How 'dry' does dry have to be for modern stoves?

[ClubbyG]

Lo All,

Recently purchased and installed an RSF Opel II. I got a cord from my father in law that I am fairly certain was cut and split 8-12 months ago, but left out in the open to season. I can lower the air to about 3/4 max until I see a good amount of smoke pouring from the chimney cap.

I still get a good amount of coals overnight, but I know I can do better...I've also ordered up a moisture meter to start checking, but just curious how others are able to tamp down the air to almost closed for overnight burns.

 

[JMF1]

Hi and welcome to the forum...................if you can post some more info about your stove and setup including chimney height you will get all of the info you'll need.

 

[flewism]

Welcome again, How hot is your stove when you damper it down?

 

[RedRanger]

When you get your moisture meter and re-split your wood again, and take the reading from the centre of the re-split wood,which equals the inner core. You should be good with under 25% moisture. With 20% being ideal!! Less than 20% will burn quicker and hotter. So a mix in the fuel load is a good idea.

 

[ClubbyG]

Thanks all! I'm sure the wife will kill me if I order an IR thermometer AND the moisture meter...but if that is what it takes I have about 16 feet of chimney with two 30 degree elbows to sneak by a rafter. Everything is enclosed in an interior chase which formerly housed what I thought was a heatilator, but turned out to be an 'el fuego' manufactured right in Waterbury, CT some 20 or so years ago (or more). I also installed the gravity vent kit with a small muffin fan on the edge of the heating room to push some heat around as the former fireplace had vents on either side of the chase and I wanted to do something with the holes. I ran the air intake on the right side with the gravity vent on the left. I am wishing at this point I didn't do the vent as there is now a noticeable cold spot in the heating room, but I may experiment with some fans closer to the gravity vent.

Was thinking about a flue thermometer, but not sure where I would put it as the Opel is a ZC and I don't want to scratch the face of it. It does heat nicely, but it seems like I should be able to close down the air more...

 

[ClubbyG]

p.s. screw it, I just ordered up an IR thermometer, as well....

 

[pen]

p.s. screw it, I just ordered up an IR thermometer, as well....

Honestly, can we put a price on safety???



pen

 

[ClubbyG]

p.s. screw it, I just ordered up an IR thermometer, as well....

Honestly, can we put a price on safety???



pen

Quite true, although I'm not worried about things getting too hot at this point. It's got to be the wood. I can crack the door for 15-20 minutes and get a blast furnace going, but when I close the door even with the air wide open, things go back to black and orange and a mediocre flame. There's got to be some dry wood somewhere in my stack. Curious to see what the moisture meter will read...if not, I'll run 'er wide open as at least there's no smoke then.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Lo All,

Recently purchased and installed an RSF Opel II. I got a cord from my father in law that I am fairly certain was cut and split 8-12 months ago, but left out in the open to season. I can lower the air to about 3/4 max until I see a good amount of smoke pouring from the chimney cap.

I still get a good amount of coals overnight, but I know I can do better...I've also ordered up a moisture meter to start checking, but just curious how others are able to tamp down the air to almost closed for overnight burns.

"but left out in the open to season." You state that as if it was bad! Why? Leaving the wood out in the open is what it needs. How else can the moisture evaporate?

We cut our wood in the winter. Split it in the early spring and then stack it...out in the open....uncovered! Leaving it in the open allows air circulation and leaving it uncovered allows evaporation. We do cover it by late fall, or at least most of it. We have one part that was left uncovered 2 years, but it is covered now and the wood is just fine. (We have about a 7 year supply on hand right now (moisture meter not needed). And it is all out outdoors but most is covered with old steel roofing.)

 

[ClubbyG]

Sorry...did not mean to imply out in the open was bad, but more so just describing the history of the wood. I agree with the 'sun-n-wind' single stack approach. I should have mentioned that this wood was all tossed into a pretty big pile as opposed to stacked. How long would you estimate that your seasoned wood has been covered?

I had a hard time getting the fire going again this morning, but today at lunch I tried splitting the wood some more. I then took 2 short pieces and placed them N-S and then laid a bunch of the small splits E-W, and that got things going. Still can't close air more than 3/4 open, but I reckon once I stumble onto some drier wood, I'll be in business...

Thanks for the reply!

 

[countrybois]

I'm here to tell you that cut, split, and tossed in a pile is a whole lot different than if it is stacked.

Last year I burned wood that had 'seasoned' for a year split and thrown in a pile. This year I am burning what has been split and stacked for the same amount of time and there is quite a difference. Same type of wood both times. (mostly red oak)

I am slowly coming around. When I first started burning, I cut it, split it and burned it. It went from log to bucked to split to ash in a weeks time. Heck, I didn't care, to me, it burned, and I didn't write a check to the gas company. That's all that mattered to me. Now I'm definately seeing the value in seasoned wood. Easier starting, more heat, longer burns, and less creosote.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Chubby, the wood we are burning now has been split and stacked for 3 years. It was covered with old steel roofing after the first summer and fall. It is super dry! It is a mixture of soft maple, elm, ash and cherry.

Yes, you'll notice a big difference when you get good dry wood. Then you'll be closing the draft more and getting much more burn time and much more heat from the wood. Good luck to you.

 

[jpl1nh]

Lo All,

Recently purchased and installed an RSF Opel II. I got a cord from my father in law that I am fairly certain was cut and split 8-12 months ago, but left out in the open to season. I can lower the air to about 3/4 max until I see a good amount of smoke pouring from the chimney cap.

I still get a good amount of coals overnight, but I know I can do better...I've also ordered up a moisture meter to start checking, but just curious how others are able to tamp down the air to almost closed for overnight burns.

I suspect you'll find that most who are damping down their load to almost closed are doing so on a very hot and very nicely charred load of wood. Even with a cat stove which can be damped down lower than most secondary burn systems, I want my load really hot and partially burned before I attempt to shut it down. And that's burning wood that is 2 to 3 years old, well seasoned and then either fully top covered or wood shed stacked so it doesn't get wet at all, in other words fully seasond and dry. I can't stress how beneficial proper preparation and seasoning is for truly succesful wood stove performance. It may not be essential, but it sure is beneficial.

 

[EddyKilowatt]

It's got to be the wood. I can crack the door for 15-20 minutes and get a blast furnace going, but when I close the door even with the air wide open, things go back to black and orange and a mediocre flame. There's got to be some dry wood somewhere in my stack. Curious to see what the moisture meter will read...if not, I'll run 'er wide open as at least there's no smoke then.

That sounds more like a poor, or restricted, draft. Wet wood would be steaming, sizzling, spitting, and foaming... are you seeing anything like that?

Even healthy fires with dry wood need to have changes made slowly; if you try to go suddenly from "blast furnace" to "gentle cruise" most fires (and stoves) will smoke. Try making your draft changes in two or three steps over fifteen or twenty minutes. I run with my door ajar for startup and even close that in two steps, then use the draft control in a couple of more steps.

Eddy

 

[ClubbyG]

I listened a little more carefully and I do hear a bit of a hiss, so definitely the wood. Oh well, the price was right--free. I guess for now I'll do the burning bridge of small splits over the coals technique so I can at least have a clean burn. It is all stacked, so maybe in a month or two. Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll have to also try doing things in a more regulated fashion.

 

[Jukeboxfun]

I keep my wood in an old airplane hanger near here, a 32 year supply. It has been seasoned 63 years now. It is dry I tell ya. My great uncle Howard used to own the hanger. It is mostly spruce. burns great.

 

[Blkbeard]

p.s. screw it, I just ordered up an IR thermometer, as well....

Honestly, can we put a price on safety???



pen

Quite true, although I'm not worried about things getting too hot at this point. It's got to be the wood. I can crack the door for 15-20 minutes and get a blast furnace going, but when I close the door even with the air wide open, things go back to black and orange and a mediocre flame. There's got to be some dry wood somewhere in my stack. Curious to see what the moisture meter will read...if not, I'll run 'er wide open as at least there's no smoke then.

Here at this link was the answer to my problem a faulty install was to blame https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/10073/ See 5th message down. To me it sounds similar to your problem. Since once the problem was fixed and near the end of winter all I had was 3 month seasoned wood and was still able to get a good burn going (with some work). I was also getting a wood burning smell in the house which I no longer get.

 

[ClubbyG]

Thnx Blkbeard. Well, seeing as I did the install, I would have only myself to kick in the a**. Since it is a zc, the class A chimney is screwed right into the top of the unit. I also dismantled everything and reassembled since I decided to do a cathedral radiation shield after the fact (only so I would have less cold air coming back in through the vented chimney flashing.) I could probably stand a few more feet of chimney, but I am fairly convinced it is the wood as I definitely hear a hiss.

I got the moisture meter and the wood ranges from 15% up to 30+% for the oak, so I resplit before I bring into the house. For now the thing that works best for me is to take rake all the coals in a small mound running N-S all the way to the back of the firebox and then take two short splits and stack them N-S on either side of the coals. I then lay a pyramid of small splits E-W over the coals and get a good fire going that way. I can almost close the air half-way. It's a fine line between constant blue secondaries and a bank of smoke in my neighbor's yard...doh!

 

[d.n.f.]

I keep my wood in an old airplane hanger near here, a 32 year supply. It has been seasoned 63 years now. It is dry I tell ya. My great uncle Howard used to own the hanger. It is mostly spruce. burns great.

Is it all spruce?

 

[BrotherBart]

I keep my wood in an old airplane hanger near here, a 32 year supply. It has been seasoned 63 years now. It is dry I tell ya. My great uncle Howard used to own the hanger. It is mostly spruce. burns great.

Hilarious! :lol: Are ya sure that isn't 61 years old?

 

[ClubbyG]

I keep my wood in an old airplane hanger near here, a 32 year supply. It has been seasoned 63 years now. It is dry I tell ya. My great uncle Howard used to own the hanger. It is mostly spruce. burns great.

I'll bet that burns like clover thru a goose...

 

[sapratt]

Somebody must have clear cut a forest to get a 32 year supply of fire wood.