Vermont Casting question and concerns

[SmokinJoe82]

New to the wood stove world I’ve only had my Vermont Casting intrepid for a little over a year now…

I can’t establish a bed of coals no matter what I try…I’ve never had this issue before… it’s almost like the coals are burning out before the next piece of wood in line is burning out… i’ve tried smaller pieces at the bottom. I’ve tried a bunch of smaller pieces that I’ve chopped up…

My wood has been stacked since September, cut / split last year… in the garage for two weeks in by the fireplace for a couple days before it’s in the fire

Also, one issue, I’ve always had problems with. And even in the pamphlet, they say it’s a top load it helps reduce smoke in the house. Almost every time I open it smoke is getting into the house…. I’ve tried literally everything from cracking a few windows to opening the flu for 30 minutes before I open up the top, slowly opening up the top, opening up the top cracked for like 20 seconds before I open everything up, open up the front doors, open up the ash tray at the bottom… I have a chimney sweep coming on Wednesday after Christmas. I’m hoping that takes care of this issue but as I mentioned, I’ve always had smoke into the house when I open up the top.


Any feedback would be great and I appreciate… i’m not sure of the moisture content of my wood right now.

 

[Eman85]

Don't know what type of wood you have but that's "lightly seasoned" time for curing wood.
With the bypass open and the air control open waiting a few minutes you shouldn't get smoke backing out of the top. I can open mine and leave it open while I load wood and not get smoke. VC's are known to puff smoke back when the stove is hot and the air is set low they will suck air and flash over in the fire box and burp smoke out of the griddle.

 

[sargeott]

First. Draft could be a question.
Your chimney top hight needs to be 2 feet taller than the top of your home with in 10 feet.
This means measure 10 feet from your chimney exit and make sure it's 2 feet higher with in that 10 feet measured area. It also need to be minimum of 3 feet tall on the exit of your home.
See image attached.

2nd Wood moisture is also in question. If the wood is over 20% wet, then it won't hold a good burn and won't get hit enough.

See if you can find a bundle of pre-packaged wood in a bundle or two and use that as a test burn. See if you can have a good fire with good kiln dried wood as a baseline test.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How tall is your chimney?

Sources of wood coal more than others. What are you burning?

 

[SmokinJoe82]

Don't know what type of wood you have but that's "lightly seasoned" time for curing wood.
With the bypass open and the air control open waiting a few minutes you shouldn't get smoke backing out of the top. I can open mine and leave it open while I load wood and not get smoke. VC's are known to puff smoke back when the stove is hot and the air is set low they will suck air and flash over in the fire box and burp smoke out of the griddle.

Hey, thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate it. I apologize for not being more specific, the wood that I have has been cut, and in a pile for over a year, I stacked in September.

When I have some good calls in there, I have about five seconds to fill my stove up with wood, after that five seconds smoke just Bella way into the house so annoying and very frustrating.

 

[SmokinJoe82]

First. Draft could be a question.
Your chimney top hight needs to be 2 feet taller than the top of your home with in 10 feet.
This means measure 10 feet from your chimney exit and make sure it's 2 feet higher with in that 10 feet measured area. It also need to be minimum of 3 feet tall on the exit of your home.
See image attached.

2nd Wood moisture is also in question. If the wood is over 20% wet, then it won't hold a good burn and won't get hit enough.

See if you can find a bundle of pre-packaged wood in a bundle or two and use that as a test burn. See if you can have a good fire with good kiln dried wood as a baseline test.

View attachment 321330

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it, my house is only about 18 years old, so it holds the heat very well and it’s also pretty airtight. I did take your advice and got some really dry packaged wood from the store and was able to establish some coals and it burned great last night.
The chimney is two stories tall. I’m not sure it’s taller than the peak of the house by 2 feet though…. Hopefully chimney sweep will help clear up any blockage that might be happening.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Hey, thanks for getting back to me. I appreciate it. I apologize for not being more specific, the wood that I have has been cut, and in a pile for over a year, I stacked in September.

When I have some good calls in there, I have about five seconds to fill my stove up with wood, after that five seconds smoke just Bella way into the house so annoying and very frustrating.

Ok, so it really doesn’t dry when in a pile. The air has to move through it to dry it. Your wood really started drying a couple months ago.

Pick up a moisture meter from Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc. let a piece warm up for a day, split it, and measure the moisture on a fresh face with the pins going with the grain. The wood from the store was probably dry.

 

[Eman85]

Checking and cleaning the chimney would be a good place to start. Again your wood is lightly seasoned, when you get 3 years or so ahead you will have seasoned wood.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it, my house is only about 18 years old, so it holds the heat very well and it’s also pretty airtight. I did take your advice and got some really dry packaged wood from the store and was able to establish some coals and it burned great last night.
The chimney is two stories tall. I’m not sure it’s taller than the peak of the house by 2 feet though…. Hopefully chimney sweep will help clear up any blockage that might be happening.

So here is 2 things Im getting from your original post. 1 sounds like your wood is on the wetter side.. do you use a moisture meter to check the MC of the wood your burning.. 2.. What is the temperature of your stove and stove pipe. What probs/IR gun or bimetal thermometers are you using to monitor the temperatures.. Please post the stove temperature and stovepipe temperatures when your reloading..