Question for people with wood burning stoves

seyort

i've just had a wood burner fitted by a professional company and I'm very pleased BUT I can now hear road noise that I didn't hear before and the room is at the back of the house. I can only think that the metal cap at the top of the chimney is acting as a sort of conduit for the noise. Has anyone else experienced this and any thoughts on what to do???

zeupater

cliffski wrote: »

FWIW we got the efficiency of our stove massively better. We called the installers and spoke to them, and they told us to keep the long thin draw tray doodad pushed 90% in, and to control the heat with the spin wheel (normally have it 90% in). This is the complete OPPOSITE of the instructions in the clearveiw manual. Doing it this way around has emant the stove gets WAY hotter, and burns much longer. It's great now.

When the stove is on, we are always using it to boil a kettle for tea, so that saves us some cash too, plus its good fun.
We have found that quality of wood varies a lot. Our local jhardware store sells great wood, the local B*Q does cheap 3 for 2 bags which feel like sponges they are so wet. we are storing them for next year and sticking to the dry stuff. One day the real ordered stuff will show up

Hi cliffski / All

I've had a clearvew for about 15 years and it sounds like a similar model ... mines the 8kw with a low canopy. You'll find that the best way to burn is to light with some newspaper tied into tight balls with about 3 sheets per ball ... lay these as a covering on the bottom/ash bed (about 10/12 balls will be right) .... place a good layer of sticks (autumn/winter garden pruning about 12" - 15" long are best) over the paper (parallel to the door) then a layer of small diameter logs over this (at 90 degrees to the sticks - ie log ends forward), ensure that the logs are well packed in but allow small gaps of about 1/4" between them ..... open both the airwash pull and the wheel fully then light the paper bed from the front & close the door.

I measure my temperature with a magnetic thermometer attached to the centre-front of the canopy and, If the logs are reasonably dry, once the fire has caught the skin temperature will rise slowly at first but when it's reached about 300F it will accelerate to about 1 Deg F/Second so keep a firm eye on it ....

When the thermometer reaches 500F, close the wheel completely and push the airwash in so that the first bend in the rod is level with the front of the ash shelf above it .... this position should maintain a burn skin temperature of about 450F. When the temperature has stabilised and started to fall a little you'll find that the paper/stick base has collapsed so add a second layer of logs, open the wheel a turn or so (not much) & open the airwash about half way ... keep this setting until the new logs are burning and the temperature gets back up to around 500F, then close back down to the positions described before ..... this should burn for a good couple of hours before refuelling .....

I find if the last fuel load in the evening consists of large logs you can keep the fire ticking over through the night by closing the airwash down to about half way between the two bends, any further than this will tend to cause the door glass to tar up. If this is successful re-lighting the next morning can be achieved simply by poking a few holes through the ash bed with a short poker, re-loading logs and opening up both the wheel and airwash.

If the door is tarred up - before lighting & when the burner is cool, wipe the glass over with a wet cloth then clean with a damp cloth, dabbing into and using the fine ash from the ash-bed as an abrasive to clear any thick stubborn tar ... wipe again with the wet cloth, then polish with a scrunched-up piece of newspaper .... I've been doing this for 15 years and the glass still looks as good as new ....

If you find that you have logs with too high a moisture content don't try to reach 500F by leaving the controls fully open, adjust the wheel to about one turn open and leave the airwash about 1/2 open, this will generally maintain temperatures of around 300-350F without eating through the fuel too quickly, doing this you will also find that after the moisture has been driven out of the fuel the temperature will rise to over 400F (if so the wheel can be closed and the airwash reduced) and can be maintained by re-fuelling with single logs on a more frequent basis ....

Hope this helps ..

Cheers ....

cliffski

Very interesting, thanks for the reply. One thing I am curious about is how often its advised to empty the ash tray, and under what circumstances you jiggle the side control stick thingy to rake the ash down into the tray.
We have a high chimney that draws really well, so maybe that changes things, but I'm not sure how much ash is optimum in both the tray or the main chamber.

greenbee

I don't have a clearview (I've got a stockton 3) but as far as the ash goes - if burning wood, I try to avoid emptying the grate (and therefore the ash pan) as it burns better wtih ash in it. If burning smokeless brickettes, the grate needs to be kept clear and de-ashed as much as possible.

Airflow for wood appears to be from above, for solid fuel from below, which may explain why the firebed needs to be de-ashed for solid fuel.

zeupater

Hi cliffski

I always find that a little perplexing .... you will learn that the amount of ash produced will depend on the type of wood you are burning, the moisture content of the wood and the temperature (therefore efficiency) of the burn.

I tend to allow a buildup of ash on the base (about 1/2" to 1") which effectively heats up quickly and aids combustion of the fuel wood. My ash tray is only ever emptied when it is likely to stop airflow from beneath the fire bed (from wheel) when lighting the fire .... this should be about every four days of 12/15 hour burns between emptying ................ as for 'riddleing', I rarely use this when burning logs as a through daught is not necessary .... this is only really used to clear ash and create an airflow from beneath the fire when lightng, before the temperature has built up sufficiently to close the wheel .....

Hope this helps ..

Z

## Edit .... agree with greenbee - solid fuel seems to need airflow through the bed, logs burn more efficiently using only the pre-heated air from above ... (nodded off for a while when typing post .... )

annie56_2

Hi everyone, I have a long rectangular conservatory built onto the house. In summer it is lovely and warm - sometimes too warm but in the winter it is like living in iceland really really cold.
My question is can you put a woodburning stove into a conservatory, if so is a multi fuel stove better, can you keep them in at night???? Do you need council permission to put in a stove? Last question can you get a grant in Northern Ireland to install a stove????

Hope someone can help.:)

caz1l

Hi everyone i would also like to ask the same question please. my conservatory is only 13 ft square and i would love to put a little stove in the corner to make it cosy in the winter months, thanks

Purpleclutterbuck

Ho hum - I've got exactly the same query re a stove in a conservatory but it looks like no-one has the answer:(

Davesnave

Purpleclutterbuck wrote: »

Ho hum - I've got exactly the same query re a stove in a conservatory but it looks like no-one has the answer:(

The answer is defintely 'yes,' but with the caveat that the ease of installation depends on what kind of conservatory it is.

Mine was built with one solid wall to make the installation of a flue straightforward. However, the builders made such a hash of it, I plan to pull it all down. Where I am, a south facing conservatory is total insanity for half the year, so I wouldn't keep it anyway.