Advice on using an EPA stove?

[Mustang71]

So idk what I'm doing wrong but I seem to be burning through wood and getting not a lot of heat. Its putting out 110 degrees of heat and the temp on the front is 350. The secondary burn is going but if I close it more than half way I lose the secondary burn. The daka would put out 180+ degree heat and I've got 110. Its 64 in here and 32 outside. It's not moving much air either. Am I supposed to run the furnace blower with it? That makes it feel cold in here and I never did with the daka. I can't imagine 850 cfm vs 1100 cfm would make that much of a difference. I put in a lot of furnaces that run less than 850 cfm in a house this size.

 

[MJM268]

Like I said this firebox is insulated. I would say you need 500-600 on the front for a good burn. Try adding more small size splits, maybe 8 or so at a time. Let the stove rip for a little before closing the air down. This is totally different from what you are used too.

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[U&A]

So idk what I'm doing wrong but I seem to be burning through wood and getting not a lot of heat. Its putting out 110 degrees of heat and the temp on the front is 350. The secondary burn is going but if I close it more than half way I lose the secondary burn. The daka would put out 180+ degree heat and I've got 110. Its 64 in here and 32 outside. It's not moving much air either. Am I supposed to run the furnace blower with it? That makes it feel cold in here and I never did with the daka. I can't imagine 850 cfm vs 1100 cfm would make that much of a difference. I put in a lot of furnaces that run less than 850 cfm in a house this size.

Ok,

I dont know your circumstances so ill ask some questions first.

Chimney length?
Any bends in chimney?
Wood type?
How long has it been split?
House build year?



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[Mustang71]

Like I said this firebox is insulated. I would say you need 500-600 on the front for a good burn. Try adding more small size splits, maybe 8 or so at a time. Let the stove rip for a little before closing the air down. This is totally different from what you are used too.

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Am I supposed to get a good small fire going before I load it then let it burn wide open for a while before I cut the air? I did none of that. I got a small fire going and loaded it up like I always do then when it looked good I cut the air and the secondarys would burn for about a minute. I dont think the wood in the back of the stove burned much.

 

[Mustang71]

Ok,

I dont know your circumstances so ill ask some questions first.

Chimney length?
Any bends in chimney?
Wood type?
How long has it been split?
House build year?



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The chimney is 15to 20 ft and its straight. I'm burning ash that has been cut for over 2 years and my house is from 75 its a 1700sqft ranch.

 

[laynes69]

Am I supposed to get a good small fire going before I load it then let it burn wide open for a while before I cut the air? I did none of that. I got a small fire going and loaded it up like I always do then when it looked good I cut the air and the secondarys would burn for about a minute. I dont think the wood in the back of the stove burned much.

Yes. After a bed of coals, load the furnace and give it about 10 minutes or so to get hot. Once the furnace is starting the heat up, since its manual you can close it down in a couple stages. By the end, it should be burning very hot and you'll should have constant secondaries for at least a few hours. If the secondaries are going out, you either have wet wood, not enough air or it's not hot enough. Don't worry if you're seeing alot of flames once it's burning. It should slowly burn off the smoke. You want to see a good char on the wood.

 

[U&A]

If you have coals you should be able load it right up. It can help if you put just a few small skinny pc on the coals and then pile the large stuff on top.




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[Mustang71]

So it was getting hot but the firebox was not full so I added more wood and then it cooled down. Am I putting to much wood in and it's not allowing for it to get enough air? I can't get it above 300 and it was at 400 before added more wood. I know that's how I'd control the daka just add more wood and it would cool down.

It's full open and not many flames the wood is glowing and small flames. If I crack the door it starts ripping. Obviously I won't run it like that.

 

[laynes69]

Adding wood to a fire will slow it down temporarily due to the moisture in the wood. If it's hot when you close it down, it should get hotter and you should still have alot of flames. It's not going to put out the heat of the Daka. I think of the new furnaces as heat pumps and the oldschool furnaces as heat machines. While hot heat is nice....slow and easy also does it if sized correctly.

 

[Mustang71]

I'd think if I could figure out how to get it going it would put out a lot more heat. I had 140 degrees coming out of it last night. Today between 100 and 120 is all I can get. I can tell when it's going right because it heats up real quick I just haven't figured out how to get there.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Smaller splits?

 

[U&A]

I'd think if I could figure out how to get it going it would put out a lot more heat. I had 140 degrees coming out of it last night. Today between 100 and 120 is all I can get. I can tell when it's going right because it heats up real quick I just haven't figured out how to get there.

You will get it. Try new things and give it time.

How long do you
Keep the door cracked open to get it going?


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[MJM268]

Make sure the air coming out of the front bottom center hole is unrestricted. This is often called the doghouse primary air. Position wood splits so the doghouse air can hit the back wall of the stove. Load splits straight in and air control all the way out toward you. Mix in kindling if you have to or split smaller until coals are established.

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[Mustang71]

You will get it. Try new things and give it time.

How long do you
Keep the door cracked open to get it going?


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Not very long just until it looks like its burning.

I'm going to let this one burn down and try again with new wood. It seems like I'm doing something to soon.

 

[Mustang71]

So I think I figured out that I dont add wood every hour I coals piled up to the top of the fire bricks. It's going to be a while before I can try this again. lol

 

[moresnow]

You should be burning in complete batch's. These secondary burn/tube style stoves don't require constant tending. Start with a complete full load. Up to you but I gave up on messing with kindling years ago. A 1/4 chunk of Super Cedar jammed in between splits will easily ignite a full load if your wood is dry. Get the entire load completely involved/burning vigorously. When you start reducing the air in a couple steps depends on how hot you want the stove to get, strength of draft and wood M.C. Some guys with strong draft need to begin reducing primary air setting at 350F STT. Some will wait until 400 or higher STT. With things functioning correctly your secondary burn should be vigorous when you reduce the primary air setting. The secondary flame show should really go for quite some time. Your stove should actually continue getting hotter after you have reduced the air supply and induced secondary burn. If you aren't sustaining secondary flames you either have not let the new load burn hot long enough before reducing air, you have wet wood or you have a draft issue. Most of the time guys with a new EPA tube/secondary burn style stove have problems related to wet fuel. Very common issue. Not saying wet fuel is your issue but its worth verifying. It's also not uncommon to see STT get up to 650F-700F before slowly cooling during the burn cycle. These have been my observations. For what its worth

Edit. With your stove top being shielded you will likely need to use stove pipe temps to cipher when to adjust primary air. Same difference. Different temps to learn to use for deciding when to adjust air.

 

[Mustang71]

I sit there and watch which is the problem. I had it going for a bit today. I threw some 2x4s in the mix and it started cranking the stove was up to 400 the output temp was rising it was burning half closed. But because I had to many coals in there and my wood was half burned it didnt last more than an hour.

Then I read the book again and it said when reloading leave the door cracked for 10 to 15 minutes and then burn wide open for at least 5.

So tomorrow when I get home I will shovel out the stove start a fire and let it burn with the door cracked then wide open until it's up to temp then start slowly closing the air supply.

This is way different than I'm used to usually I load it when it cools down and start up does not matter just burn the wood. Also my other furnace had a plenum and could circulate the air around the house this one does not.

 

[moresnow]

My wood is all been cut for 2 years and split and stacked in the shed for at least 6 months. So is that seasoned?

I just began reading this thread from the beginning. Booyaa! First post may explain why you are struggling! 6 month's actual split/stacked seasoning time is almost nothing in most cases.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I sit there and watch which is the problem. I had it going for a bit today. I threw some 2x4s in the mix and it started cranking the stove was up to 400 the output temp was rising it was burning half closed. But because I had to many coals in there and my wood was half burned it didnt last more than an hour.

Then I read the book again and it said when reloading leave the door cracked for 10 to 15 minutes and then burn wide open for at least 5.

So tomorrow when I get home I will shovel out the stove start a fire and let it burn with the door cracked then wide open until it's up to temp then start slowly closing the air supply.

This is way different than I'm used to usually I load it when it cools down and start up does not matter just burn the wood. Also my other furnace had a plenum and could circulate the air around the house this one does not.

What do you mean that it doesn't have a plenum to circulate air? Isn't it just a stove then?

 

[NSMaple1]

I just began reading this thread from the beginning. Booyaa! First post may explain why you are struggling! 6 month's actual split/stacked seasoning time is almost nothing in most cases.

That would also build up coals.