Getting the most from my stove using smokeless

alleycat`

Concur with swipe.

Thermometer on the flue pipe is about 310 when using smokeless and tends to be steady.

Using wood it will fluctuate more and go higher then drop back as the fuel is consumed.

pinkmami

I have a Charnwood 8kw multifuel stove. I burn wood & anthracite in it.


I make a bed of scrunched up newspaper, lay on plenty of kindling and light. Leave the door ajar, lover vents closed. Then add a bit more smaller pieces of wood till that catches. Only then I add a good layer of anthracite. Then close the door, open the vents and let it burn. I add the wood& close the lower vents & then sit back & relax. Never fails!

Tabby_cat

I also have a Stovax Stockton 7 inset and also find that smokeless fuel isn't as hot as logs. It lasts a lot longer but not hotter. I usually get the burner good and hot using logs and then use smokeless for longevity. Like you, I've found the thermometer staying around the 300F on smokeless, but it lasts all night so use it for keeping the house warm overnight on particularly cold nights. So it seems we're both in the same boat, so, it could be the stove design I guess.

John_the_Boy

Hi Tabby_cat.


Good to know it is not just me :mad: I do have some positive news though – I have regularly been able to get my stove over 300F, between 330F & 360F which gives out just that bit better heat into the room allowing us to feel warm to hot rather than luke warm! :T



As many have said on these forums there is defiantly a knack to getting a good fire going, these are the things I have found for the stockton 7 inset (they may apply generally but certainly work in my inset):-

1. The quicker you can get the fire going and turn down the airwash the better. I find the best way to light a fire for me is to lay a bed of Smokeless, make a gap in the middle and use a fire lighter. Add between 10 to 15 pieces of kindling (depending how thick it is) across the top of the Smokeless bed over the fire lighter and once the kindling has taken well I add about 8 to 12 pieces of Smokeless (again depending how big the ovoids are) on to the top of the kindling. Tend to find the ovoids have taken after 20 to 30 mins then I start adding the rest of the bucket over the next 5 mins so as not to smother the fire and then close the stove door. After about 45 mins to 1 hour from initial lighting I find I can turn the airwash down to ½. Once all the ovoids are glowing orange (perhaps another 30 mins or so) I find I can turn the secondary vent down to ½.
2. Keep the tertiary vent (under the stove – called the secondary vent in the manual) permanently closed when burning Smokeless.
3. I find I need about 5KG of Smokeless for a decent fire.
4. Stoves are definitely finicky about different Smokeless fuel. Smokeless is smokeless I thought – couldn't have been more wrong. My stove does not burn that well with Homefire smokeless hexagons (even though this is supposed to be one of the best), I think they are just too big and slow burning to get a decent heat – lucky if I can get 320F with these. As Suki recommended I use some anthracite on top to give the extra heat I want.
5. I find Brazier (£3.99 for 10KG from Homebargins) works really well and regularly get the stove to 340/360F with this. This is manufactured by CPL and has two different sizes ovoids. I find this burns a lot quicker and hotter than Homefires Hexagons. When you buy in bulk from coal merchants it is known and MultiHeat.
6. Sad as it is I have found keeping a notebook and jotting down how you did the fire, if it is windy outside, when the fire has taken, when the vents were closed down and the stove temp have really helped me get a handle on the stove.

Hope the above might be useful. Good luck with the experimenting - keep warm this Christmas. :xmassign:

A._Badger

John_the_Boy wrote: »

Hi Tabby_cat.


Good to know it is not just me :mad: I do have some positive news though – I have regularly been able to get my stove over 300F, between 330F & 360F which gives out just that bit better heat into the room allowing us to feel warm to hot rather than luke warm! :T

If you find large knobs of smokeless hard to burn, try to get some Maxibrite. It's a premium quality fuel, burns extremely well and is much smaller than most of the other types.

Merry Christmas to all

Tabby_cat

Hi John-the-boy,
We've recently decided to replace our inset stockton 7, mainly due to it not warming the room enough. After 3 years I've had enough of being cold.
We have it set into some stone looking bricks and it has served it's purpose. 3 years ago we needed to quickly replace a gas fire that wasn't working and was breaking down each year, so went for the inset model. We weren't in any position at that time to remove the decorative stonework.
Recently, we removed a stone from each side of the burner to see what size builders opening was behind. We found there wasn't enough rockwool, so, for 3 years we've been warming the gap behind the stonework and not the room.
Since then, we've removed a strip of stones all round the opening, and it's lovely and warm now. For the first time we have had to open doors to let the heat out. Perhaps check with your installer that they definitely used enough rockwool. I wasn't at home when ours was installed but husband said there was loads of rockwool used but it seems to have been compressed into certain area's and there was definitely gaps where I could put my hand in and not feel any insulation.
Might be worth a quick call to your installer.
Merry Christmas and be warm.

John_the_Boy

Hi Tabby_cat,

Definately not an insulation issue as I can get the room so hot I have to open the window on occassions ( that with the lounge door open).

My problem appears to be getting the right smokeless and mastering the vents. Was melting last night with the heat.

Smokeless is just not as easy as wood, load the fire box as full as you can get, light a nest of kindling in the centre with a firelighter and 30 mins later you have a roaring fire. But I am getting there with smokeless.

Glad you were able to find the issue with yours.

A._Badger

John_the_Boy wrote: »

Hi Tabby_cat,



Smokeless is just not as easy as wood, load the fire box as full as you can get, light a nest of kindling in the centre with a firelighter and 30 mins later you have a roaring fire. But I am getting there with smokeless.

Glad you were able to find the issue with yours.

I think this demonstrates perfectly how much stoves and installations vary, one from another. In my case, burning smokeless is child's play, wood, OTOH, can pose real problems depending on its quality.

It's this that makes it hard to advise people. Every situation is different.

Alycidon

Smokeless fuel and Anthracite (natural smokeless coal) require far more combustion air to burn than wood.

Keep upper and lower air controls open all the time, to close stove down then reduce lower (primary) air only.

A