Wood stove beginner

leegemma900

I have recently had a new 5kw multi fuel stove fitted. I haven’t yet used it as need to wait 48 hours but am panicking a little bit.
I know you are supposed to let the fire get up to a certain temperature, otherwise it creates creosote. However, i am confused about shutting the fire down when I go to bed. When do you close all of the vents? Do you have to wait for all the wood to have burned for it to be safe? Surely when it is cooling down when the wood has burned, it creates creosote in flue? I maybe reading far too much into this but would appreciate some help as I don’t want to burn my house down!!

shortcrust

I close all the vents on mine as soon as it gets hot enough - I've got a little thermometer thing on the flue - and it then usually stays around that temperature until the fuel's spent, then it starts to cool down. If it's cooling because the fuel's spent then the creosote is long gone. Don't worry too much about the creosote. It's only a problem if you're running it at too lower a temperature regularly for long periods. I was a bit clueless in my first year and burned too low most of the time without anything awful happening.

I happily leave mine burning away after I've gone to bed. I often chuck more fuel on before I head up. Mine even had instructions on how to pack the fuel if you want it to burn all night long.

Edit to add: You've really made me want a fire now. Darn this warm weather!

silverwhistle

I second getting a flue thermometer and getting used to your own stove and installation. I get mine up to temperature pretty quickly using a decent amount of kindling made myself from old untreated pallets.



If the fuel has gassed off and it's just glowing there shouldn't be a problem with creosote. I've gone to bed with the fire still going and I don't shut if fully down and it'll still be warm in the morning. Sometimes I can't lay the fire again first thing as, with a decent bed of ash, there is enough residual heat and embers to spontaneously light it again, often when you don't want to!


The fact that you are aware of the issue should be enough. Have fun experimenting and make sure your wood is dry - a cheap moisture meter is another useful tool.

leegemma900

Thank you both that’s a great help! I will get a stove thermometer and a moisture meter! Can’t wait to use it. ��

Davesnave

I think what the quality of the wood is like will be the ultimate deciding factor for the state of your flue.

Many people find it hard to obtain dry wood, or to store sufficient wood for long enough that it becomes dry. With the rise in popularity of wood burners, there is a rather obvious incentive for more badly-seasoned wood to come into the marketplace.


A moisture meter is probably the first thing I'd buy. It won't solve the problem if your wood is wet, but at least it will indicate there is a problem.

savemoney

I open the bottom vent on mine whilst first starts to go. Once temperature is sufficient on my stove thermometer I only have it open a few mm. I dont use a moisture meter now as I only burn wood briquettes and there less than 10% moisture. I use Verdo get a bulk order in Summer when its a little cheaper.

FreeBear

Davesnave wrote: »

Many people find it hard to obtain dry wood, or to store sufficient wood for long enough that it becomes dry.

I put up a 10'x6' shed around Christmas to store all my wood in. Had a pile that was covered with a couple of tarpaulins that filled half the shed. Used most of that between Feb & April.

The shed was then filled again with some "seasoned" logs - Most were around 25% moisture content. With the hot summer that we have had, it should have baked quite nicely in there. But I look at the pile and wonder if it will indeed last the winter.

Shed number 2 went up in July (an 8'x6') and is half full of cut up pallets & wooden crates - Coupled with the half tonne of coal, I should be OK....

Come April/May, I'll order a large load of "seasoned" logs and restock the large shed - If we get another hot summer, they will dry out even further. If not, then it will have to be coal and a mix of wood pellets & briquettes.

JohnB47

leegemma900 wrote: »

I have recently had a new 5kw multi fuel stove fitted. I haven’t yet used it as need to wait 48 hours but am panicking a little bit.
I know you are supposed to let the fire get up to a certain temperature, otherwise it creates creosote. However, i am confused about shutting the fire down when I go to bed. When do you close all of the vents? Do you have to wait for all the wood to have burned for it to be safe? Surely when it is cooling down when the wood has burned, it creates creosote in flue? I maybe reading far too much into this but would appreciate some help as I don’t want to burn my house down!!

I never 'close all of the vents'. The bottom vent is closed fully once the fire really gets roaring and is only opened again if I've let the fire go nearly out and I want to perk it up a bit with fresh wood gone in. When the fire livens up, it gets closed fully again.

The top vent is closed down gradually to get the fire burning just right but is not closed fully. In fact the top vent is never closed fully, not even when going off to bed. That would be dangerous I think.

StumpyPumpy

Today's Guardian has an interesting article on wood burning stoves:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/11/people-burning-wet-wood-on-inefficient-stoves-poisoning-themselves


SP