first year burning help

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salmonhunter

Burning Hunk
Apr 16, 2012
104
newbrunswick canada
Well I got my first insert and have had a few small fires to test it out. Im trying figure everything out before it gets really cold. I have tried a couple times to sweat myself out of the living room but still haven't managed to accomplish it. Im wondering if im doing anything wrong. Should I open the air all the way to get maximum heat? or does cutting it down some help get the stove hotter? its not my wood source as its been in my garage for 3 yrs now. maybee im just not putting enough wood in or maybee im cranking down the air too much. any tips appreciated. its supposed to get colder tonight so im gonna try stacking the stove really full and leave the air wide open to see if that will cook us out.
 
It still could be the wood source.....depends on type of wood....diiferent wood give off different BTU's
 
Do you have a stove top thermometer? That really helped me figure out the fire stages and how to proceed at each. When I look back, I don't know how I manged without it. Mine was cheap-maybe twenty bucks max at tractor supply.
 
Primary opened all the way = Heat up the chimney

Primary closed all the way = Could make a smoldering situation if you didnt get the load hot enough and charred

You want to keep it opened all the way on a reload (for the most part), then close it down in increments. As noted above, a stove top thermo will help greatly. Although with an insert, it may be tricky (depending on model).
 
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I started last year and love the thermometer. It helps me judge. Basically I open the bypass and the air all the way till the fire gets going, close the air to about half, then when the stovetop gets to 250 or so engage the cat and either close the air way down for a long burn or leave it/open it for more heat in the room.

If your stovetop or pipe ever get really too hot, open the cat and air - weird but it works.
 
I dont have a thermometer mainly because there is no where to attatch it heres a pic as you can see there is no stove top to attach it to. think i may just go ahead and order a cheap ir thermometer or do you think one of those magnet ones would work on the front of the door? so closing the air off some actually increases the stove temps? im all confused i thought full air= more heat

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I have an insert and had the same issue with positioning a thermo. Even worse, there really isn't a surface to mount to that is part of the firebox. The whole exterior is the ducting for the blower. So, i got a meat type thermo and stick it in the front of the blower grate. Now, this is not the stove top temp that you'll read about here but, it does give you a relative temp to judge the state of the fire and has been VERY helpful.

Oh, and about figuring it all out before it gets cold...I'm shooting for that too now that I'm on my third year. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Whats the quality of your wood?
Do you have a moisture meter you can take a measurement?
 
I dont have a thermometer mainly because there is no where to attatch it heres a pic as you can see there is no stove top to attach it to. think i may just go ahead and order a cheap ir thermometer or do you think one of those magnet ones would work on the front of the door? so closing the air off some actually increases the stove temps? im all confused i thought full air= more heat

It does seem a bit counter-intuitive. Modern EPA stoves don't allow you to completely close off the air supply to the fire. This is to help prevent a smoldering and smokey fire. As you close down the primary air supply, air will start to draw strongly through the secondary manifold and tubes. That supplies air at the top of the firebox which ignites unburnt wood gases. The burning off of these wood gases will increase the stove temperature for a period of time as they burn off. How long will depend on the size of the wood load in the stove. In a small stove this might be for 20-30 minutes. In a big stove it can be for an hour or more.
 
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What kind of wood are you trying to burn?
 
I don't have a moisture meter but I know its very dry its been in my attached garage for at least 3 years as the previous owners left it behind when we moved in its a mixture of hard woods mostly maple I believe. Dont get me wrong it heats up my living room pretty nicely but it isn't really cold yet and Im worried once the cold really sets in it wont do the job at least not how im currently running it. Also the wood seems to burn up pretty fast and to keep the fire going I would need to refill quit often.
 
I hate to break it to ya but you have a small 1.4 cf firebox and that means you can only load so many BTU's in there. I had a 1.3 cf firebox and i had the same problem, i bet you have to fill it every two hours or so to keep the stove hot ( at least i did). Wood stored indoors means nothing, you need wind lots of wind and sun to season wood it would actually take longer if you put green wood in a garage and expect it to season. I would leave the air open until you get a good hot fire then reduce the air to 50% for a few minutes until the fire has adjusted to the air reduction and then drop the air to about 10% open and you should have a good secondary burn going on above the wood being burned. if your flames die out completely add more air to the fire because you are now smoldering. Look at your chimney no smoke coming from the chimney means you are burning good and clean, smoke means you are wasting wood and burning uneffiecently. I used my little insert for 1.5 seasons and sold it for an Osburn 2000 that has a 2.3 cf firebox and so far couldnt be happier. Disregaurd manufactures specs like burn time , btu out put, and effiecency, its bullS%^$ the main thing to look for is firebox size because your burn time and heat is determined by how much wood you can put in the fire.
 
I dont have a thermometer mainly because there is no where to attatch it heres a pic as you can see there is no stove top to attach it to. think i may just go ahead and order a cheap ir thermometer or do you think one of those magnet ones would work on the front of the door? so closing the air off some actually increases the stove temps? im all confused i thought full air= more heat

View attachment 75411
the thermometers have a magnet so attach that way
 
yea I really wish I could of put in a bigger insert but thats all that would fit in our fireplace. Your right about having to put more wood in every few hrs. I really wish I would have just put a big stove in my finished basement. Guess il have to just supplement the oil furnace this year and look into a bigger stove for the basement next year.
 
Get an IR thermometer as its tough to fine an accurate spot on the stove. I had 2 magnetic thermometers that would read 450 degrees in the center, and when I pointed the IR gun about 2 inches behind the magnetics it was reading close to 575 degrees. You can find a decent one online for about $20-$30 and they make a good toy for the cats as well :)
 
I did a comparison IR vs Magnet and posted it in the gear section lastweek with my condar medallion magnetic and it was within 30 dgrees of the IR at 575 degrees, very good magnetic temp gauge. The madallion is black and gold if you look it up on line
 
I did a comparison IR vs Magnet and posted it in the gear section lastweek with my condar medallion magnetic and it was within 30 dgrees of the IR at 575 degrees, very good magnetic temp gauge. The madallion is black and gold if you look it up on line
I have the condar as well. I bought 2 for my new stove to make sure heating the same way on both sides
 
yea I really wish I could of put in a bigger insert but thats all that would fit in our fireplace. Your right about having to put more wood in every few hrs. I really wish I would have just put a big stove in my finished basement. Guess il have to just supplement the oil furnace this year and look into a bigger stove for the basement next year.

How tight of a fit is your stove? I thought the same thing but the 2000 fit fine and i didnt have to cut anything out. I have one of those metal heataltor fireplaces and thought for sure id have to take a grinder to it. With my little stove i put the magnetic temp gauge on the upper left front of the unit above the door.
 
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The problem with my fireplace is the strong taper on the sides. The guy who installed my stove first showed up with an enerzone 1.8cu ft. That didnt fit so the the dealer brought over a PE vista a different 1.4 cu ft that didnt fit either so I had to settle on the regency i1200 1.4 cu ft. The installer said he could have cut out the taper on the sides on the fireplace if it was on the out side of my house but since the chimney is between my attached garage and house he wouldn't be able to do it for safety reasons.
 
That sucks sometimes you have to deal with the hand your delt, and keep the family safe. Atleast you can still have a fire and enjoy the heat, now whats the plan with the basement? pics please
 
So your gonna have to load carefully and select your wood wisely.

Like when loading up for a all night burn (hopefully) your gonna rake those coals forward so as to put you a pretty good size split in the back of the stove all the way on the bottom of the stove so its not sitting on any coals. As if its on coals it gonna get burning quicker , you dont want that you want the big log in the back to burn later on to get an all night burn.
Now you have to time your burns so that you have just enough coals left that when you rake the coals forward you have not too many but just enough in the front of the stove to load some big stuff in the back and some small stuff in the front. The smaller stuff in the front will burn first as its on the hot coal bed. Plus hopefully the stove will kind of burn in a front to back style to lengthen burn time. In Canada you need all the heat you can get. :)
 
So your gonna have to load carefully and select your wood wisely.

Like when loading up for a all night burn (hopefully) your gonna rake those coals forward so as to put you a pretty good size split in the back of the stove all the way on the bottom of the stove so its not sitting on any coals. As if its on coals it gonna get burning quicker , you dont want that you want the big log in the back to burn later on to get an all night burn.
Now you have to time your burns so that you have just enough coals left that when you rake the coals forward you have not too many but just enough in the front of the stove to load some big stuff in the back and some small stuff in the front. The smaller stuff in the front will burn first as its on the hot coal bed. Plus hopefully the stove will kind of burn in a front to back style to lengthen burn time. In Canada you need all the heat you can get. :)

The question i have with that is when that bigger split finnaly catches fire and the air is closed down wont the split sit there and smolder?
 
Im gonna try that technique tonight huntindog1. thanks for the tips. on a side note I work nights, wife works days so we should be able to keep the stove going 24/7 as long as my wife does her part. Maybee I just wont buy any furnace oil so she has no choice but to tend the fire:p . Probably not a good idea I would end up divorced, she actually really likes having a fire she's always asking me to make a fire even when I think its still warm in the house.
 
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