Rate my setup :)

[oska]

So I should be running the stove at 350F right?

 

[jatoxico]

That wood doesn't look all that dry either oska. Don't know what you have but drying takes a year or more after the wood has been split. Smaller splits will help to burn hotter and cleaner.

 

[spirilis]

So I should be running the stove at 350F right?

I think a 350F thermometer reading sounds good for what I would call "medium-high" burn. Obviously my stove is different from yours, but that's quite reasonable; stovepipe temps hitting 400F 12-18" past the stove usually only happen when my stove has opened the gates of hell and gone nuclear on me.

(In a noncatalytic secondary combustion burn tube-type of woodstove, that is coupled with the firebox basically engulfed in one huge cloud of flame... everywhere even near the bottom of the glass, is engulfed in various brightnesses and shades of flame, stovetop exceeding 650F and technically overfiring).

 

[oska]

Oh no the wood is definitely not dried for a year We collected it this August and September, some of it is still rather wet

I honestly think my stove is just not very good at burning wood. It only lasts for an hour or two at most before it's completely incinerated, and it rarely gets above 350, if ever. I'm usually refilling the stove like once an hour or so with extra wood - so a full load really only goes for an hour or two at most. Obviously bad, compared to what I've read from others here on this thread.

It's still better than wasting a bunch of coal on warm days, but I wish they had built a hole in the top and bottom. That way, we could shut the bottom air feed when burning wood, or shut the top air when burning coal. That seems logical to me but obviously the manufacterers wanted to sell both wood and coal stoves.

IDK how to melt through steel in order to make a top hole, but I'm pretty sure it would void the warranty

 

[Triple]

Sounds like you are getting way too much air intake in your stove. Is there anywhere it could be sealed up? How are your gaskets? I know nothing about coal stoves so I'm affraid I cannot help too much.

 

[spirilis]

Oh no the wood is definitely not dried for a year We collected it this August and September, some of it is still rather wet

I honestly think my stove is just not very good at burning wood. It only lasts for an hour or two at most before it's completely incinerated, and it rarely gets above 350, if ever. I'm usually refilling the stove like once an hour or so with extra wood - so a full load really only goes for an hour or two at most. Obviously bad, compared to what I've read from others here on this thread.

It's still better than wasting a bunch of coal on warm days, but I wish they had built a hole in the top and bottom. That way, we could shut the bottom air feed when burning wood, or shut the top air when burning coal. That seems logical to me but obviously the manufacterers wanted to sell both wood and coal stoves.

IDK how to melt through steel in order to make a top hole, but I'm pretty sure it would void the warranty

Agreed. I think if you guys are getting into the hang of burning a mix, that is ideal, moreover you should sweep the chimney often - like once a month or 2 tops, since it's likely you're generating some serious creosote with that wood.

See if you can get ahead on the wood and keep as much out to dry for next year as you can (stacked on top of pallets or something else suitable to keep it off the ground), and get more coal when you can.

 

[begreen]

Wet, poorly seasoned wood is a royal pain to burn and gives off poor heat. That's why you need so much air for the fire. Go to the store and pick up a bundle of firewood and try that out. Or add some untreated 2 x 4 cut offs to the wood to help it burn better.

 

[oska]

Sounds like you are getting way too much air intake in your stove. Is there anywhere it could be sealed up? How are your gaskets? I know nothing about coal stoves so I'm affraid I cannot help too much.

I thought that I should increase air intake until the stove hit 350F?

I'll have a couple days coming up with somewhat normal november weather (in mid december ) - I can try the same amount of wood with half open damper and see if I can still get the same temperatures.

I burned like three armfuls of wood today (I don't have very big arms, and I'm not very strong ) and got the whole house up to 80F.

----------------


We have a bunch of different types of wood - some is very very well seasoned and dry (it had been sitting out on the side of the road for YEARS and we came and picked it up). We've been trying to burn the nasty stuff first and save the well seasoned better wood for later in the winter when it actually gets cold...but it never got cold

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The only other thing I think I have to try here is to open up the pipe and see how much creasole (is that the stuff?) has built up in the chimney. Any suggestions on how to do this?

--------------------

As some people here suggested, I decided to focus most of the fan power on pushing air up through the holes that my dad cut in the floor. There's huge flows of hot air coming through now. I've tried and tried with different positions of the fan near the stairs, but the little taped peice of toilet paper someone here suggested just doesn't flap as hard back when the fan is there - so I think there's really no good way to move cold air downstairs with the fan.

Instead, I talked to my dad and he thought maybe it would be OK to cut another hole in the ceiling and set it up with a fan. There's one already cut there from the previous owners of the house - but it goes right under the couch - I think that the warm air would end up going upstairs anyways though even with the couch.

-----------

With all 4 fans (the blower fan, the register booster fan, and the other 2 fans going most of the time) it cost my dad an extra $40 a month - and we also started leaving the outside lights on 24/7 - so the cost of these fans is pretty small. I thought that was exciting

 

[jb6l6gc]

How many chords of wood do people here usually go through during an average winter? Is it like 2 chords a month?

6 cords here ,2100 sq for two story. That was based on last winter which was almost six months here. So average 1 cord a month. I also have electric forced air heat and can confirm $600 bill for heat in the middle of winter so wood is a
No brainer for me

 

[Triple]

I thought that I should increase air intake until the stove hit 350F?

I'll have a couple days coming up with somewhat normal november weather (in mid december ) - I can try the same amount of wood with half open damper and see if I can still get the same temperatures.

I burned like three armfuls of wood today (I don't have very big arms, and I'm not very strong ) and got the whole house up to 80F.


I say that because you are burning through your wood so quickly. The only time I have experienced fast burn times like that was when my ash pan door would not seal and the air was just pouring in.

 

[Triple]

I

6 cords here ,2100 sq for two story. That was based on last winter which was almost six months here. So average 1 cord a month. I also have electric forced air heat and can confirm $600 bill for heat in the middle of winter so wood is a
No brainer for me

I burn 10 - 12 face cords from October - April.

 

[jb6l6gc]

I



I burn 10 - 12 face cords from October - April.

So approx 4 cords. Nobody talks in face cords, stove cords only full cords lol

That's pretty good. So far this year I've only burned a cord. I hope the winter stays like this and I'll probably save about 3 cords. Doubtful though

 

[Woody Stover]

Wet, poorly seasoned wood is a royal pain to burn and gives off poor heat. That's why you need so much air for the fire. Go to the store and pick up a bundle of firewood and try that out. Or add some untreated 2 x 4 cut offs to the wood to help it burn better.

A thermometer on single-wall pipe should go over 500 pretty easy with the bypass open on a fresh load of dry wood. Not that you want to see it that high most of the time...could damage the pipe. I'm just saying the fact that you aren't seeing much over 350 no matter what, indicates that the wood is wet. Will be interesting to see how hot the thermo reads with some coal in there.
I've seen some gas station wood that was so wet that it would scarcely burn...water bubbling out the ends of the splits like mad. If you do buy some gas station or grocery store wood, the bundle should feel kinda light, even if it is Red Oak. Easy for me to say, since I know how heavy Red Oak feels, both wet and dry.

 

[SmokeyCity]

If your buring wood in a stove that is really a coal stove and you have a cold air kit made from a dryer vent tube and you have multiple fans pressed up against it with electrical extension cords matted in knots like National Lampoon's Christmas movie and the whole area around the stove looks like ground zero in the movie DELIVERANCE

YOU MIGHT BE pulling our chain and having a little fun

Please tell me this is a joke... right?

If its not then it OK anyway... cause your avitar is hot and you can post all the faux trolls stuff you want.

Hi,

We have a harman mark III stove, and I burn a mixture of wood and coal most of the time (it's just so warm outside right now that I cannot ethically burn coal - it would be such a waste). I just wanted to post a picture of our setup, it's the stove, with two makeshift fans, and an outside air vent - you can also see the bucket of coal and a pile of pine wood.

This is not going to win any award for clenliness, but it has so far kept our 2000 sq foot house in the mid 70s.

I only feel terrible because I've burned like 1/2-1/3 of a chord of wood, and like 1/4 of a ton of coal already, and it's only in the mid 40s during the day

Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

http://imgur.com/6j56X0V

 

[SmokeyCity]

Definitely punking us. Outstanding!

 

[rwhite]

Definitely punking us. Outstanding!

I'm with you Smokey. 4 pages of responses to an image that was likely just found on the imgur website. I'll just have to ride this one out and see what happens.

 

[FionaD]

I gotta admit, this is fascinating to watch

Do you have a beauty blog as well Oska? http://beautyandthefeastblog.com/2011/11/23/faking-pretty-hair/

 

[Woody Stover]

Not likely, but there could be a female under the age of 40 that's interested in alternative heating...

 

[Michael6268]

Its hysterical how many responded to this stupid post because of the avitar. I can imagine how many are PM'ing her too!
Probably not even her in the avitar. Probably looks like the old lady in those greeting cards. LOL

 

[FionaD]

Mind you..... if we're to believe that everyone's avatars on this forum only included faces that were actually their faces, then Robert De Niro sure is a stove enthusiast

 

[Woody Stover]

That Dinero guy can afford any stove he wants! Nothing phony about my avatar.

Its hysterical how many responded

Her grammar does seem pretty good for a youngster, in fits and starts. But a fake avatar? I don't think so. Appears to be a pretty average-looking young woman, all told. Maybe the knockouts up there in NH are a little sparse? There was a bonafide hottie who posted here a while back. Too bad we can't put some money down to make all this conjecture interesting. Heheh. Oops, we're off topic again; Countdown to lockdown on this thread.

The only other thing I think I have to try here is to open up the pipe and see how much creasole (is that the stuff?) has built up in the chimney. Any suggestions on how to do this?

Can you get on the roof pretty easily? You could just look down there with a powerful flashlight and get a pretty good idea of what's going on.

he thought maybe it would be OK to cut another hole in the ceiling and set it up with a fan....With all 4 fans (the blower fan, the register booster fan, and the other 2 fans going most of the time) it cost my dad an extra $40 a month - and we also started leaving the outside lights on 24/7 - so the cost of these fans is pretty small.

If it's cheaper than letting the furnace come on, after your fuel costs, I guess it's working.
Hate to be a bucket of wet sand on the fire, but to comply with code in most places, when there's a vent hole cut in the floor there is supposed to be a fusible vent that would automatically close in case of a fire, to slow its spread to the floor above.

 

[Diabel]

Trolling is a disease.