What do you guys think? Now that I am burning better wood, it seems to be burning much better. The temperature is about 475 at the top right of the door. Below is a 21 second video of the burn. How am I doing, more air, less air? Thanks
chris2879 said:If I close down all the way, do you get any flames of the wood or just a few flames here and there in the firebox? I am not sure how far i can choke back. I looked at the chimney with a flash light(dark outside) and it appears to be just steam coming out or a very light colored smoke. It seems like whatever I do, the temp like to be around 475 - 500. I have never gotten it past 520 or so... not sure whats up with that.
DonNC said:noob question here. I looked at the vid and I dont know what you are calling a secondary burn. Ive seen reference to it before on this forum but still do not know what it is.
Boozie said:DonNC said:noob question here. I looked at the vid and I dont know what you are calling a secondary burn. Ive seen reference to it before on this forum but still do not know what it is.
I'm so glad you asked Don. I've been wondering what they were talking about also, but had not asked. I still am not sure.
Barb
Pagey said:Boozie said:DonNC said:noob question here. I looked at the vid and I dont know what you are calling a secondary burn. Ive seen reference to it before on this forum but still do not know what it is.
I'm so glad you asked Don. I've been wondering what they were talking about also, but had not asked. I still am not sure.
Barb
Secondary burn refers to the combustion of volatile gases released by the wood. I'm not an expert on combustion, but in my layman's understanding it's something like this: in primary combustion, the wood comes up to about 250F or so until the moisture is evaporated and driven out. Then, with some of the moisture gone and as it gets hotter, it will release volatile gases and droplets of tar. If you get the firebox hot enough AND supply sufficient oxygen to the path of those volatile gases, they'll ignite and burn. This is the much vaunted "secondary combustion". In the video above, it is the flames you see at the top portion of the firebox. In a stove without proper secondary combustion design, those gases would simply go up the flue as smoke and wasted energy. Today's stoves burn these volatile gases using one of two technologies: catalytic and non-catalytic.
(broken link removed to http://www.woodheat.org/tips/technique.htm)
Boozie said:What a FANTASTIC article. Good reading for all "newbies" such as myself. I think, also, that I now understand "secondary" burn. In fact, I think I observed it last evening.
Thanks again for all the good info.
Barb
Creature said:Boozie said:What a FANTASTIC article. Good reading for all "newbies" such as myself. I think, also, that I now understand "secondary" burn. In fact, I think I observed it last evening.
Thanks again for all the good info.
Barb
Your stove (or that load of wood) might be an exception, but I don't think cat stoves are engineered for secondary burn ("There is no secondary combustion chamber or secondary air tubes" according to the "Catalytic converter EPA rated wood stove" section of: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/ind..._and_new_Wood_stove_technology_for_a_newbie./) .
Maybe some gasses are lighting up before entering the cat ... Then again, I'm a noob too, and I don't have a cat stove (My stove isn't even ready to fire yet).
Pagey said:Secondary combustion just refers to the burning of the gases released by the wood. A cat stove burns these gases by passing them through the catalyst. The catalyst is treated with special metals that allow the smoke to burn at around 500F. In a non-cat stove the firebox needs to be about 1,000-1,100F to reburn the gases. So even though a non-cat stoves puts on a much more active and visible show, a cat stove is still technically taking advantage of secondary combustion.
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