How much air do you need

[chris2879]

Well the day has come, my PE Summit insert was installed yesterday. The installer told me to have 3 medium fires to cure/break in the insert. First fire was yesterday, i got the area of the firebox up to about 410 degrees and the top shelf part up to about 225 degrees. We were really happy with the heat output with only 2-3 small splits in it. Where is the best place to take a temperature measurement on this stove? I must admit, i had a little issue with smoke roll out, but today i seem to have gotten better (just a little slower and gave the fire more time to pick up and draft better) or the wind was not blowing at 20 mph, not sure which.

We just had our second fire tonight, and i was trying to figure out how much air to let in. Tonight, i only had 3 -4 smaller splits in it. It got hot enough to lite a few of the secondary burn holes, but not the rest of them, that actually happened both nights. My air intake control was about 60% closed. The flames on the logs look real cool. Once i get out of the suggested break in (1 more fire). is the goal to have the secondaries burning all the time? What is the best way to tell without over or under firing the stove. Any tips and information would be great for this newbie! Thanks

 

[rdust]

Obviously all stoves burn a little different. I can close mine down all the way and still get a good burn but I like to leave it open about an 1/8th inch or so. Secondary action will vary, you may see an hour, 2 hours etc. I don't get hung up on the secondary burn. When you're burning seasoned wood and burning correctly the secondary combustion will follow along.

For my stove I burn it wide open till I hit about 400*, close the air around half way after it stabilizes again then I'll turn it down another time or two. If I've been away all day and the house is cooling off I'll burn it a little hotter(air open half inch or so) to get the house temp back up. If the house is already up to temp I'll try to get the stove dialed down to a low burn as quickly as possible without smothering the fire.

Early on it's tough to look at the stove and have a good feeling that you're doing everything right even if you are. Nothing wrong with trusting the thermometer along with watching the fire.

 

[chris2879]

When you mention "watch the fire?" what are you looking for. I assume you always want flames, just how much? I guess my main concern is dialing it down too much i that i am getting an incomplete burn with more creosote. Or can you look at it from the standpoint of as long as there is not a waterfall of smoke down the door and the fire is still burning ... all is well?

 

[rdust]

I usually watch the flame to see how it's acting. When I start dialing down the air the flames are really active, I like to call them angry looking. When I start dialing down the air I'm looking for the flames to slow down and get lazy. If you slow it down too much you will smolder the fire, you can verify this by taking a look at the chimney, if all is good it should be smoke free.

It takes a little while but you'll get the hang/feel of it.

 

[shawneyboy]

There is a learning curve.... Eventually you will be able to look in the firebox and know what is going on. One good thing to watch is the exhaust. Go see if you are getting any smoke out of the chimney. You should have no smoke at all after you reach cruising speed. Meaning, reload open up air, after you start dialning it back, check the chimney. No smoke equals clean burn. If you have damp wood you may get a small amount of steam, which is white, but no smoke, which is gray-blue/gray.

You will get the hang of it, but it will take some time.

Of up most importance, use good fuel. If you buy it, most likely even though they call it seasoned, it probably isn't.

Read this forum, ask questions. The group of people here are awesome.

Enjoy

 

[oldspark]

This is Jakes and should be a sticky IMHO.
"Finally, as mentioned . . . get another thermometer and try Jotulguy’s suggestion . . . get the fire going with the air open all the way, bring the stove up to temp 400-500 and then start to slowly cut back the air . . . 3/4, 1/2 and then 1/4 . . . what you should end up with is a fire that changes—flames will intially be raging and will fill the firebox . . . as you cut back the air you may see fewer flames on the wood or they will become “lazyâ€, but a secondary fire should start appearing in the top third of the firebox—Northern Lights (flashes of flames like the Northern LIghts or a fireworks show), the BBQ propane blue jets shooting out of the burn tubes or the Bowels of Hell (this is kind of self explaining—once you see this and believe your woodstove is about to melt like a chocolate bar in a fat kid’s hand on a August day you’ll understand.) The key to really pumping out the heat is to get the secondary burn—this is where the woodstove will begin to heat up, less air will be going up the chimney to keep the chickadees warm and you should begin to feel the heat."

 

[firefighterjake]

This is Jakes and should be a sticky IMHO.
"Finally, as mentioned . . . get another thermometer and try Jotulguy’s suggestion . . . get the fire going with the air open all the way, bring the stove up to temp 400-500 and then start to slowly cut back the air . . . 3/4, 1/2 and then 1/4 . . . what you should end up with is a fire that changes—flames will intially be raging and will fill the firebox . . . as you cut back the air you may see fewer flames on the wood or they will become “lazyâ€, but a secondary fire should start appearing in the top third of the firebox—Northern Lights (flashes of flames like the Northern LIghts or a fireworks show), the BBQ propane blue jets shooting out of the burn tubes or the Bowels of Hell (this is kind of self explaining—once you see this and believe your woodstove is about to melt like a chocolate bar in a fat kid’s hand on a August day you’ll understand.) The key to really pumping out the heat is to get the secondary burn—this is where the woodstove will begin to heat up, less air will be going up the chimney to keep the chickadees warm and you should begin to feel the heat."

Excellent post . . . I don't know if I could have said this better myself.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Careful Jake! Someone might think you know what you are talking about.

 

[LLigetfa]

is the goal to have the secondaries burning all the time?

I think secondary combustion is a bit like teenage sex. Everyone talks about do it. Everyone thinks everyone else is doing it better. It’s hyped up to be more than it is (secondary burn, not sex) often by forcing them specifically for YouTube videos.

Secondaries burn when there is incomplete primary combustion. If there is complete primary combustion, there is nothing to burn at the secondaries.