Loading Up For the Night

[Lcback]

What are the suggestions to loading up for all night? I have a DS Ecomiser. It's set up like an old style furnace but has secondary burn chamber and air tubes.
The primary air is a flap connected to a bi metallic damper.

So far I have tried three things.

Load it up to the top of the fire brick and shut the air down to low. This keeps the box at 200 on the outside. The house will be 68-70 and the wood load will last 10 hours. Problem with this is I can see creosote built up on the air tubes and sides of the box.

Load it up leave the air at 2-3 which will keep the house 72-74. But after 10 hours it will be nothing but small coals.

Load it up, get the box 450-500 on the outside. Secondary's are cranking. And then cut it down to low before bed. This keeps the house hot but there never seems to be much fire left by the time I get up. Like I burn it all off getting the box up to temp.
Can anyone tell me what the old suggestions were for loading up for all night burns? Or what you do now.

 

[brenndatomu]

Every model is a little different, so it is hard to say since I think you are the lone DS furnace owner here. One thing I learned on my old Yukon Big jack was to let the ash build up and then leave a few inches, except maybe a small area where you scrape the grates so a lil air can come up through, at least for the early part of the burn. I eventually covered most of the grates with an old piece of metal, some cheap firebrick would work too. That worked great in the BJ, but since I don't know how the air flows through the DS it may or may not be the cure for you...it will help you hold coals a lot better though.

 

[Lcback]

They supply a piece of steel that's has a slot in the middle and is a bit smaller then grates around the edges. They also recommend building up 2 inches of ashes in it.

I guess I should say I don't really have a problem. I was jut wondering what is proper burning for over night or full box scenario. I hear often that choking the fire down is the cause of a lot of people's chimney problems. So I wasn't sure what you are supposed to do.
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[brenndatomu]

Well. there's a fine line between enough, and too much...good dry wood helps beat back the creosote monster a bit when going for the overnight fires.
Basically what I was talking about above was giving the fire more/most of its air over the fire instead of under, (which it sounds like they recommend too since they give you a grate cover) air from under the fire is very efficient at burning up coals.
Since you talk about firebox temp, have you tried going somewhere in between 200 and 500* before you cut it back?
Any idea if when you adjust the primary air, the secondary air is cut back too ?

 

[Lcback]

Yeah last week I tried getting the box up to temp after I filled it and then cutting back. It worked well I think. Just a pain as I usually load up and go to bed. To sit beside it for 20 minutes to get it back up to temps. Maybe I need to try keeping it up there after dinner all the way to bed time.

I don't think the secondary air gets cut down any. I could call and ask the factory. They are awesome about answering any questions.


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[Hebner]

I have the older model Ecomiser without the bi-metallic damper. I only have 1 row of 8" firebrick and the rest of the firebox is steel. If I load to the top of the firebrick I will get about a 4 hour burn. To get an 8 hour burn I need to fill to the bottom of the secondary air tubes. Do the newer models have another row of firebrick? 10 hour burn time is great.

 

[Lcback]

I have the older model Ecomiser without the bi-metallic damper. I only have 1 row of 8" firebrick and the rest of the firebox is steel. If I load to the top of the firebrick I will get about a 4 hour burn. To get an 8 hour burn I need to fill to the bottom of the secondary air tubes. Do the newer models have another row of firebrick? 10 hour burn time is great.

Holy crap. Is that a different experience. I only have one row of fire brick. Do you have the steel plate on top of the grates? How does the air come in on that older model? Are there two cast iron peices inside the box in place of two firebrick? Or is it just comeing In from the spinner knobs?
Do you have a thermometer on the outside? I'm wondering what temp you run at. Mine is usually at 150-300 during the day. At 150 the house maintains temp. As 300 it climbs 3-5 degree in an hour.
Last night it was 75 in the house. I threw maybe 8 pieces of cherry in. Just above the firebrick. I kept it on high until the box got to 300 turned it to low and went to bed at 9:00. I didn't touch it again until this morning At 6:30 the house was 73. And there was enough hot coals to light more splits no kindling.


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[Hebner]

Holy crap. Is that a different experience. I only have one row of fire brick. Do you have the steel plate on top of the grates? How does the air come in on that older model? Are there two cast iron peices inside the box in place of two firebrick? Or is it just comeing In from the spinner knobs?
Do you have a thermometer on the outside? I'm wondering what temp you run at. Mine is usually at 150-300 during the day. At 150 the house maintains temp. As 300 it climbs 3-5 degree in an hour.
Last night it was 75 in the house. I threw maybe 8 pieces of cherry in. Just above the firebrick. I kept it on high until the box got to 300 turned it to low and went to bed at 9:00. I didn't touch it again until this morning At 6:30 the house was 73. And there was enough hot coals to light more splits no kindling.


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Yes I have the steel plate also. The combustion air comes thru the spinner knobs which feed the 2 cast iron pieces (one in back corner and one in front corner diagonally). When I do a reload or fresh start I run it up to about 400 before shutting the damper and closing the ash door. Temp gradually drops during the burn. I have each spinner knob open 3/4 of a turn if I close them down to 1/2 turn to get a longer burn I end up with coaling. Maybe that bi-metallic damper improves the burn time. When you say turned it to low....what do you mean? How long are your splits? Mine are 16-18 inches because that's what my old stove could take and all my permanent stacking area/rows are set up for that length. Maybe your splits are longer giving you better burn times. Man I would love an 8 hr burn with filling it to the top of the bricks.

 

[Lcback]

My splits aren't that much longer. 18-20.
Low is what is on the bi metallic damper. It lists low then 1-5 and then a high.
One thing different between ours is the damper. Mine is a solid cast iron piece that doesn't move. It's always pinned against the back of the furnace. I don't use the air knows at all unless I'm switching to coal. But I can say that bi metallic basically changed the air in depending on the heat of the box. Once the box is up to a temp it basically shuts the air down to nothing.
For example. If I set it to 2 then the flap will be open most of the way until about 200 then it will go almost closed and keep it there until it runs out of fuel.

Have you called DS? They may have some suggestions? They have helped me tremendously. There phone number is on the website dsofpa.com
Maybe it's possible to fit the bi metallic to the old model?


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[Hebner]

Interesting on the by-pass damper as my manual says to slide it open for cold starts and I also always open it on reloads. Maybe I will keep it closed on reloads. I have called them in the past and they have ALWAYS been very accommodating and helpful. Thanks for the explanation on the bi metallic damper as I was wondering how the settings worked and how it adjusted when firebox was up to temp. Sounds like that damper is a great improvement. Will have to see if it can be retrofitted. Thanks again. Oh by the way do you have any kind of damper in your stove pipe exhaust(MPD or barometric damper)?

My spinners that I have open are on the ash door not the loading door (those are always closed except for coal).

 

[Lcback]

I do not have a damper on mine. I called and asked them they said they don't recommend it unless I have to strong of a draft. Not sure how I will know if my draft is to strong. But I doubt it is since I usually get a little bit of smoke in the house every time I reload.


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