Show us: your log burners and open fires

[rogerzilla]

View attachment 555108

Here be ours. Any tips on getting maximum heat? Really struggle to get it to 300 degrees (according to the flue thermometer) which means it is always worryingly in the ‘creosote zone’.

we get our wood from the local farm shop but perhaps it isn’t as seasoned as they say it is?

Use full secondary air after lighting up, split the wood down if a log doesn't easily burn to ash, get the stove well heated up with smaller pieces before you put large logs in it. Moisture meters are cheap: split a big log and immediately stick the probes into the middle of the new surface. 15-20% is ideal. Anything over 20% should be dried further.

The regs for flues should ensure that it draws well provided it's swept and not blocked by jackdaws' nests. Chimneys, if unlined, can be a bit fussy.

Where is your thermometer? They are a bit inexact as a vitreous enamel stovepipe can vary in heat transfer properties, and there is often a recommended mounting distance from the stove top (e.g. one foot). If the flames are bright, there is no chimney smoke under steady conditions and you're not getting abnormal sooting of the chimney, it's all good.

 

[MrGrumpy]

A wee question anyone used a multi meter to measure resistance of the wood at all, just need a handy chart to compare resistance readings

 

[uphillstruggler]

Storing logs that close to your burner looks like a house fire waiting to happen, they could easily get hot enough to ignite.

thanks for the heads up, that’s the next lot to go in and once the burner is lit , is laid across the front so wouldn’t have the chance to get too hot

 

[lejogger]

Use full secondary air after lighting up, split the wood down if a log doesn't easily burn to ash, get the stove well heated up with smaller pieces before you put large logs in it. Moisture meters are cheap: split a big log and immediately stick the probes into the middle of the new surface. 15-20% is ideal. Anything over 20% should be dried further.

The regs for flues should ensure that it draws well provided it's swept and not blocked by jackdaws' nests. Chimneys, if unlined, can be a bit fussy.

Where is your thermometer? They are a bit inexact as a vitreous enamel stovepipe can vary in heat transfer properties, and there is often a recommended mounting distance from the stove top (e.g. one foot). If the flames are bright, there is no chimney smoke under steady conditions and you're not getting abnormal sooting of the chimney, it's all good.

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

Our particular stove only has one adjustable intake (presume this is the secondary air?) - at the bottom under the door. I usually leave it open to begin with and gradually close it off once the fire is burning well... however I rarely get to the point where I can close it fully and leave it, as the fire just seems to die right down.
I suspect that when the fire is well lit with intake open (fully or partially) however, we're losing lots of the heat up the chimney.

The thermometer is magnetised and I usually pop it on the first flat part of the flue I can find above the stove top (less than a foot). You might be able to make it out on the photo.

We had it swept in January (our first full winter in the house) after hearing sooty deposits falling at random moments. We foolishly took the word of the previous owners that they'd recently had it done, so were aghast when he stated suspicions that it had never been swept, that there had been a chimney fire, and proceeded to pull very large carbon deposits out of the chimney.

I'm obviously now paranoid about making sure it's burning at correct temperatures, as I don't want to set my house/family on fire.

The wood we usually get is normally quite large, so I suspect part of the problem may be that it needs splitting further. Moving from light kindling to big chunks may be asking a bit much of it, although it does seem to light well.

 

[Notafettler]

For me, ash followed by beech, oak, sycamore. Willow is suprisingly good as well. I season everything for a year at least.

WRONG, again wrong. How many times do I have to say it, free wood burns best. You don't even have to burn it to make yourself feel warm all over!

 

[Notafettler]

Storing logs that close to your burner looks like a house fire waiting to happen, they could easily get hot enough to ignite.

I don't find that to be true......other than Alder, which even started to smolder when it was 18" and 45degrees from the front of the fire. I won't say what happened when it was touching!!

 

[Notafettler]

Note wood burners are far from efficient. If they say it is 85% efficient that just means it converts 85% of available energy in to heat, most of which still goes up the chimney. Also the fire draws air from the room it is in....hot air. There are wood burners that can have a pipe that draws the air from outside. A nice way of improving efficiency.

 

[Hicky]

@lejogger , in our old house we had a multifuel which made our home. I really do miss it.
Some people and I'd agree say you need to learn your fire and how it runs, it took me quite a while to get to grips with ours. The quality of stuff you burn(how dry the wood is especially) is what matters. I've found huge differences in the wood delivered or available from suppliers where I am. All I'd say is it is worth finding a good supplier who's quality is a, consistent and b, often not much more expensive than the local "logs for sale" farm.
What type of fire is it? I'm surprised there's only control, normally one air intake and one flue control.
I'm sure you've done this but it might be worth looking at if you're unsure of the previous owners sincerity......
https://www.stoveworlduk.co.uk/does-my-stove-need-an-air-vent-or-air-brick

 

[Profpointy]

A wee question anyone used a multi meter to measure resistance of the wood at all, just need a handy chart to compare resistance readings

You can buy a moisture gauge for not very much money. Mine's a Sthil, the chainsaw makers, so presumably pukka. It has another setting for damp walls too. That said, I tend not to need it for the old pallets etc I burn

 

[Notafettler]

, I tend not to need it for the old pallets etc I burn

Definitely not!

 

[newts]

My father swept a chimney in the early 80's on a newish property with 9" clay liner pipes.
House owner had complained that the room was a bit 'smitchy' (westcountry for you couldn't see across the room).
He couldn't get the brush all the way up the flue, they'd been burning green logs since they moved in.
As the young apprentice I was dispatched forewith into the loft with hammer & bolster.
The offset bend in the flue had constricted down to about 2" diameter with hard black pitch.

 

[raleighnut]

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

Our particular stove only has one adjustable intake (presume this is the secondary air?) - at the bottom under the door. I usually leave it open to begin with and gradually close it off once the fire is burning well... however I rarely get to the point where I can close it fully and leave it, as the fire just seems to die right down.
I suspect that when the fire is well lit with intake open (fully or partially) however, we're losing lots of the heat up the chimney.

The thermometer is magnetised and I usually pop it on the first flat part of the flue I can find above the stove top (less than a foot). You might be able to make it out on the photo.

We had it swept in January (our first full winter in the house) after hearing sooty deposits falling at random moments. We foolishly took the word of the previous owners that they'd recently had it done, so were aghast when he stated suspicions that it had never been swept, that there had been a chimney fire, and proceeded to pull very large carbon deposits out of the chimney.

I'm obviously now paranoid about making sure it's burning at correct temperatures, as I don't want to set my house/family on fire.

The wood we usually get is normally quite large, so I suspect part of the problem may be that it needs splitting further. Moving from light kindling to big chunks may be asking a bit much of it, although it does seem to light well.

You still need to allow enough air in for the wood to burn, closing the vent too much will cause those deposits to form in the flue.

 

[Hicky]

I don't find that to be true......other than Alder, which even started to smolder when it was 18" and 45degrees from the front of the fire. I won't say what happened when it was touching!!

That is one of them things that I would rather never put in the column of "yeah I don't think it will happen" for the sake of being slightly safer and to allow the fire to radiate heat better to the room. Each to their own though.

 

[rogerzilla]

Note wood burners are far from efficient. If they say it is 85% efficient that just means it converts 85% of available energy in to heat, most of which still goes up the chimney.

Go on then, the other 15% turns into cosmic rays?

The 85% does mean 85% of the heat enters the room (the measurement is done by subtracting the energy in the flue gases, calculated from their temperature and volume), but it is under specified conditions and will be affected by the length of exposed stovepipe, whether it's in a chimney recess, etc as well as the burning conditions. A stove with outside air intake (which is very much worth it), on a free-standing hearth and with the maximum permitted uninsulated stovepipe inside the room will be the most efficient.

 

[rogerzilla]

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me.

Our particular stove only has one adjustable intake (presume this is the secondary air?) - at the bottom under the door. I usually leave it open to begin with and gradually close it off once the fire is burning well... however I rarely get to the point where I can close it fully and leave it, as the fire just seems to die right down.
I suspect that when the fire is well lit with intake open (fully or partially) however, we're losing lots of the heat up the chimney.

The thermometer is magnetised and I usually pop it on the first flat part of the flue I can find above the stove top (less than a foot). You might be able to make it out on the photo.

We had it swept in January (our first full winter in the house) after hearing sooty deposits falling at random moments. We foolishly took the word of the previous owners that they'd recently had it done, so were aghast when he stated suspicions that it had never been swept, that there had been a chimney fire, and proceeded to pull very large carbon deposits out of the chimney.

I'm obviously now paranoid about making sure it's burning at correct temperatures, as I don't want to set my house/family on fire.

The wood we usually get is normally quite large, so I suspect part of the problem may be that it needs splitting further. Moving from light kindling to big chunks may be asking a bit much of it, although it does seem to light well.

An air inlet under the grate is primary air and not for wood burning, only for coal or for lighting up. There must be a fixed secondary air inlet, or you have a coal-only stove.