Help -- Question, New Ashford Installation

[Parallax]

Just had my new stove installed today. The guy seemed to know what he was doing. But now that I'm running it, smoke is rising around the pipe inside the house. The house smells like burning plastic or something. It's not a normal wood smoke smell. I know new stoves have to burn off. But would one expect to see smoke?

I'm on the verge of calling 911.

 

[Michael6268]

Sounds like normal burn off to me. Oils burn off new stoves and you can see smoke/haze. Smoke alarms will go off too. Keep a close eye and should begin to subside.

 

[BrotherBart]

Perfectly normal. Curing paint and cooking processing oils out of the metal. Why I burn'em in outside first.

 

[webby3650]

Why do you have a fire inside in June? I thought I was bad!

 

[Parallax]

Thanks fellas. It seems to be lessening. I've got the windows open and a box fan blowing air outside.

I knew there was burn-in, but I had no idea I'd see plums of smoke. Really scared me. Thank God I didn't call the fire department. Imagine those guys coming into my home, axes in hand, and shooting their extinguishers into my new Ashford. Tragedy averted!

Hey Webby, it's a new stove. A gorgeous new brown enamel Ashford. How can I not burn it?

 

[Grisu]

Wow, BK IS actually making a good-looking stove. Congrats on the install!

Looking at the load you have in there you may be overdoing it a little bit with the "break-in" fire. Probably the reason it smoked so much. Good thing: that will probably be the last time the stove burned off that stuff.

 

[Parallax]

That's the idea. Hopefully not overdoing it.

As for the look, I couldn't be happier. Was originally considering the Lopi Cape Cod because of its beauty. But the guys around here, thankfully, warned me of some problems with that stove. The more I investigated, the more I realized it wasn't the right choice. Webby was of course particularly helpful. When I called Lopi and got the run around ("Problems? What problems?), that sealed it.

Now that the Ashford is here, it's way more gorgeous than I had expected. And to know that, on top of that, it will burn low and long, super efficiently, without problems for years and years (God willing), I couldn't be more pleased.

 

[Parallax]

Here's an even better shot:

 

[BrotherBart]

Why do you have a fire inside in June? I thought I was bad!

Anytime I add a stove or do pipe changes something lights off. Last time was in August. It was 98 outside. The lil brown haired girl always says "It is about to get hot in this place.".

 

[BrotherBart]

Here's an even better shot:

View attachment 134494

Burn it. Love it.

 

[BrotherBart]

Nice looking stove.

 

[BrotherBart]

Screw the stove. I want your floors.

 

[Parallax]

Thanks man.

 

[Parallax]

Here she is again, my new love, across a crowded room:

 

[Parallax]

Now that the stove's in, it's time to finish the entertainment center (and clean the floor).

 

[firefirefire]

Looks Fantastic!

 

[Parallax]

Thanks. I'm feeling more than a little bit happy with how it turned out. Quite a blessing, this stove, this house (and this woodshed too).

 

[webby3650]

Everything looks great!
Your gonna love that stove! I wouldn't trade mine for a truckload of Cape Cods.

 

[stovelark]

Gorgeous!! That stove is quickly becoming a fav at the store. If it wasn't so heavy.... I'm with BB, your floors are nice!
You'll be warm this winter. Great pix too.

 

[Highbeam]

Why do you have a fire inside in June? I thought I was bad!

Our burning season in the northwest is a solid 9 months long. Mid june we are burning something for heat every few days. Last week i had fires on three nights. We start burning again in September. I'm talking about raising house temps from 63 to 75 when it is 50 outside.

The bk is actually really good at making low heat for only six hours with what most folks would call a pile of kindling. Cat meter goes nice and high even on a small load.

 

[begreen]

It was 77 degrees here yesterday. If you had a fire going it would be mighty warm.

 

[Parallax]

Hey, thanks Webby, Stovelark.

Yes, I anticipate burning 9 months of the year or more, since our house in back in the woods a good bit higher than Bellingham. Without air conditioning, there has been one day in our year here so far when we could have used it. However, this stove will be useful 300+ days.

Highbeam, or Webby, or anyone else who has an Ashford: How low can you dial yours down without it going out? I'm finding that when I set the thermostat to 1, after a few hours I have temperatures in the inactive zone on the thermometer. But as soon as I turn it up to three, everything fires right up. So I'm experimenting to see how low it can go while remaining in the cat's burn range. Right now I have it set at 2.

One more question: I've noticed some of you reference actual temperatures for the stove. My thermometer just has two categories, inactive and active. Can one purchase a thermometer with numbers?

 

[Parallax]

It was 77 degrees here yesterday. If you had a fire going it would be mighty warm.

Where's home for you, Begreen? 77 degrees could be Portland this time of year. My old friends in Tucson keep razzing me for sending them stove photos when it's 106 down there. I'm sure they'll return the favor in December, with photos of shorts and t-shirts, swimming pools and the like.

 

[Parallax]

It was 77 degrees here yesterday. If you had a fire going it would be mighty warm.

Where's home for you, Begreen? 77 degrees could be Portland this time of year. My old friends in Tucson keep razzing me for sending them stove photos when it's 106 down there. I'm sure they'll return the favor in December, with photos of shorts and t-shirts, swimming pools and the like.

 

[Woody Stover]

Hey Webby, it's a new stove. A gorgeous new brown enamel Ashford. How can I not burn it?

Love that brown enamel! They had a Manchester in brown in a shop here last year, that thing was a knock-out!

I wouldn't trade mine for a truckload of Cape Cods.

Hey, wait; You could sell the truckload of Cods, buy an enamel Ashford, and have enough money left over to hire neighborhood lads to cut, split, de-bark, stack, and bring in your wood for years!