I went through my first half a face cord of black birch under my deck. Nice stuff and all, and I’ve got plenty more to go through, but it’s time to bring in some better coaling stuff. My wife is extremely sensitive to wood smoke so I’m trying to be as cautious as I can when reloading not to let the smoke roll back into the room and to minimize the amount of reloads. I just moved in some dead and barkless locust from the backyard. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of dry locust on hand, and only a limited amount of oak that’s ready to burn. After these are depleted, it’ll have to be beech and apple to carry me through to shoulder season. Any tips for keeping air quality in check? I’m already using humidifiers, a kettle of water on the stove itself, a HEPA air purifier thingamabob..... Edit: I only put 3 shorty chunks of black locust in here and look at that coaling action! I love me some yellow anthracite wood.
Sounds to me like you are doing all you can for the air and smoke in your home. That apple sounds to like some really good firewood. I have burned just a tiny amount here that I scrounged and oh did I like that.
Hey Eric Schamell - with the heat and draft that BL creates, I would not think any smoke should escape during reloads unless you have long periods of absence (I am gone @10 hrs a day) and the fire nears going out. Beech and apple will serve you well through the tough of winter. I just switched this week from Ash to Red Oak for more heat, but its supposed to be 70* here on Saturday…Happy holidays!
The apple is nice. So far I’ve thrown in a couple splits here and there mixed with other stuff. I think it goes to the coaling stage rather quickly but stays in it a while. Maybe mixed with beech it could be a winner combination.
If I let my fires burn way down, I stage 4-6 splits right beside the door and load it rather quickly. I crack the door a bit first, then I typically don't get much smoke at all. Apple is excellent firewood. I wouldn't relegate it to shoulder wood. It burns hot and long. Love the smell of the smoke too.
My stove drafts reasonably well. I even had the local distributor come out last year to check it on a 30 degree day and it passed muster. I hear you about this wonky winter so far. I wish it would get and stay cold. I’d go through less kindling and wouldn’t have to fiddle around so much trying to keep the place warm but not sweltering hot. Just trying to keep the oil truck out of my driveway as long as I can.
I recently read of someone that was experimenting with making an inexpensive indoor air filter for people with wood stoves and someone in the home with breathing issues...he used a box big enough to put a box fan down inside it...then cut holes in the other 3 sides for high grade (Merv13+) furnace filters to be dropped in...the fan is just left to run on low then....he did some before and after testing with some sort of air quality monitor and there was a big difference!
I always reload when there are no flames only coals so no smoke. Open door very slooooow if any flames.
That’s been my MO for the most part. Open the bypass damper and wait a minute. Crack the door a hair and wait some more. Then slowly open it all the way. It’s my wife, older son and one stepdaughter that have asthma so I’ve got to be as careful as I can. Otherwise, no burning wood! And no exaggeration, that would devastate me.
Run it up to 90F & open the windows? Sounds like you're doing all you can. I might be inclined to try brenndatomu ' s idea. That might make a big difference & if not it's not a huge expense.
I think I’ll give it a go. I’ve got a fan, a box that should fit the bill, and all I’ll have to buy are the filters. Why not? Thank you gentlemen for all the help and suggestions
That sounds familiar, want to say I saw a vid on that. For some reason "this old house" keeps popping into my head, but that could be wrong.
Try waiting more than a minute! It is good practice. For me I am usually trying to burn coals down so have the draft full open for quite some time before opening the door.
What you say is true, however, there are still fumes from the coals that are just as bad as smoke. It is still best to open draft all the way and wait. Even then, yes, open door slowly.
