If my wood hasn't been cut, split, and stacked for two years, I don't burn it. Buy some kiln-dried outside of a 7-11 or supermarket to test yours. My chimney is 18 feet and I can light a fire with no problem with outside temps of 50 degrees F.
new stove fail
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Thanks for the advice, looks like a trip to Lowes for a moisture meter this weekend. I'm not totally convinced that my wood is still too wet by the amount of smoke coming out the chimney and the lack of water boiling out the ends of my wood while burning. So I'm going to get one to eliminate that possibility.
I wasn't either my first year. Until I clogged my chimney 4 months into the season. After an ice storm.
Sweep still came. I felt blessed
Sweep still came. I felt blessed
I rarely ever get more ahead than late winter-spring cutting for the next burning season. I've had no problems burning most of it (Cherry, Ash, Locust mainly) but obviously depends on the species and the condition. From the Jotul I typically get maybe a cup of creosote from a whole year. If its something like Oak then yeah that could be the problem. But I'm betting on chimney height and just getting used to burning the stove.
Wood can be less than ideally dry without having water boiling out the ends. (Can't speak to the smoke, since I can't see my chimney from anywhere closer than about 20 feet from the house.) If it's just sitting there and sulking instead of burning, it's always worth double-checking the moisture level. But every stove has its quirks, so you do need a benchmark, which means a few loads with really dry wood and good draft conditions, ie colder outside temperatures.
....that first kiss didn't make you the great lover you are today. Give a lil time for you and the stove to get to know each other.....
It's hard to compare your situation to other peoples responses, when their stove might be totally different than yours. Sounds like you are using an EPA stove. EPA stoves do not allow nearly as much updraft as older non-EPA stoves. Doesn't matter if your chimney is 12' or 30'. There's chambers, tunnels, and passage ways in new EPA woodstoves, that the combustion from burning wood need to go through before even getting to your stovepipe. These stoves do not allow a lot of CFM of air through them, even with the door wide open. Now when your firing up a cold stovepipe/chimney/stove, burning slightly wetter wood than ideal (above 16-17%), temperatures outside above 30*F, it will make starting a fire much more difficult than it did 15-20+ years ago.
Outisde chimneys are also much harder to start a draw when cold. Cold air is dense (heavy). It pushes down your chimney.
Use super dry kindling, a good amout of dry BLACK+WHITE newspaper, and keep the door cracked open about an inch.
Outisde chimneys are also much harder to start a draw when cold. Cold air is dense (heavy). It pushes down your chimney.
Use super dry kindling, a good amout of dry BLACK+WHITE newspaper, and keep the door cracked open about an inch.
I wouldn't say that's always true. I have 4 wood stoves in my house, 2 new EPA and 2 older. Besides the size differences they all have the same basic 'obstruction' of a baffle and that's it. In fact, the EPA stoves have burn tubes in them that are typically wide open so it can pull as much air into the 'reburn' as it can. Believe me I've got into some scary situations with the thing starting to overfire and no way I can limit the air feeding the out of control afterburners! So thats more air for the newer EPA stove. But thats controlled by the pull of the draft once you get going, doesn't do much for start up. Also wide open leak into the main burn usually near the ash level called zipper air or something like that (though they are tiny air ports, not really effecting total air volume much). Now depending on the stove they may be more limiting to just how much primary air you can adjust, so that's when you leave the door cracked open.
And it sounds like their chimney is interior, not exterior.
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Brandon3r,
Let's slow down before we get ahead of ourselves. I have the Wins18 which is basically the same stove you have in the form of an insert and a 2cuft firebox vs. the 2.7 yours has. Other than that, they are exactly the same in form and function. Also, like you, I have a very short chimney. Mine is 10'9" from top of stove to top of chimney. My stove performs like a champ.
I would be willing to bet your issues have more to do with you being dialed-in with the characteristics and personality of the stove than anything else. A couple things I didn't notice you mention; do you have the optional blower on your stove and if so, how are you using it? Also, do you have a stove-top thermometer that you have been monitoring?
Once you know for sure that your wood MC is >20%, give it another shot. When trying to get a fire going when the stove is cold, it sounds like you have the right idea for the most part. Just some small increments in timing and the steps in which you do things can have a huge impact on the success of your fire.
Assuming your wood is adequate, load the stove. If your wood is dry you won't need any paper, just a piece of starter like Fatwood, Super Cedar, Duralog, etc. With your air fully open, light your starter. Do not latch door shut. The amount of opening in your door can vary from 2-3" to just cracked. You will notice the smaller the opening, the greater the inward draft.
Backing up a little bit.... The draft of your chimney will be weaker cold vs. when it's hot from a strong fire.
Ok, with the starter going and some wood starting to take, continue to leave door open. Don't even consider turning the air down. Let the wood take off so that it is burning pretty good and pieces are beginning to char up. Could very well take up to 10-15 mins. Once you feel it is going pretty good, try closing the door. DO NOT turn down the air. Monitor the fire, if it begins to go out, simply open the door again. Do this until the fire will stay burning with the door closed.
Let it burn. Air fully open. If you do have a blower, leave it switched to 'auto' and turned to the lowest position. Now is where your stove-top thermometer comes into play. If you don't have one already, go buy one. Let the fire roll until your stove top temp is at least 500-degrees or better. Once 500*+, you may SLOWLY begin turning down the air. Start closing air with increments of about an 1/8 at a time. Wait about 10-15 mins or so before lowering again. Continue to monitor your temperature readings. The stove will continue to get hot. If you have a blower it may or may not have kicked on by now. If everything goes as planned after some time you should be able to have a peak stove top temp of 650-700*, and your air turned all the way down.
At this point the fire should just cruise along hot and steady. The stove will cool, especially with the blower, and will settle around +/-500*. As the fire burns and 'fuel' get consumed, the temp will gradually descend. After 8-12hrs you should be left with a stove top of about 150* and ready for a re-load.
This may all sound like a lot, but after a few weeks, you will begin to really understand the stove's attitude, and this will all become second nature. If your wood is in fact dry, and the tips I gave you do not lead to success, then I would suggest investigating other areas that may be contributing to your struggles. However start with the basics first before you start chasing something that has nothing to do with what you are experiencing.
That is a great stove and you will really love it once you get it dialed-in. Good luck.
Let's slow down before we get ahead of ourselves. I have the Wins18 which is basically the same stove you have in the form of an insert and a 2cuft firebox vs. the 2.7 yours has. Other than that, they are exactly the same in form and function. Also, like you, I have a very short chimney. Mine is 10'9" from top of stove to top of chimney. My stove performs like a champ.
I would be willing to bet your issues have more to do with you being dialed-in with the characteristics and personality of the stove than anything else. A couple things I didn't notice you mention; do you have the optional blower on your stove and if so, how are you using it? Also, do you have a stove-top thermometer that you have been monitoring?
Once you know for sure that your wood MC is >20%, give it another shot. When trying to get a fire going when the stove is cold, it sounds like you have the right idea for the most part. Just some small increments in timing and the steps in which you do things can have a huge impact on the success of your fire.
Assuming your wood is adequate, load the stove. If your wood is dry you won't need any paper, just a piece of starter like Fatwood, Super Cedar, Duralog, etc. With your air fully open, light your starter. Do not latch door shut. The amount of opening in your door can vary from 2-3" to just cracked. You will notice the smaller the opening, the greater the inward draft.
Backing up a little bit.... The draft of your chimney will be weaker cold vs. when it's hot from a strong fire.
Ok, with the starter going and some wood starting to take, continue to leave door open. Don't even consider turning the air down. Let the wood take off so that it is burning pretty good and pieces are beginning to char up. Could very well take up to 10-15 mins. Once you feel it is going pretty good, try closing the door. DO NOT turn down the air. Monitor the fire, if it begins to go out, simply open the door again. Do this until the fire will stay burning with the door closed.
Let it burn. Air fully open. If you do have a blower, leave it switched to 'auto' and turned to the lowest position. Now is where your stove-top thermometer comes into play. If you don't have one already, go buy one. Let the fire roll until your stove top temp is at least 500-degrees or better. Once 500*+, you may SLOWLY begin turning down the air. Start closing air with increments of about an 1/8 at a time. Wait about 10-15 mins or so before lowering again. Continue to monitor your temperature readings. The stove will continue to get hot. If you have a blower it may or may not have kicked on by now. If everything goes as planned after some time you should be able to have a peak stove top temp of 650-700*, and your air turned all the way down.
At this point the fire should just cruise along hot and steady. The stove will cool, especially with the blower, and will settle around +/-500*. As the fire burns and 'fuel' get consumed, the temp will gradually descend. After 8-12hrs you should be left with a stove top of about 150* and ready for a re-load.
This may all sound like a lot, but after a few weeks, you will begin to really understand the stove's attitude, and this will all become second nature. If your wood is in fact dry, and the tips I gave you do not lead to success, then I would suggest investigating other areas that may be contributing to your struggles. However start with the basics first before you start chasing something that has nothing to do with what you are experiencing.
That is a great stove and you will really love it once you get it dialed-in. Good luck.
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Thanks, this is the best advice yet the wood I have checked so far is below 20% so we'll see when it gets cold enough to have another fire.
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