"Phil Crow" wrote in message
m...
I bought a wood stove for myself for Christmas (18Wx24Hx30D, with
firebrick lining) and now it's all installed per local fire codes.
There are two screw-cap type vents on the front of it, and I burned a
small fire in it on Tuesday as a kind of test drive. Armed with that
knowledge, I decided to burn a "real" fire in it tonight. I
understand the principles of operation of the wood burning stove.
However, I'm not sure I understand the 'nuts and bolts' of wood stove
use.
Do I light the fire and leave the door cracked until the wood (not
kindling) is burning well? I had my vents open all the way and the
door closed; the fire just smoldered. I opened the door, smoke got
all over the garage, I closed it. I opened it a crack and noticed
that the draft was drafting pretty hard, so I left the door open a
crack. About 2 minutes later, with a mild, uh, whoosh, flames
appeared. I let that burn for a while, then closed the door with the
vents wide open. By the way, she was a little warm at this point.
After that, I closed one vent completely and the other about half.
When things started to cool down, I started opening things up again,
until even leaving the door cracked open wouldn't revive the flames.
At this point, I choked it down all the way, and I've been checking on
it periodically to see what's happening with the fire. I suspect that
the fire will just go out completely (or very close to it) due to lack
of oxygen.
Did I do this right? I'm a little worried about creosote, but I'm
also worried that the stove is going to, I dunno, explode or something
if I burn it *too* hot. If any of you have some insight, I'd
appreciate it.
Thanks,
-Phil Crow
Am I doing this right?
I've been heating with wood for 15 years with several stoves and a found a
few things common to achieve success.
Dry wood is essential - green or unseasoned wood will burn but the stove
settings and efficiency will be far different. Dry wood will allow you to
close the vents a bit more. I burn only northern hardwood species.
The stove needs a source of combustion air. In a small or tight structure
the fire will starve for air. Competing air exhausting devices (fireplace,
bath and kitchen fans) will kill the draft. My answer for this on the
current stove is a duct that carries outside air right to the stove intake.
Both of the last two stoves worked best with a layer of ash on the bottom.
IMO, this plugged some hard to find airleaks and made the burn rate
variable, not just hot and hotter!
The current stove (2 story inwall masonry chimney) likes a flue temp at the
stove outlet of ~400 degrees F. If you can see through the steel pipe, the
fire's too hot!
Running a fire hot daily (with dry wood) for 15 minutes or more reduces the
chance for creosoting and chimney fires. It will also heat up the flue
enough to provide the needed draft. Extended open burning will warp the
iron if not lined with brick.
Efficiency-wise, you're better off with wood that is split smaller and
short, hot fires. Personally, I favor extended burn times and thus use
larger pieces. Over the course of the winter, I may have to restart the
fire 3 or 4 times total.
The settings that you use will depend on the stove design, and how the air
is supposed to circulate within. If you have a damper within the stove for
downdraft, opening it initially will allow a free burn.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...tove+operation