Hey guys my Osburn 2400 will be showing up here soon. My question is do you guys find on the secondary burn stoves that it produces more heat with some flame or does it still put out a lot of heat if I damper it down where there's very little to no flame. Is it okay to run these new stoves with no flames or do I need to make sure there is always flames. I am coming from running an old smoke dragon. Thanks
SECONDARY BURN QUESTIONS
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No flames generally means smoldering and creosote. There's a sweet spot based on your individual stove and wood combination that will give you a good hot burn and decent burn times. The most I ever close the air down on my stove is about 75% closed, and this is on a full reload on a hot coal bed for a long daytime or overnight burn. When I'm home and not sleeping I run the air around 2/3 closed to keep my flue temps on the warmer side.
You always want to see flame unless you are in the ember stage. If your wood is just smoldering you are losing valuable BTU's from the wood gasses not being ignited.
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Definitely varies from stove to stove, but you'll want to get to a nice high temp before you start to shut down the air. For our Jotul, 500-600
stove top is just right and we shut the air in about 10-15 min intervals until its about 25%-10% shut. Once the stove is nice and hot and you begin shutting it down, the secondaries really kick in. You also want your load of wood stacked up to the burn tubes without really touching them. As others mentioned, youll always see some flames if you do this properly. Whether they are ghost flames or the roaring flames of hell is gonna depend on your wood, setup, and mood of the stove. Reaching that sweet spot will become second nature once you go through the quick learning curve.
stove top is just right and we shut the air in about 10-15 min intervals until its about 25%-10% shut. Once the stove is nice and hot and you begin shutting it down, the secondaries really kick in. You also want your load of wood stacked up to the burn tubes without really touching them. As others mentioned, youll always see some flames if you do this properly. Whether they are ghost flames or the roaring flames of hell is gonna depend on your wood, setup, and mood of the stove. Reaching that sweet spot will become second nature once you go through the quick learning curve.
And the ideal state prior to embers is when that flame looks like a gas broiler along the top of the firebox, with just enough glow under the wood to keep driving those gases and smoke up to the secondaries.
Most importantly, go outside and look at the chimney. If it's been more than 20 minutes since you lit it, or reloaded, you should not see smoke - none at all, just a heat haze.
TE
The main thing that will make it or break it with the new stove is dry wood. Modern stoves really underperform when the wood is only partially seasoned. The other thing you will need to be sure of is that your flue is adequate. The Osburn is going to need stronger draft than the old stove. Important details are the pipe size, straight up or 90s in the flue path, overall height. Can you describe the flue system on the stove in detail from stove top to cap?
Yes sir it is 22 feet chimney height. I am running 6 inch double wall insulated pipe inside a clay lined chimney with roxul and a block off plate. It should draft pretty good I think. I am in Colorado at 5800 feet elevation.
Yes no 90's and my wood is seasoned around 3 to 4 years so it's super dry. I'm hoping it won't be to much draft actually, but I think the elevation here it won't be?
How do you think the Osburn compares to the other big stoves on the market? It seems like it weighs more than almost everything out there. Will that transfer into longer burn times? Thanks
The Osburn is SBI's standard bearer and a good product. The firebox size and fuel burned will determine the burn times.With a 3.2 cu ft firebox you're off to a good start. If you can get hardwood or high altitude spruce your burn times will be better.
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