Smoke or no smoke? I guess I don't understand how my insert actually works...

[LEMONADEMAN]

Good afternoon everyone. I am new on this forum here and I must admit I have learned so much in the last week that I did not know.
Anyway, I have a 3 year old Heat N Glo Northstar. I hear people here mention that there is no smoke when the catalist opens up or something like that. From the second I light the kindling to the second the flames go out, I think there is smoke comming out of the cap?
Without sounding dumb, how exactly does my Northstar work? I hope I have been using it correctly for the last 3 years...

Thank you in advance for your responses as well as teaching me something new

 

[cmonSTART]

Welcome. If you don't mind please post some more information about your insert. Do you know what model it is? Is it a cat or non-cat? And just for kicks what's your chimney and wood like?

 

[LEMONADEMAN]

Welcome. If you don’t mind please post some more information about your insert. Do you know what model it is? Is it a cat or non-cat? And just for kicks what’s your chimney and wood like?

The model is the Northstar. I don't know about the cat? What is that?
My Chimney is precast concrete. It was assembled in pieces. The stove piping was a what came with the unit when purchased. I can post photos of the setup if it would help identify?
Thank you for the response.

 

[cmonSTART]

Please do. We love pictures.

Cat vs non-cat refers to how an EPA approved unit burns the smoke that comes off the fire. Non-cat units use baffling and hot air injection to accomplish this. Catalytic units actually pass the smoke through a catalytic combustor to do the job. How to use them depends on which type you have.

Here's a good primer on the subject:

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/videos/Woodstove_mgt-Eng.wmv

Cheesy but worth a watch.

 

[LEMONADEMAN]

Here are some photos. My wife was close to giving birth in the last photo. Beautiful baby girl, Gianna born 12-12-07 by the way.
You would never have been able to tell that the chimney is not made of bricks. It was a modular house so it was assembled in 1 day!. I also have a ton of photos of that as well.

 

[cmonSTART]

Ha. That's nearly about what my wife looks like now.

I'm guessing your insert is non-cat. It seems to be the norm now. The basic idea is to burn good, dry wood. Leave the air control wide open until the fire is well established and the wood is charred. Then, start slowly closing off the air supply. How far exactly depends a lot on your particular situation. My stove likes about 20-25% open for a longer burn and 30-35% open for a hotter burn. The basic idea is to close the air control off enough enough to slow the burn down and have nothing but heat waves coming from the chimney. There's usually a "sweet spot" you will find.

These stoves need to burn HOT in order to work properly. For your situation this may be as simple as keeping the air control open longer. Smoke coming form the stove when it's open may be of concern. That shouldn't happen. Have you swept your chimney recently?

 

[jtp10181]

Uh... your chimney is not "precast concrete" I can clearly see in the pictures it is the correct pipe for the Northstar which is SL300 double wall metal chimney.

Also, if it is running good you will not see any visible smoke coming out.

You do not have a CAT, it is a secondary burn unit.

You should go on www.heatnglo.com and download the newest manual and read through the operations section, it will tell you a lot.

 

[LEMONADEMAN]

Thank you guy's. What a great Forum.

 

[Scamp]

I'm glad I'm not the only one trying to learn about this secondary burn method!