[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi,

  we have recently had a fireline 8kw multifule stove fitted. I have had a few small test fires for a few hours each time as the manual suggests but the self creaning glass has got very dirty. The model has an airwash system which is supposed to draw air from the rear of the unit to prevent build up on the glass. Although it is possible to see the air coming in through the flames the window keeps getting a brown film over it.

My questions are,

How do I achieve maximum output of 8 kw?

How do I use the fire to create a continuous background heat for several hours without constantly adding fuel?

How do I prevent this build up on the window?

I have been burning paper and card, kindling and cherry tree logs as well as some pieces of pre cut timber.

Any ideas?





Buffy

[lachlanandmarcus]

The paper and card will create a lot of smoke, so try to keep that away from the front. Also any moisture in the wood, is it really well seasoned?

Cleaning is easy and free, get a sheet of newspaper and screw it up, dip it in water and then into fine (almost whiteish grey) ashes. and scrub the glass. Then use a dry sheet of scrunched up newspaper to dry and remove any smears. Dry the first scrunch then it too can be used as kindling, second one can go straight in!

Have you tried all the little air flow open/close options on the stove?

To make it last then you need the fire going really well and then add something tough wood-wise and chinky size, something with some heartwood. But it might be easier in a multifuel stove to use coal which will last longer. Or if not that, then those compressed sawdust briquettes are quite good, they burn for a long time.

I do also think that smaller fires will create more smoke in the stove as there is more air room in there. Try a big un. then the smoke has to go up the flue!

[kingnigel]

our airwash only really works when the fire is turned up and blazing, when the fire idles it will last all day on one feed of coal but it does smoke the glass.
kn

[kingnigel]

highest output would be dry wood, airwash open and top air feeds open, bottom air feed is better for coal but wood burns better from the top, also if you are wood burning try not to remove too much ash from the grate, wood burns really hot and it can damage (warp) the grate if you dont leave an ash buffer.
ps this is info i was given by a third party but it does seem to work for us
kn

[Womble]

Cleaning is easy and free, get a sheet of newspaper and screw it up, dip it in water and then into fine (almost whiteish grey) ashes. and scrub the glass.

Yes, this works really well - but only with wood ash. Coal ash etc can scratch the glass according to our stove manual.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks guys,

               I think some of the wood could be holding some moisture and I have been using the bottom vent more than the top. I will limit the amount of paper and card ( i think I have been setting it like my grandfather used to set the coal fire).

                I have been leaving the ash in but I cleaned it out today as the tray was full.
I will see if I can find a good lump of dried oak for the next autumny evening and see if I can get a good blast out of it.


Buffy

[SallyintNorth]

Cleaning is easy and free, get a sheet of newspaper and screw it up, dip it in water and then into fine (almost whiteish grey) ashes. and scrub the glass.

Yes, this works really well - but only with wood ash. Coal ash etc can scratch the glass according to our stove manual.

A hot wet cloth on warm glass works every bit as well as the damp-newspaper-and-ash.  Get the fire started, then, when the glass is warmed but not yet hot, wet your cloth (dish/floorcloth type is best) under a hot tap and wipe the glass.

[Fergie]

My questions are,

How do I achieve maximum output of 8 kw?

Any ideas?

Buffy

Hi Buffy,
in addition to the comments made earlier, in general the output of a solid fuel heating device is rated at a 2 hour re-fuelling cycle (ie, virtually running flat out!)  Most of the time the output will be about half the quoted output.
Our wood burning boiler is quoted as 30kw, but most of the time the actual output will be about 10kw, or even less if it is slumbering.  It is for this reason that a heating engineer, after calculating the energy requirements of a house, will add 50% on if the device is solid fuel.  A gas or oil boiler can supply its rated output almost continuously, from the moment of switch on.
For interest, see attached file with solid fuel efficiency.

John

[nicandem]

Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year;
Store your beech for Christmastide
With new-cut holly laid beside;
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for years 'tis stored away;
Birch and fir-wood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last;
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
Dangerously the sparks will fly;
But ash-wood green and ash-wood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.

Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter's cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold;
It is by the Irish said;
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread,
Apple-wood will scent the room,
Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;
But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry
A King may warm his slippers by.

Anon.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks Nicandem,

   that a delightful poem!

   and a great way to remember the heating qualities of the different trees.

Buffy

[bazzais]

   that a delightful poem!

   and a great way to remember the heating qualities of the different trees.

I agree fantastic.



IMO - you cant prevent any build up on the window, its always going to happen, however I have found that the hotter the fire the more it 'burns' off.

You may have to fuel your fire for either aesthetics or efficiency, give it a try and have a laugh starring into it all night - its 'warming', give it a go.  Many an evening I have spent trying different vent settings, different woods, coals, offcuts, old letters from the accountant - Mmmm solid fuel (with an oil backup!!!)



Again - nice poem nicandem, got that on bookmark.

Baz

[mab]

Nice poem nicandem, but it doesn't mention sycamore  - I've got lots of that this year and I don't know how it'll burn  .

 
m

[SallyintNorth]

Similar here from tizaala - but it doesn't mention sycamore, either, mab!

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18937.msg177392#msg177392

[deepinthewoods]

seasoned sycamore burns ok not as good as ash but good enough.

[Gorse-Lea]

We burn ash in ours mostly.

When we first moved in , I was obsessed with having the glass clean, (but I think that was just because I had so much bother installing it and wanted it to look new forever) now I'm not bothered and it only gets cleaned two or three times a year. The airwash works sometimes, and I'v often wondered if it has anything to do with the weather. It works on windy days/nights. I have the multifuel version, but dont have a damper. Might stick one in, as a friend has one and says it gives more control over the fire.

As mentioned above, a fill or 2 of coal will keep it burning all day and I find it a lot hotter than wood. the heat seems to stay in the bricks leaving the room cosy even the next morning.