Production Woodstock IS

finally let the stove cool down since daytime temps were in the 40s and night time were 20s. I loaded last night around 11. Opened air around 4:30 to 50%. 6am opened 100%. At 8:30am I pushed what coals were left to the back of the stove. One medium round went on top and one small round in front to clean off some creosite. I left the intake open 100%. Come home around 2:00 and the stove was fairly cool. Gave it an inspection, and a cleaning. I mostly wanted to clean the glass. I also vacuumed the cat and rinsed it with deionized water. Put it back together and a half hour later I have another fire going using only coals!
Pictures and comments will be placed in the private conversation....

 

I have run very little oak in the stove this year. In my other stove oak was a mixed blessing - It left very little ash. So, during an overnight run I would wake up to a really clean firebox that was cold. When I run my ash (almost exclusively ash), I was left with enough coals and ash to relight. The ash did not heat as hot or as long, excepting there were some coals left in the insulating ash. I would love to do some side by side comparing of oak in this new IS.

 

It's the fun part of burning wood now. 30's overnight. 40 ' s during the day. I realize that I could probably load it full and go 24 hours, but for now I am enjoying throwing a few splits in twice a day and burning low. Suddenly, the insulation in my house is working again .

 

A couple of days in the 40's, 50's and posting around here drops off like a stone.

It is nice being able to burn wood casually though- load kinda' when you feel like it and no longer a slave to the stove and its timetable. Another couple of weeks and we will be into the black, sticky creosote lined fireboxes and the race to get the stove to go slow enough to warm the house a bit without making us sit outside....

Brian

 

Well, hopefully it means everyone is out css more firewood and taking pics of the process.
They'll be back.
I've been taking walks to the stacks for several days and watching the reduction in snow. I'll have better access to the stacks in just a few more days of this weather.
Getting out to process wood should happen soon, too.

 

Well, now that we have reached the 50's F, I guess I can say I have used the stove an entire season I like it very much and still find the design to be excellent. A very easy to use and service stove which is very simple in most of the important areas such as the entire top being held on with gravity and sealed with a rope gasket. It does not get any easier or more reliable than that.

Two things I would mention specifically to you as a new wood burner: the first is that I am using an electric draft inducer to prevent smoke and fly ash from entering the room when the stove door is opened. This is not really an Ideal Steel problem in my opinion but any modern stove with such a large door; it is not reasonable to expect something like a 180 sq. in. opening in the side of any stove to 100% vent into a 6" flue (about 30 sq. in.). Again, I would do this with any modern stove with a large loading door.

The second thing is that the primary air supply is a bit weak on this stove and that may make it a bit more difficult to start fires as well as burn down the coals if there are a lot of them. This is not a horrible thing or a 'deal killer' in my opinion, and a chimney better suited to a woodstove such as you will be installing will probably help but I did want to mention it. There is a learning curve with burning wood and it may be a touch harder with one of these high efficiency stoves than some other, better venting types / brands.

Again, I am not trying to steer you away from an I.S. or in any direction at all, just passing along a bit of info. before you commit to anything. Of course all of that said, Woodstock does offer a six month 'test drive' with the ability to return the stove for the full price, which as far as I know is absolutely unique, and takes a lot of the stress out of the purchase.

Whatever you end up doing, the very best of luck and I hope you and your family like burning firewood. Most of us here do I think and it would be very difficult, at least for me, to have to stop doing it (move to an apt., regulations, etc.).

Brian

 

What draft inducer are you using ? Did it effectively keep smoke from coming in the house? I also have that problem. I put a piece of sheet metal over the bottom half when opening the door.

 

The Tjernlund AD-1. Just as an example: http://www.amazon.com/Tjernlund-Auto-Draft-Stove-Draft-Problems/dp/B0000AXFP1

Yes, it allows me to fully open the door and rake ashes, load the stove, clean the glass, etc. WITHOUT spilling any smoke or ash into the house. Unfortunately, the unit needs some 'tweaking' before it is ready to use. The seams on the body are spot welded and will leak both smoke and fly ash unless they are sealed. The instructions are to attach it to the smoke pipe using screws and fiberglass gasket material, which is included but that will not work either; the unit must be sealed to the smoke pipe. And all the stove pipe seams and joints between the inducer and the thimble must be sealed too or they will also leak (positive pressure in the pipe at that point). Also, for some strange reason, there is about a 3" diameter hole where the motor shaft attaches to the fan and of course, that not only leaks but really kills the chimney's draft when the inducer is not on; that opening must be stopped up also. But after all that, it works great. I only use it when the door is open and never to actually run the stove but it does make the stove usable inside a house. I would not be able to use this or a similar stove without it. A good friend of mine has a Jotul 500 and that also pours out smoke and fly ash when being loaded, cleaned, whatever.

By the way, before someone suggests it: I have tried opening the door very slowly (and smoke spills into the house much more slowly) and everything else I could think of but the fix was the inducer. A fix for the inducer would be a much better inducer but hey, there are limits....

Brian

 

Thanks Brian!

 

I like when smoke spills occasionally, love the smell of woodsmoke in the house. Not alot, just a hint.

 

After reading some of those Amazon reviews, it appears you weren't the only one with installation issues! Glad it worked out. IF I remember correctly, I remember reading in the forum from IS owners that it's best to open the stove up all the way for a few minutes before opening up the door to minimize smoke spillage?

 

I kind of like the smell of wood smoke in your house too. Even a lot.... Not so much in my house though.

Without the inducer, I cannot open the door 6" at the latch before the cloud rolls out. Opened all the way, I would need a white stick to find my way out of the house. As I said before though, I do have a less- than- ideal chimney setup which I plan on addressing this summer. But I am not throwing the inducer away just yet- it will certainly work fine on the new chimney also in case it is needed.

Brian

 

Yes, getting the fire hot before opening the door is the recommended and the usual way to do it. It also helps if the stove is really burned down before opening the door but in real life, that is not always possible or desirable, especially when it is bitterly cold out.

None of this pertains specifically to an Ideal Steel: as I said, all the modern stoves that I personally have seen will smoke with the door open, some more than others but all far too much for me. I would put an inducer on all of them if they were mine.

As far as the inducer quality, well it IS cheap. A much better solution overall is a draft inducer on the top of the chimney; that would cure all the problems associated with the stove pipe mounted one (and any like it- the brand is not really the problem, the price is) but those things are expensive, require at least some outside maintenance and are not the most attractive things on top of a residential house, at least in my opinion.

Brian

 

Sorry Brian, I rarely get smoke rolling out of the IS. Although I do enjoy time at the stove for a reload, I get a couple whiffs of woodsmoke in and a slight aroma in the stove room.

 

Sorry if I missed it somewhere else, but can you briefly describe your chimney set up? This is the area in which I have to make some decisions.

 

Brad38 , sure NP.
I have a victorian style farmhouse, 1-3/4 stories. The brick chimney is unused so I used a 6" SS liner wrapped in insulation and ran it up the chimney and capped it. The flue run is about 26' straight up, the cap is located about 38' ft from ground level. I have a prevailing wind thats fairly constant and have minimal issues with draft, and even if I did have no wind the run is so long it would create it's own draft.

 

When I run my stove hard in the cold winter, the smoke issue goes away. This time of the year it's bad. The Quadra fire did it too. Keeping a deep active coal bed helps.

 

My problem is I have 2 90 ' s then 25 ft stainless steel liner. The 2 90 ' s sort of act as a damper.

 

My IS is rear vented strait up 6ft threw 6in double wall stove pipe into 7in metalbest for another 13 ft.