Clearview woodburner help needed please!

firefox1956

Greenfires wrote: »

There are thermometers for flue pipes and others for stove tops - they're calibrated differently so should really be put in the appropriate spot.

I stand corrected..........

firefox1956

I fill the firebox up with pallet offcuts, let that burn hot ( around 400 degree ) when that has burnt down I put maybe 3 briquettes on.
HTH

Hl6866

firefox1956 wrote: »

I fill the firebox up with pallet offcuts, let that burn hot ( around 400 degree ) when that has burnt down I put maybe 3 briquettes on.
HTH

Thanks, but then how often do you need to reload?

firefox1956

Put another 3 on after about 2 hours or so depending on the outside temperature.
Then maybe another 3 on at about 10.30 pm & shut the stove down to a quarter opening on bottom slider.
Stove will then still be hot at 7.00am in the morning. If I want to keep it in all day a few bits of wood on & open spin wheel will result in a roaring fire in 3 or 4 minutes.

ericonabike

I'm not convinced by the 'put another log on' approach. Every time you open the door the temp goes down, so seems best to do so as little as possible. We reload the fire to the max each time, once the previous load has burnt down sufficiently for it to be safely knocked down to make a red-hot bed. It's a 6kw stove, and wants feeding every 2.5 hours or so. As others have said, the amount of wood required can be an eye-opener if you thought you were just going to 'chuck another log on' every so often!

silverwhistle

If this and similar threads reveal anything it is that all our circumstances are so different and wood-burning is an art and not a science (although science is involved!).

As a general observation I'd say the OP isn't using enough kindling and closing down a bit soon. This is my first season with a stove, burning a mixture of scavenged wood - I was collecting for a year before I got the stove - pallets and briquettes.

It's a good 5kw stove and I usually break a briquette as they burn better next to each other. I might put 3 halves on at a time, but any more and the temeprature gets a bit high. Once the gassing off is over I add more. As most of my wood ready to burn is resinous I only add that when the fire is going well and at a good temperature to avoid problems with the flue. Next year I'll have a little oak ready to burn which I'll be able to treat differently.

This winter I've only had my gas CH on for 5 days over Christmas as my house is a snug 3-bed terrace and the way I use it don't need much heat upstairs, but I appreciate that wouldn't suit everybody. Once the lounge is up to temperature the doors open and the rest of the house benefits. I've CO detectors both in the room and the main bedroom above.

So OP, so many variables! Have a play and learn by your own experiences and your own unique situation. The sun has just come out here so leaving the PC and off to split up another small pallet. I'm never short of kindling!

The_Economist

silverwhistle wrote: »

If this and similar threads reveal anything it is that all our circumstances are so different and wood-burning is an art and not a science (although science is involved!).

As a general observation I'd say the OP isn't using enough kindling and closing down a bit soon. This is my first season with a stove, burning a mixture of scavenged wood - I was collecting for a year before I got the stove - pallets and briquettes.

It's a good 5kw stove and I usually break a briquette as they burn better next to each other. I might put 3 halves on at a time, but any more and the temeprature gets a bit high. Once the gassing off is over I add more. As most of my wood ready to burn is resinous I only add that when the fire is going well and at a good temperature to avoid problems with the flue. Next year I'll have a little oak ready to burn which I'll be able to treat differently.

This winter I've only had my gas CH on for 5 days over Christmas as my house is a snug 3-bed terrace and the way I use it don't need much heat upstairs, but I appreciate that wouldn't suit everybody. Once the lounge is up to temperature the doors open and the rest of the house benefits. I've CO detectors both in the room and the main bedroom above.

So OP, so many variables! Have a play and learn by your own experiences and your own unique situation. The sun has just come out here so leaving the PC and off to split up another small pallet. I'm never short of kindling!

Couldn't of said it better me-self.......

Chimney_Sweep_3

sounds like a lot of soft wood supplied some of which is too wet split the wood when testing with meter you want the inside level and aim for 20% max as an average over the log ie 15%outside 25% inside OK, we use around 2-3 !!! of hardwoods and some briquetts5-10bags per year stove is on most days for around 8-10 hours, Jan&Feb abit more as I am home more Burley hollywell 6-7KW same output as yours.
Do you have the thermometer placed on front just above door?

Hl6866

Hi Thanks for all the replies. We do use moisture meter and the thermometer was originally placed above the door on the front and after speaking to Clearview it's now on the top left to the door, again on the front. Though no difference has been seen.


We test nearly each log before put in and I am getting a bit mental with it now. So far the temp will rise to over 300C if we really filled the firebox up---seriously filled it up with kiln dried birch I mean, but if it just half load as suggested by Clearview, typically it will:
1) take 10-15min to get to 100C with 2 birches (3inch x 10inches each), and the logs will both be quite burned with both spinwheel and level control open fully for the temp to reach 100C after 15min
2) Add another 2 birch logs in (4inchesx10inches) and close the spinwheel. Temp will rise to 250C in another 30min
3) Then I will push the level control to about half inch open (we got smoke control unit so the air got in will be more)
4) However, the temp will start to drop 50C every half an hour and get back to 100C in 90min
5) If I add another birch and a pine log in, then fully open the level control, the temp will rise to about 170C in 40min.


And this is with birch, with any other hardwood or pine log, we can barely get to 200. Like the other day:
1) start fire with one pine, one unknown hardwood, one briquettes (all decent size)
2) after 20min, it rose 50C -- I turn off the spinwheel at this point as it's simply heart breaking
3) it carry on rise to 150C after another 20min, then further to 20min to 170 -- so overall took 1 hour to rise to 170C
4) then the temp start to drop to 150 after another 10min and I added another two hardwood logs, but it carried on dropping to 130C
you can see how mental/depressed I become now, measuring the moisture level and size of each log before I put in, constantly watching the temp and clock at the same time and taking notes. I found it really doesn't take much to drive people mad.


We have burned through about a truck load of logs (mix of hardwood and pine), plus more than 10bags of kiln dried birch and briquette. It has only been about 20days since we started using it.


To conclude, I have to say it burns Okish, though still far away from what your guys' stove, with birch or briquettes. it however can get to 100C in 10-15min, and overall 45min to 250C. However, as both briquettes and birch burn quick, the temp won't hold and soon coming down again.


But with other wood, or even a combination, it won't work. Today we just burned the truck load log (we typically use 3-4 pieces of them in one go as they are about 6inches long and about 4inches wide), though we tried to pick and use the hardwood only from the mixture. it hangs around at 150C.


Despite all the wonderful reviews of the clearview, I am not sure what to say now. We plan to go to the showroom tomorrow to watch how exactly people there operate but as we are both well educated enough to read and follow all the instruction, I am not sure how much help it can be unless people there can spot anything fundamentally wrong.


Having said this, I do notice the level control of ours is a bit curve, that surely is normal, isn't it? Another thing I do notice is the roaring sound within the flue all the time since the stove is light till it nearly completely cools down. I understand flue will draw warm air when the stove is first light, but should it carry on roaring even if after several hour's burning?


Despite all the disappointment, still very grateful for all the advice here.


thanks

Greenfires

How much ash do you have in the stove?