Old house new fire advice

[Usurper]

Hahaha cats are great

 

[stoveliker]

Well, my feline stove doesn't have a cat in front of it.

Or maybe I am confusing things now...

 

[bigealta]

My dog stove doesn't allow cats.

 

[all night moe]

Do I need a cat stove for our dogs?
Now I really don't know what stove to get....

 

[begreen]

Do I need a cat stove for our dogs?
Now I really don't know what stove to get....

That's Cat-ch 22.

 

[Usurper]

Back and a major issue and I don’t know why. Last night I threw 3 logs in closed up and went to bed. At 2 am I was woke by the fire alarm. I rushed out to find the living room filling with smoke quickly. I think I maybe grabbed wood from the wrong pile and got fresher wood than I’ve been using. ( I know that’s on me )
The fire has been working flawlessly since it got up and running until last night. This morning I tried to light some kindling and smoke started coming out again. First video is what I woke too and second is from 20 mins ago.
I’m totally fried and have no idea what’s gone wrong, I thought it was the wood mistake but I still have the issue this morning.

 

[brenndatomu]

Last nights wet wood smoldered/smoked and plugged up the screen on the chimney cap most likely

 

[Usurper]

Thank you.
I’m about to go check, I could see a small amount of smoke coming out, but the fire box remains full of smoke from the test paper/kindling burn this morning.

I will Report back once I’ve gathered the energy to go up.

 

[begreen]

Check the flue for damage or constriction. The most common issue is the chimney cap screen if there is one.

The other issue may be that draft is too weak in milder temperatures.

 

[Usurper]

Check the flue for damage or constriction. The most common issue is the chimney cap screen if there is one.

The other issue may be that draft is too weak in milder temperatures.

There is a cap that came with the kit. I will be heading up shortly.
I have 12ft of height from the stove and it worked fine when we had the weather in the teens a few weeks back.
Really hoping it’s the screen.
Also I feel there was condensation dripping last night when I was trying to wrangle the smoke filled house. That’s a new thing also

 

[begreen]

Bring your phone to take a picture of the cap. If there is a screen in the cap and it is showing signs of buildup, remove it.

If the cap is clear, then the 12' height could be an issue. It's marginal. This might have been ok with the Century stove, but the Magnolia may want a taller flue? Hard to say, as I haven't run one.

Draft strength is relative to the chimney height above the stove and to the difference between indoor and outdoor temperature. It's going to get colder by tomorrow night and draft will strengthen.

A non-commercial service in support of responsible home heating with wood - All About Chimneys

The Wood Heat Organization was formed to support the public in the responsible use of wood energy in the home. We fulfill our mandate by providing reliable information, by conducting research into wood heating-related issues and by representing the public interest in discussions of policies that...

woodheat.org

 

[Usurper]

Bring your phone to take a picture of the cap. If there is a screen in the cap and it is showing signs of buildup, remove it.

If the cap is clear, then the 12' height could be an issue. It's marginal. This might have been ok with the Century stove, but the Magnolia may want a taller flue? Hard to say, as I haven't run one.

Draft strength is relative to the chimney height above the stove and to the difference between indoor and outdoor temperature. It's going to get colder by tomorrow night and draft will strengthen.

A non-commercial service in support of responsible home heating with wood - All About Chimneys

The Wood Heat Organization was formed to support the public in the responsible use of wood energy in the home. We fulfill our mandate by providing reliable information, by conducting research into wood heating-related issues and by representing the public interest in discussions of policies that...

woodheat.org

Will do. Changing to go up now. This chimney has only been used with this stove, and worked fine prior to last night.
That’s really the only thing I have to go on. Anyway thank you again I will report back in 10 just need to find my flashlight

 

[Usurper]

Well this is horrible. I need to put this fresh wood away somewhere else i get the feeling we may have inadvertently got a few of these wetter pieces the last few days. Surely this build up is too
Much for over night
How clean should I be looking to get this thing? Is the second photo good enough ? And do I need to check anywhere else ?

 

[Usurper]

I’m going to assume a chimney clearing log would be a good idea before I try again?

 

[brenndatomu]

How clean should I be looking to get this thing? Is the second photo good enough ?

Yup, that'll work.

I’m going to assume a chimney clearing log would be a good idea before I try again?

I'd save my money...just have a good hot fire to crisp things up and then run a Sooteater or whatever brush you have through there...then find some truly dry wood.

 

[begreen]

OK, there's your culprit but this is likely a symptom of another problem, poorly seasoned firewood. Hardwood like oak and hickory take 2-3 yrs after being split, stacked, and covered to fully dry internally.

How does the chimney look inside? Is it just sooty or is there glazed creosote buiding up?

 

[Usurper]

OK, there's your culprit but this is likely a symptom of another problem, poorly seasoned firewood. Hardwood like oak and hickory take 2-3 yrs after being split, stacked, and covered to fully dry internally.

How does the chimney look inside? Is it just sooty or is there glazed creosote buiding up?

Hopefully. This is clearly on me for not making sure I just used what we knew was old. I thought the newer stuff was still to be cut up let alone split.
Just looks like flakey soot in the chimney. I’ve just got home with a CSL log. I think I will just do a hot burn tomorrow when I start it up. I really don’t need the stress of it maybe blowing back today.

Thank you

 

[EbS-P]

I’m going to assume a chimney clearing log would be a good idea before I try again?

I think most everyone would say you just need to get a soot eater and sweep it properly.

 

[Usurper]

OK, there's your culprit but this is likely a symptom of another problem, poorly seasoned firewood. Hardwood like oak and hickory take 2-3 yrs after being split, stacked, and covered to fully dry internally.

How does the chimney look inside? Is it just sooty or is there glazed creosote buiding up?

Hopefully. This is clearly on me for not making sure I just used what we knew was old. I thought the newer stuff was still to be cut up let alone split.
Just looks like flakey soot in the chimney. I’ve just got home with a CSL

 

[Usurper]

I think most everyone would say you just need to get a soot eater and sweep it properly.

Thank you. Annoyingly I left the soot eater I had at the old house, I think it was fairly cheap with the rods but I never actually had to use it , the chimney in the old house almost looked new still.
I shall do some reading on correct chimney cleaning procedures.

Thank you

 

[bigealta]

That cap was crazy. at least you have a nice easy roof to walk on.

 

[Usurper]

That cap was crazy. at least you have a nice easy roof to walk on.

Yeah I feel extremely foolish for screwing up. I’ve tried so hard to do everything and be super careful about doing it right and I go and do this. Sigh.
I blame the last 2 years being hellish.

Again thanks everyone for being so welcoming and helpful.

 

[begreen]

This can happen to anyone. Many years back we had a stack of maple that had a leaky tarp on top. I didn't discover this until we started burning. Water had dripped down the stacks over the two previous years it sat drying in a shady location. By Thanksgiving my screen was plugged. I had to remove the screen to make it through the season.

 

[stoveliker]

The OP had significant other things on his mind, if I recall correctly, with his wife getting cancer. I've been there, myself not my wife, and I know it makes one scatterbrained for a long time.

But this is a normal learning curve even for those who are not dealing with such grave issues.

Don't feel bad. It happens. And you learned from it, so you have a chance to do better in the future.
Don't hesitate to ask advice.

To give some of that - unsolicited: I made a shed with 3 bays. Each bay contains about what I burn in a year. This allows me to not mix wood of different ages, and be sure my wood has been drying 3 years (which in my climate is good enough).
Shed or no shed, create such a rotating system so you don't depend on memory, and can focus on other things if needed (while refilling the yearly storage each year before the summer).

 

[bigealta]

I use a fat sharpie and write the date of split and stack right on a number of splits in each separate stack.
I have so many smaller stacks around the yard that i'd never remember when each one was made.
The sharpie can fade over time so i just rewrite the dates when they do start to fade.