# Short Burn Times with EBW-100



## SIERRADMAX (Dec 17, 2013)

I've had my Econoburn up and running for a month now. It's heating a 2600 S.F. 2 zone house built in 2002 so construction is fairly tight. I know there's a learning curve but I can't seem to get more than 5 hours of burn time on an average 20-30 degF night. Last night's outside average was 0 degF and I don't think it burned for more than 3 hours with a fully loaded stove.

What are some pointers to increase burn times? I'm burning 2 year seasoned oak, maple & willow and have been sporadically checking it's moisture content.

Could the stove be too small?


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## NE WOOD BURNER (Dec 17, 2013)

Are you utilizing thermal storage?


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## Chris Hoskin (Dec 17, 2013)

do you know what your stack temps are?  The heat has to be going somewhere.....and it seems like 100kbtu should be plenty for your house.


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## flyingcow (Dec 17, 2013)

Silly question....is your house warm  for 24 hours from that burn or just for those few hours?


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## rkusek (Dec 17, 2013)

What was your heat loss calc on your home or how much fossil fuel did it burn on a 0F day previously?  E100 sounds like about 75% the size of my eko 40 which is 135kbtu.  The rated btu is usually only for optimum wood, etc. and most here figure 75-80% is more realistic.  Since you burn some oak 80kbtu per hour should be the output which sounds high for a new home like yours.  Are the outer walls 2x6?  How much insulation? What kindof windows?  I get about 6 hrs on a good load of elm and some wetter oak on a 0F day with my combustion fan at 50% and not much ldling.  I'm not weighing but I'm guessing this is about 80kbtu per hour heating a larger home plus a 30x60 shed.


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## rkusek (Dec 17, 2013)

Do you have underground lines?  Hopefully not, because if you do I bet that's where the heat is going.


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## flyingcow (Dec 17, 2013)

rkusek said:


> Do you have underground lines?  Hopefully not, because if you do I bet that's where the heat is going.




that was my first thought


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 17, 2013)

NE WOOD BURNER said:


> Are you utilizing thermal storage?


No storage


Chris Hoskin said:


> do you know what your stack temps are?  The heat has to be going somewhere.....and it seems like 100kbtu should be plenty for your house.


Flue thermometer has been on the "to purchase list" so I can't comment on flue temps.


flyingcow said:


> Silly question....is your house warm  for 24 hours from that burn or just for those few hours?


From a feeding at 11pm last night, I awoke at 3:20am to my thermostats calling for heat. T-stats set to 68 and both zones were reading 66. I walked downstairs and heard the oil boiler fire. Aquastat on wood boiler supply (set to break on rise @ 130degF) must have closed contacts to TT for oil boiler just as I walked downstairs. Setpoint on the econoburn was 188, water temp was 144. Opened the upper door, not a single amber color coal left to reload.


rkusek said:


> Do you have underground lines?  Hopefully not, because if you do I bet that's where the heat is going.


No underground. This is an indoor unit.


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 17, 2013)

rkusek said:


> What was your heat loss calc on your home or how much fossil fuel did it burn on a 0F day previously?  E100 sounds like about 75% the size of my eko 40 which is 135kbtu.  The rated btu is usually only for optimum wood, etc. and most here figure 75-80% is more realistic.  Since you burn some oak 80kbtu per hour should be the output which sounds high for a new home like yours.  Are the outer walls 2x6?  How much insulation? What kindof windows?  I get about 6 hrs on a good load of elm and some wetter oak on a 0F day with my combustion fan at 50% and not much ldling.  I'm not weighing but I'm guessing this is about 80kbtu per hour heating a larger home plus a 30x60 shed.



If I remember, I did  a heat loss calc and it amounted to around 45,000 BTU w/ 2x4 outer walls, vinyl windows.


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## flyingcow (Dec 17, 2013)

How did you heat your home before the wood boiler? How many btu's is your oil boiler? And will it heat the house on it's own? How much fule in a yrs time? 

I have burn times of 3 1/2 to 4 hours on a 30 degree night, but that also charges my storage enough for 24 hours of heat. I have an 1800sq/ft, 2 story house. R-19 walls R-30 ceilings. Plus family of 5 for DHW. So it seems you got something odd going on there.

Have you contacted Econoburn?
A stack temp would be nice. 

How seasoned is your wood?


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## rkusek (Dec 17, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> If I remember, I did  a heat loss calc and it amounted to around 45,000 BTU w/ 2x4 outer walls, vinyl windows.



Sounds like you should be getting more like 6 hrs instead of 3 if that 45 is correct.  How much of the time is it idling on a 0F day?  How much insulation in the attic?


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## Gasifier (Dec 17, 2013)

How is the heat dispersed in your house? Baseboard? Forced air? Radiant?


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## goosegunner (Dec 17, 2013)

I heat the same sq ft with my 200. The first year I did not have storage. I rarely filled it past the bottom of the door opening. It would run for 12 hours easy idling on and off. But it had extra capacity to do that. I could see if yours is running fan on most of the time it would consume wood pretty fast.

If I run my 200 to storage with 3/4 full of wood it will be done in less about 3 hours.

gg


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## brenndatomu (Dec 17, 2013)

Sorry if you have posted info about your set up before. Do you have a baro damper? Any idea what your draft reading is?


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## willworkforwood (Dec 17, 2013)

If you have a tall chimney and no BD, it could be pulling the heat out of the boiler, so you need to get that flue therm installed to find out about that.  But the wood is always the usual suspect.  You said a mix of Oak, Maple, and WIllow. What's the rough percentage of each?  Willow is a second cousin of cardboard, so if you're using lots of that, the whole thing is explained right there.  2 year old Maple should be very good under any circumstances, but the oak may be a problem, depending on the size of your splits.  Have you been re-splitting the larger oak splits down the middle and testing the inside surfaces with a MM?  If so, what are those readings?  Is your wood staged inside, or do you bring it in and load directly from outside the house?


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## maple1 (Dec 17, 2013)

brenndatomu said:


> Sorry if you have posted info about your set up before. Do you have a baro damper? Any idea what your draft reading is?


 

Echo this. Draft needs to be in spec in all conditions - cold weather & wind can raise it quite a bit over baseline. A baro will smooth it out & get it right.


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## eriesigtau (Dec 17, 2013)

Call Dale at Econoburn.  He will have you program your control to best suit your needs.  Storage is awesome and I advise you get it.  When you have a gasser, I wouldn't hesitate putting at least 500gal of storage in.  I burn for 3-4 hrs and get enough heat in storage to get me through to the next day.  House specs are similar to yours.  I would put 1000gal in if I could do it over but 500 gets me by here in northwestern PA


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## airlina (Dec 18, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> I've had my Econoburn up and running for a month now. It's heating a 2600 S.F. 2 zone house built in 2002 so construction is fairly tight. I know there's a learning curve but I can't seem to get more than 5 hours of burn time on an average 20-30 degF night. Last night's outside average was 0 degF and I don't think it burned for more than 3 hours with a fully loaded stove.
> 
> What are some pointers to increase burn times? I'm burning 2 year seasoned oak, maple & willow and have been sporadically checking it's moisture content.
> 
> Could the stove be too small?


I too have a Econoburn 100 with no storage , in basement installation (4 years now) If I load mine right up , I can get a 8-9 hour burn thru the night in upstate New York . This would be with 3 out of my 5 zones turned up to 72 degrees in a 1700 sq ft log house. Bruce


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

flyingcow said:


> How did you heat your home before the wood boiler? How many btu's is your oil boiler? And will it heat the house on it's own? How much fule in a yrs time?
> 
> I have burn times of 3 1/2 to 4 hours on a 30 degree night, but that also charges my storage enough for 24 hours of heat. I have an 1800sq/ft, 2 story house. R-19 walls R-30 ceilings. Plus family of 5 for DHW. So it seems you got something odd going on there.
> 
> ...



I've kept track of my oil usage (and price ) throughout the past 3 years. It's probably not reflective of this current year because it's the first year keeping the thermostats higher than 63 in the house due to having a baby. However, the house on average consumed 700 gallons of heating oil between November & March, 300 gallons during April-October to heat an indirect and the occasionally chilly nights. Doing the math, 700 gallons equates to 140 gal./mo.or approx. 5 gal./day times 140,000 BTU/Gallon = 30,000 BTU/24 hr. +/-. So, my 45,000 btu calculation isn't too far off.

My house has r-19 walls, r-30 ceilings (2nd floor) and 2 layers of R-13 in the joists (R-13 was free!). I have not contacted econoburn yet. A stove pipe thermometer is on order. Wood is 2 year seasoned.


Gasifier said:


> How is the heat dispersed in your house? Baseboard? Forced air? Radiant?


Forced hot air controlled by Wifi thermostats & hydro-air fan control units. I have both hydro air units dialed in pretty well and can monitor cycling which has been roughly 4 cycles per hour.


brenndatomu said:


> Sorry if you have posted info about your set up before. Do you have a baro damper? Any idea what your draft reading is?


Here's where I'm a little concerned and have been reading alot of information from other posts. Bottom line is no, I don't have a B.D. and my chimney is a tall one... 35'+, entirely on the outside. I was fighting a downdraft problem (when not in use) to where the damper was pointing into the room. The chimney shares 3 flues, of which the other two are for the oil boiler & a woodstove on the first floor. At the time, I would get a heavy smoke odor emitting from the B.D. whenever the woodstove was operating. So, I have the B.D. covered. I've seen many other WB users post their use w/o one so perhaps I have to find a way to make one work with my situation.


willworkforwood said:


> If you have a tall chimney and no BD, it could be pulling the heat out of the boiler, so you need to get that flue therm installed to find out about that.  But the wood is always the usual suspect.  You said a mix of Oak, Maple, and WIllow. What's the rough percentage of each?  Willow is a second cousin of cardboard, so if you're using lots of that, the whole thing is explained right there.  2 year old Maple should be very good under any circumstances, but the oak may be a problem, depending on the size of your splits.  Have you been re-splitting the larger oak splits down the middle and testing the inside surfaces with a MM?  If so, what are those readings?  Is your wood staged inside, or do you bring it in and load directly from outside the house?


Very few sticks of willow. This is normally my "starter wood". Wood is brought in via tractor or bobcat bucket and stacked on a wood rack (1 face cord) in the basement. 

My approach is to get a stovepipe thermometer and a manometer. Monitor the temps and draft during gasification & idle. I have a feeling based off the comments that most of my heat is being sucked out the chimney because of the lack of a B.D. I'll post my findings.


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## maple1 (Dec 18, 2013)

What does the EB spec for chimney draft?

For a bit of a rough idea, I have about 30' of chimney (7" insulated stainless, inside the house), on an open hilltop, and it pulls 0.1" normally when burning (mine specs 0.08" for the natural draft operation). That's with no effort to seal my pipe joints. If I hold my BD closed when the wind is blowing and there's a fire going, it can jump up to 0.3". So I suspect you're seeing more draft than you should be.

The backdraft puzzles me though. What did you mean by 'to where the damper was pointing into the room'?


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

maple1 said:


> What does the EB spec for chimney draft?
> 
> For a bit of a rough idea, I have about 30' of chimney (7" insulated stainless, inside the house), on an open hilltop, and it pulls 0.1" normally when burning (mine specs 0.08" for the natural draft operation). That's with no effort to seal my pipe joints. If I hold my BD closed when the wind is blowing and there's a fire going, it can jump up to 0.3". So I suspect you're seeing more draft than you should be.
> 
> The backdraft puzzles me though. What did you mean by 'to where the damper was pointing into the room'?


On a cold chimney, top of the damper is pointing into the stovepipe and the bottom is pointing into the room. There's a stop to prevent it to go much further but it's noticeably pointing into the room.


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## maple1 (Dec 18, 2013)

That means it is pulling draft up the chimney like a freight train - just the opposite of what I'd call a back draft.

I'd say it definitely sounds like you've got way too much draft going on & the baro is a necessity.

Not sure why the smoke smell when the stove is going - unless somehow the EB chimney is pulling fumes out of the stove air inlets, down into the basement, then up the chimney? How tight is the stove room?


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## brenndatomu (Dec 18, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> On a cold chimney, top of the damper is pointing into the stovepipe and the bottom is pointing into the room. There's a stop to prevent it to go much further but it's noticeably pointing into the room.


That's weird! Mine is hanging straight up/down when I'm not burning/cold chimney. Maybe you could just cover it up when you are not burning. 
With a chimney that tall, I can almost garantee that using a properly set BD will improve burn time drastically!

Edit: Ah. I see, your chimney is drafting just from the warm air it is pulling out of the house when you are not burning. I wonder if the smoke smell is just coming from your boiler firebox?


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

maple1 said:


> That means it is pulling draft up the chimney like a freight train - just the opposite of what I'd call a back draft.
> 
> I'd say it definitely sounds like you've got way too much draft going on & the baro is a necessity.
> 
> Not sure why the smoke smell when the stove is going - unless somehow the EB chimney is pulling fumes out of the stove air inlets, down into the basement, then up the chimney? How tight is the stove room?



This is the type of damper I have. When the chimney is cold and a piece of paper is held against, it is blowing away from the damper resulting in a heavy downdraft.
http://www.fieldcontrols.com/rc.php


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## maple1 (Dec 18, 2013)

My baro goes like that when it's windy and I'm burning. I happen to have a basement window like 3 feet from it, I just leave it open a tiny crack. That ensures that the air the chimney is pulling up from the basement & the house is coming from outdoors rather than other parts of the house - and is mostly cold outside air rather than heated house air.


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## maple1 (Dec 18, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> This is the type of damper I have. When the chimney is cold and a piece of paper is held against, it is blowing away from the damper resulting in a heavy downdraft.
> http://www.fieldcontrols.com/rc.php


 
Now I"m way confused. I can't imagine how a chimney that tall can have backdraft like that.


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

stack effect?
http://www.thechimneysweep.ca/2stackeffect.html


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## NE WOOD BURNER (Dec 18, 2013)

I see you have an exterior chimney?
Is there a cap on your chimney?
Do you have pictures of your install?
Your back draft is at idle? does it draft well when the boiler is burning full out?
May have missed this but do you have clay tiles in chimney or a SS liner?


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## NE WOOD BURNER (Dec 18, 2013)

nice explanation there.
That is where I was heading!

I have a similar setup. In fact the back draft will pull from my other two flues and fill the basement. I am working on a cap with dividers to help that situation.


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## b33p3r (Dec 18, 2013)

Econoburn 150 recommendation was a draft of .02-.05. I installed a Barometric damper and had to max it out to get the proper draft on a 13' 8" pipe. If you read the installation guide, I believe somewhere in there states you may have to install 2 dampers to get the proper draft. Please don't quote me on any of this. I don't have a great memory. I posted it to give you ideas.


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## brenndatomu (Dec 18, 2013)

b33p3r said:


> I believe somewhere in there states you may have to install 2 dampers to get the proper draft.


Huh! I've never heard that recommended anywhere before, but it makes sense. I have a 8" x 30' insulated SS liner in an external masonry chimney and a 9" BD adapted to an 8" tee (don't ask) and I still get too high draft readings during _really cold _windy weather, with BD laid out wide open!
My Yukon furnace calls for -.03" WC draft, if I hold the BD closed, draft goes to -.1" or so, flue temps go way up but the supply plenum temps climb slower than with a -.03" draft, even though there is a ROARING fire.


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

Yes, chimney is entirely on the outside and has a 1 piece stainless chimney cap.I core drilled through my foundation to include an 8" thimble for the wood boiler, a 6" thimble for the oil & two 6" cleanouts. Any thoughts on moving the B.D. to the cleanout opening?



basement


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## SIERRADMAX (Dec 18, 2013)

Econoburn recommends .02-.05 draft setting. Also, outside combustion air??? From Econoburns manual:
COMBUSTION AIR SUPPLY
Air inlets of at least 200 square inches free area must be provided to the room occupied by the
wood fired boiler.
These fresh air inlets must provide or allow free access of fresh outside air to the boiler.
At no time, or under any circumstances can a wood burning boiler be starved of combustion air.
The boiler must at all times be able to maintain the approved stack draft. The barometric draft regulator
must be installed on the boiler smoke pipe in the same room or at least in such a way that
there is unrestricted free passage of air between the combustion air inlet to the boiler or burner
and the barometric draft regulator.
It is important to provide adequate combustion air to the boiler, a minimum 200 square inches
free area. It may be necessary to add a ventilator to an exterior wall of a closed boiler room or an
airtight basement.
Operating a wood or oil fired appliance with inadequate combustion air could be hazardous.
5
OUTSIDE COMBUSTION AIR MAY BE NECESSARY IF:
1. Fans that are installed in the fuel storage area create negative pressures in the room where
the solid fuel-burning appliance is located.
2. The solid-fuel-fired appliance does not draw steadily, smell, experiences smoke roll-out, burns
poorly, or back-drafts whether or not there is combustion present.
3. Any of the above symptoms are alleviated by opening a window slightly on a calm day.
4. The house is equipped with a well-sealed vapor barrier and tight fitting windows and/or has
any powered devices that exhaust house air.
5. There is excessive condensation on windows in the winter.
6. A ventilation system is installed in the house.


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## brenndatomu (Dec 18, 2013)

My Yukon manual shows that putting the BD on the cleanout door is a no go. Yukon took this drawing directly from Fields install info.
Also, this is how they recommend doing the make-up air supply. My furnace is about 140k BTU. My make-up air pipe is 6". It's more than adequate with a 8" chimney.


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## SIERRADMAX (Jan 1, 2014)

Update: It took a while for UPS deliveries with the holidays. But bottom line, I installed a barometric damper, a Dwyer Manometer &  stovepipe thermometer.

I have to block the barometric damper upon startup. I noticed smoke billowing out (w/ cold chimney) even after trying to warm it up with some crumpled newspaper. When up to temperature, Manometer is reading .05 when at idle and between .06 & .08 when the blower is on. Damper is almost wide open! I guess when my chimney is warm, it pulls like a mule. Stovepipe surface temps around 150 degF.

I'll post results with an overnight burn but I suspect I will see much longer than 3 hours.


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## SIERRADMAX (Jan 2, 2014)

Last night...Average temps between 18-20 degF. Both thermostats set to 71. Burned and maintained 188 degree water for 6 hours on a partially loaded stove. Nice feeling sleeping with a thin sheet in the winter. I would assume by lowering the thermostats a bit and tightly packing the stove, 8 hour burntime seems attainable. 

Still pulling .05-.08 on the manometer. Maybe two BD's like b33p3r mentioned?


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## maple1 (Jan 2, 2014)

Two BDs might be something to consider if you can get the second one in without too much trouble. If you're getting those readings on calm days, the wind can ramp it up to yet another level again - wind gusts are likely the thing that starts more flue fires than any other thing, can suck the flames right out of the firebox right into the chimney if not careful (less of an issue with a clean burner like a gassifier though).

Is your thermometer a probe? An accurate themometer can also keep tabs on your HX & turbs getting dirty & needing cleaning - if temps start rising for no other apparent reason things are likely getting dirty. I wouldn't regard anything except a probe as being accurate.

Always good to read of some progress!


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## willworkforwood (Jan 2, 2014)

SIERRADMAX said:


> ... I have to block the barometric damper upon startup. I noticed smoke billowing out (w/ cold chimney) even after trying to warm it up with some crumpled newspaper.
> ...


Glad to hear that you appear to be making progress on keeping the heat in the house.  But IMO there is something still not quite right with your system.  I've started many cold-chimney fires in the past 6 years with my 150, and never get even a wisp of smoke from the BD, much less a billow. And I'm also inside and pulling with a tall chimney.  It seems logical that at start up, the hot smoke would be even more willing to be pulled up what should be a colder chimney. 
Is the BD door swung partially open during start up, and does the door position change as the smoke begins to flow?  I'm not sure if that even matters though, because I could hold the BD door wide open on mine, and still get no smoke into the basement.  Is the BD installed right next to the thimble?  Maybe a pic would be helpful.


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## SIERRADMAX (Jan 4, 2014)

Here are some pictures.





Currently -10 outside and still keeping the whole house at 70 but is eating a lot of wood. Feeding the boiler roughly every 5 hours. Chimney is pulling .1!


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## Fred61 (Jan 4, 2014)

I believe you should be measuring your draft upstream from the BD. It appears in the photo that your manometer probe is inserted near the thimble which actually doesn't read the draft your fire is seeing.


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## brenndatomu (Jan 4, 2014)

Fred is right, gotta measure somewhere between the BD and the fire. Nice lookin setup!


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## maple1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Can't tell exactly where the Dwyer probe is mounted in the pipe. It might be OK if it's in close to the boiler breach. I see you have a kep damper in there too - did you try closing that down a bit too to get your draft to where it should be?


EDIT: Ah wait, is that it I see close to the wall? If so, Fred is right. You need to get the probe close to the boiler for a good reading of what your boiler is seeing.


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## brenndatomu (Jan 4, 2014)

Since the key damper is after the BD, I wouldn't be comfortable using it to regulate the draft. If it was upstream, yes. The way it is, you are just asking for smoke spillage out the BD, and backpuffing.


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## maple1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Posts are coming fast & furious. 

Another good point on the key damper.

Can you rearrange things to get the baro up close to the wall, and the key damper between it & the furnace? Put a cleanout cover where the baro currently is? I had both a baro & key on my old one, and the key was between the baro & boiler - had forgotten that.

Then put your mano probe on the boiler T maybe.


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## SIERRADMAX (Jan 4, 2014)

I've seen a couple people mounting the BD out of the smoke stream, hence it's location in my setup.


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## maple1 (Jan 4, 2014)

It might be OK the way it is - but you should get the mano probe in close to the boiler outlet for a good reading of what the boiler is seeing, and leave the key damper open. As mentioned above, if the key is closed some, that would increase the chance of some smoke coming out the baro under certain low draft conditions as it is quite close to the boiler and would see reduced draft from the key being closed up some. If it will work the way it is, it's a good location for it since it would also make for a good cleanout spot - you could reach in & get some ash right thru the baro opening, or even stick a skinny vacuum hose in as far as you can. Also makes for a handy inspection point - just look in with a light & check for ash.


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## SIERRADMAX (Jan 4, 2014)

The keyed damper has always been left "open". still gets some smoke billowing. Usually occurs just when the fan ramps up.


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## NE WOOD BURNER (Jan 4, 2014)

I would elbow off the appliance then install baro tee with baro then to chimney.

right now your boiler can exhaust both directions. to chimney and to the baro.


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## brenndatomu (Jan 4, 2014)

My flue pipe setup is almost identical to yours sierra, and it is arranged like maple describes in reply #44. Baro is installed in a tee right next to the elbow at the wall. (this allows you to take advantage of some heat coming off your flue pipe this way too) Then I have a key damper directly upstream from the tee. I originally put the KD in just in case, now I'm using it the regulate the draft.
Last year I just let the baro do its thing, but when I cleaned the chimney this past spring, I found some stage 3 creosote in the elbow and my chimney liner tee. The Yukon furnaces have a huge secondary heat exchanger and I figure there just isn't enough heat left in the flue to offset the cold air from the baro, especially when it is layin flat out wide open during cold weather (I have a 25' chimney that would suck up small cats if not for the baro!) So what I have done this year is to set the baro to a higher setting so that it still works when it's windy, but I set the draft that the furnace normally see's using the KD. Seems to be working, I guess I'll know for sure when I clean the chimney next.

The setup you have now should be fine if you don't mind a lil smoke spillage as you described, but with the manometer sampling the the downstream draft, that is not representative of the draft over the fire. You will find lower readings if you move the manometer tube to the flue outlet of the boiler (upstream of the BD)
The way it is now, you can't accurately adjust the BD. You can just put a piece of foil tape over the lil ole hole that the manometer tube is in now.


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## willworkforwood (Jan 4, 2014)

As others have already suggested, I would also move the BD to be next to the thimble. That's where mine is located, and I believe it will eliminate the smoking at startup, and may extend your burn times a bit as well.   But OTOH, loading every 5 hours during this period of time isn't too bad, because a 5F daytime high along with -13 F overnight low certainly is design day here in MA, and I'm sure it's the similar where you are in RI (you guys living in the North Country may now chuckle if you wish).


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## Gasifier (Jan 4, 2014)

willworkforwood said:


> As others have already suggested, I would also move the BD to be next to the thimble. That's where mine is located, and I believe it will eliminate the smoking at startup, and may extend your burn times a bit as well.   But OTOH, loading every 5 hours during this period of time isn't too bad, because a 5F daytime high along with -13 F overnight low certainly is design day here in MA, and I'm sure it's the similar where you are in RI (you guys living in the North Country may now chuckle if you wish).


 
Chuckle, chuckle. We had -8 this morning with a cold wind. Another night of high heat demand. The Wood Gun was completely empty at 5:30 this morning after I had loaded full it at 9:30 last night. The 400 gallon buffer tank was still 170 at the top, but the boiler was down to 165. Some red embers stirred up and load it right up again. I am cleaning more often now. We have had 4 or 5 nights in a row where it was well below zero. Several of them were -15 with wind on top of that. Several nights now the weather channel said with the temps and wind it felt like -38. Talk about several zones calling for heat at the same time!

Sierradmax, glad to see you are getting things figured out. Seems to make sense to put a 90 elbow at the back of the boiler, then the straight section of pipe, then the t with the baro damper. Or the t with the baro damper right after the elbow. One or the other. The first probably being the better.


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## Fred61 (Jan 4, 2014)

I have a question for you smart guys here. Could a set-up like Sierra's cause a venturi effect on the draft over the fire and therefore not reduce the draft as much as one has anticipated? Or is this picking fly sh!t out of the pepper?


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## brenndatomu (Jan 4, 2014)

Ha, that's funny, I had the same thought. On the same subject (venturi effect) I have never had the problem, but my sister has had it happen a few times now, where the sample tube for the manometer gets soot buildup on the end in just the right way, give a WAY false reading like 10 times! Draft was actually -.03" WC, meter was reading -.3" WC until cleaned!

Fred, remind me to not use the pepper at your house!


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## maple1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Fred61 said:


> I have a question for you smart guys here. Could a set-up like Sierra's cause a venturi effect on the draft over the fire and therefore not reduce the draft as much as one has anticipated? Or is this picking fly sh!t out of the pepper?


 
I'm not claiming, in replying, to be any kind of smart guy by any means, but it likely could. But, it would likely create a venturi effect where ever it was located - I suspect though that effect would be reduced the further away the baro was from the boiler. I was also visualizing that happening when I first looked at the pic. One of those things that gets the sawdust upstairs burning, I guess.

I think the most important thing now is to get the mano probe mounted right at the boiler exit where it should be - then go from there.

BTW, I think I would keep the T that is on the back of the boiler even if the baro gets moved - I've got one right there on mine, with a cleanout cap on it. It's a great cleanout spot - I have a cheap shop vac on my shopping list that I'm sure I could do most of my ash cleaning with thru that spot & also through the baro opening just before the chimney.


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