What stove have you got?

Swipe

I always understood that wood burns best with airflow from above (hence no grate) and coal/smokeless from air below.

hethmar

We have a Clearview and its brilliant. Id have like one of the really modern scandanavian jobs but OH told me this is what we were having.

Its great, gets going with very little effort on my part and is up to 400 degrees in perhaps 10 minutes, then I keep it around 400-500 degrees. If I go out for the day and return to just warm ashes, a couple of bits of kindling or even logs, open up air flow and its off again in minutes. Very controllable. Very little ash in the pan.

A._Badger

Swipe wrote: »

I always understood that wood burns best with airflow from above (hence no grate) and coal/smokeless from air below.

I suspect, like most things to do with fires and stoves, a bit of experiemntation is called for as each stove and installation is different from the next.

I've found, for example, that despite the theory, wood burns better on my stove if both the top and bottom vents are open - though I do still maintain a bed of ash as is recommended.

Mind you, in this current weather, I've switched to smokeless for the extra heat!

bernithebiker

Williwoodburner wrote: »

Slightly off topic but sure we have all heard the old poem "wood to burn".
Load of rubbish in my opinion, was obviously written a long time ago when people were burning on open fires.
With the temperatures reached in modern stoves any wood will burn good if seasoned properly, some just takes longer than others.
I think many new users buy wet or green wood and have problems and think there's something wrong with the stove.
My advice is if you have to buy wood, get next winters now and stack it outside in a windy spot and put some corrogated sheets on top to keep rain off.
Keep warm.

Willie.

Is that a Husqvarna 346 XP? ! If so, great saw, I've had 2; I just bought the latest iteration, the 550XP. Nice!

Nice wood store.

I shift alot of wood each year as we have a 44kW wood boiler to heat the whole house. Fortunately we have a big hangar to keep all the logs dry in. I now only burn 2 year old stuff, and it's almost too dry.

Cutting trees into logs is fairly easy - it's having the shelter to store them that is the tricky bit, and the transport to move them there.

grahamc2003

A._Badger wrote: »

I suspect, like most things to do with fires and stoves, a bit of experiemntation is called for as each stove and installation is different from the next.

I've found, for example, that despite the theory, wood burns better on my stove if both the top and bottom vents are open - though I do still maintain a bed of ash as is recommended.

Mind you, in this current weather, I've switched to smokeless for the extra heat!

My problem with burning on a bed of ash is that my stove has a single air input, so has to travel through the ash bed before it can burn, resulting in insufficient airflow. I wonder if the advice to burn on a bed only applies if you have a secondary airflow to bring in some air above the wood?

Williwoodburner

bernithebiker wrote: »

Is that a Husqvarna 346 XP? ! If so, great saw, I've had 2; I just bought the latest iteration, the 550XP. Nice!

Hi bernie,
the saw is a 365 special with 20" bar, great saw, also got a 338xpt top handle, which for some unknown reason is always a pig to start :mad:.
It's a lot of work producing enough splits to keep a stove going but I find it very satisfying and as well as saving money on heating, saving money on gym fee's too. Win win :money:.

Willie.

A._Badger

grahamc2003 wrote: »

My problem with burning on a bed of ash is that my stove has a single air input, so has to travel through the ash bed before it can burn, resulting in insufficient airflow. I wonder if the advice to burn on a bed only applies if you have a secondary airflow to bring in some air above the wood?

It wouldn't be a Little Wenlock, would it? I had one of those and if I remember correctly I didn't leave much of a bed of ash when burning wood. Mind you, ISTR I mostly burned smokeless in it.

I think the best anyone can say is 'try it and see'. You won;t harm the stove by not having a bed of ash beneath the burning wood.

suisidevw

Charnwood C-Four. Absolutely beautiful and keeps the downstairs of our house toasty and the GCH off. I also have free supply of wood so only burn 2 year old stuff. It's on every night from approx 5pm-10pm and the favourite part of my house.

[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/<a href=http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620527@N06/8210912118/ target=_blank>[/img]
stove12 by, on Flickr

w50nky

Posted this pic before but here is my Pioneer 400 along with kettle building up a head of steam. The stove fan is a Vulcan, brilliant piece of engineering and a pleasure to watch.

http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff506/W0nky/SAM_0086-1.jpg

http://s1239.beta.photobucket.com/user/W0nky/library/

alleycat`

I have the same kettle