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Woodburning Stoves

Does what it says on the tin
Dod101
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Woodburning Stoves

#401808

Postby Dod101 » April 5th, 2021, 10:46 am

My question is not really DAK nor is it strictly Building and DIY but here goes anyway.

I have a (very necessary) woodburning stove but by this time of year I am very aware that it does not burn 'cleanly' in the sense that when the brighter days of sunshine come along and I am tempted to do some spring cleaning (like today) i am aware of a grey film of dust over things. I am particularly shocked by the state of the two seater couch nearest to the fire and if it is as it is goodness knows what the carpet can be like.

Are they all like that? Mine is probably 20 years old and I am told by the suppliers that they are still selling the same model so it appears not to have been overtaken by a cleaner one, but it does just not seem to be right somehow.

Can anyone advise?

Dod

Dod101
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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401818

Postby Dod101 » April 5th, 2021, 11:12 am

ReallyVeryFoolish wrote:I just looked at the one my wife had installed about 3 years ago. It has a kind of rope looking seal (obviously not really rope but that kind of texture, at one time no doubt it would have been asbestos) on the door. I think I would look at a new door seal if the stove is still being made. Assuming, of course, yours has a similar type seal on the door. No, there is no ash/dust from our stove to speak of.

RVF


Thanks. Yes I renew the rope seals around the door more or less annually. It aids efficient burning and control of the rate of burning but I obviously have some leakage somewhere. I get a lot of dust quite obviously, no ash as such, so it is quite insidious. Cannot be doing my lungs much good either. Maybe time to find a professional to take a look.

Dod

richlist
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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401823

Postby richlist » April 5th, 2021, 11:23 am

* I check that any fire cement used to seal joints is still in place and replace it as necessary once a year.
* Presumably you have your chimney swept every year ?
* The person that does this should use a smoke bomb to check for leaks.
* When the fire is not being used I close the fire vents.
* I don't get any dust......so the assumption is You have a leak.
Last edited by richlist on April 5th, 2021, 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

AsleepInYorkshire
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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401826

Postby AsleepInYorkshire » April 5th, 2021, 11:26 am

Dod101 wrote:My question is not really DAK nor is it strictly Building and DIY but here goes anyway.

I have a (very necessary) woodburning stove but by this time of year I am very aware that it does not burn 'cleanly' in the sense that when the brighter days of sunshine come along and I am tempted to do some spring cleaning (like today) i am aware of a grey film of dust over things. I am particularly shocked by the state of the two seater couch nearest to the fire and if it is as it is goodness knows what the carpet can be like.

Are they all like that? Mine is probably 20 years old and I am told by the suppliers that they are still selling the same model so it appears not to have been overtaken by a cleaner one, but it does just not seem to be right somehow.

Can anyone advise?

Dod

Good morning :) . I completely understand the necessity of your wood burner. I'm no expert in these wonderful winter warmers. Well I'm no expert in anything really. I do a great line in bullshit. There are health risks associated with wood burners which if you're not already aware of I'd suggest you do some research.

I suspect, but have already caveated myself robustly above, that the wood is not burning as it should. I do know not to use wet wood in these things. Does this help at all?

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

AiY

Dod101
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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401839

Postby Dod101 » April 5th, 2021, 12:10 pm

I do all the right things, including only burning kiln dried wood and I have a CO2 monitor close by.The stove does not smoke.
Maybe I just need to accept that I do not clean often enough!

Dod

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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401854

Postby ReformedCharacter » April 5th, 2021, 12:44 pm

Dod101 wrote:I do all the right things, including only burning kiln dried wood and I have a CO2 monitor close by.The stove does not smoke.
Maybe I just need to accept that I do not clean often enough!

Dod

A couple of points worth mentioning which may help. Particulates which may or may not be visible as smoke are released to some degree each time the stove door is opened whilst the stove is in use. So try to open the stove door as infrequently as possible and only when the wood has burnt down so that the contents are mainly glowing embers, and when little smoke is being produced. Fill the stove with as much wood as possible before lighting and aim not to have to open it until most of it has burnt to charcoal\embers. Before opening the stove door to add wood open the air control so that you have a good flow of hot air going up the chimney, this will reduce the amount of smoke drawn into the room when the stove door is opened. When opening the stove door open it slowly initially - say the first inch or so - this will also help reduce the amount of smoke\particulates drawn into the room.

RC

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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401858

Postby Dod101 » April 5th, 2021, 1:18 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
Dod101 wrote:I do all the right things, including only burning kiln dried wood and I have a CO2 monitor close by.The stove does not smoke.
Maybe I just need to accept that I do not clean often enough!

Dod

A couple of points worth mentioning which may help. Particulates which may or may not be visible as smoke are released to some degree each time the stove door is opened whilst the stove is in use. So try to open the stove door as infrequently as possible and only when the wood has burnt down so that the contents are mainly glowing embers, and when little smoke is being produced. Fill the stove with as much wood as possible before lighting and aim not to have to open it until most of it has burnt to charcoal\embers. Before opening the stove door to add wood open the air control so that you have a good flow of hot air going up the chimney, this will reduce the amount of smoke drawn into the room when the stove door is opened. When opening the stove door open it slowly initially - say the first inch or so - this will also help reduce the amount of smoke\particulates drawn into the room.

RC


Thanks RC. I think you may well have hit the nail on the head. I am guilty of probably opening the door more than I should and quite often have had a puff of smoke coming out, no doubt laden with particulates. I had not thought of opening the air controls before opening the door but that makes perfect sense.

My stove works well and is a great heat source. I get the chimney swept each year and generally maintain the stove as well as I can . I think your points may well be the answer. Thanks again.

Dod

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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401880

Postby scrumpyjack » April 5th, 2021, 3:16 pm

I am in the same position. I have found it better not to fill the stove too full. It draws better when not too full and then there is less smoke. I have got an air filter which certainly helps removing particles from the air and doesn't make too much noise.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

Dod101
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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401920

Postby Dod101 » April 5th, 2021, 7:51 pm

scrumpyjack wrote:I am in the same position. I have found it better not to fill the stove too full. It draws better when not too full and then there is less smoke. I have got an air filter which certainly helps removing particles from the air and doesn't make too much noise.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1


Thanks SJ. I may well try that next season. Where do you site the filter? Not really, I hope, a silly question but do you have it close to the stove or does it not matter?

I think another part of my problem this year was that I was burning a lot of oak logs which tend to smoulder rather than burn brightly and I suspect that may have been part of the problem. Maybe I should stick to ash.

A worthwhile discussion. Thanks to all.

Dod

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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401921

Postby scrumpyjack » April 5th, 2021, 7:54 pm

Dod101 wrote:
scrumpyjack wrote:I am in the same position. I have found it better not to fill the stove too full. It draws better when not too full and then there is less smoke. I have got an air filter which certainly helps removing particles from the air and doesn't make too much noise.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1


Thanks SJ. I may well try that next season. Where do you site the filter? Not really, I hope, a silly question but do you have it close to the stove or does it not matter?

I think another part of my problem this year was that I was burning a lot of oak logs which tend to smoulder rather than burn brightly and I suspect that may have been part of the problem. Maybe I should stick to ash.

A worthwhile discussion. Thanks to all.

Dod


I put the filter away from the fire on the other side of the room on the basis that hot gases escaping from the fire with particles will rise with the convection effect and then come down again further away. Trial and error!

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Re: Woodburning Stoves

#401923

Postby ReformedCharacter » April 5th, 2021, 8:12 pm

Dod101 wrote:
I think another part of my problem this year was that I was burning a lot of oak logs which tend to smoulder rather than burn brightly and I suspect that may have been part of the problem. Maybe I should stick to ash.

Dod

Oak can be good to burn in a stove; I'm lucky that my log supplier provided me with some really dense oak from the heart of the tree over the last couple of years. The tree had been blown over a few years previously and needed no further seasoning. It is hard to get going on it's own and takes a fair bit of air to sustain. The key is to burn it with another wood. If you have access to Ash as well then that's probably the best combination you can have, the Ash will burn hot quite easily and provide the heat to maintain the Oak. Best of both worlds. Unfortunately I don't have access to Ash, so I make do with Sycamore and that works well too.

RC


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