new guy questions for low burn

[newbie 08]

So my new buckstove was installed with liner yesterday and the weather turned cold today so it was time to give it a go. Started up no problem. I let it burn with a little wood in it for awhile then got a nice hot fire for a few hours to let the paint cure as instructed. My question is how fast do I close down the air to get a good slow burn. Is it supposed to be smoke with with a slow burn? With a hot fire there is not smoke coming out but when I slow it down I get a fair amount of smoke. Also what should a slow burn look like? I have little to no flame going when I close the primary air. Finally, my glass got a little dirty in the bottom corner of each side when burning slow. Am I doing something wrong? How long after reloading should I wait to close the air down. How do you prepare for an overnight burn? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Todd]

It will help if you wait til you have a good coal bed established before you turn your stove all the way down. Burn somewhere around high when reloading for about 10-20 minutes then gradually turn it down til the flames slow down and you will see secondary bursts above the logs. You may not be able to turn it all the way down depending on weather, wood moisture and draft. Every fire is different and you will need to find a sweet spot. It takes some trial and error getting use to a new stove.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

Ditto. FYI, I cannot cut the air control all the way back on my Jotul or it too will blacken the glass. Just a hair off of fully closed and it does fine and still keeps a lower burn for overnights.

 

[chad3]

With my Jotul 500, I usually set it at about 1/3 open and it will burn through the night with about coals for the morning restart at about 6 from 10 in the night. I try and give it about 10-15 minutes at full air before shutting it down. This may be a bit less than the stepped drops, but it works for my overnights. The wife has gotten up in the middle of the night and has seen full secondaries so I know they work through the night. Temps are around 62 in the morning in the winters with a breathing house (very drafty windows in the room where the stove is). Burned about 4-5 cords this winter doing this and glass has been clean for most of it.
Chad

 

[newbie 08]

So last night I loaded it up full for an allnighter. Got it going hot for 30 minutes or so, back it down 50% and had great secondary burn going, about 15 minutes later I backed down to about 80% and left it. Turned the blower on lowest setting as well. There was a real small amount of flames on the logs with a hot coal bed and the secondary flames were dancing. Watched it for about15 minutes and all looked good. Little to no smoke out of chimney. I get up this am about 8 hours later and it is still putting out heat with a hot coal bed but the glass is filthy. Secondaries must have stopped at some point I guess and it became a smoker. So what went wrong? Can you burn all night with secondary burns so the glass stays clean? When I back down do I do it all at once or like I did or in even more steps? How much flames should I have going on the primary? Maybe I backed it down too far? I dont know I am lost. I love the stove so far and it is very responsive and the house was 73 when I got up. However, I don't want to clean the glass everyday and I want to get all the efficiency I can. So whats the deal?

On a side note, What do I use to clean the glass?

 

[Burd]

I"ve noticed if Im not burning really good seasoned wood that my glass will get dirty. I've been burning for about two month as a first time burner and as time goes buy It gets easier. keep reading thing on here and you'll learn alot . you got to love this site

 

[jpl1nh]

Like Burd said, really well seasoned and dry wood makes a big difference too. Even if your glass gets sooted up, you don't need to clean it. If you light a fire and burn at a hot temp, the soot should burn right off in an hour or two. As Todd pointed out, there is a learning curve. Sounds like your procedure last night was pretty good but maybe just a bit too low on the air. After some experimenting and experience you'll get it down. Bigger, greener wood, warmer outside temps all are likely to need more air. Drier wood, smaller peices, colder outside temps all will allow you to burn clean with a bit less air. It probably will take you a month or two into next burning season to really start to get a handle on it. In the mean time, start getting your wood cut, split, stacked in narrow rows in good sun and wind so it'll be ready for next season. Congrads on the new stove and good luck. PS, which model did you get?

 

[newbie 08]

Thanks for all the repiles. I bought the buckstove model 51. It was between it and the napolean 1401. They had display (not ever used) models of each on sale for discount. We went with the buck for the larger (2.6 versus 2.2 firebox). I think the problem was probably air. I'll give it a try again tonight. What about would that has been seasoned but has gotten wet from rain/snow. Is that a problem? If so what do you do to avoid it?

 

[Burd]

keep reading posts and youll find alot of people have wood sheds that keep there wood dry through the weather and other stack them in the back yard to season and when burning season comes they start to cover there wood with a tarp that way there insn't any surface water on them
What Im going to do is get five cords of wood cut and split and stacked to season. When burning season comes im going to tarp the wood through the winter months that way the weather can't get it wet
Ive goggled ( how to season fire wood ) And I got alot of info off of it.What Ive have read it is very inportant to burn seasoned wood that way you"ll get better heat and less chances of creasote build up.Burn clean and be safe.
Buy the way I've bought the napolean 1402p and for the first month i had the same issues .Then Ive read about temp Its inportant to keep you temp up and not to burn at low temp> burn at 275 and up to keep the glass clean And if I really want to keep it clean I'll burn at 500 to 600
get your self a thermometer and next year you'll get better burns