Pacific Energy Summit Insert - Less burning in back than in front.

[davidon]

I've got a summit insert that seems to burn much quicker in the front half than back half. Getting a lot of coal collection in back. Did not used to do this. Is this do to a flue cleaning issue or is there something else to assist in a complete burn or more air in back? Also anyone using a grate to get air to the back?

 

[begreen]

That's not untypical. There's more air supplied at the front than back.

 

[davidon]

Is there a way to correct this? Will a grate help ?

 

[Hogwildz]

Stop loading so often. Be patient & let the coals burn down.

 

[davidon]

Stop loading so often. Be patient & let the coals burn down.

Heat is not as intense though..want to keep the intensity

 

[MongoMongoson]

To answer your grate question: don't. Putting wood up on a grate in your firebox can allow it to burn too aggressively.

It burns faster in the front because you get more air there. You have boost air hitting the base of the fire/coals just inside the door.

Rake the coals forward, open your air supply, and let them burn. Or, rake them forward and put 1 or two splits on top of them. Let that small fire burn fast and you will get some good BTUs/hr while the coals burn away.

 

[EbS-P]

Are you loading east west or north south.

 

[davidon]

To answer your grate question: don't. Putting wood up on a grate in your firebox can allow it to burn too aggressively.

It burns faster in the front because you get more air there. You have boost air hitting the base of the fire/coals just inside the door.

Rake the coals forward, open your air supply, and let them burn. Or, rake them forward and put 1 or two splits on top of them. Let that small fire burn fast and you will get some good BTUs/hr while the coals burn away.

When I rake the coals forward, they burn down and I start to get ash build up in front while in back I still have more coals. It's hard to move the ash to the back without pushing the coals back as well. Over time this is what is causing my coal build up in back. I do add wood on top in front.

 

[davidon]

Are you loading east west or north south.

When I have the build up in back..I add N/S

 

[davidon]

To answer your grate question: don't. Putting wood up on a grate in your firebox can allow it to burn too aggressively.

It burns faster in the front because you get more air there. You have boost air hitting the base of the fire/coals just inside the door.

Rake the coals forward, open your air supply, and let them burn. Or, rake them forward and put 1 or two splits on top of them. Let that small fire burn fast and you will get some good BTUs/hr while the coals burn away.

By too aggresively, do you mean too fast?

 

[kennyp2339]

By too aggresively, do you mean too fast?

Over fire and too hot, damage to your baffle components

 

[EbS-P]

When I have the build up in back..I add N/S

Rake a little trough down the middle front to back to help air flow get back there.

 

[Hogwildz]

Heat is not as intense though..want to keep the intensity

It's a space heater, and you're pushing it too hard then, and expecting too much from it.

 

[Hogwildz]

You can also pull all the coals forward into a pile at the front and open the air a little. Put a couple sticks of soft wood on top to get some added heat while the coals burn down.

 

[davidon]

It's a space heater, and you're pushing it too hard then, and expecting too much from it.

Fireplace is on the west side of the house and I'm heating the whole house with it! Keeping the thermostat at 61F as a back up if temps drop below that with the insert. Wish I could somehow connect it to the duct system. One other thing. Has anyone slotted the top plate to allow air to blow out directly instead of it being diverted downwards?

 

[davidon]

Rake a little trough down the middle front to back to help air flow get back there.

Tried that...doesn't seem to help that much

 

[Newbie78]

Use a hoe, not a rake, and bring ALL of the coals forward and push the front coals a little back too. This will make a tidy pile with best exposure to the stove's air supply. When the coal pile is large and hot, I eventually open the door and let that heat radiate into the room. Meanwhile the open door cools down so I can clean the glass (which is never dirty -just occasionally a little ashy) and, in the case of my legend III, lubricate the closure roller so the door closes like butta. After a bit the coal pile is much reduced and can be spread and the stove reloaded. Sometimes we put the firescreen on near the end of a burn to radiate heat out the front and to burn down the coals more thoroughly.

 

[begreen]

You can also pull all the coals forward into a pile at the front and open the air a little. Put a couple sticks of soft wood on top to get some added heat while the coals burn down.

^^This^^

Fireplace is on the west side of the house and I'm heating the whole house with it! Keeping the thermostat at 61F as a back up if temps drop below that with the insert. Wish I could somehow connect it to the duct system. One other thing. Has anyone slotted the top plate to allow air to blow out directly instead of it being diverted downwards?

Have you tried putting a table fan or a box fan, running on low speed, in the cooler side of the house, and pointing it to blow the cooler air into the warm stove room? That can help a lot with evening out temps.