I messed up!

[FOBOS]

Hello Fellow wood burners. We just started using a wood stove to heat our house this winter. I have never used a wood stove before and do not know very much about the technical aspects. Well, its been really cold here in Montana and we have burned for about a week and a half straight. Yesterday I was outside shoveling snow and looked at our furnace pipe. It has brown streaks running down the sides. I am afraid that this is creosote build-up caused by: Not burning the fire hot enough and using green wood. The fella that sold us the wood said that it was seasoned, but the bark does not come off the sides and there really is no cracking at the ends. I have called a chimney cleaner and he may come out this afternoon. I am not going to burn again until I find out if the wood is dry. I may also not be letting the stove get hot enough. I am using a magnetic thermometer at get the fire around 300-350. Any advice would be very helpful. And I am glad to have found this site!

 

[karri0n]

You want your stove top temp more like 500-600. If you bought wood, chances are it's not seasoned. Do what you can with the drier splits, and stand some wood up on its end around the stove to dry it out for a few hours before you try to burn it. It can be impossible to get good, dry wood this time of year. It's better to buy your wood in March and season it all summer .


Lots of people can give you a lot of really good advice if you give a bit more information about your setup. What type of stove do you have? Is your chimney lined all the way to the top with a stainless steel chimney liner?

 

[Corey]

Welcome to the forum. If it's been posted once, it's been posted 1,000 times, but yes...buying "seasoned" wood from a dealer (especially middle or late in the season) almost NEVER means truly seasoned wood. Gray color, checks and cracks in the ends and bark falling off are all signs of good seasoned wood. Unless you have these, the wood is most likely not fully dry or seasoned at all. Additionally, wet wood means it's hard to get a good hot, clean fire. If you don't have to burn, you'd be better to save your wood for next season. By then it will truly be "seasoned". if you absolutely have to burn, the best bet would be to split the wood into small (2x3 or 2x4 inch) pieces and try to burn as hot as possible - then keep an eye on the flue which will most likely be dripping with creosote every couple of weeks.

 

[drdoct]

What kind of stove do you have? For me, 300-350 is around what I find when I wake up in the morning. 5-650 is what I like to run mine at, but maybe you have a MUCH different stove than I. I hate to say it, but most of the time when you buy 'seasoned' wood, it isnt. It may have started the seasoning process, but it'll be hardly dry. In fact, most of the time its about a year out from being ready. I know that really sucks to hear that. Believe me, it sucks. I'm not sure how you could go about getting some dry wood. Maybe go around to all the tree places and see if they have anything older and dryer. Maybe call everyone on Craigslist you can find listing fire wood or firewood and see if you can run out and check it. I would suggest a cheap moisture meter. It's really opened my eyes to stuff I wouldn't have questioned if it was dry or not and turns out it's not. If you must burn your green wood then I would suggest you find a good pallet supply and bust them up and burn them getting the stove nice and hot, not the 300 or so your talking about but 6-700* then add a stick or two of your green stuff. If your buying wood and not cutting it yourself then I would go ahead and buy a cord of green wood and start your seasoning for next year. I say green wood because you should get it a little cheaper asking for green.

 

[FOBOS]

Thanks for the information. We bought the stove at ACE from a catalog. It has a glass door and does not take a lot of wood. Again, I really don't know that much about wood stoves, but I'm learning quick, especially when it comes to firewood. I feel like I got ripped off and now I'm afraid to burn this stuff.

 

[drdoct]

Oh shoot, it's not a Vogelzang is it? There should definitely be a name plate proudly displayed. Don't feel too bad Fobos, we've all been in that situation, some of us more than once.

 

[argus66]

go get some old pallets cut them up and burn them till u can find some good wood. look around wherhouses and big chain stores.

 

[FOBOS]

My big issue now is with the brown streaks on the side of the stove pipe that I noticed while outside. Does this mean that my flues are full of creosote? I have really only used it for about a week (24 hours a day.) Even if I found the pallets would it be safe to burn them in the stove? Am I having an anxiety attack over this, or should I just the stove up when I get the wood?. We are heading into many days of sub-zero temperatures and I sure need to have this baby up and running. Again, thanks so much for all your responses.

 

[LeonMSPT]

Stick a mirror in your cleanout and look at it. If you wiggle the mirror around a little, you should see some daylight up there. The daylight should be the same shape and size as your chimney. If it isn't... got to get it cleaned. If it is, burn hot.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

FOBOS, welcome to the forum.

Now please tell us what stove you have and what your chimney is like. You might also put the type of stove you have in your signature line (your control panel).

 

[Henz]

I have that every once in awhile too and its not because of a creosote problem. I think it happends when it is snowing and the snoke etc melts the snow and the snow is melting on the side of the pipe etc on the top and getting brownish and eventually freezing on the exterior due to the stove cooling off..OH yeah and yes, if you bought wood from anyone that you dont consider a good friend it is not dry period. Having said that, buy two years worth of wood in one year and that way you can at least start to dry it yourself.

 

[argus66]

yes pallets are safe just make sure they are not painted or treated with anything, most are 100% clean no worries.