New to using wood heat and too much advice from father in law

[james72]

Hi,
As the the winter months start to creep in I'm getting started with using the forrester wood stove to heat our home. My F.I.L. syas once I get the the fire burning have have red embers I should close the air dampeners half way and close the flue half way. I've done that a couple times but it doesn't seem to work. It seems to put my fire out. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks
Jim

 

[tickbitty]

That sounds like it should work, actually, but your wood has to be really dry (if it was cut/split in last several months it's probably not quite there yet) wetter wood needs a lot more air to burn so maybe your wood isn't dry enough yet? If you are certain the wood is dry, then maybe your chimney draft isn't very good?

 

[thewoodlands]

Hi,
As the the winter months start to creep in I'm getting started with using the forrester wood stove to heat our home. My F.I.L. syas once I get the the fire burning have have red embers I should close the air dampeners half way and close the flue half way. I've done that a couple times but it doesn't seem to work. It seems to put my fire out. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks
Jim

Jim find out what will work for you and the wood you're burning, what works with my setup might not work with yours. We have thermometers on the stove top and flue and go by that.

When we are burning cherry we let the flue temp get to 400 then shut the by-pass then start closing the air down which will stop the flue temps at 500.


zap

 

[james72]

i'm using a mixture of oak, cherry, and maple. It burns really well. I've only been burning for a little over a month now.

 

[weezer4117]

Hi,
As the the winter months start to creep in I'm getting started with using the forrester wood stove to heat our home. My F.I.L. syas once I get the the fire burning have have red embers I should close the air dampeners half way and close the flue half way. I've done that a couple times but it doesn't seem to work. It seems to put my fire out. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks
Jim

Jim find out what will work for you and the wood you're burning, what works with my setup might not work with yours. We have thermometers on the stove top and flue and go by that.

When we are burning cherry we let the flue temp get to 400 then shut the by-pass then start closing the air down which will stop the flue temps at 500.


zap

you need to play with it and learn how it works best. this will require time, all stoves are different. i know how my stove works and i dont think i could explain how it runs and tell someone else to run theirs like i do. you also have to remember that you need to maintain a good temp in the chimney for draft and creo issues......

 

[billb3]

That pretty much works with the little stove I have now although I can cut back more than half way eventually , but the big 'ol Jotul in the old house had to be cut back in two or three steps. It was worse with a cold and a bit too clean stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum James. Your FIL is partially correct but like others have stated, you need to learn your stove. That should not take long.

Like others I will also caution you on the fuel. Perhaps your FIL also advised you on that and perhaps he is partially right. However, most wood burners, even though they think their wood is good usually find out later that it really is not the best. For wood to be good it needs to be cut, split and stacked in the wind to dry for a year or more. Oak especially needs more time. Comparing oak to maple is like comparing a Cadillac to a second-hand Ford. That oak is one of the very best woods to burn....but around these parts we never try to burn it until it has been split and stacked for 3 years! Yes, it needs that long, at least for the new EPA rated stoves. In the older stoves, 2 years would do but you'll still get more heat per log if you season it 3 years. That cherry and maple will be fine after a year in the stack. Some might be ready in less than a year if cut in winter then split and stacked by Spring if it is stacked in the wind.

Good luck.

 

[HotCoals]

Does this Forester have a cat or secondary tubes?