Newbie - Appalachian 52 Bay insert

[MelZ]

Hi! New to wood stoves. Moved into a house with an Appalachian 52 Bay window stove with blower which we love having. I’ve read the manual several times, which hasn’t really been helpful for operating. I’m able to use the stove effectively for heating. But I’m struggling with air control and knowing if I’m really getting an effective cat burn. Today was my most successful attempt as I actually saw some flames dancing across the back ceiling of the stove. But I only achieved this by leaving open the center bottom air control (which I understood to be for getting a fire started but should then be closed) and slowly, mostly closing the other two air controls. When I’ve tried to do it opposite of this (closing the bottom, center control) the flames usually die out. Even with the other two side controls wide open and even after getting the stove very hot. So I was just leaving them all open which resulted in an hot fire, but fast burning. Anyway, so just struggling a bit with knowing what I should be doing with these three air controls. Very little coming out of the chimney but other than that, not sure how to tell if burning effectively.

 

[begreen]

This sounds like the firewood is not fully seasoned. Try adding about several 2x4 cut offs to the next fire and see if that helps.

 

[MelZ]

This sounds like the firewood is not fully seasoned. Try adding about several 2x4 cut offs to the next fire and see if that helps.

Will do. Thanks. I bought firewood that was supposedly seasoned. I’ll pickup a moisture meter too. If I have dry, seasoned wood, then should I be closing the bottom middle vent and just controlling air using the two side vents?

 

[begreen]

Unfortunately, it's often the case that firewood, sold as seasoned, is not ready to burn. For example, oak takes about 2 yrs to season properly. It may have "seasoned" for a month on the firewood processor's lot, but that doesn't make it ready to burn. It may still have an internal moisture content of >30% after just a summer of "seasoning".

The other thing to check is to make sure that the catalyst is still viable and that it is not plugged up with ash. Follow the manual for cleaning instructions.

Yes, the center draft control is just for starting the fire. With good dry wood and kindling, it should be closed after about 5-10 minutes. Then use both side draft controls to regulate the fire.

 

[MelZ]

Ok. Thank you so much.

 

[begreen]

Ok. Thank you so much.

If there is some ash in the wood pile, bring it indoors in a tote for a couple of weeks. That should bring down it's moisture content quite a bit.