First Burn

[TmbrCrk]

Hi all,
With all the info I have learned on this site I am almost ready to fire up my newly installed Lennox Montecito. I was reading the instructions and it says to have the first 5-6 fires 30-60 minutes in length. When you do this is it best to wait overnight each time you fire it up (meaning should the unit be cooled down before the next fire)? I assume by the time you get to the 6th initial fire it should be an hour in length then you should be ready to burn full time.
Does anybody have any advice on this?
I have never had a wood burning stove before so this is all new to me.

Thank you,
Neil.

 

[Jags]

It is a break in period for the paint and to drive out any moisture inside the stove. There is really no need to wait over night, simply allow the stove to go cold. Does your manual state anything about the first fire being a low temp fire and the last a high temp?? It is pretty standard procedure. But by all means, if your manual has specifics on the break in, follow them.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Neil. Good to see another yooper on the forum.

By all means, follow the manual but I'm not so sure you would need to let a stove sit overnight if you had only an hour long fire. Usually if you let the stove cool so you can touch it without burning yourself that should be cool enough.

This may not match your manual but on the Woodstock stoves we usually start the first fire with just a few pieces of kindling and let that burn out. The next fire the same amount of kindling but add a small split. Next fire a bit hotter, etc. You no doubt will notice some smell and perhaps a little bit of smoke as the paint cures. The hotter the fire the more smoke you might get until at last you will no longer get any of that. I usually tell folks to light a few candles when burning off the smell of the stove along with opening a couple of windows. With the candles you may not even have to open a window as the candles should cut the smoke and the smell. Good luck.

 

[mfglickman]

Where are the pictures????

 

[Defiant]

mfg X 2

 

[TmbrCrk]

Thanks for the reply's. I got that info from the instructions, so that is what I will follow. I am going to pick up a load of seasoned wood today and hope to do the first 1/2 hour burn today or tomorrow. My concern was if the stove needed to fully cool off overnight but that does not seem to be the case as the instructions don't say to.
No pics yet, still building the hearth. This morning I have to grout around the facade and between the hearthstones.

Neil.

 

[Wood Duck]

I would start the first few fires with kindling and only wood you are sure is very dry. The seasoned wood you are going to pick up is probably not really seasoned enough for your stove (there are 1000 threads discussing some version of "why does my seasoned wood not burn well?" in the Wood Shed). I think the first fire should be maybe a double handful of kindling. The next similar but with 50% more wood. By the third fire I would add some small splits or three pieces of 2x4 scrap. If you are going to burn the seasoned firewood for your break-in fires I would split it much smaller than it comes from the supplier.

Don't be too concerned if your fire is not burnt out in 30 minutes exactly. It is pretty hard to time a fire precisely.

 

[Jags]

The seasoned wood you are going to pick up is probably not really seasoned enough for your stove

TMBR - please do not gloss over these words. They are accurate more times than not.

 

[TmbrCrk]

I will be sure to use kindling from my father-in-law who has a bunch of dry wood to use in his sauna. I know that wood is a couple of years old. The load I just got was cut last year. I can't start my kindling break-in fires till tomorrow anyways, have to wait for the grout to dry.

 

[Redlegs]

@TmbrCrk ...congrats on the new instal. What mfg/model are you working with ? I'm a newbie here also, but I'll bet there is someone here with your exact model that could provide specific info???

 

[Coleman Stove]

Hi all,
With all the info I have learned on this site I am almost ready to fire up my newly installed Lennox Montecito. I was reading the instructions and it says to have the first 5-6 fires 30-60 minutes in length. When you do this is it best to wait overnight each time you fire it up (meaning should the unit be cooled down before the next fire)? I assume by the time you get to the 6th initial fire it should be an hour in length then you should be ready to burn full time.
Does anybody have any advice on this?
I have never had a wood burning stove before so this is all new to me.

Thank you,
Neil.

Let's see a picture of that bad boy..

 

[TmbrCrk]

Jefferson- it is a Lennox Montecito. I will get a pic hopefully tonight when I do a paper/kindling burn.

 

[Wood Duck]

I recommend you buy some good fire starters. I can start a fire with paper, but what a pain! I have been using SuperCedars and they're great. There are other brands and those might be great too, but I haven't actually tried them. I use a piece of firestarter in among some kindling. I can light the superCedar in a second with a cigarette lighter and it works every time. It costs me less than $0.25 per fire and it is the best quarter I'll spend all day.

 

[bogydave]

Sounds like a fun time, the break in period.
Soon to be a full time burner.
Good luck.
Like mentioned dry wood is "Key"
How much wood do you have CSS (cut/split/stacked) for next season?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I will be sure to use kindling from my father-in-law who has a bunch of dry wood to use in his sauna. I know that wood is a couple of years old. The load I just got was cut last year. I can't start my kindling break-in fires till tomorrow anyways, have to wait for the grout to dry.

TmbrCrk, that statement in bold is what scares me. Good that you know when it was cut. Do you know when it was split? Do you know what kind of wood it is? The reason I ask is that all wood is not created equal. Some wood takes longer than others to dry. In addition to that, you can cut wood one year, leave it 2 more and think it is dry. However, if you don't split the wood and stack it out in the wind to dry, the only part of the wood that gets dry is the very ends of the logs. The middle part will still be loaded with moisture. This is just something every wood burner needs to know and do not depend upon a wood seller to know or admit this. Their sole need is to just get the dollars from the wood. They may or may not know the best way of handling that wood. In all this, we wish you good luck. Check your chimney monthly.

 

[brogsie]

Hey Dennis,

Just curious how do the candles eliminate smoke from the new stove burn off?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It works the same way as candles do in a smokey bar. Light the candles and the smoke goes away. If I were better in chemistry, then I could explain it further, but I flunked that class. lol All I know is that it just works.

 

[brogsie]

Thanks Dennis,

I had never heard that before.
Learn something new every day.