, some of it very small and some of it about 1.5 inches thickness. I had flames for about one hour, after which time the fan started (it stayed on for about one hour). The doors became quite hot to the touch but I don't think so hot that it would take skin off (or even really seriously burn someone). There was a bit of a smell, but really not very strong.

So, how big should I go with the second burn? Should I use two or three decent sized splits or keep it small? Is that too much for the second burn?

One observation that I have - it does seem surprising that I would be able to heat my house in the dead of winter exclusively with this stove. I have read that it puts out considerable heat (and I only have about 1100 sq ft of relatively open space on one level, not counting the basement) but still... Looking forward to burning in the fall!

 

[jadm]

I used a thermometer when doing my start up fires. Was afraid of getting it too hot. I went mainly by the temp. recommendations in my manual. Can't really remember but I think I did kindling like you did for the first and then added a split with kindling for the second and maybe 2 splits and kindling for the third....Sorry, I just can't recall.

I do know I put the thermometer on the face which, I later learned, doesn't give accurate reads. I figure my start up fires were hotter than recommended but my insert has not had any side effects as a result of my ignorance . I, on the other hand, experienced extreme terror once I realized what I had done. :ahhh: That subsided once I heard from others here who had done similar things without damaging their stoves/inserts. :coolsmile:

If you get a therm. (magnetic Rutland is what I had.) you have to put it onto the shelf above the firebox where the hot blower air exits into your room.

I have the 550 so I don't know how warm the 450 will keep you. I would imagine that it will be sufficient for the 1100 sq ft of your open area but probably won't do much for the basement. (Hot air does not like to go down......)

If you aren't supplementing with gas or propane heat in that basement area you might want to make sure any exposed water pipes are well insulated.

 

[KevinM]

Congratulations of the installation. I was just joking that we might want to have a fire this evening. I will look for smoke signals from your fire.

I used the thermometer for my break in fires and aimed for 200, 400, and 600 degrees. The last one got away on me and went up to 800. At least that burnt any possible stink from the insert but it also drove my wife out of the house. That was last December so opening windows was a bit difficult without making it cold and smelly. I would try two or three small splits for the second fire.

There is a point where the secondary combustion kicks in and the efficiency and heat jumps. Our little insert keeps the upstairs of our bungalow warm without the furnace during the day, the basement does get cold without the air circulating from upstairs.

Kevin.

 

[stockdoct]

One observation that I have - it does seem surprising that I would be able to heat my house in the dead of winter exclusively with this stove. I have read that it puts out considerable heat (and I only have about 1100 sq ft of relatively open space on one level, not counting the basement) but still... Looking forward to burning in the fall!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One piece of advice I might offer is this:

Do not expect your stove to heat your whole house evenly and completely. Start with small expectations "it'll keep this room warm as long as I do the work to keep the stove going" ..... then see how it goes. Try for longer burns or shorter ones, seasoned wood or pallets vs poorly seasoned wood, maybe a couple fans to keep air moving through the house. Experiment with when fires should be restarted after the old one cooled down. Experiment.

Start with low expectations and a goal to make it work. Its not going to be a "heats my whole house" solution from day 1.

 

[op_man1]

Congratulations of the installation. I was just joking that we might want to have a fire this evening. I will look for smoke signals from your fire.

I used the thermometer for my break in fires and aimed for 200, 400, and 600 degrees. The last one got away on me and went up to 800. At least that burnt any possible stink from the insert but it also drove my wife out of the house. That was last December so opening windows was a bit difficult without making it cold and smelly. I would try two or three small splits for the second fire.

There is a point where the secondary combustion kicks in and the efficiency and heat jumps. Our little insert keeps the upstairs of our bungalow warm without the furnace during the day, the basement does get cold without the air circulating from upstairs.

Kevin.

Hey, another burner from my neck of the woods - I guess your wood isn't drying any faster than mine!

I don't imagine that the basement will get warm from the upstairs - and I will not be too averse to using the central furnace and will also experiment with the furnace fan to circulate air through the house. Like stockdoct suggested, I will certainly need to experiment quite a bit to optimize my set up.

As I type this, my second burn is active and has been going on for about 2 hours. I only put three smallish splits (after the kindling fire) but it looks like I'll get some flame for another hour or so. Unfortunately, I don't have a thermometer but I don't think it's going very hot. Like yesterday, there is a bit of an odour but not too much...

Cheers

 

[Diabel]

Congrats on the new purchase.....!

 

[KevinM]

I don't imagine that the basement will get warm from the upstairs - and I will not be too averse to using the central furnace and will also experiment with the furnace fan to circulate air through the house. Like stockdoct suggested, I will certainly need to experiment quite a bit to optimize my set up.

I tried the furnace blower without much success but I don't think our vents are setup in a correct balanced manner. There is a strong draft down the basement stairs when it it running but we need to keep the door closed to keep the cats upstairs.

I added a small ceiling fan in our hallway which did make a huge difference. Our fireplace is at one end of the house and the bathroom is the other end with a straight wide hallway between them. The bathroom was cold, especially with the tile floor. I was amazed how hot it was climbing up the ladder to install the ceiling fan which was just outside the cold bathroom.

I have a thermometer in the basement which records the minimum temperature just to keep an eye on things. Our furnace would run 2-4 hours in the early morning to heat up the house before we wake up when the fire has burnt down to coals. The basement got down to 10 C during a cold snap which is the bottom of my comfort zone for freezing pipes in the basement walls.

Kevin.