Woodstock Settings

[Backwoods Savage]

hey there names nick first time typing on here. i have a fireview new to burning. im haveing trouble getting that 600 to 650 burn range. only have done it a few times. when you sat .25. are you saying only a .25 open from 0 to 1. on the fireview 0 damper closed 4 all the way down is wide open. or was .25 down from 1 as in .75 to 1 sorry if you cant understand this. trying to figure out my stove. thanks alot.[/quote]


Welcome to the forum HuskyMurph.

You will figure that stove out rather quickly. Yes, when we talk about .25 we mean 1/4 of the way towards 1. Sometimes we set it even lower! Last night, for example I set it right at the zero mark and did well. Not sure if all Fireview stoves are like ours but off is just past that zero line.

 

[Flatbedford]

I set mine at about .25 yesterday. It burned nearly forever, but at only about 400-450 °F . It was in the mid 40s outside. I can't imagine getting 650 °F at that setting. Maybe I'll try again on a colder day. When it was cold last week I was burning at 1- 1.25 trying to keep the drafty house warm. I didn't try going lower.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Steve, what I find is that it really depends on how much wood you put into the stove. When the weather is relatively warm, we don't fill it. When it is cold and we fill it, turning down to .25 will still get us up over 600 degrees once that cat kicks in. It really glows then and throws lots of heat. Also, although we can get it so no flames, after a time the rolling flame at the top starts in anyway and that is what gets it over 600 stovetop.

 

[HuskyMurph]

all this information is great. my house in a 4 level split. the room the stove it in is basically unfinished no carpet only R 7 on the block. have any of you put more insulation in the attic. my house is a 73. also do yuo guys use a steamer with the stove?? been burning mostly elm and oak. trying to get that high burn zone. got it alot when i first got the sove cause of scared to over fire it. but to my surprize got a higher temp. keep giving the great tips. and anymore advice would be great nick

 

[Todd]

all this information is great. my house in a 4 level split. the room the stove it in is basically unfinished no carpet only R 7 on the block. have any of you put more insulation in the attic. my house is a 73. also do yuo guys use a steamer with the stove?? been burning mostly elm and oak. trying to get that high burn zone. got it alot when i first got the sove cause of scared to over fire it. but to my surprize got a higher temp. keep giving the great tips. and anymore advice would be great nick

Adding more insulation in your attic is one of the best ways to save heat. I had 8" of extra insulation blown in a few years ago and it made a big difference.

Keep playing with your air settings and loading technique's, it takes some trial and error to get that consistent perfect burn. I've switched my firewood from Elm and Oak to Black Locust and now I find I have to use more air at the beginning of the burn and more at the end to burn down the ever lasting Locust coals. I'm still learning, but at least I'm nice and warm.

 

[goofy]

Ok, I've done a little more experimenting, and thinking about this. Here is what I've concluded:

First of all wood doesn't burn. Smoke burns. When wood is heated up enough, it expels flammable gas, which is burnt. This might not be the whole truth, but I think it is mostly correct.

Now, in a cat stove, there are two very different places that smoke burning takes place: in the firebox, and in the cat. Burning that takes place in the firebox heats the entire stove (i.e. front, sides back, top, etc.). Burning that takes place in the cat heats just mostly the top of the stove.

The result is that higher stove top temps don't necessarily equate to higher heat output. I find that when the cat is burning really brightly, with no flames in the firebox (and actually very little visible red hot coals), I can get really high stove top temps, but the total heat output of the stove isn't all that high.

When I have lots of active yellow flames in the firebox, the entire stove seems to be putting out more heat, even though the cat is doing very little and the stove top temp may not be all that high.

My conclusion is that you will ultimately get the best heat output (using a reasonable amount of wood) you need both areas of the stove actively burning the smoke. This is done by both having some flames in the firebox and the cat visibly glowing. Constant lazy floaty flames seem the best for this. On my Keystone I will usually get this scenario somewhere around a draft setting of 1 (i.e. .75 to 1.25). If the stove's temp is low, then a little more than 1. If the stove is hot, then I need it a little less than 1 to maintain this type of burn.

What do you guys think?

 

[Flatbedford]

Ok, I've done a little more experimenting, and thinking about this. Here is what I've concluded:

First of all wood doesn't burn. Smoke burns. When wood is heated up enough, it expels flammable gas, which is burnt. This might not be the whole truth, but I think it is mostly correct.

Now, in a cat stove, there are two very different places that smoke burning takes place: in the firebox, and in the cat. Burning that takes place in the firebox heats the entire stove (i.e. front, sides back, top, etc.). Burning that takes place in the cat heats just mostly the top of the stove.

The result is that higher stove top temps don't necessarily equate to higher heat output. I find that when the cat is burning really brightly, with no flames in the firebox (and actually very little visible red hot coals), I can get really high stove top temps, but the total heat output of the stove isn't all that high.

When I have lots of active yellow flames in the firebox, the entire stove seems to be putting out more heat, even though the cat is doing very little and the stove top temp may not be all that high.

My conclusion is that you will ultimately get the best heat output (using a reasonable amount of wood) you need both areas of the stove actively burning the smoke. This is done by both having some flames in the firebox and the cat visibly glowing. Constant lazy floaty flames seem the best for this. On my Keystone I will usually get this scenario somewhere around a draft setting of 1 (i.e. .75 to 1.25). If the stove's temp is low, then a little more than 1. If the stove is hot, then I need it a little less than 1 to maintain this type of burn.

What do you guys think?

I have similar results with my Fireview, so far. It is still my first season, and I am still learning.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ok, I've done a little more experimenting, and thinking about this. Here is what I've concluded:

First of all wood doesn't burn. Smoke burns. When wood is heated up enough, it expels flammable gas, which is burnt. This might not be the whole truth, but I think it is mostly correct.

Now, in a cat stove, there are two very different places that smoke burning takes place: in the firebox, and in the cat. Burning that takes place in the firebox heats the entire stove (i.e. front, sides back, top, etc.). Burning that takes place in the cat heats just mostly the top of the stove.

The result is that higher stove top temps don't necessarily equate to higher heat output. I find that when the cat is burning really brightly, with no flames in the firebox (and actually very little visible red hot coals), I can get really high stove top temps, but the total heat output of the stove isn't all that high.

When I have lots of active yellow flames in the firebox, the entire stove seems to be putting out more heat, even though the cat is doing very little and the stove top temp may not be all that high.

My conclusion is that you will ultimately get the best heat output (using a reasonable amount of wood) you need both areas of the stove actively burning the smoke. This is done by both having some flames in the firebox and the cat visibly glowing. Constant lazy floaty flames seem the best for this. On my Keystone I will usually get this scenario somewhere around a draft setting of 1 (i.e. .75 to 1.25). If the stove's temp is low, then a little more than 1. If the stove is hot, then I need it a little less than 1 to maintain this type of burn.

What do you guys think?

Indeed you will get more heat by having flame in the firebox. However, even with the cat cooking beet red, that is about the time that rolling flame gets started in the firebox even with our setting really low.

In addition, we have a fan set on low which blows over the top of the stove. This circulates the heat that is given off the top of the stove. This in addition to a small fan set in the hallway blowing the cooler air towards the stove room works great and therefore we don't worry when we don't have flame down below as we are plenty warm.

Once again I'll state that at a setting of .25 we can get temperatures over 600 if we fill the firebox. Of course we also have very dry wood which helps a lot.

 

[Slow1]

Interesting theory - seems to make sense in the mind. Need to take some measurements of the stove temperatures to verify both scenarios over extended times. So far I've had a hard time gathering that sort of data as I haven't been around or awake for long burns... generally load it up and either go to work or bed lately. I think that trying a few different burns and measuring the stove temperatures (sides as well as top) may help to verify the theory so I'll try and see what opportunities I can come up with over the Christmas holiday, maybe others can do the same if interested in the project.

 

[Todd]

Ok, I've done a little more experimenting, and thinking about this. Here is what I've concluded:

First of all wood doesn't burn. Smoke burns. When wood is heated up enough, it expels flammable gas, which is burnt. This might not be the whole truth, but I think it is mostly correct.

Now, in a cat stove, there are two very different places that smoke burning takes place: in the firebox, and in the cat. Burning that takes place in the firebox heats the entire stove (i.e. front, sides back, top, etc.). Burning that takes place in the cat heats just mostly the top of the stove.

The result is that higher stove top temps don't necessarily equate to higher heat output. I find that when the cat is burning really brightly, with no flames in the firebox (and actually very little visible red hot coals), I can get really high stove top temps, but the total heat output of the stove isn't all that high.

When I have lots of active yellow flames in the firebox, the entire stove seems to be putting out more heat, even though the cat is doing very little and the stove top temp may not be all that high.

My conclusion is that you will ultimately get the best heat output (using a reasonable amount of wood) you need both areas of the stove actively burning the smoke. This is done by both having some flames in the firebox and the cat visibly glowing. Constant lazy floaty flames seem the best for this. On my Keystone I will usually get this scenario somewhere around a draft setting of 1 (i.e. .75 to 1.25). If the stove's temp is low, then a little more than 1. If the stove is hot, then I need it a little less than 1 to maintain this type of burn.

What do you guys think?

Well said, I agree and have found this true by just placing a thermometer on the loading door. Infact Woodstock told me the most efficient setting is where you have some lazy flames lifting off the splits.

 

[fire_man]

Ok, I've done a little more experimenting, and thinking about this. Here is what I've concluded:

First of all wood doesn't burn. Smoke burns. When wood is heated up enough, it expels flammable gas, which is burnt. This might not be the whole truth, but I think it is mostly correct.

Now, in a cat stove, there are two very different places that smoke burning takes place: in the firebox, and in the cat. Burning that takes place in the firebox heats the entire stove (i.e. front, sides back, top, etc.). Burning that takes place in the cat heats just mostly the top of the stove.

The result is that higher stove top temps don't necessarily equate to higher heat output. I find that when the cat is burning really brightly, with no flames in the firebox (and actually very little visible red hot coals), I can get really high stove top temps, but the total heat output of the stove isn't all that high.

When I have lots of active yellow flames in the firebox, the entire stove seems to be putting out more heat, even though the cat is doing very little and the stove top temp may not be all that high.

My conclusion is that you will ultimately get the best heat output (using a reasonable amount of wood) you need both areas of the stove actively burning the smoke. This is done by both having some flames in the firebox and the cat visibly glowing. Constant lazy floaty flames seem the best for this. On my Keystone I will usually get this scenario somewhere around a draft setting of 1 (i.e. .75 to 1.25). If the stove's temp is low, then a little more than 1. If the stove is hot, then I need it a little less than 1 to maintain this type of burn.

What do you guys think?

Your statement pretty much agrees with my experience. The biggest variable is wood type. When I burn Birch and Beech I can set the draft to .5 to .75 to get the nice rolling flames, but Locust needs more like 1 to 1.25, at least for a while. I can't wait to try my Oak - its been seasoning for about 18 months and I'm waiting a little longer.