Flame color question

[ecolbeck]

Hi folks, I'm hoping that someone can answer my question or direct me to a thread with an answer. My Jotul Castine burns with flames that range from yellow/orange to blue under different conditions. Is there anybody who could explain these differences in color and what implications they have for combustion efficiency etc?

thank you

 

[shawneyboy]

Different stove than you but... I am thinking similar to NG with a higher amount of oxygen the color is more yellow, with a lower oxygen amount it is blue. Now I am unsure of combustion efficiency.

 

[HotCoals]

I was always told blue was hottest and burning efficiently.

 

[struggle]

I was always told blue was hottest and burning efficiently.

+1 if you ever see yellow flames on a furnace it is burning incorrectly. Effecient equals blue hottest flame and most effecient which seems to show up mostly in the coaling stages on our stove.

 

[bboulier]

Blue is hottest. See the section on "Flame": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire. The center of the fire in my insert has a nice blue color but (as expected) the fire on the edges tends to be more orange/yellow, indicating a lower temperature.

 

[Cate68]

This is wonderful info! I always enjoy watching my blue flames dance across the wood and wondered the same thing... Good to know they're hot and the insert is burning efficiently.

 

[woodchip]

Is there anybody who could explain these differences in color and what implications they have for combustion efficiency etc?

With my Clarke Regal, I keep the primary burn oxygen as low as possible, giving blue flames, and the secondary burn just dances away with blues happily too. If you have air inlets above the wood along the bottom of the baffle (most modern woodburners do), this is the most important bit for the heat, as the secondary burn is giving extra heat without burning any more wood, just the exhaust gas which contain many combustibles. Without burning, these will just go to waste up the chimney to the atmosphere or soot up the flue.

I'm obsessed with keeping my burn as efficient as possible, less time spent sawing and chopping wood and more time spent sitting in front of the fire!!

 

[RustyShackleford]

It'd be good to know what colors indicate lead (or other toxins of catalytic converters).
Not that it'd be in decent wood, of course, but occasionally I see funny colors from the newspapers I use to start the fire.