Stove in and first burn today...now a new question

[knie0012]

Hey guys-

After a couple weeks of reading and research my job is complete.

I recently bought a used stove that was used for 1 season, a Bennington. After many mixed reviews I was nervous of preformance...

Next was the hearth; ceramic board with the perfect r rating and then a slab of granite on top gave my stove a place to sit.

A trip to Lowes, 997 dollars worth of pipe, and 3 hours later it had a chimney. A straight shot out, double wall pipe to the framed in ceiling box, and adapter to 12 feet of insulated pipe. A total length of 14 feet. I even was able to take $575 worth of stove pipe back.

I started our first fire and after 15 minutes, the box temp was up and a good fire rolling. After an hour our house temp was a scorching 85 degrees. Damn!

With this super hot wood fire, why do I see little to no smoke out the chimney? And when I went to inspect all my work in the attic and roof, I hardly smelt any smoke out the stack? Is this because the efficiency is good? Is the secondary burn taking care of the "smokey" exhaust?

Thanks for the help again,
Jason

 

[Pagey]

Today's EPA certified stoves are designed to burn the smoke in the fire box before it can exit the chimney. With properly seasoned wood, this can result in about a 90% reduction in particulate matter exiting the chimney.

 

[thinkxingu]

knie, that's a nice looking install--when you have a moment, take another pic from a little further away and better lighting. I'm always looking for ideas!

S

 

[SolarAndWood]

Beautiful install and welcome to the forum. A modern stove with a straight insulated pipe and dry wood burns very clean. You may see some smoke on reloads but otherwise won't see smoke coming out of the stack when using dry wood.

 

[LLigetfa]

Today's EPA certified stoves are designed to burn the smoke in the fire box before it can exit the chimney. With properly seasoned wood, this can result in about a 90% reduction in particulate matter exiting the chimney.

Ja, like he said.

Nice install!

 

[raybonz]

Very nice looking stove and clean installation too.. How did you make out buying a 1 yr. old stove vs. a brand new one?

Ray

 

[Nic36]

Good job on the install. Looks great. Sounds like you are doing everything right.

Yeah, I'm always amazed to walk outside and not see any smoke coming out the stack.

 

[knie0012]

Thanks for the compliments. My boss has 6 chords of wood that he is cycling through so good seasoned wood is easy to come by right now...

As for buying a used stove, I found it on craigslist. The guy that bought new had an 8 inch stack in his house prior. The dealer that he bough the Bennington from said that it could go from a 6 to 8 inch stack. He tried it, with about a 45 (+/-) foot chimney. He said it tore through wood. So, he decided to sell for about a 60% price reduction. Everything is is perfect condition, including seals that look brand new yet.

Like I mentioned before, is it normal for the stove to get up to operating temp before you start seeing secondary flames and even a good stable fire? It would appear that I needed the ash pan door open for about ten minutes. If I tried to shut it before, the flame would die down and then almost look like it went out. But once it fired long enough, I could close the door and then everything picked up and went.

Jason

 

[begreen]

Looks stunning. Pretty stove.

Re: starting. The manual is pretty clear about this in multiple locations:
Keep the ash pan tray fully inserted and the ash door
closed tightly.

Never use the stove if the ash pan door is open,
damaged, or not in place, or not sealing.

Do not operate the stove unless the ASH PAN is
inserted into the stove and the ash door is closed. This
could overheat and damage the stove.

Leave the stove door open a crack, maybe 1/4" for starting a fire. It's a bad plan to use the ashpan door. With decent kindling (and maybe try a supercedar fire starter) the fire will start fine. Using the ash pan door creates a forge like effect under the ash grate. The stove is not designed for this use and may be damaged by repeating it.

 

[knie0012]

Could I have damaged it doing it once? What are damaged stove signs? Warped? Cracked? Discoloration?