Building a fire in a wood stove

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

After reading a lot of reviews about my woodstove, I've concluded that a lot of other users find this stove quite difficult to manage, as Thinkxingu alluded. Some sample reviews that are similar to my experience:

"This item eats wood like a cast iron box stove. The damper does little to control the burn. I have to burn with the door ajar to keep it going. I lasts for only a couple of hours and requires constant supervision like a toddler."

"You have to feed it wood at least every 2 hours or it dies out. There is no lip so when you open the door to put more wood in the ashes and burning wood have fallen out."

"Firebox is small, have to continuously feed it wood, cant get a good burn longer than an hour with seasoned wood and heat output poor, has difficulty heating 850 sf."

"It is hard to start a fire and keep a fire going. It doesn't get very hot once a fire is going!"

"Needs refueling every 2 hours."

I have found some things that can help this underpowered stove. The first is a large amount of kindling to get a hot fire going quickly. The kindling needs to be pine. I've been resawing 18" logs in half for north-south loading. Then the longer logs can be stacked east-west with adequate air. Also, there's a tipping point where opening the door a crack will let heat escape, so it's better to close it at that point and contain the heat. I suspect that if I had 50% pine logs, that would also help.

Granted, results will also depend on the user's knowledge and skill (that applies to me as well), but I've concluded that the "normal" functioning of a woodstove described in this thread really doesn't apply to this particular stove. I will try to obtain some pine and see if that helps. I'll keep reading woodstove forums for tips and see if I can improve my technique.

Don't get me wrong---my house is warm at the moment. But I'm restarting the fire from scratch at least 3 times a day whenever I go out for errands, a hike, or to split wood. When I'm at home working I get up to tend the fire every 20 minutes. As I was writing that last sentence a log fell against the glass door---very delicate maneuver to open the door a crack and coax the log back up without it falling out of the stove.

Either your wood isn't seasoned enough (probably this) or there's something wrong with your stove (less likely).

On a chilly day (helps with draft), I can load my 13 with splits and get it going with the door cracked in less than 10 minutes. After around 30 minutes, I can shut the air half way and get 3-4 hours of good heat. No way your door should be open for more than 10-15 minutes and you absolutely shouldn't be starting from scratch 3-4 times a day.


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[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Either your wood isn't seasoned enough (probably this) or there's something wrong with your stove (less likely).

On a chilly day (helps with draft), I can load my 13 with splits and get it going with the door cracked in less than 10 minutes. After around 30 minutes, I can shut the air half way and get 3-4 hours of good heat. No way your door should be open for more than 10-15 minutes and you absolutely shouldn't be starting from scratch 3-4 times a day.

I've had this stove for years and it has always behaved like this regardless of the wood. When I posted last April I was burning 4-year-old wood. I had another stove prior to this one and had no difficulty with it even as a beginner. How about you post a video so I can see how you do it?

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

I've had this stove for years and it has always behaved like this regardless of the wood. When I posted last April I was burning 4-year-old wood. I had another stove prior to this one and had no difficulty with it even as a beginner. How about you post a video so I can see how you do it?

You want a 4-hour video?

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[Slickcraft]

The Englander that we have on Welch is smaller but will hold a fire longer than yours. Once it is up to secondary burn temp, the air inlet can be closed most or all the way to get a lazy hot fire. The built in air control can really shut it down if closed all the way.

Wondering if there is a secondary path for combustion air to get into your stove. Does it have an ash drawer? If so, does that have a good gasket seal? Does the stove door have a tight gasket seal? With the stove off and cold, close the door on a dollar bill. You should just be able to pull it out. If it pulls out easy, see if the closure tightness is adjustable.

Alan

[John Mercier]

What is the flue made out of?

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

What is the flue made out of?

The chimney is made of bricks lined with . . . a liner.

[John Mercier]

The chimney needs to heat up to help the draft.
It has a lot of mass pulling heat from the exhaust gases.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

The Englander that we have on Welch is smaller but will hold a fire longer than yours. Once it is up to secondary burn temp, the air inlet can be closed most or all the way to get a lazy hot fire. The built in air control can really shut it down if closed all the way.

Wondering if there is a secondary path for combustion air to get into your stove. Does it have an ash drawer? If so, does that have a good gasket seal? Does the stove door have a tight gasket seal? With the stove off and cold, close the door on a dollar bill. You should just be able to pull it out. If it pulls out easy, see if the closure tightness is adjustable.

Alan

You raise some good questions, thank you. Yes, there's an ash drawer, and I asked above why there are no ashes in it.

The door does NOT have a tight gasket seal. Some mice took a liking to the gasket. I thought this wasn't a problem because maybe the crack is letting helpful air into the stove. Am I wrong about that?

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

You raise some good questions, thank you. Yes, there's an ash drawer, and I asked above why there are no ashes in it.

The door does NOT have a tight gasket seal. Some mice took a liking to the gasket. I thought this wasn't a problem because maybe the crack is letting helpful air into the stove. Am I wrong about that?

It is a problem as you can't slow down the burn rate once the stove gets up to temp. Also the stove's designed air flow has some air directed to the secondary burn ports. Air flow from the door may hinder the efficiency of the secondary burn.

Alan

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

You raise some good questions, thank you. Yes, there's an ash drawer, and I asked above why there are no ashes in it.

The door does NOT have a tight gasket seal. Some mice took a liking to the gasket. I thought this wasn't a problem because maybe the crack is letting helpful air into the stove. Am I wrong about that?

Ummm...for real? We've been talking about how shutting the air down increases burn time...but that only works when you can actually shut the air down. Obviously, having a leaking front door will negate that. Replace that gasket ASAP.

In terms of the ash draw: there's an opening on the floor of the box that ash can be shoveled through and into the ash pan below the air control lever. Don't use it. The ash pans on these things are not sealed well, so you're better off cramming it with ash so you don't have an (another) air leak.


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[SailinAway]

Got it, Thinkxingu. Thanks for the clarifications!

[ApS]

Local hardware stores should have those fiberglass gaskets. My stove's original gaskets appeared like woven rope. You'll need some kind of securing substance, but the gaskets (alone) provided by Bradley's Hardware (Wolfeboro) fit tightly enough.

To get a longer burn, use large chunks of "unsuitable" rotting wood--or large unseasoned hemlock. Twelve-inch (by 18-inch) rounds will fit through the front door; however, ashes and embers can leak out so I use the side door--which will clear 7-inch rounds.

Rotting wood used to be called "punk", and would smolder indefinitely. Indigenous-people worldwide had names for those individuals responsible for "keeping the fire".

My woodstove is perhaps twice as big, and a "round" of unseasoned 7-inch hemlock takes all night to dry out and burn--with the air shut down, of course. Plus, it leaves hot coals to ignite the next day's seasoned birch--which quickly pre-heats the seasoned maple to follow.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

You want a 4-hour video?

Two things would be helpful to see: (1) Building and lighting the fire and refueling when the kindling has burned down, and (2) refueling after 4 hours. Not trying to be a pest. I honestly don't know how you achieve the results you report. I'd love to learn. Free me from stove slavery!