Log burner owners, please help

lstar337

I'm staying at a cottage for a week and the only source of heat is a log burner. I have been told many times that the heat from it is intolerably hot, but I'm not getting much from it. It seems to be burning OK (it's not going out), but I'm not sure if I'm feeding it right, or if I am using but the vents correctly.

It has a vent control at the top of the door, and one at the bottom below the grate.

Any advice appreciated.

modsandmockers

lstar - it takes more than a week to master the black art of woodburning stoves!

Sfaik, the idea of a woodburner is that you pack it full of wood and allow it to burn hot and slow with a minimum amount of air. Unfortunately, there is a temptation to buy the stove which looks best in the room and this often means that the stove is much bigger than it ought to be - hence the intolerable heat.

A woodburner does not usually use a grate - most multi-fuel stoves come with a grate which is removable. The type and condition of the wood is also important.

If your logs are sufficiently dry of sap and appear to be reasonably willing to burn, then I would suggest removing the grate and lining the stove (back and sides) with some stolen house bricks in order to reduce the size of the fire.

Start a fire with the bottom vents wide open, and gradually pack the stove with wood. At an appropriate time, close the vents almost completely. The slower it burns, the hotter it gets.

The purpose of the top vents is open to debate. My opinion is that the top vents allow the flue to take the amount of air which it requires whilst still limiting the amount of air which passes through the fire.

It's called trial and error. Enjoy!

lstar337

I think I have finally got the hang of it.

I have found out that the stove is a Dimplex Westwood Inset Multi fuel Stove.

I have found a method that seems to work. I am opening up the bottom vent (primary air) to get the stove established. Once it is established I am throttling back the primary air to slow the burn, and opening up the top vent (secondary/airwash) which sends heat flooding out of the vents on the top and sides. When the room is nice and warm I am reducing the top vent to maintain a pleasant temperature.

The logs are being stored warm and dry, and they seem to burn well with little/no smoke so I think they are fine.

What I have written above seems to work, but if you have any other tips (or I'm doing something wrong) then I would like to know.

It's quite funny really, living in a house with full GCH has turned me into a bit of a city mouse!! :rotfl:

matelodave

That's about right - bottom vent to get it going and then the top vent to control burning with the bottom vent shut.


The main thing is to get the wood burning well and plenty of heat in the chimney/flue before closing the bottom vent.