multifuel wood burner

chelleybelley

hi we're new to the woodburner and have only had one installed in the last few weeks but we are struggling on keeping the thing going for longer than 20 minutes, we have looked at some of the videos on google and youtube, but we still cant seem to get it right, so far we are only burning seasoned dry oak,kindling and paper with firelighters,but would trying coal give us a better burn..has anyone any good tips for a good long burn..:o

Mojisola

What woodburner is it? Was it professionally installed?

gratefulforhelp_2

Are you running it with the air vents open?

chelleybelley

hi not sure of name of woodburner yes it was professionally installed and we start to light it with vents open until its going then close it slightly

Mojisola

Can you post a photo? Someone will probably recognise it.

Personally, I'd be getting the installer back. Didn't he show you how to get it running after installing it?

Lotus-eater

Have you read the instructions that came with the stove?

Moneysava_wannaB

chelleybelley wrote: »

hi not sure of name of woodburner yes it was professionally installed and we start to light it with vents open until its going then close it slightly

If your burning just oak you might need something else to burn with it as it needs alot of heat to get it going or you could try spilting some oak into smaller pieces to help to bigger bits, you might be closing the vents to early aswell

bobthedambuilder

I would guess it's most likely being extinguished by the airflow. I have 2 woodburning stoves, and both need a good bed of ash on top of the grate, otherwise the wood never really gets going. Don't clear the grate, leave half to one inch of ash on top of it, and build your starting fire on that. Don't put too much wood on at first, just paper, kindling and maybe one or two small logs. As soon as the kindling is alight, start cutting down the airflow progressively, and only add more logs when the initial stuff is burning well.

A magnetic thermometer on the face of the stove is also useful to make sure the temperature in the stove is high enough - you need to get up to about 200C or more for the stove to work efficiently. At this temperature you shouldn't need much airflow and should see secondary combustion (the flames will be starting above the wood, not on it, it's the gases driven off the wood that are burning). It's cleaner and more economical to burn this way, and you'll get less deposits on the chimney / flue.

Mr_Mike

I get mine going as follows:

1) Make sure the ashtray is empty (or at least not overflowing).

2) Put a firelighter or several pieces of scunched newspaper on grate, stick plenty of kindling on top of it in a heap - at least 6 or 7 pieces.

3) Strike match and get the firelighter going - make sure any and all vents are wide open. Do not shut the door fully but simply push it almost closed, so there is an inch gap or so. Leave for 3 or 4 minutes... This lets lots of air in and the kindling will catch very well.

4) Open door and using a poker, gently flatten the burning kindling a bit, and pop on two or three logs, not too big, but small chunks with plenty of splinters are best here. Buy an axe and split bigger pieces down if you only have great big lumps of the stuff.

5) Push the door almost closed again, but still don't close it fully. Leave it for a good 5-7 minutes. After this time the kindling and smaller logs should be blazing away nicely and if you have room, put a bigger one on top.

In my experience, admittedly only one winter, I have genuinely never had a problem getting my Little Wenlock Classic going. Usually the trouble is the wood itself, some logs seem damper than others as you can hear some of them hissing like crazy as they get hot.

I also tried some smokeless (Homefire (from B&Q, just to try it)) in it recently and it got going easily and burned really, really hot - noticeably hotter and longer than wood. Not much in the way of flame though...

Lotus-eater

Two things reminded me from above that would be useful for you to have.
A magnetic thermometer, that bobthedambuilder talks about and a wood moisture meter, which will show you the dryness of your wood. This (wet wood) often shows as a cool fire, but can also lead to fires going out.
Split a piece of wood and test the newly cut wood face, it should be around 20% to burn properly.

tillycat123

I have recently had a multi fuel stove installed. It took a few fires to get the hang of it. I totally rely on my thermomenter, it's like a baby monitor!

I get mine up to around 400 on paper and kindling first, then add two logs. After a minute or two I close my bottom air-vent and half shut the slide across one at the top. It drops down to around 350 and i try to keep it at that temperature.

I have found the key for me is to get it as hot as possible before putting the big stuff on. Even then if I let it get too cool I have to chuck little bits back on to get it back up to heat again before adding another log.