Is this right?

[Andy99]

Need some help on maintaining my fire...

I lit my first fire and Had a nice fire going alot of flame. Now the Fire burned down to red coals and I added two more logs. They are burning but I barley see a flame they are just glowing red. Is this normal??? I don't want to have a creosote problem. The stove top is at 240 and the air control is full open....

 

[sbohlen]

Sounds like green wood? Is it seasoned well?

 

[Brian VT]

The air control is open but is the damper closed ? You might need to run it straight until the new load gets involved.
What were your temps when the previous load was burning up ?

 

[Andy99]

I dont have a damper control only an air control. The wood is old its been stacked for almost 8 years. The stove top on the last load was 350 at the hottest.

 

[Brian VT]

I dunno what soapstone is supposed to read but that sounds too cool. My cast iron/non-cat stove seems to like cruising at 475.

 

[Andy99]

OK dont laugh! I have never burning wood before so this is all new to me. DO I need to poke it or move the logs around at all? I just moved the two logs apart a little and It took off. How do I know when to add more wood? How do I know when to open the door and move things around a little?
I have so much to learn about this.

 

[Jimbob]

Here's some good reading for you.
http://www.canren.gc.ca/prod_serv/index.asp?CaId=103&PgId=576

You should always add 3 or more pieces of wood to your fire.

 

[Ithaca]

Adding splits that are too large on top of coals can lead to smoldering. Try putting down a layer of smaller splits on top of the coals with larger splits layered above OR wait until the smaller splits are burning nicely before adding the larger stuff.

 

[Andy99]

thank you for all the help.
any other who want to give advice feel free!

 

[savageactor7]

Even 350 stove top is too cool for burning, try and stay around 450. Andy only when you have an established fire with hot coals you can put large splits on it. That'll happen after a couple 4-5 hours of continuous burning and reloading until then start with the smaller splits and escalate as the fire grows. This time of year gets tricky next month when your burning 24/7 you'll be a pro.

 

[sixminus1]

240F sounds about right, but only re-load time. The manual for your stove says that the stove top temp should stay below 600F.

What's your peak temp during the burn?

You shouldn't have to poke at the fire. Your draft should be able to maintain it well enough.

As CookWood said, add some smaller pieces. Maybe the splits you're adding are too large? I prefer to use a larger number of smaller (3-4" width) splits, until the stove is really "cooking". Then the big guys go in.

Also, try keeping the door cracked for a minute or two after loading up to let the flames get established.

How the coals and splits are arranged has a huge impact on how hot the fire gets. Admittedly, I still haven't gotten this completely right. It seems like more of an art than a science, but, here's what I do:

A) Take advantage of the air by channeling it to where the splits are sitting on the coals, to rev up the fire and increase the temp. Make a trench through the coals from front to back, and place your splits across the trench. This allows the air to get below and behind the stack of splits and get them all burning at once. Obviously, this will burn faster. Watch the temp!

or

B) Get in the way of some of the incoming air. Rake the coals to the front of the firebox and stack the splits close together behind the coals. This gets the front burning first, and eventually burns its way to the back.

I'd say that 400-500F is a good temp range to aim for. If you're new to burning (like me), you'll definitely over-shoot this a bit, but it's not the end of the world. Even if you see the temp spike near 600 for a few minutes after a reload, it'll settle back down.

 

[Andy99]

Well after my first night of burning i got my living room to 82 degrees and the bedrooms about 72 degrees. (but it was only 45 outside) I had a hard time keeping the temperature up high enough on the stove. It never got over 350 on the top. I started burning after dinner and by 11 at night it was 82 in the living room. BUT I loaded it up with wood at 11 and by the time i got up this morning 7:00 the stove was cold to the touch and there wasnt even a hint of red coals in the firebox.... Im already wishing i would have went with a bigger stove....too late now. Im sure it will get better as I keep learning, I hope.

 

[rdrcr56]

We have the homestead and can go 8-9 hours overnight no problem,what I did to make air control adjustments easier was cut pieces of heavy paper 7mm, 14mm, 21mm wide. Now lay down so you can see the opening for the air under the left front of the stove, open the air control lever just far enough to slip the 7mm wide paper into the opening, now stand up look straight down at the air control lever and put a mark on the hearth corresponding to the lever. Do the same thing with the 14 and 21mm pieces of paper, you now have 3 marks on your hearth to open the air control to full open, 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4 open, this makes setting the air the same at night easier. I usually load for the overnight, char the wood at wide open for 5-10 min. 1/2 for 5 min. then 1/4 for 5-10 min. then close it down all the way, and open it up to half way between closed and 1/4 open, hope this helps.

 

[rdrcr56]

Sorry I forgot to add a stove pipe thermometer that measures exhaust gas temp makes life easier too, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to stove top temp when loading I go more by room temp, if its to warm I just shut the air down and keep the coals alive and load as needed.

 

[Andy99]

I cant measure stove pipe temps since I cant get to the stove pipe. I have the stove infront of an old fireplace and have the stove pipe coming out of the back of the stove and up the chimney. Last night I had the air about 3/4 open. Maybe I need to close the air down more. I had the stove "professionally" installed and I think they squeezed the liner threw the fireplace damper if its crimped a little in that area would that affect the draft?

 

[begreen]

Andy, take a moment to view this video. It's for a different type of stove, but the principles are the same. There are some good tips given that should help.

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Andy, with the draft 3/4 open it is no wonder you had a cold stove this morning. All the heat is going up the chimney instead of heating your home.

Although each stove and each install is a bit different, I highly doubt any should be left open this much. On ours, for example, we have a setting from 1 to 4 on the draft control. We've found that even 1 is way too open. 1/2 is too much but that is about what Todd runs in his. Ours needs to be barely open, or about 1/4 maximum once it is burning and the cat is on.

 

[Andy99]

I'm confused. My stove has one control. I thought it was for the air supply. is that the same as the draft?

 

[rdrcr56]

Same control, different terminology