need a small fire

[Jesepi]

Hello to all...
It is rainy and cool here in Pennsylvania today.
I would like to have a small fire just to warm the air in the house andto lift spirits on such a dreary day.
ahowever i am hesitant because i dont want any build up of creosote in chimney.
Mychimney looks good but I have not cleaned the pipe from the stove up to the horizontal that goes thru the wall. The
horizontal looks good and my cap on top looks good and open. Do I have anything to worry about or am I just being overly cautious ?
I have somr Red Stone brand fire blocks to burn or I can burn my dry Cherry and oak ? What do you all think ?
Don

 

[VintageGal]

Hello to all...
It is rainy and cool here in Pennsylvania today.
I would like to have a small fire just to warm the air in the house andto lift spirits on such a dreary day.
ahowever i am hesitant because i dont want any build up of creosote in chimney.
Mychimney looks good but I have not cleaned the pipe from the stove up to the horizontal that goes thru the wall. The
horizontal looks good and my cap on top looks good and open. Do I have anything to worry about or am I just being overly cautious ?
I have somr Red Stone brand fire blocks to burn or I can burn my dry Cherry and oak ? What do you all think ?
Don

How about you clean your chimney? Is that something you do yourself or do you need to hire a sweep?

 

[Jesepi]

How about you clean your chimney? Is that something you do yourself or do you need to hire a sweep?

I clean myself. Just cleaned it a week ago but i cant get to the upper 2 feet because the
brush is not long enough. But it all seems clean. I can look at my horizontal section and it looks good. I just ordered the SootEater so will be here today ?Only piece that Im not sure of is the vertical pipe that goes up from the stove to the horiz piece that goes thru the wall. But rest seems clean when I look at the inside.

 

[VintageGal]

I will defer to the elders for their opinions. If you're anxious about the possibility of a chimney fire, I would hire a chimney sweep.

 

[stoveliker]

a small fire does not carry more risk than a big fire - if "small" is done in the right way.

Build a fire that is burning bright and hot, but use only a few pieces so you don't heat for long and overheat your home. Then in a few hours (6 or so), you could build another small fire if needed for heat.

Don't build a fire with much fuel and smolder it to avoid overheating - that'd put deposits in your chimney.

If your chimney is clean, then building a small hot fire is safe.

This does not give you continuous "happy flames on a dreary day", but it's the way that's safe.

 

[begreen]

The Redstones should be the driest and cleanest fuel to burn. If you keep track of the flue temp with a good thermometer and burn dry wood, then the risk of creosote buildup with a smaller fire is minimal unless the chimney itself has issues like lack of an insulated liner. I started a half-sized fire this morning. The flue got up to about 550º, then settled down in the 450-500º range.

 

[Jesepi]

The Redstones should be the driest and cleanest fuel to burn. If you keep track of the flue temp with a good thermometer and burn dry wood, then the risk of creosote buildup with a smaller fire is minimal unless the chimney itself has issues like lack of an insulated liner. I started a half-sized fire this morning. The flue got up to about 550º, then settled down in the 450-500º range.

I use single wall pipe for the flue. I use a magnetic thermometer on it at 18" above the stove top. I can only get it to about 250 -300 F or thereabouts. So wouldnt that be 500-600 internal flue gas temp ?

 

[Prof]

Like Stoveliker said--a small, hot fire is the way to go. I will be taking the chill off and cooking some pancakes with some small dry stuff in the morning.

 

[begreen]

I use single wall pipe for the flue. I use a magnetic thermometer on it at 18" above the stove top. I can only get it to about 250 -300 F or thereabouts. So wouldnt that be 500-600 internal flue gas temp ?

Approximately, yes.

 

[Jesepi]

Approximately, yes.

And this is a good temp then ? My chimney is always pretty clean. My new Soot Eater cam today so I will use it tomorrow in my chimney just because now I will be able to get all the way to the top.

 

[begreen]

If the thermometer is accurate then yes. Single wall flue temps at that location are roughly about 50-60% of the flue gas temp inside the pipe.

 

[Bad LP]

Just run it. Mine is on a winter day setting on a 3/4 load right now.
I’ll pack it before bedtime and run it like always.

 

[Rob_Red]

Just run it. Mine is on a winter day setting on a 3/4 load right now.
I’ll pack it before bedtime and run it like always.

Yes do this and open windows it’s too hot. That’s what we do.

 

[begreen]

37º this morning, predicted to go up to 56º in the afternoon. The T6 is running a 3/4 load right now.

 

[kennyp2339]

I wouldnt be hesitant in making a smaller fire, just use smaller splits, think of it this way, its awfully hard to keep a hot fire when 2 splits are burning, but if you take those same 2 splits and split them into 4 or 5 splits now your working with something, the fire wont last as long, but it will def burn hot enough and take the "edge" off in the room.

 

[Jesepi]

I wouldnt be hesitant in making a smaller fire, just use smaller splits, think of it this way, its awfully hard to keep a hot fire when 2 splits are burning, but if you take those same 2 splits and split them into 4 or 5 splits now your working with something, the fire wont last as long, but it will def burn hot enough and take the "edge" off in the room.

Thanks everyone I knew I would get many answers and points to ponder. Thanks again ! Iwill of course keep checking to see if any other comments are left. See 'yall !

 

[firefighterjake]

Taking the chill out of the house and not over-heating yourself in the process is a skill learned in time.

No worries on creosote production . . . you do the same as you always do . . . just with not as much wood.

I like to use softwood, punky wood, chunk wood and my ugly (curved, vent, mauled, etc.) wood for this purpose as I don't necessarily need to pack the fire box to the gills with fuel. As mentioned . . . get the fire going like normal . . . I like the top down fire method.

And here's the key to avoid turning the house into a blast furnace . . . resist the urge to reload the stove. If you get cold later on . . . much later on . . . you can use kindling to get the fire back up and running, but pay attention to the forecast. If the temps will be rising you're better off building the one, quick hot fire, getting your stove nice and warm and then letting the fire die out and having the heated metal radiate the heat for several hours to stay warm.

 

[Jesepi]

Taking the chill out of the house and not over-heating yourself in the process is a skill learned in time.

No worries on creosote production . . . you do the same as you always do . . . just with not as much wood.

I like to use softwood, punky wood, chunk wood and my ugly (curved, vent, mauled, etc.) wood for this purpose as I don't necessarily need to pack the fire box to the gills with fuel. As mentioned . . . get the fire going like normal . . . I like the top down fire method.

And here's the key to avoid turning the house into a blast furnace . . . resist the urge to reload the stove. If you get cold later on . . . much later on . . . you can use kindling to get the fire back up and running, but pay attention to the forecast. If the temps will be rising you're better off building the one, quick hot fire, getting your stove nice and warm and then letting the fire die out and having the heated metal radiate the heat for several hours to stay warm.

Thank you ! im new to all this as of 3 mos or so. Still learning. Thanks !

 

[stoveliker]

It's good to learn. Ask anything here; many folks know a lot. Don't reinvent the wheel...

So if you see something puzzling, making your curious, or making you think it can be done better, post and ask here!

 

[begreen]

It takes some practice and an observant eye. We all have to adjust to the seasons, new burner or old.

It was 42º this morning. The forecast high will be in the low 50s. I did a 4 split fire today. The stove normally takes about 10-12. I used a super cedar chunk to start and the fire was up to temp with secondary burn in about 30 min. 2 hrs later and the SST is 400º. House is at 70º with the sun starting to supplement.

 

[Jesepi]

It's good to learn. Ask anything here; many folks know a lot. Don't reinvent the wheel...

So if you see something puzzling, making your curious, or making you think it can be done better, post and ask here!

thanks !

 

[Jesepi]

It takes some practice and an observant eye. We all have to adjust to the seasons, new burner or old.

It was 42º this morning. The forecast high will be in the low 50s. I did a 4 split fire today. The stove normally takes about 10-12. I used a super cedar chunk to start and the fire was up to temp with secondary burn in about 30 min. 2 hrs later and the SST is 400º. House is at 70º with the sun starting to supplement.

thanks . this is what i need to learn more about.

 

[begreen]

thanks . this is what i need to learn more about.

Practice will get you there. You will make mistakes, we all do, even the seasoned vets.