Beginner stove tips - First burns

smcqis

Im getting the stove in next week and is there any tips you have gather that would be useful for me apart from th obvious like experiment with whats best and use dry wood etc

What about first burn, should it be a small fire to "season" the stove?

MarshallMellow

I'm in the same position as OP. Would appreciate any advice people can give. Being in NI, I would also appreciate advice on prices I should expect to pay for fuel and the best fuel to use, although I do appreciate this is very much down to personal preference. From reading through this forum and being completely new to fires and stoves, I am unsure of what anthracite/eco-brite/phurnacite/esse...etc the list goes on. Are these a form of coal or a substitute? Which is the most efficient and value for money? Where does firewood fit in?
Thanks

smcqis

They are types of coal, what i have done is bought a bag of few different types and and experiment a bit in the first few weeks see what works best for you. I intend to start with frewood and slowly put coal on once the fire is going

grahamc2003

I ran the stove quite cool a couple of times, just to dry out the fire cement.

It really helps to see the temperatures you are burning at - so I'd really advise as stove pipe themometer - about £15 off ebay. Gives a good indication of whether you are buring hot enough. Many problems, in my amateur view, are caused by not burning at a high enought temperature (after the first couple oif burns that is). If the wood is too damp, then you won't get up to the required temperatures (and that causes all sorts of problems, like dirty/black stove glass, and the same tar/soot up the chimney.

I bought housecoal, which I wouldn't recommend, since it produces lots of smoke (and smoke is unburnt fuel which really needs to be burnt), so I can only put on a couple of bits without sending smoke up the chimney. Maybe I should have bought smokeless - but I mainly burn wood, which I get for free.

Aim to get no smoke out of your chimney pot.

There's a great video on youtube on how to light a stove, linked to in one of these stove threads on here.

Williwoodburner

Hi,

when the stove is first installed, leave it for a few days to allow the fire cement in the joints to harden.
Then as the previous post says, first few burns start off small to build up the temperatures which is especially important with a cast iron stove as they can crack if overfired, a stovepipe thermometer is a must.
When burning wood make sure you only burn very dry/well seasoned wood as most problems are caused by trying to burn wet wood.
Also put plenty of wood in the firebox, get it really going before you turn it down.
A good video here -
http://www.wendronstoves.com/static/faq/how-to-light-a-fire/
watch the Harmony stove video which is down the page.

In particular the top 10 stove mistakes towards the end of the video.

Regards

Willie.

suki1964

MarshallMellow wrote: »

I'm in the same position as OP. Would appreciate any advice people can give. Being in NI, I would also appreciate advice on prices I should expect to pay for fuel and the best fuel to use, although I do appreciate this is very much down to personal preference. From reading through this forum and being completely new to fires and stoves, I am unsure of what anthracite/eco-brite/phurnacite/esse...etc the list goes on. Are these a form of coal or a substitute? Which is the most efficient and value for money? Where does firewood fit in?
Thanks

Anthracite is a solid fuel which burns slow and hot - no huge flame. Leaves clinkers in the pan with not so much ash

Anything ending with "cite" is a man made fuel made from anthracite dust - turned into ovels. Burns slow and hot but leaves a lot of ash. Prices and quality do differ. As already suggested you need to see whats available in your area and get a 25 kg bag and try it. When you have found what you are happy with, find a merchant and get yourself a good sized bunker and get it delivered as it works out cheaper the more you buy

If you see on some of the threads theres a lot of "named" "cites" but they arent always available over here and some of the "cites" we have are the same as those in England but just have different names.

Its trial and error

suki1964

smcqis wrote: »

They are types of coal, what i have done is bought a bag of few different types and and experiment a bit in the first few weeks see what works best for you. I intend to start with frewood and slowly put coal on once the fire is going

You do realise coal and firewood need different conditions to burn the best?

Firewood burns best on a bed of ashes so either remove the grate or allow the ashes to build up enough to cover it.

However coal needs a clean grate with plenty of air. Burn coal on top of a full grate of ashes and you will burn through the grate

Unless you mean of course you will start a small fire of kindling first?

highrisklowreturn

1. Leave stove for two days after installation to allow cement to dry.
2. Use paper and a lot of kindling to make a fire, with a few bits of firelighter chucked in.
3. Add coal in small amounts at first where kindling fire is greatest.
4. Once coal lights add more coal around it and build up fire from there, until it's spread across stove, at which point you can 'choke' it with coal.
5. Wait 60-90 mins for the fire to hit full pelt, then turn the air vent down a quarter.

For a 6kw stove you would only be using 3/4 of a bucket of coal for one night's fuel, meaning you could draw out a 25kg bag over 3 days.

When it comes to what fuel to buy, I would recommend standard anthracite, sold in Northern Ireland as burnglow. I can buy this for £6 a bag from the local coal merchant. Personally I don't find Phurnacite necessary - the "-cites" suki alluded to are all types of Phurnacite which is essentially the dust from Anthracite, a naturally smokeless coal, compacted into ovals. Whilst I'm sure it burns and ignites much quicker than standard Anthracite which I would buy, I would doubt it gives a higher heat output.

When buying anthracite you can buy the standard stuff I get for reasonably cheap or buy Esse A which is a better type of anthracite. I believe Esse probably does burn a bit hotter; but the trade off comes in that it comes in smaller sizes, is harder to ignite than standard anthracite, is more expensive, and is arguably easier to get through than standard anthracite. As I see it, it would be pointless to be spending money on Esse despite its quality when its 33% more expensive than Burnglow which I buy, which comes in larger lumps, is easier to ignite owing to its being 'dustier', and which 'fills' the stove easily because it comes in bigger sizes.

Don't buy anything with coke in it as this will in all likelihood invalidate your warranty. Housecoal is a false economy.

Get a hearth - personally I just use a bit of kitchen work top (made of wood), covered in reflective foil. It does the job, and has saved me another £150.

Williwoodburner

highrisklowreturn wrote: »

1.

Get a hearth - personally I just use a bit of kitchen work top (made of wood), covered in reflective foil. It does the job, and has saved me another £150.

Sounds a bit dangerous to me, a hearth is suposed to be made of non combustable material, ie stone or slate.

highrisklowreturn

Williwoodburner wrote: »

Sounds a bit dangerous to me, a hearth is suposed to be made of non combustable material, ie stone or slate.

Stick to oil or gas then.

werdnareklaw

smcqis;48750051
What about first burn, should it be a small fire to "season" the stove

A small point but a new stove will probably produce fumes and even smoke from the external finish of the unit as it burns off. Mine did for a few hours and kept setting my smoke alarm off, much to the distress of my dog :shocked: