Fireplace questions for a new user

[kborndale]

Yes it probably was, and it was seasoned here 6+ months when I bought 'seasoned' wood.
It all sits outside uncovered in piles, and Im certain that they split it early split/summer, then sell most of it starting in the summer > late winter. And that's what people burn.

The only TRUE seasoned wood option for me is 1 hour away, and they want 900 delivered for a cord of mixed hardwood dry/covered seasoned 2 years. It's their 'wood burning stove' option. Some nice pieces of kindling, then everything is nice and square and ranges in sizes. They stack them according to size neatly. Ive seen their stuff/work, it's really nice....not 900, 600, or even 400 nice.

At $900 a cord it's cheaper to burn oil or propane. Get a few cords of green wood now and it will be ready for the winter of 23-24.

 

[GrumpyDad]

The point is pine doesn't make any more creosote than any other wood. And actually the fact that it dries faster means in many cases it will make less

That's something that I didn't know and feel better now when I burn pine. Thanks

 

[ericm979]

I seem to have glass turning blacker and blacker and it happens during two periods I believe. One is between starting a fire and getting it up to secondary temps, and that seems to be around 200-300 degrees, but the most smoke happens when I pack the stove about 1/2-3/4 full and only the bottom log is light a bit but the rest are turning to charcoal via roasting, but produce a ton of smoke that just swirls around in there.

Try building the fire top down. When I do it I leave a space at the top of the stack for a couple rolled up newspapers and lay some small kindling on top of the paper.

By going top down there's less wood being heated to the smoke point before it burns.

At least with my stove (EPA 1 non cat) it's happier if I fill it pretty full, even on cold starts. Getting the wood close to the secondary tubes at the top of the firebox seems to be the trick. My stove manufacturer says I can stack to within an inch of the tubes. And the wood needs to be below 15% to really work well. If you're having any problem getting it lit then the wood is too wet.

Also make sure the stove is fully going before you throttle the air down. My stove's manual says to wait until all the wood is charred, and they're right.

When I was learning the stove I'd go outside to check the stack often.

Finally, there's going to be some stuff on the glass no matter what. I clean it often so the stove looks pretty.

 

[stoveliker]

To put the above in context: Below 15% is hard to obtain unless one is in a region like the dry SouthWest. While I am *not* discounting your experience, the majority here seems to work perfectly with <20% wood (and can't get wood <15%).