As good as it gets?

[Dannii]

Good day all,

We finally had our Osburn 950 installed at the start of this month, after several delays and more than enough cold snaps here in Southern Ontario.

I have been trying to get aquatinted with the stove (we went back to wood after a pellet stove stint), so I’m not a newbie but definitely rusty in the wood stove department.

Whilst we are enjoying the Osburn and the heat it puts out in our small space, there have already been a few teething problems I had to work through such as adjusting the door (it was crooked and also the handle was too tight).

My only concern now is that even with the air intake (the Osburn only has one) fully open, the fire is never blazing. The attached video shows the stove running with the air fully open and this is as crazy as the fire gets - this is after a lot of babying; it takes about 2 hours to get it from cold to this, and this involves burning it with the door partly open for some of this time. Is this as good as it gets? I feel like when the door is open the fire is really going and then when I close the door (even with the air fully open) the fire starts to choke.

We are in a modular home so we have a fresh air intake hooked up to our screened in porch. We had the chimney extended to meet the minimum height requirement (it’s either 12 or 15ft, I forget).

Since this is an EPA stove I’m wondering if it just behaves differently than our old one, and that this is a good as it gets?

I would love some feedback from anyone who has a similar stove to this, or has had similar experiences.

Thank you kindly!

 

[stoveliker]

Two thoughts:
I see very little wood in the stove. I would load it up more.

The symptoms (door open works, door closed -> anemic) are consistent with not enough draft for the quality of the fuel.
If you have sufficient flue height (if it's all straight up), and given that it's cold enough outside, that suggests the fuel quality is not ideal.
So, what is the moisture content of your wood? And if you can't measure that (yet), how long has it been split and stacked off the ground? What species? (fire wood sellers rarely sell wood that's dry enough, and modern stoves do need sub 20% wood to perform satisfactorily)

 

[Dannii]

Thanks for the reply @stoveliker - our chimney is straight up and it’s been consistently below zero outside. We are currently burning red oak that I’m told has been seasoned for 2 years. Because we got our stove mid winter (not ideal circumstances but it was necessary), there was kind of a clamour to find wood and we have been ordering it by the face cord every couple of weeks. I have not checked the moisture content but that will be my next step, once I get my hands on a moisture meter! So I’m assuming it should be burning more intensely than this with the air intake fully open?

I will shop around for wood and see if I can find some that’s been well seasoned and sheltered. The stuff we have been getting has been outside all winter being snowed on etc. I know that wet wood isn’t the same as green wood but it seems to me that it is hissing somewhat and steaming a bit when it goes in. Would that explain why it’s hard to get the fire going in the first place? Kindling goes up like paper but then the wood takes ages to catch.

Again I appreciate your help! 🙂

 

[stoveliker]

With a flue straight up and the temps you have, the "system" should be good.
If it is hissing and steaming, then yes, that surely is a large contributing factor. I have seen wood that was 22% and did not have any water coming out of the ends. So what I'm saying is that even when you don't see hissing or wet spots on the cut ends, it can be too wet. Seeing what you see, it's surely far too wet.

Being "seasoned" doesn't really say much. Most sellers cut trees and let them lay for a while, either in log form or in round form, but neither form will aid in drying. Wood only dries when it's split and off the ground. And for oak that needs to be 2 years at least. (I have a 3 year cycle).

If I were you, I'd get some pine or fir instead if you're still buying for this winter. That may be drier as it can dry in one season.
Then, get more pine or fir and stack it at your home, off the ground, and top (not side) covered. That'll be good for next season.
Then also get oak and maple etc. and do the same. The maple will be good for the winter of 26/27, and the oak may be good.

Basically what I'm saying is that it's time to "get ahead". Get enough quick drying wood stacked for next season, get enough other wood stacked for the season after that. And do that latest early spring.
That'll be an investment, but it'll make you much happier when burning.
And in future years you will only need to get to replenish what you use in one season, and it'll be stacked and drying sufficient time.

Another option for now is pallets, lumber cut offs, or sawdust logs (just compressed, no additives) to mix with wetter wood.

 

[stoveliker]

Also, if the wood has snow on in your place, bring it in a few days in advance so it can dry out inside, and put it near the stove (still fire safe...) for a day so it can get up to temperature and light off more easily.

 

[Dieselhead]

Sounds like wet wood. Oak is a tough one, 2 years (if that’s actually accurate) is just not enough sometimes. Take a couple pieces and bang them together, it should sound like a sharp crack of a wooden baseball bat. If it’s a dull thud the load you got is a dud.

 

[begreen]

Agreed that there is not a lot of wood in the firebox. Load it up. Add some dry 2x4 cut offs to the loading to help it burn faster as a test.

Also, note that running with the air wide open will not make the stove hotter. Instead, it will make the flue much hotter, possibly too hot for the stove pipe continuous operational temperature rating. Once the fire is burning well, start closing down the air in ~ 50% increments. This will cause the vacuum created by the draft to start sucking air through the secondary tubes. The much more complete secondary combustion will make the firebox and stove hotter, while reducing the heat loss up the chimney. It is possible that once the fire is burning well that the air can be closed down all the way, and the fire is mostly secondary combustion. This will vary with the strength of the draft, the wood species, how tightly packed the firebox it, thickness of the splits, and the timing of air reduction.

Wood burning is part science and part art. The most important variable is the operator.

 

[colin.p]

Adding to what is already mentioned, if you buy your wood from a seller, it is not properly dry. Most sellers, either cut down their own wood (dead standing, clearing out edge rows etc.) or more likely buy it by the truck/trailer load. To recoup their costs, they will cut/split as close to firewood season as possible, leaving precious little time for it to dry. They will definitely not store piles of cut/split wood for 2-3 years to properly dry and have their costs sitting in the woodlot any longer than they would have needed to have "real seasoned wood".

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule and you may have managed to find someone who has the recourses to let the wood dry properly, stored nicely stacked for a number of years on the woodlot...

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Your video and description sounds like wet wood. That’s good news in a way, nothing to tinker with on the stove setup. But the negative is that you have to struggle until the wood supply is sufficiently dry. We’ve all been there. Just be sure to check the chimney regularly especially with set up being new.

While I usually have a couple yrs of wood on hand, I have gotten behind. In the last number of months, I’ve focused on processing less dense woods that dry quicker, so that I’m not in the lurch late next season. I’ve been getting log loads of pine which can be burned 6 months after processing. Can’t do that with many woods. You might think about doing that as well.