High winds - up in smoke

[Shmudda]

We are having some high winds here in Western Pennsylvania tonight. My stove is going thru wood just like a fat woman in spandex going thru cigarettes. I even have it throttled down and she's still smokin and burning hot!

You can really tell a front with colder weather is moving thru.

Craig

 

[Arbonaut]

Folk that burn gas don't believe it when you tell them that. Yup, when she gets cold and windy it just starts evaporating wood. I put a 100 pound chunk (Bur Oak cured like marble from the heart of that tree in the pic on the left) in my outdoor thingy today, and she was coals in about five hours. That's the way I like it. Blowin' out the cobs, now. Lookout.

 

[Arbonaut]

This here Oak made me happy. 84" at the base.

​

 

[dingeryote]

Yep!!

It got to blowin' and throwing snow here today. Loaded up the Quad with Cottonwood, Poplar, and some Sassafrass off the Fall stacks.
WHOOOOF!! House is 79, I got the thing throttled down to just a smidge before closed. With the outside combustion air supply and this wind, it's like having a Turbo bolted to the firebox. I'm just happy I ain't woofing Oak or Locust that fast, and have the stacks of trashy wood just for the occasion. This little system isn't slowing down any time soon.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[smokee]

I just got my first insert a few weeks ago and had noticed that I'm going through wood pretty quick with these high winds tonight. I guess that's the nature of the beast when it's windy.

 

[Whitespider]

Exactly why I installed a flue damper... I just throttle-back the chimney draft on such occasions.
It's pretty simple to set with this new EPA firebox, just open the door and slowly close the damper until you see a little smoke exit, then quickly open the damper back up just a touch so no smoke is exiting the door... done. Most of the time I have it set about halfway between full-open and full-closed, but in this wind it's near all the way closed.

 

[flyboy553]

Exactly why I installed a flue damper... I just throttle-back the chimney draft on such occasions.
It's pretty simple to set with this new EPA firebox, just open the door and slowly close the damper until you see a little smoke exit, then quickly open the damper back up just a touch so no smoke is exiting the door... done. Most of the time I have it set about halfway between full-open and full-closed, but in this wind it's near all the way closed.

This works if the wind is constant. When it is gusting, it is much harder to control. It has to be set so it doesn't smoke when the lowest speed wind is blowing. So then when it gusts, there goes the wood!:bang:

Ted

 

[Jules083]

I'm in eastern Ohio, had the same storm as the op last night. Sucked down a full firebox in about 6 hours with the draft door screwed tight, should have lasted 10 or 12 hours. The cleanout door was howling from all the air getting sucked through.

House was nice and warm at least, can't complain too much. Most peoples houses get colder when there's a storm.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Whitespider]

This works if the wind is constant. When it is gusting, it is much harder to control. It has to be set so it doesn't smoke when the lowest speed wind is blowing. So then when it gusts, there goes the wood!

Well, yeah, somewhat... but you're still better off with a chimney damper. I find as I throttle back the chimney draft the maximum "gusts"/minimum "lulls" seem to have less effect... it becomes something like a zero-sum game. Really, I don't need the damper set for the lowest wind speed, rather something in between... something close to the average. In effect, I'm reducing the draft "variance" from normal; without the damper, chimney draw is varying 30, 40 maybe 50% from "normal" (both more and less)... the damper reduces that chimney draw variance to maybe 5, 10 or 15%. The chimney damper reduces the chances of "back-puffing" in an equal manner to "over-drafting"... pressure and draft become less "reactive", so-to-say.


addendum: Hey, I live where the wind blows, and gusts, near non-stop from now until Memorial Day.
(The only place worse is that godforsaken land called Kansas and Nebraska.)

 

[Dogsout]

Spiders not kidding about the non stop wind in Iowa. I live in North Central Iowa and there is a wind farm 5 miles west of my town, and a different wind farm 2 miles east of town. They are placed here for a very good reason.

 

[slowp]

If it came from the west, we already had it. I live in a sheltered spot, so did not get much wind. Down at the mouth of the Columbia River, they had to shut down the Astoria Bridge because winds were clocked at 101 mph. Up the coast, they had gusts of 114mph. Trees blew over on the highways up and down the coast. Power was knocked out in many places--no looting though. My power flickered a bit. Seattle and elsewhere had flooding and wind.

You don't read about our "hurricanes" because they are commas instead of O's, and we seem to deal with them well.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Don't think it was the same storm Patty, this one came down out of the Canadian prairies and brought nearly 50 degree temperature drops, 40+ MPH winds, and just enough snow to make the auto body shops some money. On the back side of it today, it's a nice crisp 25°, sunshine and no wind. My kind of weather finally!

Thank you Canada, been waiting for my delivery of winter for a year and a half now!

PS - please send more snow!

 

[laynes69]

I've been back and forth on thought when it comes to our barometric damper, but it's nights like last I appreciate having it. I have a manometer mounted to our fluepipe and while the baro was talking, the draft just about stayed constant. I loaded 4 large splits last night about 9:00pm and added a small split about 10:30pm. Woke this morning at 8:00am with a nice coal bed with temps in the mid 20's, house at 70. The temps aren't bad, but it's the wind that gets us every time. If I capped the barometric damper, draft could easily triple with the high winds.

 

[MotorSeven]

Besides a damper I think these windbeater flue caps help with the high wind problem:

HomeSaver 8 Inch Round WindBeater Stainless Steel Chimney Cap

I would never have paid this much for a cap, but I bought a whole used class A system off CL and this was included.......I like very much.

 

[brenndatomu]

I've been back and forth on thought when it comes to our barometric damper, but it's nights like last I appreciate having it. I have a manometer mounted to our fluepipe and while the baro was talking, the draft just about stayed constant. I loaded 4 large splits last night about 9:00pm and added a small split about 10:30pm. Woke this morning at 8:00am with a nice coal bed with temps in the mid 20's, house at 70. The temps aren't bad, but it's the wind that gets us every time. If I capped the barometric damper, draft could easily triple with the high winds.

HA! This was gonna be my reply almost word for word! My draft runs in the -.03-.04 range, but hold the baro closed...zips up over -.10. Took me a while to come around on using a baro., but after using one for a year or so now, I like it. Burning changed very little when sandy's wind went by.

 

[woodbooga]

I think some element of this front is making way here - switched from pine to some punk maple to ash in the recent cycle.

Got the key damper at 45% after going full throttle on loading to preserve the burn. Otherwise, non woofah wood woofs like a bichen heat