New Stove - Starter Fire?

[brakatak]

finally got permit approved yesterday. Gonna light first fire tonight or tomorrow. The book says first few fires should be small to let the paint cure or something to that effect. Perfect timing w/ the PM forecast to be in the 30's the rest of the week.

Any tips on lighting the first fires in the stove?

 

[BurnIt13]

New stoves put off alot of smoke as the paint cures. Some worse than others. I had a newborn in the house at the time so I had the wife take my son out for a drive.

I put a window fan in each of the nearest windows to exhaust the fumes and cracked the windows around the house to pull fresh air in. It smoked bad at first but was done by an hour. It took another hour after that for the stink to fully leave the building.

I did this twice with the 2nd fire being hotter than the first. I think the 3rd fire was good to go.

 

[BCC_Burner]

It does vary from stove to stove. It will put off the thickest/most offensive smoke the first fire or two, but don't be surprised if you get some "hot paint" smell for the first 10-20 fires you have in it. I've had about 10 fires in my Englander and although it is done smoking, I got the stovetop up to around 750 on a reload last night and got another big wiff of hot paint. Each new temp plateau will produce smell the first time or two it hits that point.

 

[firefighterjake]

Start small . . . first burn may just be a bit of kindling . . . next fire can be a bit bigger . . . whatever you do do not just load it to the gills with wood and touch 'er off.

I'm a big fan of top down fires . . . although it took me a few times to figure them out.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

My insert instructions said to make 3 break in fires before real burning, make a small fire but not too small and just let it burn out, do that 3 days in a row, gradually increasing the fire size, but let them burn out, don't keep feeding it.....

 

[brakatak]

is the smell&smoke so offensive that i'd want to get the kids out of the house? or can i just move them to a room away from stove area?

thx for the tips.

 

[fossil]

How old are the kids?

 

[BCC_Burner]

The fumes aren't going to kill you, but they are definitely unpleasant to breathe in my experience. Light the fire and have them play in the yard until the smoke has dissipated. By then the stove will be throwing some nice heat and they'll be chilly from being locked out. Win-win.

 

[Jags]

The smoke is not something that I would really want to introduce to young children or the elderly. Point blank - it is a chemical stink that is unpleasant to say the least and can be quite strong.

 

[brakatak]

How old are the kids?

Kids are 1.5 and 3

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Too young keep them away....