Wood burning stove - the trials and tribulations

redlady_1

Nope. All the wood is ok. I only buy seasoned hardwood so thats not the issue. Tonight I will close the main vents and leave the tertiary open and see what happens.

You need to see the fire so you can go into a very weird hypnotic trance which aids with the avoidance of such toss on TV as the X Factor!

redlady_1

Update - I filled it full of wood last night, closed the main vents top and bottom and left the teriary open. There afre a few embers this morning which with a bit of paper and some kindling have relit and the glass is still clear so I may have my solution. Now I will try it with coal as I want to try to reduce the amount of logs and coal I use too.

Thanks for your input

Swipe

Two small shovelfuls of smokeless coal is enough to keep mine in overnight, and is so much more economical as it burns much slower. I would have to fill it to the brim to do the same with logs and still run the risk of it being out in the morning.

redlady_1

Well that sounds ideal then Swipe. Do you close all your vents? If the winter is as cold as they say it will be, then I will also try to keep it in during the day. Well, until early afternoon anyway.

Swipe

redlady_1 wrote: »

Well that sounds ideal then Swipe. Do you close all your vents? If the winter is as cold as they say it will be, then I will also try to keep it in during the day. Well, until early afternoon anyway.

I always leave my secondary vent open all time whenever I use the stove. The only time I close it is when I obtain secondary burn when burning logs.

John_3:16

http://www.mastersweep.com/wood.htm

Good reading Dry Dry DRy!

crphillips

I know flue liners are pretty much frowned upon by all of the people on this forum due to their costs but a lot of my customers that have been running their stoves for years without a liner who have then had a chimney fire due to all of the tar in the flue have commented that after lining it with a flexi liner the stove was way more controllable, easier to keep in overnight and kept the glass cleaner.

What is the condition of your flue....is it lined? If not, did they test it? How old is it and how did they test it if they did?

simcla

It sounds to me like they OP sorted there problem by increasing the amount of oxygen available for combustion in the stove i.e they had overly shut down the stove, but then increased the amount of oxygen available (by opening the tertiary air supply) Why would a flue liner affect this?

crphillips

But from what i can gather the OP only had a couple of embers left in the morning and had to use kindling and newspaper to get it going again.........i don't really see the point in keeping it in overnight if it has virtually burnt out in the morning and the only advantage is that you don't have to strike a match with the huge disadvantage that you've burnt a load of wood whilst asleep in another room. May as well just let it go out and start again in the morning....it's only a 30 second job to light a fire.

Stronger draw from a properly performing flue will create a better curtain of air down the rear of the glass thus keeping it cleaner. If the draw is poor and close the vents down the pull on the chimney may not be strong enough to create a good flow of air with such little volume.

It's just a statement....dot a diagnosis.

redlady_1

The whole thing was new in January. Liner, stove, fireplace, the lot. And I had the chimney swept before the season just to make sure. As I burn alot and regularly I need to make sure its in good condition all round.

My problem is that I work two jobs sometimes so come home from one and am only home for about 30 mins before leaving again. It wont be long enough for the house to get warm and if it is a harsh winter then I wont mind leaving a couple of logs on during the day to keep the place warm.

It seems shutting down all the main vents and leaving the tertiary open has solved the problem regarding the soot. Tonight (or over the next few days) I will see how it goes with coal (a derivative thereof)