High Winds/Cold Temps in MA - Stove Performance

[MR. GLO]

You wood needs to be 3 years covered and always dry. 2 will get you by.

But where was your air setting? Possible your wood was not good you set air to low and you were smoldering.

Don t get frustrated yet. Find good wood and burn hot until you get hang of it. Meaning dont turn down all the way. Need good wood to elimate and find problems. Otherwise you will have poor results and more smoke.

Describe your setup and stove. What type of chimney. And your temp guages on stove.

Keep it going is not flames
Keep it going is full burn cycles and warm chimney.
I only reload when it's get colder inside home or as needed and temps outside. Some reload at 350 or do for easily re light.

Only way I go all night is getting house to 73 to 75 then go to bed at 12 then wake up at 8 am or so and reload reliight. But the flu and stove is warm. Or I reload 4 to 5 am.. or freeze lol.

Basement stove invest in a wifi camera. Then maybe an uber temp guage too.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

You wood needs to be 3 years covered and always dry. 2 will get you by.

But where was your air setting? Possible your wood was not good you set air to low and you were smoldering.

Don t get frustrated yet. Find good wood and burn hot until you get hang of it. Meaning dont turn down all the way. Need good wood to elimate and find problems. Otherwise you will have poor results and more smoke.

Describe your setup and stove. What type of chimney. And your temp guages on stove.

Keep it going is not flames
Keep it going is full burn cycles and warm chimney.
I only reload when it's get colder inside home or as needed and temps outside. Some reload at 350 or do for easily re light.

Only way I go all night is getting house to 73 to 75 then go to bed at 12 then wake up at 8 am or so and reload reliight. But the flu and stove is warm. Or I reload 4 to 5 am.. or freeze lol.

Basement stove invest in a wifi camera. Then maybe an uber temp guage too.

Just a heads up.. wood dryness is determined by MC read by putting a meter on it. We actually dont go by time alone and by a standard. For instance In my sheds and set up my oak is sub 20%mc in 18 months.. not 3 years as suggested above.. How do I know its ready.. I put a meter on it.. Cherry is more like a year and popular is 3 maybe 4 months.. But all confirmed by a meter.

 

[MR. GLO]

if you buy the stove and burn wood in the same year that is not a good practice.

I own a meter.
The op is a new owner. He is probably got poor wood too.

My cherry was 1.5 and it was stored inside and all depends on how big of the cut.

But 2 to 3 years is best. Sure you can get away with less...

I'm giving my advice based upon my experience to get easy, best burns with clean chimney. I'm not measuring every piece when I can buy, store and burn. But I understand some need to burn wood less than 2 years and some want to speed up the process.



Just my opinion.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

if you buy the stove and burn wood in the same year that is not a good practice.

I own a meter.
The op is a new owner. He is probably got poor wood too.

My cherry was 1.5 and it was stored inside and all depends on how big of the cut.

But 2 to 3 years is best. Sure you can get away with less...

I'm giving my advice based upon my experience to get easy, best burns with clean chimney. I'm not measuring every piece when I can buy, store and burn. But I understand some need to burn wood less than 2 years and some want to speed up the process.


Just my opinion.

completely understand you option.. the advice more should be to to the OP is to measure the woods MC to Verify. To say a spices of wood will not be ready in a year is completely incorrect as the example that I gave above.. poplar will dry in 3 to 4 months. There no actual speeding up the process here.. the wood is dry and ready to burn at 20%.. realistically your saying to the OP wait 3 years when maybe he doesn't actually have to. One way we help people here is to help the rule out.. Putting a meter on it rules out any issue or concern right away. He feels confident in the wood and doesn't have to wait to burn the wood any additional time..

 

[MR. GLO]

your opinion is noted.

 

[begreen]

No fans or other air movement devices going. Nothing different than usual besides the wind roaring outside.
I opened the basement windows nearby and all over the rest of the house to vent the CO, placed detectors on the window ledges till they stopped.
I cleared ash and coals from the stove once it cooled all the way down and disposed of them outside, then close the windows and put the detectors back.
Since I can't get the thing to burn long enough to sleep overnight with my normal wood, it's impossible for me to keep it going 24/7 unless I'm waking up. One difference this time was a harder wood from an outside source that probably burned in total 9-10 hrs by the time it was cold enough for me to shovel out the coals. I usually turn cat on and flip temp lever to low before bed, then wake up with it cold or just enough coals to restart. I have a feeling harder wood burning slower with the lower temp setting cooled it faster even if it had fuel left. That added to the wind down draft created a perfect storm is my theory. Never realized how much of a pain getting a wood stove would be. Here's hoping we can figure it out so we're not out all that money.

Draft reversal can happen under the right conditions, even with a hot stove. This is not common, but basement installs have a greater chance of it happening. Look for leakage in the floors above. Strong winds can increase this leakage at the upper part of the house, creating a vacuum in the basement. Prime suspects are attic doors, ceiling hatches, windows.

 

[stoveliker]

See begreen.

One way to avoid basement low pressures is indeed to seal the home, starting with the attic.
One way to mitigate basement low pressures is to have an HRV in the basement.

Finally, take note of the wind direction when it happened, and look around. Is the chimney susceptible to wind blowing in (after curving over a roof ridge, hill, or trees)?

 

[Caw]

The op is a new owner. He is probably got poor wood too.

You talkin to me? You talkin to me??? 🧐

My wood rules.

It's nice to see the old thread recycled by someone else though lol.

 

[MR. GLO]

You talkin to me? You talkin to me??? 🧐

My wood rules.

It's nice to see the old thread recycled by someone else though lol.

Sorry the poster who started thread yesterday. Mass wood is good.