Neighbor complaining.

[EbS-P]

OAK, blast gates,,,huh?

OAK = outside air kit

Some stoves let you attach pipe to draw in air from outside.

Blast gate is just a sliding gate on a duct to block some air. Common use is in dust collection systems.

Instead of a restriction on the flue side it is possible to restrict air in the intake

 

[Barry C]

Isn't this what the intake lever on the stove does? Minus to positive, lower to hotter? Do you suggest further limiting the air intake? Do we imagine that Jotul has not set the intake at the minimum that correctly adjusts the stove?

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, Jotul has done that - BUT for a draft up to a certain amount, that is generally a flue of 15 ft.
Your draft (suction) is far higher, and with the air intake is *sized* for a lower draft, sucking harder on a small hole WILL lead to more air being provided to the fire.

The flue is the engine that operates the stove. Putting an engine that's too strong on anything will result in trouble.
Hence the suggestion to limit draft with a key damper (or two).

The hope is that this will decrease the smoke given that it has a cat.

 

[Todd]

Something else that may help slow the stove down that others have done is to close off the two unregulated air holes in the ash pan housing by either using magnets or letting the ash pan fill up with ash.

 

[farmwithjunk]

Have you ever taken note of the wind direction when he complains?

I smell someone burning coal when its very cold out and I don't even know who it is. I only have two neighbors within a 1000' and neither have stoves. I cannot smell my wood stove burning when its in the active zone and you can't really tell by looking at the chimney either.

 

[Barry C]

Have you ever taken note of the wind direction when he complains?

I smell someone burning coal when its very cold out and I don't even know who it is. I only have two neighbors within a 1000' and neither have stoves. I cannot smell my wood stove burning when its in the active zone and you can't really tell by looking at the chimney either.

He is complaining now. Wind is going toward his house. He does not see smoke but he can smell it and it triggers his asthma.

 

[Barry C]

Something else that may help slow the stove down that others have done is to close off the two unregulated air holes in the ash pan housing by either using magnets or letting the ash pan fill up with ash.

Yes, I plugged the holes with magnets last year.

 

[stoveliker]

Tough situation.

I do think you need drier wood (for more complete combustion given that you have smoke most of the time and only 9 months dried wood), and you need to decrease draft so the residence time in the cat increases and combustion is more complete.

Smells can't be completely removed (in my own experience), but more complete combustion will certainly help.
It will also get you more heat in your home per pound of wood (bought?).

Once the fuel is good and the draft is good, there is not much else you can do I think, other than telling your neighbor you are sorry, that you have a modern insert with very low emissions (if... see above), and that wood heat is the way you heat your home rather than burning oil. (Personally I dislike smelling the oil boilers of the neighbors - but I'm not complaining as they are not complaining about the smell (not smoke) coming out of my flue.)

 

[Barry C]

I spoke with the guy that sold me the stove. He says that if the smoke goes through the cat, it is burned, and residence is not a thing.
He said I need to remove the top and then the cat, to properly clean it. this also allows a brush to go up the chimney.
The wood I have been cutting, splitting and burning has always been fine, but I lived on a mountainside, NO neighbors.
As stated previously, I need to up my game.
Now, as to seasoning, I have always stacked but not covered my wood, it is up off the ground with "stickers". Perhaps a dumb question, is covering (not draping with a tarp) a better way to season it.

 

[stoveliker]

I'm sorry but that guy doesn't know what he is talking about regarding cats. Chemical reactions require molecules meeting each other, and catalytic reactions require doing so at the site of the catalytically active parts (atoms and nanoparticles on the substrate). In a gas where molecules collide and race around, meeting the right ones takes time. Adding a third player decreases the probability of them all three meeting at the right place and time.
Residence time, proportional the the inverse of the speed with which the gases flow (and to the path length, i.e. channel length in the cat) does matter.


Newer stoves do like drier wood, so previous stoves working fine doesn't mean more efficient stoves will too.

Top Covering is a much debated thing. I think any time rain hits wood, it'll delay the drying process until the surface moisture is gone. Avoiding it getting wet , while not limiting air flow, will help. (As evidenced by my wood not getting gray or black, which is mold that can grow due to wood staying wet sufficiently long for it to grow.)
But others have other views. Off the ground is good. If in a sunny spot, with wind.

 

[stoveliker]

This is by the VP of Blaze King (another well-known cat stove) that has provided many detailed technical comments on this forum

Edit: the snippet below shows only the post that the VP is responding to, so please click on that to get to the actual input.

Post in thread 'Please help me understand new/hyperactive cats'

Dec 4, 2024

Fascinating discussion. I'm one of those happy, but nervous new owners. On my Ashford 25 [8-10 burns so far; 15-20% mc Oak, longerish straight flue draft of 18-22 feet]. I notice that turning down the Tstat to lowest setting often bumps needle higher [1 o'clock position or 40-45 % into the red/active range on the gauge] and pushes higher heat out of the maxed fan [from 325F to 400F] .

I'm burning without a flue sensor in a tighter masonry/brick fireplace [just fits] and with blockoff plate.

The nervous point comes from the fact that Temp goes UP, even when thermostat setting...

• BKVP

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