Neil52

Just found this thread....I worked for 5 years helping install stoves in the Midlands area and will answer any questions you have, just a few points.

If possible have a liner installed if you have a large or old Chimney, if the Chimney runs on the outside of the house always insulate the lines, if it runs through the center of the house dont bother.

Best stoves are Jotul, sold all the popular makes but in my opinion you cannot beat Jotuls.


p.s. if you are burning correct with real seasond wood syou will never have to clean the glass on these new high efficient stoves.

Neil52

Even with a worn seal your glass should not black up that quickly, have you an old stove? if you are burning hot fires with realy seasoned wood you should not get doors sooted up even with a slight gasket fault.

Neil52

This is the best site on the web for any questions stove related.


http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/

bil

Jotuls are OK. The very best stoves are clearview and woodwarm. I would advise to insulate liners inside chimneys. It can prevent a few problems, especially chimney fires between the flue and the old liner where it is tarry and the tar can't be removed. Those can be very frightening, and do a lot of damage, becuase you can't get at them to put them out.

As for seasoning, well, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Dry is more important, and it is still possible to burn incredibly dry & seasoned wood, and yet tar up the flue if you run the stove incorrectly.

bil

Yep, quite right. As I said,

'If the glass blacks, it usually means that the fire is not burning cleanly, and can mean that the flue is partially blocked. In some models of stoves they use an airwash system that directs a blade of air up the face of the glass, and if that becomes blocked it can cause blackening.'

Gasket/seal failure allows excess air in which will cause the fire to burn too hot. It's when it burns too cool that tarring will occur.

Neil52

Hi bil, yep people love different stoves, I just love Jotuls.
I agree you will tar up the liner or chimney if you smoulder even dry wood, when I said "seasoned" wood I meant dry wood below 20% moisture if possibe, anyone burning wood should have a moisture meter as standard anway.
We always insulated liners when the chimney was on the outside of a building (wht do the build chimneys that way in the UK) but when the chimney ran through the middle of the house it was not always required, if people learn how to burn properly with small hot fires and dried seasoned wood they should never have a problem....I always advised having a aliner swept at least twice a year...I sweep mine every 3 months top down and clean the cap at the same time...do you work in the trade bil?

I also hated trying to get old tar of an old chimney before putting a liner in and would always imsulate as you say in those circumstances.

celestine

We have been reading about soot cleaning as this is our first year with a woodburner and we already appear to have a substantial supply of the stuff building up. We have no easy access to the external chimney so would have to clean from the inside. What do we do and where to we get the correct materials from? Are the products that you burn inside the fire ie.
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Chimne...4Pa38Ta38Rax90 any use or no good?

Thanks.

bil

I have been a chimney sweep for thirty years, and in that time I have seen probably every screwup known to man, as expressed in chimneys and appliances. It has given me a great appreciation for good work done well.

Ever seen wood used as a structural element in fireplaces and chimneys? I have, loads of times. Most people refuse to believe that can be, but there's still a lot of it out there.

Jotul are a good stove, but I base my opinion on two things.

1. Everyone talks about their new woodburner the first year. Woodwarm and Clearview owners still talk about them 5 years down the line.

2. Clearview and Woodwarm stoves are more efficient and deposit less soot in the chimney. A lot less.

Water in wood. The damper wood is, the less heat you get out of it which is why I was starting to notice that more and more people were starting to buy kiln dried timber. To see how bad your wood is, take a typical log, brush it clean and weigh it on a gram accurate kitchen scales. Put it by the fire to dry and weigh it each week until it stops losing weight. The weight of water in grams shed is the same as the volume of water in ccs.

Put a saucepan on the stove containing that amount of water and see how long it takes to boil away. That is an indication of how much energy you are losing on every log. That can really add up.

Tar. The only technique that I have found that will really shift it is to burn smokeless fuel. The tar foams up and can be removed by sweeping (note that it can actually cause the chimney to block doing this, so it might need sweeping two or three or even 4 times a year till it clears, and it can take 2 or 3 years to clear. It comes off in lumps like coke, and I actually burn it on the fire.)

Celestine, There is absolutely nothing that you can burn on the fire that will really remove soot half as well as getting the chimney swept. You would be better off buying a set of rods and a brush and cleaning it a couple of times a year like Neil says.

Neil52

Nice one bil , I am a novice compared to your 30 years as a sweep, even after 10 years of having a stove myself I an still learning about the most efficient ways to burn with different woods.....I bet you have seen some sights in your time as a sweep...cannot believe how some people still just go out and just collect wood and stick it straight on the fire and then moan their stove is rubbish.:

bil

Sad fact of life mate, sad fact of life.

Of course in Spain with all that extra heat it is easier. Obviously the wood should be in a waterproof store, and bought in the heat of summer, so that it is at its driest.

I collect all the pine cones I can for kindling, and all garden waste is sorted into compost, small leafy twigs for shredding, but everything that can be burnt is saved. All the prunings from this winter, from the figs, grape vines etc are all cut into short lengths, boxed and stored in the dry for next year's kindling.

Plus of course any fallen branches by the roadside are grabbed as soon as I see them. I always carry a saw in the back of the car.

jimenato

Hi - I've done a search and I can't find anything about this (sorry if I've missed it)

Does anybody now anything about a product called DESHOLLIN? It's granules, it comes in various size packs, you throw a spoonful on the fire and it does something to your chimney.

Does it work - is it worth using?

helenba

we put dryed out almond husks on our fire they work realy well.

bil

In 30 years I have never found anything that removes soot. (deshollin = soot removal).

Tar removal, well, burning smokeless fuel will lift it into a hard foam, but it won't remove it.

The only real thing you can do is sweep the chimney.

celestine

OM goodness gracious me, someone must be looking out for me and my nearest and dearest at the moment. We had our woodburner 'fitted' last year. We know nothing about them or their fitting and trusted that the person doing the fitting had more knowledge than we did. What a joke. Today my hubby and I decided that the smell and black tar like substance running down the pipes was obviously something that needed to be looked at. We promptly took sledge hammer to enclosed bricked in section of chimney upstairs and were horrified to find an incredible build up of said black substance. Having failed to separate the pipes we decided to break open the corner joint section {sorry I do not know the correct term} and take a look.

The whole section of pipe from this corner to the outside was completely blocked with the tar. I am suprised that my beautiful family and I are not dead. I wish people would consider if they are actually capable of carrying out a job safely and effectively before agreeing to do work. Particularly where lives are at stake!!! I wish some sort of registration scheme such as CORGI was in place in this country so we knew who to trust and who to say well clear of.

Fire now in bits, pipes bagged and sealed and waiting for advice later in the week. Brrrrrr may be a bit nippy but at least we can breathe.

ironporer

Interesting, informative thread.

I really have nothing to add but thought this would be appropiate.