# New to burning wood.... First chimney Fire!!



## Westernncevan (Jan 21, 2016)

Like the title says I'm new this is my first full season of wood burning... Had a fire last night. I got it put out by turning all air off to stove and misting water down chimney. I know I need to clean my chimney good. It is a new ss 6" liner I put in last spring. Scared the living crap and of the wife and me but no damage. I've been burning wood alit this winter and was planning on cleaning the chimney soon.... The wood stove I have is older but was brand new web I bought it.... I'm thinking it's just to big for my house. I have 1100 square feet to heat and I have to leave the heater just barely smoldering or it runs us out..... I'll take all the advice I can get. I was burning well seasoned( well I thought) white oak.... Split it last spring but tree had been dead and down for 2 years!


----------



## Old School (Jan 21, 2016)

You will get a lot of good advice but what I do on my older stove is run the stove hot first thing in the morning with a few sprays of ACS on the splits and then run a brush down once every 4-6 weeks. It stays relatively clean that way.


----------



## gzecc (Jan 21, 2016)

Oak takes at least two full years, split small, to get anywhere near seasoned in my area (central NJ). Split stacked off the ground for two years.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 21, 2016)

Ok I'll keep that in mind.... That's the easiest to get down here.... I'm gonna check it out when I get home from work and see just how bad it is.... That pipe sure did hold up good though!!


----------



## Xtrl9 (Jan 21, 2016)

Some folks on here might have a different opinion but I was always told that wood will only dry at 1" per year at best (unsplit), so depending on the size it may still have a ton of moisture in it.  You can check with a moisture meter or MM as they like to abbreviate on here, but I just watch what it does in the stove pretty close when I burn a new "set" of splits. if its sizzling and smoking a lot its going to make a lot of creosote (and if possible should not be burned), I've read on here that smoldering also adds to your creosote build up; what   If you run the stove "hot" (more air, less burn time) it should help. I think you should check out and definitely clean your liner before you burn anything else.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 21, 2016)

Well I'm probably gonna just let it sit the rest of the year..... Clean it out. It freaked the wife out pretty good! For good reason.  It's still just barely smoking out the chimney still today when I got home from work.... I haven't opened the door or anything since I noticed the fire just gone let it sit for a couple days and clean it out


----------



## begreen (Jan 21, 2016)

Green wood is going to muck up a chimney badly. It could also be burning technique. The fire shouldn't smolder. If there's smoke coming out of the chimney after the fire has been started something is not right. 

What stove is this? How tall is the chimney?


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 21, 2016)

It's a biltmore.... Made locally in sc it doesn't have air adjustment knobs only a ash drawer in the bottom that I use to adjust heat. Like I said I'm new at this and was planning on getting a good heater in a year or two. The insert is built very good has a thermostat controlled double squirrel cage fan. Chimney if in a sugar story house it's about 20' from top of stove to cap. I def think the most of my problems was from the fire smoldering but... As stated before I'm not sure what to do if j burned it any hotter you can't stay in the house it gets so hot....


----------



## begreen (Jan 21, 2016)

I've heard of that but have never seen one. If it's seriously oversized, plus an old smoke dragon, then it's a bad combo, particularly if burning unseasoned wood. The chimney liner should be inspected to be sure it is still safe.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 21, 2016)

I actually think the fire was more in the firebox less in the actually chimney.... I'm going to investigate more this weekend. Thanks for all yalls help!!


----------



## Xtrl9 (Jan 21, 2016)

begreen said:


> Green wood is going to muck up a chimney badly. It could also be burning technique. The fire shouldn't smolder. If there's smoke coming out of the chimney after the fire has been started something is not right.
> 
> What stove is this? How tall is the chimney?



Do you mean not at all and on older stoves?
I have seen some smoke coming out of several but not anything close to the start up smoke.  If you are seeing smoke and the fire is burning well what would that indicate?


----------



## begreen (Jan 21, 2016)

The fire shouldn't smolder at all with any stove. With dry wood you are better off creating smaller hot fires and let them burn out rather than smoldering a large fire. Modern stoves burn much cleaner and leave enough air to keep the glass clean and a minimal fire going even with the air closed. That helps prevent creosote buildup, which is what catches fire in a chimney fire.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 22, 2016)

Ok yeah I'm thinking the stove is just to big and not the easiest to control with only the one air vent in it. The fire box it about 20" by 22" 
	

		
			
		

		
	




	

		
			
		

		
	
 the glass would stay clean when it was turned up going good but blacken up way to often. I'm gonna just let my wood sit another year and get a better stove by next fall!! And do some more learning from now to then.


----------



## Stinkpickle (Jan 22, 2016)

begreen said:


> The fire shouldn't smolder at all with any stove. With dry wood you are better off creating smaller hot fires and let them burn out rather than smoldering a large fire. Modern stoves burn much cleaner and leave enough air to keep the glass clean and a minimal fire going even with the air closed. That helps prevent creosote buildup, which is what catches fire in a chimney fire.


I agree.  A small, hot fire is key, especially with a smoke dragon.  That's how I run mine.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 26, 2016)

For my house being about 1100 sq ft what would be my best option for a good wood heater? I want something that is going to be efficient and easy to run!! I'm going to upgrade before next winter.


----------



## drz1050 (Jan 26, 2016)

Mild climate, small-ish house, I'd be looking at either the Blaze King or Woodstock stoves. The new Absolute Steel might be a good one for you. 

The soapstone stoves are also known for a more gentle/ soft heat than their steel counterparts, you might want to look at some of those. Hearthstone stoves are pretty, but I don't know much about those.


----------



## begreen (Jan 28, 2016)

For 1100sq ft and to keep costs reasonable I would consider an Englander 13NCi, Century 2900, or True North TN20 insert. They are simple good heaters.

The chimney will need a full cleaning and then 6" stainless liner for the new stove or insert. The liner should be at least 15ft for good draft.


----------



## Westernncevan (Jan 29, 2016)

I already have a brand new liner only had it about a year..... I'm gonna clean it good


----------



## begreen (Jan 29, 2016)

Good deal. A few other lower cost inserts in the 2 cu ft market are the Lopi 1750i, Heatilator WINS18, and the Drolet Escape 1800i.

If your fireplace is deep I would recommend that you look at inserts that can take advantage of that depth. Some of these will have a deeper firebox that will allow you to load N/S if desired. If possible avoid flush inserts. As a general rule, the more an insert sticks out on the hearth the better it will heat the area with the blower off, as in a power outage.

One caveat, newer stoves really need good draft and dry wood to burn at their design efficiency. With this combo you will burn less wood, get more heat and the stove will keep a clean window for beautiful fire viewing. Ideally the liner should be at least 15' tall and the wood at <20% moisture content.


----------

