Fuel, Backpufﬁng, Draft Testing, 2000970

-so use whatever combination of installation features and operational steps will encourage good draft and minimize creosote production.

Because letting the smoke cool off and slow down is one of the keys to creosote production, it makes sense to line a chimney to match the stove’s outlet size, for safety reasons as well as performance. Canadian law requires a matching liner to serve any stove or insert vented through a ﬁreplace chimney; in the US, the National Fire Protection Association recommends one if the ﬂue is more than three times bigger (in square area) than the outlet on the stove or insert. Some localities enforce the NFPA guidelines as part of their building codes.

Fuel

Even the best stove installation will not perform well with poor fuel. The best fuel is hardwood that has air-dried 12- 18 months. Softwood burns, but not as long as hardwood. Fairly ‘green’ wood has a good amount of moisture in it; it will burn, but some of the heat potential is used to drive the remaining moisture off the wood. This reduces the amount that reaches your home and can contribute to a creosote problem. There are moisture meters available for ﬁrewood; you can also judge your wood by its appearance and weight. If you get it green, lift a piece and get a sense of its weight; it can lose a third or more of its weight as it dries. Also look at the ends of a log; as it dries it shrinks and often cracks. The more weathered and cracked a piece is, the drier it is.

Dry wood burns readily with a good chimney draft. But with modern stoves, especially catalytic ones, the wood can be too dry. While extra-dry wood has little creosote in it, the remainder can ‘gas out’ from the wood quickly and densely enough to overload the catalytic burner. If you hear a rumbling or roaring noise, like a propane torch, from the stove, that is a sign that the catalyst is seriously overﬁr- ing. The catalyst is a platinum ﬁlm on a ceramic base; the metal can get to higher temperatures than the ceramic can take, and overﬁring the catalyst can break it. Dry wood can also burn out faster than you want. If your dry wood burns out too quickly or overloads the catalyst you can mix in greener wood to slow the ﬁre down.

Backpufﬁng

Back-pufﬁng results when the ﬁre produces volatile gases faster than the chimney draft pulls them out of the ﬁrebox. The gases back up in the ﬁrebox till they’re dense enough and hot enough to ignite. If your stove back-puffs, you should open up the damper to let the smoke rise to the ﬂue more quickly, let more air into the ﬁrebox, and avoid big loads of ﬁrewood. Run your stove with enough primary air so that you always see lively, dancing ﬂames in the ﬁrebox; a lazy, smoky ﬁre is inefﬁcient and can contribute to creosote buildup in the chimney.

Vermont Castings Intrepid Multi-Fuel

Draft Testing

An easy way to test your chimney draft is to close the stove’s damper, wait a few minutes to let the airﬂow stabi- lize, then see whether you can vary the strength of the ﬁre by swinging the air control open and closed. Results are not always instant; you may need to wait a few minutes for a change in the air control setting to have an effect on the ﬁre. If there’s no change, then the draft isn’t strong enough yet to let you close the damper, and you’ll need to open

it for a while longer and manage the ﬁre with the air inlet until the draft strengthens. If you keep track of your burn- ing habits and relate them to their effects on the stove’s operation, you’ll be rewarded with good performance and a safe system.

Negative Pressure

Good draft also depends on a supply of air to the stove; a chimney can’t pull in more air than is available to it. Sluggish draft results when a house is tight enough to prevent the ready ﬂow of air to the stove, or by competition between the stove and other equipment that sends indoor air outside - especially power-driven equipment like range hoods, clothes dryers, etc. If the chimney draws well with all other equipment turned off (or sealed, in the case of ﬁreplaces and/or other stoves), then you simply need to be careful with timing the use of the other equipment. If you need to crack a nearby window or door to enable the chimney to draw well, that’s a sign that you should install an outside-air intake to bring combustion air directly to the stove. Vermont Castings dealers carry adapters to attach to the stove to connect an air duct for outdoor combustion air.

In many cases, local or national codes require the installa- tion of permanently open air vents, particularly with larger appliances (i.e. above 5 kW). Refer to these codes to determine speciﬁc requriements for your installation.

Conclusion

Woodburning is an art rather than a science. Once the stove and chimney system are in place, the stove user can only vary technique, mostly your timing, to achieve good results. If you keep track of your burning habits and relate them to their effects on the stove’s operation, you’ll be rewarded with good performance and a safe system.

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