My take on the Shoulder Season Fire.

[pen]

Not saying this is the right way / best way / or anything other than this is how I do it.

As a note to all who are just starting with their passion for burning wood, the shoulder season is the most difficult time to burn in because of starting fires in a cold stove w/ no / little ashes and no hot coals. Reduced draft from warmer than average temps, typically a less than full firebox, etc. Don't get frustrated, just enjoy the experimentation and remember that difficulty is part of the learning process. This is NOT how I built my fire a few years ago. Trying new things is part of the game. You'll need to find what works best for you, your stove, and your chimney.

The foundation.



Kindling added. I usually tip it to a 45 degree angle so that more surface area was is on the wood. I wanted you to see the size / density better. Plus I used extra paper tonight since I was messing w/ the camera.



The knots of newspaper. (Thanks Vanessa)



Paper almost gone. Elapsed time is probably less than 5 minutes. The door was slightly cracked until now.



Magic happening.



Fire moving down into the wood pile



~25 mins later. Stove top ~450 which will be maintained for a bit more than an hour then things will start to drop. As a note, I added one more small / med piece to the top of the burn pile once my kindling had completely disappeared just to even out the top a bit and hold things together. Additionally, this is how I start all my fires. If this were the dead of winter I would be loading the stove to the gills about another 10 mins after this picture. Also, with a small fire like this my draft never gets shut more than 2/3 to 3/4 at most. When the big boy is eating a full meal in cold weather, it's draft may be close to being completely closed.



pen

 

[BrowningBAR]

Yeah. Pretty sure this is replacing the Vig next season.

 

[cptoneleg]

Looks good pen thanks, will try that bottom down thing. Would be too hot for these brekin fires, but will try later:

 

[Shadow&Flame]

I guess I am going to have to get pretty good at shoulder season burning...that will be the majority of burning for me I think. Weather is pretty mild here...but I am ready for when those ice storms move in thou...

Thanks for sharing Pen...

 

[samhoff2]

Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy pics.

Sam

 

[BrowningBAR]

I guess I am going to have to get pretty good at shoulder season burning...that will be the majority of burning for me I think. Weather is pretty mild here...but I am ready for when those ice storms move in thou...

Thanks for sharing Pen...

Worse case is you open a window.

 

[cptoneleg]

I guess I am going to have to get pretty good at shoulder season burning...that will be the majority of burning for me I think. Weather is pretty mild here...but I am ready for when those ice storms move in thou...

Thanks for sharing Pen...

Spent a few yrs in Batesville, building a lime plant before I retired as prject supt' loved it there, parked my camper at the BUBBA HUT, BUTT UGLY BIKERS from BATESVILLE ARKANSAS
clubhouse had a ball made real friends.

Really enjoyed today had friends come by played cards with windows open 60* outside burning poplar (tulup) 2nd yr burning one of these new EPA stoves they are a real pleasure when you learn how to operate them. Same old story dry wood or well seasoned is the cats ASS

 

[Shadow&Flame]

BBAR- Might have to do that...this season will be the learning curve for next year.
If it gets too hot this year, I will put in a return air to my central unit and run the fan allot...
Hope I can make it work with a few tricks thou...

cptoneleg- My Brother lives in Batesville...he really likes it there.
Well I have the wood so I got half the battle won anyway. Still need
a nice woodshed thou...hate having wood stacked all over the place
trying to keep it under cover.

 

[soupy1957]

I dunno...........for "me" ...........I like the idea of burying the newspaper UNDER the kindling, and putting mid-size splits over the kindling (along with a Super Cedar in quarters in the 4 corners of the pile), on top of that in a criss-cross pattern. Seems to start up fine, and keeps the newspaper pieces from flying around, and up the flue.

As for "shoulder season," ............the biggest issue I've found, is over-heating the house. Starting a fire on a cool morning is fine, but I let them go out by 9 AM or so, rather than keep feeding it.

-Soupy1957

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Bud light last night eh? :cheese:

Thanks for sharing your technique and pics pen.

 

[Swedishchef]

wow. Nice pics Pen. You are a firm believer in top down fires eh? I tried it a couple of times and the fire went out before the splits could catch!

Thanks again!

Andrew

 

[fishingpol]

Try the top-down method a few more times. The kindling on top pre-heats the flue and there is less smoke to start, especially if using a Supercedar chunk on top. I've converted and will not go back anytime soon.

 

[Swedishchef]

I will certainly give me a few more tries. With a bypass damper, my flu will warm up much faster for the first few minutes. Hard to believe that it actually works.... It's the complete opposite of what we learned in the past.

Andrew

 

[Pagey]

Nice fire and a nice series of photos!

 

[fishingpol]

I thought the same, until I tried it. I don't know if it makes sense or not. On the bottom-up starts, I would have to open the stove to add more splits after 15 minutes or so when the kindling has burned down. With top-down, the splits are already on the bottom and I don't have to go to the stove except to damper down a little bit. It just made running the stove a little easier.

 

[Woody Stover]

I haven't done the top-down starting method yet, but I'm wondering if it'll get the top of the stove and the combustor hot faster, allowing me to engage sooner...

 

[colin.p]

As for "shoulder season," ............the biggest issue I've found, is over-heating the house. Starting a fire on a cool morning is fine, but I let them go out by 9 AM or so, rather than keep feeding it.

-Soupy1957

I wish my daughter would do that. At this time of the year, I get it going before leaving for work, and when I get home, it's over 90 in the house. By the afternoon, it gets warm outside, but no, she likes to keep it going all day. It looks pretty scary, me sitting at the computer in my underwear with the fan blowing.

 

[BrotherBart]

Bud light last night eh? :cheese:

I am thinking Busch Light here.

 

[NH_Wood]

Bud light last night eh? :cheese:

I am thinking Busch Light here.

100% Busch Light - we need a 'beer can id' thread in addition to the wood id threads..........
P.S. if you gots to go Busch, you gots to go Busch HEAVY! Cheers!

 

[raybonz]

Great pics Penn! How does the beer can come into play here? One thing I notice with the T-5 is too many small splits make the stove get too hot.. I have been using 1/4 of a Super Cedar and close the door with max air and it takes right off.. My stove top got to 700 in about 1 hr. with air set at 1/4 setting.. I reduced the air to minimum setting and it settled down.. Just ordered a new Condar thermometer calibrated for stove top temps for $16.99 w/ free shipping at e-bay cuz my thermometer is reading ~150 degrees hotter then actual temp..

Ray

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Bud light last night eh? :cheese:

I am thinking Busch Light here.

HMMM, I stand corrected big guy...you will have to excuse my ignorance...I don't drink those "LIGHT" beers... :coolsmirk:
They're for wussies... ;-)

 

[laynes69]

I do the same thing when starting our furnace. Top down works every time with little to no smoke. I like it because it preheats the baffle and burn tubes. As the fire burns it feeds itself. I've had a few fires at night, we are burning limbwood now.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pen, that is a good selection of pictures on how you start your fires. Some day I may have to do some pictures on how I do it too. However, we usually don't have beer cans in our stove.

Thanks for posting.

 

[leeave96]

The foundation.

Is the can really beer or it is a beer can full of kersene or are you burning the aluminum can to get rid of the creosote in your chimney cause you read it on the Hearth forum.....

I'm hoping to have my Englander 30 installed before the end of the month - looking forward to giving it a workout.

Thanks!
Bill

 

[pen]

A few clarifications:

1. The busch light is there because that is what the wife brings home from the grocery store. She doesn't complain that I go through a 30 wacker a week so I don't complain about what's on sale! I hope to see the day that Sierra Nevada comes home with the groceries in more than 6 pack form.

2. The reason the beer was in the stove was to help give some size estimate to the wood that I have in there. I don't generally burn beer cans, especially when full.

3. While I've used super cedars and they work great, I just don't find that I need them. W/ my climate I only have to start a few fires in the spring and fall, and then burn Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb 24/7. Considering that it's just not worth it for me to use them, although I usually keep a few around in case the wife wants to use 1/4. Using a full super cedar to get a fire going is a waste in my opinion.

4. There are 12 thousand, million, zillion, variations on how to start the stove. I just thought these might help out someone who was struggling in that they could try what works for me then adjust it to their situation. However, if you need more than 1/4 of a super cedar perhaps you need to reevaluate how you are loading the thing.

5. Gamma, the light beer isn't a preference, it's a quantity issue

pen