getting a good draft

[Durantefarm]

I have a question for you all . I have been having a hard time getting a good draft when I start with a cold box. I have a Vermont casting wood burner. what I was doing what using a paper towel and pushing it up on to near the pipe and lighting it . recently when I do that im not getting a good draft and smoke fills up the house. its very frustrating . any other tricks you guys/girls do so im not filling up my house with smoke every time . thank you

 

[bholler]

A heatgun or torch.

 

[begreen]

If that doesn't help, make sure that your chimney cap screen has not started clogging.

 

[Ludlow]

Open a door for a few minutes until the draft takes off. A window works too but not like a door because the door goes to the floor.

Oh....Have you ever cleaned the chimney?

 

[Warrenc123]

Is this a new install or a existing one ?
Is it a mason or double wall chimney
Do you have required length of chimney recommend in user manual ?

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[jatoxico]

I suffer from sluggish and sometimes reverse draft due to the location of my insert in the house. When I need to establish draft a piece of newspaper held or pushed right into the vent works wonders. Paper towel strikes me as burning too slow to be useful. Newsprint burns hot and fast (I'm often amazed at the amount of energy that a single sheet releases).

Heat guns, hairdryers, torches etc...I'm sure they work but when you need to do it regularly pulling out an extension cord to start the stove is not in the cards for me.

 

[MissMac]

What about trying to light a smaller fire with the top down method? Build up a few pieces of wood, and then put your kindling and fire starter on top of the pile so that the heat is hitting right at the top of the stove box and your flue? I use birch bark and kindling to light all my fires and it works very well.

 

[begreen]

If there is a hint of draft then top down works very well. But if draft is neutral or slightly negative the getting some smokeless heat up the chimney can be preferable.

 

[nola mike]

Blowtorch works for me....
But agree with others; new problem or old? Chimney cleaned?

 

[jatoxico]

What about trying to light a smaller fire with the top down method? Build up a few pieces of wood, and then put your kindling and fire starter on top of the pile so that the heat is hitting right at the top of the stove box and your flue? I use birch bark and kindling to light all my fires and it works very well.

As BG said when the draft is neutral or weak, even using top down you get a roomful of smoke before things get rolling which kinda sucks. Worse yet is when it fully reverses and all the combustion air comes from down the chimney. That case (and it's happened to me) gets your attention and will not correct itself. Closing the door only results in smoke streaming out of every orifice, opening the door and the fire wants to come into the room. Only thing you can do is shut down.

Can't always tell which way it's gonna go so if I open the door and feel cool air on the back of my hand I establish draft first.

 

[mellow]

Is your liner insulated?

 

[SculptureOfSound]

I do two things:

Keep a stick of incense tucked away where I keep my firestarters, lighter etc. I always light this first and use the smoke to test the draft.

If draft is weak or negative, pull out the heat gun ($10 or so from harbor freight, maybe less with coupon) and run it for a minute. I too have a Montpelier and this method works well - just aim it right over the top of the front of the baffle. I only get draft issues when it's about 50 or above outside, but this is my first year so I'm testing every time before I start to see if there are any fluke colder days where draft is too weak.

 

[rebahusky]

I have a question for you all . I have been having a hard time getting a good draft when I start with a cold box. I have a Vermont casting wood burner. what I was doing what using a paper towel and pushing it up on to near the pipe and lighting it . recently when I do that im not getting a good draft and smoke fills up the house. its very frustrating . any other tricks you guys/girls do so im not filling up my house with smoke every time . thank you

The easy way is light a firestarter in stove shut door and blow a hairdryer where the stove gets its air i use a dog hair dryer when the stove pipe starts geting warm start putting your kindling in

 

[vwmike]

My old setup suffered from reverse draft once it got ice cold. Cracking the sliding door in the same room and a propane Torch above the baffle would get a strong draft going in about 30 seconds and never any smoke in the house. My little vista got lit almost everyday and I don't think I went through a whole 1lb bottle in a season.

 

[Durantefarm]

Open a door for a few minutes until the draft takes off. A window works too but not like a door because the door goes to the floor.

Oh....Have you ever cleaned the chimney?

yes cleaned the chimney beginning of nov.

 

[Durantefarm]

thank you all for you input ! I will try a few of the methods for sure! now what about starting a fire and keeping the door open like a regular fire place till it gets hot ? or will I still get the smoke flow into the house ? just wondering

 

[tadmaz]

When starting a fire, why not just use the top down method AND use a plumber's propane torch to start the kindling on top.

 

[begreen]

thank you all for you input ! I will try a few of the methods for sure! now what about starting a fire and keeping the door open like a regular fire place till it gets hot ? or will I still get the smoke flow into the house ? just wondering

The door doesn't need to be wide open, just open an inch or so. That should help reduce any smoke spillage.

Here is a video of starting a fire with the top down method. Give it a try.

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[BIGChrisNH]

I use a blowtorch to help heat the flue and get the draft going. If it's really cold, and there has been no fire for a couple days, this can take a while to heat the entire column of very cold air in the chimney, but once it's pulling you're good to go. I usually crack the door to the stove after starting a fire in an instance like this for longer than I usually would as well, to be sure the chimney is really pulling strong before I close the door. Good news is, the cold weather makes for stronger draft once you get one going.

 

[Woody Stover]

thank you all for you input ! I will try a few of the methods for sure! now what about starting a fire and keeping the door open like a regular fire place till it gets hot ? or will I still get the smoke flow into the house ? just wondering

if I open the door and feel cool air on the back of my hand I establish draft first.

Right, if you can feel cool air blowing on your hand when you open the door, you need to pre-heat somehow or you risk smoke blowing out when you try to light a fire.

Here is a video of starting a fire with the top down method.

Good "101" video with a range of basic information. John Gulland...cool!
But using newspaper on top of kindling to start a top-down fire can be hit-or-miss for me; It sometimes burns out before the wood catches. I build the bottom/back of the load with bigger splits, then a couple of small splits top/front. Next I light a SuperCedar chunk or two and place them on top of the small splits. Then I place a couple of small kindling sticks on the burning starter chunks. Works every time..almost.

 

[brazilbl]

I had that problem last night. I've used a propane torch based on a recommendation from another member, but a couple of days ago - this option was mentioned in a similar thread. I'm strongly inclined to try it out as I really don't like to have a portable torch in the living quarters - this seems to be a safer option - if it works. I've got a 25' chimney and at least it has 2 settings.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-watt-dual-temperature-heat-gun-572-1112-96289.html

 

[Durantefarm]

The door doesn't need to be wide open, just open an inch or so. That should help reduce any smoke spillage.

Here is a video of starting a fire with the top down method. Give it a try.

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I watched this video and its AWESOME! I actually did what they said yesterday and cut my loading in half and got way better heat! I never knew this till now ! a MUST watch for all new wood insert owners.

 

[Lbc]

Thank you for this video - it's so helpful! Any thoughts on what, if anything, would be different for a cat stove? I understand engaging the catalyst at a certain temp. Other than that, are there differences between this video and advice on cat stove efficiency?

 

[begreen]

For starting, no difference. The video is for a stove that has no bypass. Closing the bypass to engage the cat at the right temp is different as well as keeping the cat temp below 1600F.