Smoldering Fires

[4-8-4 Northern]

I appreciate any input on this from you experts out there!

I live in a small ranch house (1540 square feet) and even in mid-winter, I can't burn 24/7. The house just gets too hot. So, I load up the stove in the evening and the fire goes out sometime the next day.

I have a Woodstock Fireview stove and I just disengage the cat in the morning and leave the damper on about 1/2 or maybe 1 (it goes from 1-4). There are usually just some small chunks of wood left in the morning. As I said, the fire goes out sometime after that, during the day. Now I know that smoldering fires are not good as far as creosote buildup is concerned. So, here's my question:

Should I be opening up the damper to 4 (all the way open) in the morning so that the fire gets more oxygen and the small chunks of wood burn out sooner during the day? Or, is it okay to just leave it on 1/2 or 1 and let it burn out more slowly/smolder till it dies out? Like all of us, I'm trying to cut down on creosote buildup.

 

[Lignums]

Perhaps trying smaller splits of wood that way the fire isn't near as intense and you still get the good chimney flow. When we had our stove when we were rookies we had the same problem. We have found that smaller splits and longer burning intervals help out the most. You would just have to build a new fire when you needed to....but you won't be in a sauna.

 

[stonehouse]

From what I've gathered from reading this forum for the past couple weeks, The Wood will eventually "Gas Out" when it reaches the coals stage, so you're really not putting out creosote forming smoke at that point.
Someone please correct if I'm wrong and 484, don't take my word for it. I'm just a beginner.

 

[Todd]

I appreciate any input on this from you experts out there!

I live in a small ranch house (1540 square feet) and even in mid-winter, I can't burn 24/7. The house just gets too hot. So, I load up the stove in the evening and the fire goes out sometime the next day.

I have a Woodstock Fireview stove and I just disengage the cat in the morning and leave the damper on about 1/2 or maybe 1 (it goes from 1-4). There are usually just some small chunks of wood left in the morning. As I said, the fire goes out sometime after that, during the day. Now I know that smoldering fires are not good as far as creosote buildup is concerned. So, here's my question:

Should I be opening up the damper to 4 (all the way open) in the morning so that the fire gets more oxygen and the small chunks of wood burn out sooner during the day? Or, is it okay to just leave it on 1/2 or 1 and let it burn out more slowly/smolder till it dies out? Like all of us, I'm trying to cut down on creosote buildup.

You don't need to diengage the cat. As long as the cat was at light off temp and engaged it will continue to burn any smoke the fire produces til it's completely out, even dampered all the way down to 0. If you bypass you send smoke up the chimney which produces creosote.

If your getting too hot build smaller fires with less smaller splits, or crack a window, the fresh air won't hurt.

 

[jpl1nh]

I have a Woodstock Fireview stove and I just disengage the cat in the morning and leave the damper on about 1/2 or maybe 1 (it goes from 1-4).

I'm going to read into this a bit and assume you meant that you just engage the cat in the morning and etc.. If so, even leaving the stove just smoldering the combustor will consume the smoke and prevent creosote build up. That is assuming that you get the cat up to or over 500 degrees before engaging so that it fires off and that your cat is well cared for (ash cleaned out of it for good air flow) and that is is in good shape such as not over 12000-14000 hour of use, not crumbling from thermal shock, or damaged from over firing. If my Keystone is up to temp, when I damp down far enough, the flames will go out and the wood just keeps charring. When I look at what's coming out of the chimney, I can see nothing or virtually nothing (no smoke)

 

[4-8-4 Northern]

Okay. I think just about everybody missed my point. That's probably because of my poor communication skills.

I just want to know this: When you want a fire to burn out (and that's what I WANT), should it burn out quickly or slowly so that creosote is kept to a minimum?

 

[Corey]

I think there needs to be some definitions here. To me 'smoldering' means burning wood with a lot of smoke and not much, if any flame. But when you get to the 'coaling' stage of the fire, you are burning with very little smoke and no (or very little) flame. Once the fire gets to the coaling stage, it's not putting out much smoke at all - no danger of creosote build-up.

 

[swestall]

With the cat engaged, it will burn out without creosote either way.

 

[jpl1nh]

If you are actually disengaging the cat to try to get it to burn out more quickly then you are much more likely to cause creosote buildup. You should keep the cat engaged until its burned out. You will get pretty much the same amount of heat out of the wood whther you set the damper at 4 or 1. At 4 you'll get it hotter and more quickly, at 1 you'll get it slowly and steadily.

 

[jpl1nh]

I think you should try not loading your stove as fully in the evening so it burns out sooner. The amount and type of wood you add at each load is one of the most effective ways of regulating heat output. With a smaller load to start, you might find just a few coals in the morning and your house would be more comfortable. You could then add a few small to medium size pieces of wood for another small to moderate sized fire, engage the cat when its time and return to a few coals in the evening. Repeat the process for the overnight. No matter what, once you engage the cat, keep it engaged until your fire is totally out or your ready to add a new load of wood.

 

[Lignums]

Let her die man, vent down and let it coal off into ash, no creosote to be had. All if any moisture in the wood would have disappeared long before this stage of the burn cycle.

 

[Gooserider]

As others have said, keep the cat engaged at all times except when warming up the stove from a fresh start or when charring a new load of wood. Once lit off, the cat will stay lit until the fire is out, and it will slightly slow your burn.

If you are getting overheated, you need to keep the damper down on the lowest setting you can, and not put as much wood in the stove. Opening the damper in an effort to get the stove to burn out sooner will just give you more heat all at once.

You can think of each split of wood as being like a block of BTU's - every split you stick in the stove is equal to so many BTU's coming back out it, and the ONLY thing you can control is how fast they come out, - open the damper and you will get a lot of BTU's in a short time, close the damper and you will get a smaller number of BTU's per hour, for a longer period of time. Either way you will get the SAME number of BTU's in total :exclaim:

Putting fewer BTU's (less wood) into the stove at a time will give you fewer BTU's coming out at a time.

Putting a couple of BIG splits in will give you a slower burn than the same amount of wood as a bunch of smaller splits.

You should be able to burn the Fireview in such a way that it gives you a nice "low and slow" burn, it is just a question of learning how to do it...

Gooserider