New to i2450

[Rubix130]

I'm looking for any tips and advise for my new wood insert. The first couple of days burning wood didn't warm up my house like I thought it would and the fire died after a couple hours. I live alone so having the fire, or at least the warmth, continuing when I get home from work and waking up in the morning is what I'm looking for.

 

[begreen]

Welcome. Take a picture of the next firewood load in the insert and post it here. That will help us see what you are starting with.

The most common issue for new stove owners is poorly seasoned firewood. Wood with too high moisture content is going to be slow to burn and putting out a lot less heat. Is the firewood bought or some that you have cut and split? Do you see any bubbling coming from the ends of the firewood as it heats up?

 

[Garbanzo62]

I have the I2500 Insert which is basically the same insert with a Cat added. Agree with BeGreen, check your wood. If you do not have a Moisture meter get one, Test on a fresh split at room temp (if possible) Wood should be under 20% MC. If the wood is ok, then you might be shutting the damper down too soon. I leave the door open a crack until ever piece is engulfed and starting to char, then I close the door. 10 -15 minutes later I close the damper just short of half way. I'll let that go for another 10 - 15 min, then shut down to between 3/4 and 7/8 closed. If I am going from a completely cold start, I'll burn some small stuff down to coals at 1/2 open and then reload onto the hot coal bed.

 

[Rubix130]

Welcome. Take a picture of the next firewood load in the insert and post it here. That will help us see what you are starting with.

The most common issue for new stove owners is poorly seasoned firewood. Wood with too high moisture content is going to be slow to burn and putting out a lot less heat. Is the firewood bought or some that you have cut and split? Do you see any bubbling coming from the ends of the firewood as it heats up?

The wood was left by the previous owner of the house, I've had it sitting in the living room since May 2022 and the previous owner did not light their fireplace in the year they lived there

 

[Rubix130]

I have the I2500 Insert which is basically the same insert with a Cat added. Agree with BeGreen, check your wood. If you do not have a Moisture meter get one, Test on a fresh split at room temp (if possible) Wood should be under 20% MC. If the wood is ok, then you might be shutting the damper down too soon. I leave the door open a crack until ever piece is engulfed and starting to char, then I close the door. 10 -15 minutes later I close the damper just short of half way. I'll let that go for another 10 - 15 min, then shut down to between 3/4 and 7/8 closed. If I am going from a completely cold start, I'll burn some small stuff down to coals at 1/2 open and then reload onto the hot coal bed.

I kept the damper half way, that's probably why it burned out by 3 am

 

[begreen]

It may seem a bit counterintuitive, but the stove will get hotter with the air closed down more as long as the wood is dry enough and the draft is good. Closing down the primary air once the fire is going well increases the draft's pull of air through the secondary tubes which leads to more complete combustion and a hotter stove. Here is a link to show how this works in a secondary combustion stove.

Starting a fire and running an EPA stove

Questions about starting a fire and avoiding a runaway stove come up so frequently I decided to document starting our stove. This is a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 with about a 3 cu ft firebox. The stove is connected to a straight-up, 20' interior flue. The outside ambient temperature is 34ºF. The...

www.hearth.com

 

[Garbanzo62]

Yeah you will burn through splits quickly with it 1/2 open. I'm burning mostly Ash that was from Dead Standing, so some of it is partially decomposed. That tends to burn up faster. As long as I mix some of the more solid pieces in I can get about an 8 - 9 hour burn. Typically, I start Reloading the stove at around 9:30 PM. Have the damper mostly closed by 10. Fan still blowing at 6:30 with varying level of coals. A couple of pieces of kindling on those and it starts right back up.
Also depending on your house layout, you will get varying levels of heat. I am in a Center Stair Colonial. The insert is on the outside wall on the back end of the house. The whole back half is open. That room gets to be between 72 and 82, The front half of the house might get to 67 or 68. No way am I going to get significant heat upstairs and to the bedrooms. However I do get enough so that the Oil burner only kicks in sporadically and for shorter stints.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Hopefully this helps. Pic 1 is the room (Kitchen, + eating area + Family room) Note the two doorways to front door and dining area. Pic 2 is the fire on reload, notice door is not fully latched, pic 3 the door is now latched, but the damper is left open, pic 4 is cat probe temp I will engage the cat. Pick 5 is after cat engaged Secondaries are burning. Pic 6 I close the damper 1/2 way, Pic 7 after 10 min secondaries still going strong (i.e. I did not cut air too soon). Pic 8, Cat probe temp. Pick 9, Damper shut almost all the way (approx 7/8). Pic 10 show wall temp in family room (note: an hour later this read 81). Pick 11 show wall temp on wall furthest from stove, pick 12 show temp by Front door.