we are in the shoulder months here. Im trying to break in our new ashford BK insert. things so far have been a learning experience but i have it figured out for the most part. my problem is adding wood introduces so much smoke to the house..... i know open the door slowly and make sure the cat is off for adding wood.... when i do so i get a wall of smoke...... i can crak the door till about 1/3 open and the fire roares up from the draft i can open the door more like half way, then when i add wood smoke. i have checked the wood its 14% so that should be fine. how do i reduce smoke when adding wood? my thinking right now is that it is shoulder months so the draft could be better buttttttttt when lighting trhe fire i know the draft is good because it goes up like a hot damn. chimney is about 25 foot
New BK ashford
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prezes13
Minister of Fire
Dieselhead
Minister of Fire
Why is there so much smoke even available when you open it up? Mine is usually burned down to coals before I add wood.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Turn the air wide open, open the bypass, weight a couple of minutes before you crack the door open and wait . If during that process you get flames in the box, it means there is lot of fuel in there still. If that is the case maybe is better to let it burn down more the fuel in there before reload. Just turn the air a little more if you need more heat. If you still want to add wood, wait a few minutes till everything stabilize before open the door. Load quick, close the door, bypass and char the new load for awhile before turn the tstat to your low setting. Like mentioned before if you getting flames when opening the air or door you are reloading too early.
i think you just solved my problem, there is always flames when i am adding wood so i probably need to let it burn down more.
I also think part of the problem is we are not keeping a fire going durring the day its just not cold enough so I dont exactly have a ton of coals to work with but in the deep winter im sure that will change
I burn 9 months of the year with similar wood. Maple and red alder right now. We burn when it’s 60 outside! The smoke rollout problem is no different when it’s 5 degrees out. It’s all about technique.
You don’t need a bed of coals. If the coals are too little for instant restart then throw in a few sticks of cross crossed kindling under the fuel load and hit it with the torch. A prewarmed stove just means less time until you can engage the cat.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
What I do, even at -40dF, is flip the big level from cat engaged to cat bypassed, twist the thermostat knob up towards full throttle and then go pee. After I wash my hands get the electric kettle going and set up a tea bag in the mug of the morning. Then grab the canvas tote off the hearth, head down to the garage for some fresh cordwood splits.
Leave the cordwood on the hearth. Go make a cup of tea. Have a couple sips. now crack - just barely crack- the loading door gingerly to see if the smoke has cleared out yet.
When you load it, stuff it full. Run the 30 minutes on high as specified in the manual, and then turn down as low as you want. And leave it alone. Don't come back for at least 12 hours, and in shoulders (given dry wood and well sealed well insulated house) you could easily be doing 24 hour burns. When I am running 24s I like to load in the afternoon so the house is kinda, umm, sultry, when my wife gets home from her work.
Leave the cordwood on the hearth. Go make a cup of tea. Have a couple sips. now crack - just barely crack- the loading door gingerly to see if the smoke has cleared out yet.
When you load it, stuff it full. Run the 30 minutes on high as specified in the manual, and then turn down as low as you want. And leave it alone. Don't come back for at least 12 hours, and in shoulders (given dry wood and well sealed well insulated house) you could easily be doing 24 hour burns. When I am running 24s I like to load in the afternoon so the house is kinda, umm, sultry, when my wife gets home from her work.
Thanks Poindexter, this is very helpful. How big/well insulated is your place? It seems like the ashford 30 is able to supply the lionshare of your heating demand despite living in a cold climate. During the winter months, I assume you burn on high. You are still able to get 12 hours? Thanks
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
My home is typical suburban shoebox with no redeeming architectural value. 1200sqft down, 1200 sqft up. It was state of the art for cold climate in +/- 1980, vapor barrier yes, hats on jiffy boxes on exterior walls no. I can't fit any more blown in cellulose under the roofing. I have the lion's share of the air leaks fixed. Whoever did my land line phone jacks was expecting to have to come back and fix his own mistakes, he did great work. The cable guy, not so much. I think I have had all the interior window trim off now, but those are sealed up. I have not done an air door test.
My biggest leak is at the base of the entry door on the ground floor. The ground floor I maintain at +65 dF with oil furnace. If I fix that leak, the biggest leak is going to be the sliding patio door on the second level. I keep the upstairs around +85 to +90 dF - but the combustion air for the stove is coming into the envelope downstairs. If i start pulling cold air in through that sliding glass door I am going to have a very unhappy wife.
Upstairs temp has three controlling variables. I have two kinds of arthritis, the colder it is out the warmer I want it in. My wife wants to move to either Austin, San Diego or Naples, so I got to keep the banana tree in the living room happy. Three, if I am curious to know what layer of clothes is under the layer I can see on my wife I just turn the knob about a quarter inch and come back in 30 minutes.
I lose about 1 degree per hour right around -20dF. Heat the place up to 80dF, turn off the heaters, start a stop watch, stare at the thermometer.
Somewhere around +35dF I start losing multiple degrees per hour. In the -40s and -50s I tend to run four burns per day, two four hour of very dry spruce at wide open throttle (pretty good draft at 40 below) and two eight hour burns on sort of high medium high. I have no time to be burning down no hardwood coals when my envelope is giving away that many BTUs.
sounds sexy lol. I think I am getting better at the smoke issue I was having. I haven't had many opportunities for fires its been so warm. but its going to be about 30f here tonight so we made a fire. I noticed i need to really wait until the fire is really hot before i add wood. if i do it to early it messes with the draft or something not sure yet. anyway I will post a picture for fun later
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