How best to adjust the air controls?

[FiremanBob]

I'm a noob. I've been burning as my primary heat source for about two weeks now and searched nearly 50 pages of threads on various topics so far. The owner's manual for my Russo stove has no information on how to adjust the controls for optimum burning. So I'm still experimenting with settings. Today I bought a thermometer which I stuck on the stove top. The stove has an intake air control in the ash drawer door and a damper at the top. I just discovered today that keeping the damper open all the way is not ideal. Doh!

Here are the issues I'm focusing on so far - do these make any sense? What am I missing?

Is the objective to keep the stove at a target temperature, burning more slowly with a full load to last the night, or more quickly at startup or reload to get back to the target range?

If I burn at optimum temperature, I should have the least amount of ash and glass blackening, and the longest burn times per load?

If I burn too hot, then I am using wood too fast and overheating the rooms? This, I imagine, is long before running so hot to risk a chimney fire. (Another engine company in my town got dispatched to a chimney fire about an hour ago.)

What is that optimal temperature, measured on the stove top?

Some things I've noticed so far:


1. If I have fewer than 3 splits going, it's hard to get above 300 deg. With 3 going well, I have the intake about 1/2 open and the damper almost closed - this gets the temp up to 380-420 and nice blue flames. With the air intake open 1/4 or less, the flames disappear and temp drops. With the intake open 3/4 or more it flames up quickly - good for startup, but a waste of wood afterwards?

Would it be right that a more full stove (I've never had more than 4 splits in it at once), burning more slowly, would keep the temp up and maybe last the night?

2. If I open the damper even as much as halfway (45 deg), temp goes down. I'm guessing that too much hot gas is drafting up the chimney too fast.

3. I have to open the damper for a few seconds before opening the door to reload so that smoke doesn't go into the room.

4. With the stove at 400 deg and the blower on full, it's easy to keep my home office (about 400 sf) at 68 deg. and the adjoining rooms at 63 deg when it's 30 deg. outside. I seem to be burning at the rate of one 12-14" split per hour.

I'd like to get the most heat over time from the least wood possible that maintains comfortable temperatures in the four rooms. All advice is welcome.

Thanks.

 

[WILDSOURDOUGH]

FiremanBob- Welcome to the boards...
Here is my Quick answers to the post...
A: Yes, and Yes
B: Yes
C: Yes
( That didn't say much now, did it ?)

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Mostly, you are expermenting, studying and asking questions- and you are here, so how can you go wrong ???? ;-)

Optimum tempature is a relative concept- Yes you want to run your stove at the peak of performance, getting the most value for your wood investment, but there are factors to consider. Wood mosture, size of area being heated, temps-in and outside, the stoves indiviual actions,etc.... These are just a few of many factors that are going to effect wood useage.

You do want to burn only as much as is nessassary to heat the given size- so one way to do this is to burn very small loads as quickly as expendently possable, (not a small inferno- sending fire up the chimney- more like 2-3 splits in 3-4 hours). The idea being a short, hot fire that heats the stove and the room, then the stove will radiate heat for a few hours more- keeping the room at a nice temp.

Another way is start with a hot fire- doing the same as above, then when the fire just starts to die down ( the wood added at the first is well cooked, but not to broken charcol), open the air control and damper and add a few more splits ( to fill it up), let it run with the air opened till the fire is going well again, then cut back on air and damp it down) this will allow the fire to continue for quite a while, while not constantly monatoring it. (but- thinking about it, I don't think it is possable to not want to constently check a nice woodstove fire!, well- not me anyways).

You are on the right track- experiment and learn the actions of your stove- it's a blast and you will soon be 'Master of the Stove !'

 

[bcnu]

hey FiremanBob,
my first season to heat with wood and we have a lot of the same questions. I too want to maximize my temps and conserve wood. Am experimenting and will be better at this as time goes on. In the meantime I spend time on this website gleaning from the masters

 

[FiremanBob]

Rather than start a new thread I'll update here. I made a couple more observations:

1. The maximum burn time I've gotten was 5 hours. This was with 3 good-size and one small split over a good coal bed, intake only 1/4" open and damper nearly closed. At 5:30 when I got up the stovetop was down to about 200 deg and there was enough of a coal bed to restart a new fire. The room never got below 66 deg but it was a fairly warm night out (45).

How could I get another hour of burn time = another hour of REM sleep? Maybe the biobricks, with their regular shape, would fit more fuel into the box for that overnight burn. OTOH, I'm concerned about the stories I read here about biobricks running away if they get too much air or if the pile falls apart.

2. The stove is pretty sensitive to the amount of ash in the drawer. If it's too high, there won't be enough air flow to flame up. Noticed this after seeing the new fire I'd started at 5:30 barely charred at 7:00 despite having the intake open 100% - but when I opened the door to check it, the fire blazed right up. The intake air holes weren't clogged, but the pan was pretty full. Once I emptied the pan the intake worked normally.

It's too cold now to consider doing masonry work, but I'm thinking of adding an outside air tube for next year. Especially since I want to add another stove to the living room at the other end of the house.