Warm fall, low fires= Creosote hell!!

[dingeryote]

Been burning since October when it started getting cold enough to justify a fire. Lotsa times a small hot fire will cover things for the morning, and a small hot fire with a couple long burners will handle the overnight.

This year though, more than a couple times we have damped things back as the day ended up warmer than expected and have been burning low fires in the evenings when things just didn't cool off as expected.

The Quadrafire 7100 runs HOT and will drive ya out of this 2,500sq ft. hootch if ya let it rip, and it is most efficient when run hot.

I have also just learned that unlike an old school stove, low fires ain't smart at all.

This is our chimney cap with spark screen, completely clogged 6 weeks after bieng cleaned.

Chimney pipe had about 3 cups of creosote in the last 5', but was clear in the first 20'.

My first clue was a slight lack of draft on opening the door to shuffle the coals. Good thing I'm fussy about such things LOL!!

The wood getting burned so far has all been seasoned since last winter or longer, some standing dead cut last year, and some that has been on a pile out back for 3 years.

It all boils down to running a modern airtight non-Cat stove, with a low fire.

Heads up guys, run 'em hot enough, or get after 'em with the brush!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Ductape]

Yuck !

I feel your pain.......... more than cold enough for a fire at night, but mild days. I've been trying to keep the stove hot, and we just open the kitchen door for the afternoon to adjust the temp. on the mild days.

 

[jkupcha]

Hey Dinger
I have a large zero clearance fireplace like yours. Mine is the Napoleon NZ6000. Like to run big and hot. I've enjoyed mine and it does well heating my 3000 house. Just wanted to know if you have the same problem as me in keeping the glass clean. I find that the stove box is so large that it is hard to heat up the glass to cook off the soot. End up having to clean the glass most mornings with ash and water. How bout your 7100? Thanks - joe

 

[savageactor7]

dingeryote Yup kind of tough burning in milder weather.

Long ago our old neighbor turned me on to processing some dead, junk, punky wood for shoulder season. It's an easy take grabbing it off the ground...90% doesn't even have limbs. Once it's processed and elevated soaking wet wood drys in a month or less and gets light as a feather...and a lot of this junk you can burn asap.

btw the bugs leave too when it dries up.

It's good if you're in and about the house and it burns hot but doesn't make you open up all the windows either. A side benefit is that it helps clean up the wood lot. Not the kind of wood you'd ever pay for though.

whoops... almost forgot this could be a regional thing I dunno. But I wear rubber gloves now when processing wet rotten wood after I got a case of mites living under my skin between the fingers. Still I love my junk wood cause it serves this niche' just fine.

 

[dwinch53]

Been burning since October when it started getting cold enough to justify a fire. Lotsa times a small hot fire will cover things for the morning, and a small hot fire with a couple long burners will handle the overnight.

This year though, more than a couple times we have damped things back as the day ended up warmer than expected and have been burning low fires in the evenings when things just didn't cool off as expected.

The Quadrafire 7100 runs HOT and will drive ya out of this 2,500sq ft. hootch if ya let it rip, and it is most efficient when run hot.

I have also just learned that unlike an old school stove, low fires ain't smart at all.

This is our chimney cap with spark screen, completely clogged 6 weeks after bieng cleaned.

Chimney pipe had about 3 cups of creosote in the last 5', but was clear in the first 20'.

My first clue was a slight lack of draft on opening the door to shuffle the coals. Good thing I'm fussy about such things LOL!!

The wood getting burned so far has all been seasoned since last winter or longer, some standing dead cut last year, and some that has been on a pile out back for 3 years.

It all boils down to running a modern airtight non-Cat stove, with a low fire.

Heads up guys, run 'em hot enough, or get after 'em with the brush!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

It looks like you have a metalbestos chimney...I do also and have the same prob...I run mine with that screen off and put it back on for the summer months to keep out birds and such...and like you have that black nasty stuff about the first 5 feet down and the rest nice and clean...try it with no screen, but save it for the summer...where do you live in mi.? Dan

 

[howellhandmade]

Been burning since October when it started getting cold enough to justify a fire. Lotsa times a small hot fire will cover things for the morning, and a small hot fire with a couple long burners will handle the overnight.

This year though, more than a couple times we have damped things back as the day ended up warmer than expected and have been burning low fires in the evenings when things just didn't cool off as expected.

The Quadrafire 7100 runs HOT and will drive ya out of this 2,500sq ft. hootch if ya let it rip, and it is most efficient when run hot.

I have also just learned that unlike an old school stove, low fires ain't smart at all.
SNIP

It all boils down to running a modern airtight non-Cat stove, with a low fire.

Heads up guys, run 'em hot enough, or get after 'em with the brush!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

It's funny, I asked a question yesterday about running an EPA stove choked down, whether it was better to run hot and risk overfiring or run low and risk creosote. The two replies I got said that so long as I was burning seasoned wood (which I am) then the stove would burn clean on a small damper opening.

My Napoleon 1100 is perfect for this time of year -- may not be quite hot enough when it gets cold, but I could run it hotter than I do and not be cooked out of the house. So, how about the other side of the issue: has anyone damaged a Napoleon (or other EPA stove) burning too hot?

Jack

 

[myzamboni]

It's funny, I asked a question yesterday about running an EPA stove choked down, whether it was better to run hot and risk overfiring or run low and risk creosote. The two replies I got said that so long as I was burning seasoned wood (which I am) then the stove would burn clean on a small damper opening.

My Napoleon 1100 is perfect for this time of year -- may not be quite hot enough when it gets cold, but I could run it hotter than I do and not be cooked out of the house. So, how about the other side of the issue: has anyone damaged a Napoleon (or other EPA stove) burning too hot?

Jack

The key with what is in bold up above is you have to get the stove up to the correct temperature before damping down.

Dinger, build smaller fires and let 'er rip. I don't see how small, hot fires would drive you out of your house (or crack a window?)

The coldest part of my burn season is your shoulder season (temp.-wise). I rarely stuff the stove, but burn small hot fires and have very little creosote and my screen does not clog.

 

[howellhandmade]

The key with what is in bold up above is you have to get the stove up to the correct temperature before damping down.

Dinger, build smaller fires and let 'er rip. I don't see how small, hot fires would drive you out of your house (or crack a window?)

The coldest part of my burn season is your shoulder season (temp.-wise). I rarely stuff the stove, but burn small hot fires and have very little creosote and my screen does not clog.

I think I may have a handle on the low end now. I reckon if it's not smoking it's not building up creosote, and my screen isn't clogged, either. My owner's manual recommends adding smaller amounts of wood more frequently, which I do rather than stuffing it, so perhaps my fears of overfiring are unfounded. The stove seemed rather lightly built compared with the old monster I'm used to.

Jack

 

[dingeryote]

Hey Dinger
I have a large zero clearance fireplace like yours. Mine is the Napoleon NZ6000. Like to run big and hot. I've enjoyed mine and it does well heating my 3000 house. Just wanted to know if you have the same problem as me in keeping the glass clean. I find that the stove box is so large that it is hard to heat up the glass to cook off the soot. End up having to clean the glass most mornings with ash and water. How bout your 7100? Thanks - joe

J,

Get a small fire goin' and let it rip. The glass cleans right up on it's own with the 7100.

Mine gets dirty only when we damp it down for too long, and when a full load is stuffed in and not run up to temp before damping it down.

LOL!!
Bring on winter, and we ain't gotta fuss with this!!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[dingeryote]

dingeryote Yup kind of tough burning in milder weather.

Long ago our old neighbor turned me on to processing some dead, junk, punky wood for shoulder season. It's an easy take grabbing it off the ground...90% doesn't even have limbs. Once it's processed and elevated soaking wet wood drys in a month or less and gets light as a feather...and a lot of this junk you can burn asap.

btw the bugs leave too when it dries up.

It's good if you're in and about the house and it burns hot but doesn't make you open up all the windows either. A side benefit is that it helps clean up the wood lot. Not the kind of wood you'd ever pay for though.

whoops... almost forgot this could be a regional thing I dunno. But I wear rubber gloves now when processing wet rotten wood after I got a case of mites living under my skin between the fingers. Still I love my junk wood cause it serves this niche' just fine.

Savage,

I hear ya on burning junk this time of year. I have LOTS of squaw wood on the ground in our woodlot, and it gets stacked up and burnt this time of year.

A Buddy and I got a Big Ponderosa pine from some folks that was pushed down several years back, and after drying all summer it's great stuff for mornings. The problem comes when ya got the stove half loaded and going well and you throttle it back on account of it getting too warm in the house, or ya gotta leave to go chase Deer or whatever.

LOL!!
My wife is good for throwing 2-3 12" rounds on the coals and running off, so she's got fire to work with when she gets back.

Mites eh? never got into 'em around here. But we are basicly on Beach sand that drains rather quickly. That sounds like an itchy wierd kinda ugly. BLECH!
I'll keep that in mind when I'm rooting around out back though.
Thanks!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[dingeryote]

It looks like you have a metalbestos chimney...I do also and have the same prob...I run mine with that screen off and put it back on for the summer months to keep out birds and such...and like you have that black nasty stuff about the first 5 feet down and the rest nice and clean...try it with no screen, but save it for the summer...where do you live in mi.? Dan

dwinch,

I'm just South of South Haven about 15 Miles.

I thought about running without the screen, but like the "Spark arrestor" aspect of it. Bieng surrounded by Red Oaks means a leaf fire could get interesting quick out here. I'm thinking I might pull the screen once the snow flies though.

I reckon once things get good and hot and we can keep 'em hot, we wont have the issues though.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[atvdave]

What I do in this type of weather is I don't burn in the day time unless the temps call for it.

I will start a small fire around 6 to 7 pm to get the coals good and hot, and before I goto bed I'll load it up and let it rip. In the morning I just let the fire burn out.. I don't reload before I goto work. When I get home from work I just clean out the insert and start all over.

The house stays good and warm all night and all day. My house holds in the heat when the temps out side our a bit above the session average.

Everyone's set up is diffrent....., house insulation, temps (where you live), type of wood you use.... so what works for one may not work for the other.

Anyway... it works for me... with out having to choke down the fire.

Dave

 

[Rickochet]

Dingeryote---- is the "Get off my lawn!" quote from Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino?

 

[dingeryote]

Dingeryote---- is the "Get off my lawn!" quote from Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino?

Pretty much.

Great Movie. Clint outdid himself with that one, and shoulda swept the awards.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Rickochet]

Pretty much.

Great Movie. Clint outdid himself with that one, and shoulda swept the awards.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

We just watched it Saturday evening. Great movie, but there were just too many freakin' "freaks" in the movie. Oh well, Clint is still an awesome actor. Always the tough guy--- kinda like us wood burners. We tell the mighty Oaks--- Go ahead punk, make my day! Or in your case.... Get off my lawn!!!!! :greenchainsaw:

 

[Nuzzy]

Yeah, this fall has been hell for dampened fires I get lazy (or rushed in the mornings) and hate lighting multiple fires, so I've just been limping along. Already cleaned the chimney twice since early Oct. Although I must say I was pleasantly surprised this last time as not nearly as much came out as I was expecting. Still, I can't wait for the rip roaring fire season ahead

 

[Junkfxr]

dwinch,

I'm just South of South Haven about 15 Miles.

I thought about running without the screen, but like the "Spark arrestor" aspect of it. Bieng surrounded by Red Oaks means a leaf fire could get interesting quick out here. I'm thinking I might pull the screen once the snow flies though.

I reckon once things get good and hot and we can keep 'em hot, we wont have the issues though.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Hey Dingeryote, I was just up your way a couple weeks ago visiting a friend north of Allegan. Flat as a pancake up there, but not quite as bad as Indiana. Boy, yall must really like the snow being on the lake like that.

 

[dingeryote]

Hey Dingeryote, I was just up your way a couple weeks ago visiting a friend north of Allegan. Flat as a pancake up there, but not quite as bad as Indiana. Boy, yall must really like the snow being on the lake like that.

Ya shoulda hollered! No Blueberrys this time of year, but plenty of ditchline Felling to be done, and a few fish in the pond are still running. LOL!!

Snow? Bah! That's tourist repellant. Drives most folks crazy, the rest of us look forward to the break from the Citiots.

Next time Holler!
Just cuz we have newer looking old cars in the front yard don't mean us Farmbillys are uppity.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[dingeryote]

Yeah, this fall has been hell for dampened fires I get lazy (or rushed in the mornings) and hate lighting multiple fires, so I've just been limping along. Already cleaned the chimney twice since early Oct. Although I must say I was pleasantly surprised this last time as not nearly as much came out as I was expecting. Still, I can't wait for the rip roaring fire season ahead

We just gotta get you a stove for the shoulder seasons.
That Ships boiler ya got would drive me nuts! LOL!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[stihl sawing]

Yup, Done cleaned the pipe once already. What's funny was everyone around here was predicting a cold winter. Now it may get that way but so far it's warm. Deer season has been miserable fighting wasp and skeeters. Think the cat on mine is halfway stopped up now. I took the screen off my cap cause it was clogging up every week. Been some crazy weather for sure.