When to turn down air on Castine

[wendortb]

We now have the Jotul Castine installed. I have found the hard way that using dry wood is a huge help with turning down the air but I never know if I am turning it down at the proper time.

I usually wait until the secondaries are putting out flames at a fast pace and the flames are going around the baffle and then turn it down to 50%, 25% then 0%, each time waiting for the flames to get aggressive.

I think sometimes I have a wet piece of wood and after I turn it down to 0% then the secondaries go out and it just smolders even though it is up to temp. Should I be opening the air back up and letting it burn at 25% for the wet pieces I hit?

Should I be going by temperatures instead of what the fire is doing?

What is the purpose of closing the air slowly? I am more technical so if I understand it, I can usually use it better. Is it so the fire has time to adjust to the way it is burning and where it is getting it's air?

Am I losing a lot of heat by leaving the air open longer?

Is smoldering bad? It looks like it because the glass gets all kinds of soot on it. I have had good burns and bad burns and it is a learning experience.

 

[begreen]

Sounds pretty normal. How quickly one can turn down the air is a judgement call. It depends on the wood, how warm the stove is, how the wood is loaded, wood thickness, etc.. You'll want to avoid smoldering. That is just sending unburnt wood gas up the flue. I turn the air down pretty quickly with some loads and may skip the in between steps completely with good dry wood. Other times with particularly dense wood like locust I may have to leave the air at 50% longer until it starts burning more vigorously.

 

[Kevin Dolan]

Sounds pretty normal. How quickly one can turn down the air is a judgement call. It depends on the wood, how warm the stove is, how the wood is loaded, wood thickness, etc.. You'll want to avoid smoldering. That is just sending unburnt wood gas up the flue. I turn the air down pretty quickly with some loads and may skip the in between steps completely with good dry wood. Other times with particularly dense wood like locust I may have to leave the air at 50% longer until it starts burning more vigorously.

Begreen has the experience with this.I have a castine and have found over the last three seasons burning that I watch the fire and once I have good charring I turn down to 50% and as the flame settles I then go down to 25% ish and depending on how it is going in around ten mins I will then close down to 0 or the primary air slide is fully over to the left. I then watch it and see if secondaries are well engaged and may open a wee bit if it dies . I think the fire and coal bed, dry wood, chimney draft, outside temp, etc etc determine how I turn down my air. Pretty neat to observe and with decent wood it works well

 

[xman23]

Yes be green said it well. Remember it's a burn cycle, a moving target all the time. Until I have a hot stove, 3rd reload and a bed of coals, I don't spend lot of time getting the best burn cycle with the air closed down. It becomes easier then.

 

[wendortb]

Thanks for the tips. I was able to get a couple nice burns last night with the air all the way off and the secondaries going strong. I did have to rush this morning to leave so I didn't get it burning correctly. I guess this will be a learning experience on when to put in wood and when to turn down air and when to leave it.

 

[logger]

My brothers got a Castine and I have the Oslo. My best advice for these stoves is to go by your temps before shutting them down. I find a stovetop temp of at least 450 works best before starting the shutting down process, but I aim for 500-600 before doing so. This may not happen on your first load in a cold stove. Once I reach my desired temp, I shut it 25%, wait about ten minutes, then 50% and wait another ten, then to a little less than 75% closed. If you just close down from the air wide open to almost shut, you will quickly starve the fire of oxygen and most likely start to smolder it. Shutting the air in intervals does not starve or shock the fire from lack of oxygen, but allows time for the draft to adjust accordingly without smoldering your fire. My other advice is that the closer to your burn tubes you stack your wood, the quicker you'll get your secondaries and the longer they will last. Obviously, you dont want to damage the tubes or baffle, so dont be hitting them with your wood.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

We now have the Jotul Castine installed. I have found the hard way that using dry wood is a huge help with turning down the air but I never know if I am turning it down at the proper time.

This'll get me yelled at, but. . .

Who cares? Seriously. Just pay attention to your fire and when you think it's time, it probably is. If you shut it down a little early your stack will put out some extra smoke - if you do it a little late your fire will not last as long as you'd hoped. Either way, who cares? Also, there isn't an answer. Each set up is different.

Your stove came with a manual, yes? Start by operating your stove per the manual and make small adjustments as you gain experience with your set up and your wood. With experience you will hone your intuition.

 

[logger]

T
This'll get me yelled at, but. . .

Who cares? Seriously. Just pay attention to your fire and when you think it's time, it probably is. If you shut it down a little early your stack will put out some extra smoke - if you do it a little late your fire will not last as long as you'd hoped. Either way, who cares?

Not going to yell, but I would think that anyone who is trying to heat their home with wood should care. Its a waste of heat if you're leaving the air open too long, also a waste of wood. Your stove is doing what it is supposed to be doing when your secondaries are going off. If they aren't on a fresh load, thats what I'd think you'd be aiming for. Who the heck would want to put in all that hard work bucking, splitting, and stacking wood just to waste it? We should all be trying to get the most out of our stoves and wood supply or else we are wasting resources, something I try not to do.

 

[wendortb]

Does it make a difference if the fire and secondaries are on one side? Sometimes when I reload one side takes off before the other side and that side has the temps going strong but the other side is 100 degrees different.

 

[logger]

When my stove hits 450 or higher, pretty much the entire stove is going off. Maybe you are shutting it down too early if only one side is going. Sometimes I have just one side of secondaries go off first, but the other side usually follows suit shortly after.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Not going to yell, but I would think that anyone who is trying to heat their home with wood should care. Its a waste of heat if you're leaving the air open too long, also a waste of wood. Your stove is doing what it is supposed to be doing when your secondaries are going off. If they aren't on a fresh load, thats what I'd think you'd be aiming for. Who the heck would want to put in all that hard work bucking, splitting, and stacking wood just to waste it? We should all be trying to get the most out of our stoves and wood supply or else we are wasting resources, something I try not to do.

Yes, it is a waste. But who cares? It's firewood, not heart valves. There's plenty of wiggle room for learning and gaining experience.

 

[logger]

Yes, it is a waste. But who cares? It's firewood, not heart valves. There's plenty of wiggle room for learning and gaining experience.

To each his own. I agree about the wiggle room, but I want the most heat from my hard work.