I have calmed down
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Frustration is a normal emotion which we all go through, and many have gone through in the course of burning wood for heating.
Walk away, get your perspective back, then keep at it.
If something is working well, then that changes, then look at the factors that could present that change.
In this case it could be wood, draft issue(clogged stack/cap), maybe cleaning presented a build up at the outlet of the stove or in some cases secondary burn feed, cat, etc. depending on the stove.
The stove does not change it's habits unless a part has failed or been dislodged, we change ours, or the draft may change due to build up or cloggage, or the wood changed.
Take the advice of many on here as intended help, and of course take some sporadic advice with a grain of salt, as not all advise is sound. I have found that going with the majority is a good path to follow.
Walk away, get your perspective back, then keep at it.
If something is working well, then that changes, then look at the factors that could present that change.
In this case it could be wood, draft issue(clogged stack/cap), maybe cleaning presented a build up at the outlet of the stove or in some cases secondary burn feed, cat, etc. depending on the stove.
The stove does not change it's habits unless a part has failed or been dislodged, we change ours, or the draft may change due to build up or cloggage, or the wood changed.
Take the advice of many on here as intended help, and of course take some sporadic advice with a grain of salt, as not all advise is sound. I have found that going with the majority is a good path to follow.
When you have a decease like I do Aspergers Syndrome you want things to be the same way all the time. I do not like change but I have finally came to the realization that the stove is to small and I have to upgrade to a 2 cf.
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I am familiar with Aspergers, and the repetitive things and reluctance to change.
Think of this as a challenging way to help break one cycle.
Before you upgrade, do the research and conclude whether a 2 cf is enough, or if you should go more to a 3cf.
Stick around here, ask plenty of questions if you need to, and get some good advice.
Your only in it alone if you choose to be.
Some great folks here, with a splattering of a few asshats to mix it up. ;-)
Think of this as a challenging way to help break one cycle.
Before you upgrade, do the research and conclude whether a 2 cf is enough, or if you should go more to a 3cf.
Stick around here, ask plenty of questions if you need to, and get some good advice.
Your only in it alone if you choose to be.
Some great folks here, with a splattering of a few asshats to mix it up. ;-)
I know Aspergers well and it is hard for many to understand. Keep on asking here and we'll keep on trying to help.. Chow
Damien, you mentironed in your last thread that you were a numbers man and you also stated something like you reload the stove at 150 to 200F and you only put 1 or 2 pieces of wood on at a time because a full box got you 900F stove temp.
Think of it as a car for a minute. What you are doing is getting a dollars worth of fuel and sputtering from gas station to gas station when it would be much better to fill up, give it some gas, run it up to 70 mph and hit the cruise button.
Not saying you should do all this at once but you already know what ain't working. Try reloading on a little hotter coal bed and adding three pieces of wood instead of two. If this gives you a little better r esultes then try to figure out why every reload and add to it til your setting back enjoying the heat.
Think of it as a car for a minute. What you are doing is getting a dollars worth of fuel and sputtering from gas station to gas station when it would be much better to fill up, give it some gas, run it up to 70 mph and hit the cruise button.
Not saying you should do all this at once but you already know what ain't working. Try reloading on a little hotter coal bed and adding three pieces of wood instead of two. If this gives you a little better r esultes then try to figure out why every reload and add to it til your setting back enjoying the heat.
Boiler74
Burning Hunk
Tarzan is right. The amount of wood you put in will correlate to the amount of heat you get out. And you'll have more, and hopefully hotter coals to reload on. So work up to more and more wood and see if you don't get more heat.
Besides how seasoned the wood is my question is how big are the pieces of wood. It is a volume to surface area problem. The more surface area the faster and hotter it burns and the larger pieces burn much slower. I have a stove with a very small firebox and will heat up quickly and cool down quickly. I have to start with small kindling and get some heat in the stove. If it goes out before I get up I have to put a little kindling in to get the coals going. Bringing the coals to the front will make them burn down so you have room for more wood but if there are not many I bring them to the front to wake them up then spread them back out so the new wood is going on top of hot coals.
Don't be neat and tidy with the kindling either I toss it in and if it all ends up straight on top of each other I stir it up a bit so plenty of places for air. Then 2 large pieces of crumpled newspaper 1 on each side of the kindling. I am not a purist on starting the kindling and want a fire right now not play with it so rather than super cedars or whatever, I get the propane torch out used for soldering pipes and aim the fire from that to the bottom middle of the kindling in between the gaps in the kindling. It will be burning in under a minute then hit the newspaper close the door and make sure all dampers wide open. When my probe thermometer reads 650 start closing the air down and will cool to 550 then build back up just keep repeating until stove top is around 375-400 then you can add 1 piece of larger wood. If it takes right off leave the damper if the probe starts going down open the air up a bit to get the stack temp back up. The epic packed tight for overnight fires take a lot of practice and cold enough weather to warrant them. These smaller casual 'boy scout' sided fires are easy and will build confidence right away. The real key is to get comfortable with smaller wood and smaller fires, nothing bigger than 5 inches in diameter on a well burning kindling and coals base.
I have a very short chimney, small stove and way less than perfect wood and it works every time for me and can easily get 650 degree stove top temps with a 500 degree probe.
Don't be neat and tidy with the kindling either I toss it in and if it all ends up straight on top of each other I stir it up a bit so plenty of places for air. Then 2 large pieces of crumpled newspaper 1 on each side of the kindling. I am not a purist on starting the kindling and want a fire right now not play with it so rather than super cedars or whatever, I get the propane torch out used for soldering pipes and aim the fire from that to the bottom middle of the kindling in between the gaps in the kindling. It will be burning in under a minute then hit the newspaper close the door and make sure all dampers wide open. When my probe thermometer reads 650 start closing the air down and will cool to 550 then build back up just keep repeating until stove top is around 375-400 then you can add 1 piece of larger wood. If it takes right off leave the damper if the probe starts going down open the air up a bit to get the stack temp back up. The epic packed tight for overnight fires take a lot of practice and cold enough weather to warrant them. These smaller casual 'boy scout' sided fires are easy and will build confidence right away. The real key is to get comfortable with smaller wood and smaller fires, nothing bigger than 5 inches in diameter on a well burning kindling and coals base.
I have a very short chimney, small stove and way less than perfect wood and it works every time for me and can easily get 650 degree stove top temps with a 500 degree probe.
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I do need to qualify the above post and say it is not the way to get a long burn or make the absolute best use of all the wood but it is a easy repeatable way to establish a fire and refine your skills from there without starting with a slow cold smoldering mess to try to keep going. The biggest thing is to not loose the draft and why I suggest a probe for the stack as it reacts very quickly. I use the magnetic one on the stack as an amusement only. The magnetic one on top of the stove to give me an idea how hot the firebox is and to not damage the stove top. I have no problems at least with my stove if the top was going at 800 as long as the probe was below 750.
I will take a few pics in the next couple of days as to how I lay out bio bricks that never fails. If you have just started burning wood and have to buy it I promise it is not seasoned.
I will take a few pics in the next couple of days as to how I lay out bio bricks that never fails. If you have just started burning wood and have to buy it I promise it is not seasoned.
This is a general observation, and not particular to you, but one thing I have noticed in some threads is an incomplete follow through: either certain questions that have been posed to the OP remain not fully answered by the OP, or when the OP updates forum members with results on a particular course of action he only updates with partial results. The fewer pieces of the puzzle that are missing, the more likely a solution will be found.
Sometimes also those pieces of the puzzle are spread out over different threads, making it harder to piece them together, and frustrating for those trying to help find or suggest possible solutions.
I do not know much about Aspergers Syndrome, so I can't say how it plays into your own frustration. But I DO understand frustration, since my particular stove (and life) has offered me plenty over the years! Yet I would not go to the general "burning wood is hard" from the specific "burning wood is hard for ME -- with this PARTICULAR stove/flue/wood setup, at this particular TIME, with my current understanding of it".
With burning wood, and life in general, the ROI should be secondary to the relative pleasure/frustration that any endeavor brings in the long term. Initial short-term frustration and expense quite often gives way to long-term satisfaction and return. (Drinking malt whiskey from Islay being a case in point.)
If something brings economic return, but makes you miserable, you are free to either change the way you pursue that endeavor, or to change your attitude towards it. If something has economic costs, but makes you happy, you are free to decide if the benefits outweigh the costs, and adjust accordingly as reality (= the wife) dictates.
Now, if only the philosopher-woodburner could follow his own advice!
Sometimes also those pieces of the puzzle are spread out over different threads, making it harder to piece them together, and frustrating for those trying to help find or suggest possible solutions.
I do not know much about Aspergers Syndrome, so I can't say how it plays into your own frustration. But I DO understand frustration, since my particular stove (and life) has offered me plenty over the years! Yet I would not go to the general "burning wood is hard" from the specific "burning wood is hard for ME -- with this PARTICULAR stove/flue/wood setup, at this particular TIME, with my current understanding of it".
With burning wood, and life in general, the ROI should be secondary to the relative pleasure/frustration that any endeavor brings in the long term. Initial short-term frustration and expense quite often gives way to long-term satisfaction and return. (Drinking malt whiskey from Islay being a case in point.)
If something brings economic return, but makes you miserable, you are free to either change the way you pursue that endeavor, or to change your attitude towards it. If something has economic costs, but makes you happy, you are free to decide if the benefits outweigh the costs, and adjust accordingly as reality (= the wife) dictates.
Now, if only the philosopher-woodburner could follow his own advice!
OP, are you brand spanking new to burning a wood stove? I have a Pacific Energy Summit, and I'm amazed at how much better I am with it now that I'm into my second heating season. These new EPA stoves are tricky to burn, and proper timing of the air shut down is fairly critical. They are more finicky about how seasoned the wood is, and won't tolerate green wood at all. If you can't get a 2 cu ft stove burn well, you will have similar success with the 3 cu ft.
If you are going to continue with wood burning then you are going to have to work harder on safe, patient burning. The initial installation of the stove was haphazard. This needs to be done safely. Including getting those pipe sections screwed together. Then, dry wood is critical to satisfactory burning. Check for kiln dried wood in your area. If there is none available, you will need to burn store bought fuel and stock up now on cords of firewood for next fall.
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