Hi everyone. I've spent some time searching your fourm for answers to my problems, but couldn't find anything which was as specific as the help I'm looking for - admittedly because I am a total novice!
We live in an old house (1800) here in England and have one of the 1970s Jotul 118 wood-burning stove (the green model, not the updated version). Although we've lived here for several years, I've never managed to get it going - two small children and a full-time job meant that I was always too busy, and so relied on our oil central heating plus calor-gas heaters whenever we needed extra warmth.
Well, the rise in oil prices has meant that I am now *very* interested in getting this stove burning! We are lucky to have about a cord of dry wood that we collected and stored about 18 months ago when we had some tree surgery done. I had the chimney swept today, and the sweep (no expert on wood-burners) tried to help me light a fire. He did it with paper and kindling (which I'd read is the way to do it), but smoke was soon filling my living room. We went outside to the external (aluminum/metal-type) chimney, and smoke was seeping out of the elbow joint. We came back in, tried a few other things (keeping the door open, etc) but the smoke was still pouring in and I was worried he was going to charge me (even more) money. So I thanked him for the sweep and his help, and have been looking online ever since to try and find some answers before I give it another go myself.
My questions:
I've read about warming the flue first with paper ... should I try that?
Or should I be worried about that seeping elbow joint on the external chimney?
Or might this only be a problem because the smoke was built up in the stove?
Anything else I should know/might be overlooking?
If anyone has any particular advice for the Jotul 118 I'd be very grateful. And any advice on dealing with the smokey room would certainly be most gratefully received.
Thanking you all in advance!
We live in an old house (1800) here in England and have one of the 1970s Jotul 118 wood-burning stove (the green model, not the updated version). Although we've lived here for several years, I've never managed to get it going - two small children and a full-time job meant that I was always too busy, and so relied on our oil central heating plus calor-gas heaters whenever we needed extra warmth.
Well, the rise in oil prices has meant that I am now *very* interested in getting this stove burning! We are lucky to have about a cord of dry wood that we collected and stored about 18 months ago when we had some tree surgery done. I had the chimney swept today, and the sweep (no expert on wood-burners) tried to help me light a fire. He did it with paper and kindling (which I'd read is the way to do it), but smoke was soon filling my living room. We went outside to the external (aluminum/metal-type) chimney, and smoke was seeping out of the elbow joint. We came back in, tried a few other things (keeping the door open, etc) but the smoke was still pouring in and I was worried he was going to charge me (even more) money. So I thanked him for the sweep and his help, and have been looking online ever since to try and find some answers before I give it another go myself.
My questions:
I've read about warming the flue first with paper ... should I try that?
Or should I be worried about that seeping elbow joint on the external chimney?
Or might this only be a problem because the smoke was built up in the stove?
Anything else I should know/might be overlooking?
If anyone has any particular advice for the Jotul 118 I'd be very grateful. And any advice on dealing with the smokey room would certainly be most gratefully received.
Thanking you all in advance!