Wood stove noobie!

[Pyldrvr]

Hello all, I just bought a house this year and it has a built in wood stove with a blower.
I have never run a wood stove before so don't really know anything about it. I got up the nerve today to give it a whirl for the first time. I went out and bought a box of those burning logs for 20 bux at costco and I have a couple of questions.

1.) Is it ok to burn those store bought burn logs?
2.) there are two levers on my stove one right above the other. I know one of them is the flu but what is the other one for? How do i know how to position them? One of them doesn't seem to do anything, but the other one seems to make the fire burn better or worse. I presume the one that controls how hot the fire burns is the flu.
3.) is it safe to put wood in the stove before bed time? If so, what should I do with the two mystery controls before bed.

Sorry for the newbie questions but I want to burn safely and efficiently. The wood stove is a really nice one and I want to take advantage of it and save on electricity for my heat pump.
thanks in advance for the help.


~Pyldrvr

 

[Todd]

Whats the name of the wood stove? Do you have a manual for it? If not you might be able to find one online.

 

[Pyldrvr]

well, its built into a cool rock fireplace and I can't see any brandnames or anything on the stove.

 

[begreen]

The pressed logs from Costco may have a lot more energy then you think. Be very careful starting out. Don't burn more than 3 at one time. What brand is your Costco selling?

We'll need to know a lot more about the stove before we can help out. Can you take a picture of the stove and post it here? That will help us identify it for you.

 

[Hogwildz]

Most likely one rod for damper, the other for air intake. Both open at time of lighting stove. The air intake closed after splits are hot & good & charred.
The damper, not sure, don't have on. Someone that has a similar setup will prolly chime in.

 

[Pyldrvr]

hehe, leave it to the good ol wifey to come through. She found the manual for it. It is a Quadra-Fire 7100 FP. Apparenly one of the levers is called an automatic Combustion Control (ACC). I think it helps get the fire started when it is wide open. The lower lever must be the flu setting.
/continues to read manual

 

[Pyldrvr]

The pressed logs from Costco may have a lot more energy then you think. Be very careful starting out. Don't burn more than 3 at one time. What brand is your Costco selling?

We'll need to know a lot more about the stove before we can help out. Can you take a picture of the stove and post it here? That will help us identify it for you.

The logs I got from costco are Duraflame and are supposed to last up to 3.5 hours. I am only burning one at the moment. Seems to burn well, just wanted to make sure they don't cause more creasote than regular wood. It does claim to burn cleaner than real wood however.
/shrug

 

[begreen]

Nice, big, serious fireplace. I think you will like it a lot. Read up on the wiki postings about compressed logs burning. And let us know what brand logs Costco is selling. What store? (I'm in the NW too.)

 

[JohnnyBravo]

nice fire place, read that manual. lots of options on that stove.

 

[Pyldrvr]

Nice, big, serious fireplace. I think you will like it a lot. Read up on the wiki postings about compressed logs burning. And let us know what brand logs Costco is selling. What store? (I'm in the NW too.)

I live in Battleground and the Costco is in Vancouver. I little too far south for you to make the trip I presume Duraflame, 18 bux for 9 logs. Next year I plan on investing in a cord or two of wood but I am just going to tinker around with the fireplace this year since i also have a heat pump. Fun stuff. I think the wife is even getting a little frisky looking at the fire burning through the glass doors

 

[begreen]

Whoa, Duraflame logs are wax impregnated. They are not designed for burning in closed stoves. Although the 7100i is a fireplace, it is built like a wood burning stove. I suggest you start finding a good reputable wood dealer this year. You will pay more at this time of the year for good dry wood, but unless you get good wood, it will be a frustrating experience.

from duraflame:
Duraflame® firelogs are Underwriter Laboratories (UL) Classified for use in zero-clearance manufactured metal fireplaces and are suitable for use in all types of traditional open hearth fireplaces. Duraflame® firelogs should not be burned in wood stoves or wood stove fireplace inserts.

 

[R&D Guy]

Agreed, I'd stay away from the wax based compressed logs. If you burn them, I'd only put 1 in from a cold start, and don't poke it apart once it starts to burn down. Any more than that and you end up having a bit of a nuclear reaction on you hand where it just keeps getting hotter no matter what you do.

Personally, I'd cut them into 2 or 4 pieces with an axe and use them to start your real wood fires with no effort. When I had a EPA wood stove, I use to buy the chalk board erase size fire starters to get my wood stove going. That way I could put full size pieces of wood in and get it going with just a match.

 

[Pyldrvr]

well dang, should I throw away my 20 dollar box of wax wood or is it ok to go ahead and burn it and then buy different next time?
Would be a shame.

 

[begreen]

Get some regular wood and use the duraflame as a starter log. You can break it up into smaller pieces if you want to stretch them out.

 

[Pyldrvr]

Get some regular wood and use the duraflame as a starter log. You can break it up into smaller pieces if you want to stretch them out.

ok thanks. will do.