Running my furnace right

[Richie]

I have a firechief Fc 500 and wondering how others run their indoor furnace. It has a spin draft on the ash door and a forced air blower triggered by the thermostat. I am getting about 5 hour burn times and would like to maximize burn times.

My typical procedure is to use the blower draft to get the fire started. Once I get it started I turn it off and just use the spin draft. This is giving me 5 hour burns.

If I set by thermostat to say 70 and use my spin draft as well, with about 4-5 medium splits, the house quickly gets to 74-75 degrees not kicking on the blower draft.

Should I be completely closing the spin draft once the fire is established and let the fire smolder between firings of the blower draft? I worry about creosote while the fire is smoldering between firings.

 

[laynes69]

4 to 5 medium splits in a firecheif with a burntime of 5 hours, that doesn't sound bad. You should be able to load more than that. Instead of using your forced draft, just use the manual drafts. Otherwise, limit the time the forced draft runs. Once it's burning good, then experiment with the air. There's a fine line where you want burn times vs creosote. What size is your home, and hows it insulated? Watch your chimney, the more smoke the more creosote. Also how long has your wood been seasoning?