Hey I think I'm learning something here!

[cmonSTART]

So I've loaded our super cool Englander non-cat up and she's firing away! Everything's working smoothly and I've got a nice secondary burn established (I think). I think I'm learning how to use this thing effectively with all the thing's I've read here lately. Woo Hooo! Just one of those burns when everything clicks and works! Hopefully, there's more to come.

One question now that I think about it. Just how do you know if you have a good secondary burn established? It may seem really obvious, but how do you know? Every time I think I have a good one going (flames at the top of the firebox, slight glow to the baffles) I go outside and see more smoke than I would expect from the chimney.

 

[jpl1nh]

My first guess wood be the moisture content of your wood. If it's not seasoned properly and contains a bit too much moisture, its tough for even the clean burn systems of todays stoves to work with total effectiveness. What type of wood are you using and how seasoned is it?

 

[Corie]

Yes, dry wood is absolutely essential for that stove to work perfectly. I've tried to fight with that stove and wet wood and have gotten clean burns, but it's usually at the expense of an obscenely high burn rate.

 

[webbie]

The smoke might be steam - chances are if you have some good fireworks going on in the top of the stove, then you have a decent secondary burn.

 

[cmonSTART]

You could be right about the steam thing now that you mention it. The wood I burn is well seasoned and covered, a mix of hardwoods from a local logger. I guard our wood's dryness with my life! The couple times I've actually looked for it was shortly after a fresh loading of wood, so it would still be in the steaming stage.

Have I mentioned this stove is awesome yet?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

craig likely is right, once you are at the stage that you have secondaries ripping in the top, within an hours time the exhaust can look almost like a gas stove vent (kinda hard to see 1.63 grams <chuckle>) now if the exhaust is whitish and dissipates within a few ft of the flue , its steam. smoke generally will sink after it leaves the flue and becomes heavier as it cools and will not dissipate nearly as fast.