Wood stove in shop

[woodworkingboy]

Squish, on the rarer occasions that I shut down the stove and completely close the damper when a strong fire is going, I can smell the creosote in the morning, that is probably what you heard with regard to dampers and chimney fires. If one were to do that repeatedly without burning off the creosote, the build up could conceivably cause a fire it seems. With a hot fire and a straight up shot with the pipe, not right angling through a wall, the pipe stays quite clean. The first year in my shop I was burning green Pine and the pipe was elbowed through the wall, cleaning it was a regular thing, all kinds of creosote. A straight pipe with dry hardwoods for fuel and hot fires, creosote is much lessened it seems. Even with a chimney fire my shop would be safe, having a non-flammable slate roof.

 

[Al Smith]

Wood stoves within certain municilpalties can be be subject to inspection by governing bodies .In the country it's up to the descretion of the the insurance company .

Fact periodically the insurance companies send around a questionare asking if in fact a wood burner has been recently installed .If you don't answer truthfully the insurance is null and void in case of a fire .In my case it was installed within a fire place which has an approved masonary chiminey ,no problem .In fact no increase in premiums either .

 

[Al Smith]

More on this .Years back I had built a barrel stove for my youngest brother .Although the installation was more stringent than for most wood stoves a barrel is not approved within a residence and as such after about two years it was disapproved . I was not aware of at the time the fact that barrels are only approved on top of a concrete floor .Too bad really because it sure did heat his house well .

 

[stig]

Gotcha. My folks are the only people who live in sight of me. The only other house on our road is vacant. I suppose living in a neighborhood might warrant some sort of regs.

I don't know what it is like in the US, but where i live we have 2 very different set of zoning laws and regulations.

One quite relaxed for country zones ( where I live) and a much stricter for town.

Still, that is only for construction, there is nothing to keep someone from turning his front yard into a graveyard for the rusted automobiles. ( unless he starts selling parts of them, then it would be a business and subject to other regulations)

 

[treesmith]

Squish, on the rarer occasions that I shut down the stove and completely close the damper when a strong fire is going, I can smell the creosote in the morning, that is probably what you heard with regard to dampers and chimney fires. If one were to do that repeatedly without burning off the creosote, the build up could conceivably cause a fire it seems. With a hot fire and a straight up shot with the pipe, not right angling through a wall, the pipe stays quite clean. The first year in my shop I was burning green Pine and the pipe was elbowed through the wall, cleaning it was a regular thing, all kinds of creosote. A straight pipe with dry hardwoods for fuel and hot fires, creosote is much lessened it seems. Even with a chimney fire my shop would be safe, having a non-flammable slate roof.

I talked to an old man once who cleaned out chimneys (not for a living, but a sideline job). I'm sure he didn't clean near as many as a regular chimney sweep, but quite a few over the years. He said he found that folks who burned pine tended to have cleaner chimneys than those who burned oak. I'm wondering if it's because those burning pine kept the fire blazing to get the heart they needed while those burning oak let it simmer.....?

I know I have lots of creosote because I keep mine shut off quite a bit and I burn primarily green wood. Oh I'd love to have a nice supply of wood laid in and cured every year, but it never happens. And as long as she's allowed to rip a bit from time to time, the creosote is kept in check. I had my chimney built with 13"x13" flue liner because I didn't want to have to worry about a smaller one getting choked off. I can open my clean-out door and rake handfuls of creosote flakes/chunks out ever so often. Seems the chimney getting hot/cold makes it turn loose.

When I add on to the house, (one of these days), I want to add a little pot-bellied stove with flue from ceiling up, with the pipe running straight up all the way. That should help with creosote. I have my current hater vented out the back with about 24" of horizontal pipe running into the flue liner thimble.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I always thought the resins in pine was what caused the problems. We don't burn pine down here.

 

[treesmith]

I've never burned pine, Butch, but still have quite a bit of creosote. As I understand it, all wood has some, while some woods have more than others. The smoke is an indicator....dry wood smokes less because it has less creosote in it. Also, like someone else said, shutting the damper/air flow really makes it simmer slow and the smoke is barely moving, thus more creosote is deposited on the pipe/flue/whatever, versus when the fire is ripping, the smoke is flowing and carrying it on out. I have a spot on the hearth where the creosote actually dripped out on the hearth one night when it was simmering really low. I usually open my ash door first thing in the mornings for a minute or so to get the fire hopping and help clear some of it out.

My chimney cover rusted away this season, and before I replace it, I intend to clean the chimney out somewhat.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I'm not exactly sure what is creosote and what isn't. I know that after burning the wet pine, I could scoop out a black residue when cleaning the pipe where it went horizontal.

 

[treesmith]

I have lots of black residue as well, Jay....all from hardwood, primarily oak of one variety or another. And you're right, it's the horizontal spots that catch most of it. Where it's vertical, it runs back down. There's also a much greater deposit of ash in horizontal spots, especially if the horizontal section is very long.

When we lived in a trailer, I had my pipe running out through a window through a piece of tin. I had a 90 on back of the stove, a short piece running vertical up to another 90, then a 2' piece out the window, then another 90 to the final 4' vertical to get it above the roof of the trailer. Talk about creosote and ash buildup! I had it. At times the 2' horizontal pipe would get so full of ash that it wouldn't draw enough to keep from smoking.

 

[NeTree]

They were wiring a house once when the "inspector" came around. He was even measuring the distance between staples on the Romex running up the studs.

Within 12" of a box, and every 54" thereafter.

Your inspectors aren't tradesmen?

No burning pine here... too much risk.

 

[treesmith]

I didn't measure the distance between my staples. I wasn't that concerned with it. If anything, I'd prolly go overboard with them.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Burning "hot" does double duty, to my knowledge. Hot exhaust leads to less deposition of creosote in the pipe, especially once the pipe is outdoors, and colder. A hot firebox temperature leads to secondary combustion of gases, where a significant amount of the heat is produced. When people try to 'magically' burn wet wood (people have 'a trick'), where they start the fire with dry wood, then add their wet wood, they are boiling out the water before the wood burns. The 'latent heat of vaporization' is the amount of energy it takes to change material from liquid to gas form. This means energy is used, without an increase in heat.

Maybe not the best links.

http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/315.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latent_heat

Provided that you have a limitless supply of green wood, and don't mind doing the work of cutting and splitting and feeding and working the fire to get it going, you can heat with green wood.

Scott, and anybody else that has so much access to wood, I'm surprised you burn green wood. Maybe your climate doesn't necessitate the heat so much???

 

[arborworks1]

It's in the 60's here today. I have been watching the firewood guys struggle this year. Been below freezing 5 days this season. Guys selling wood they cut and split an hour before delivery. It's sad actually. Hard to ask a premium price for wood that just sizzles and produces no heat.

 

[treesmith]

Scott, and anybody else that has so much access to wood, I'm surprised you burn green wood. Maybe your climate doesn't necessitate the heat so much???

Sean, I'd love to burn cured wood regularly, but I have other stuff on my mind most of the time and fail to lay some up to dry. I have quite a bit in the barn from 5 to 7 years ago that's dry as it'll ever be, but much of it is a couple inches too long since I got a new heater two years ago. When it gets really cold (20 or below, not cold to you northerners....), I'll go get some of it to get the fire hopping. I actually like green wood for evenings/nights as it will burn through the night better than dry. Really dry wood will burn down low before morning.

I usually throw mine out on the ground until I get around to cutting it up. At the end of the year, I take whatever is left to my dad. He gets all my big wood anyway, as he has a Hardy heater and can put big wood in it. I'd have to split it pretty small for my heater. I seldom, if ever split any wood.

 

[stehansen]

When I had a shop I liked the propane heater, for the instant heat feature.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Make sense, Scott.

Olympia is cold at 20 or below, actually. We are buffered by the ocean and Puget Sound. We are at a double-digit altitude. The saying about the weather around here in the winter is high of 40, low of 40, rain likely. That's with cloud cover. Lately, we've been having some clear weather. 33 outside when I looked at the thermometer this morning. Last week it was below freezing in the morning, so I took the opportunity to split some wood by hand, since it was frozen and popping easily. Go up/ over the Cascades and the temperature drops considerably.

 

[treesmith]

No splits in there! Being green, this will last me about two weeks if the temps hold like they are. If it turns colder, I'll burn it up pretty quick.

 

[HolmenTree]

I love the feel of wood heat , burned wood for years. My house has no chimney and neither does my shop. Just too much hassle burning wood, our hydro utility power here is cheap cheap so I just move the thermostat for the forced air electric furnace, only maintenece is changing the furnace filter.

Speaking of building codes a relative of mine here in Canada bought a RTM [ready to move] house from the U.S. He thought he saved money, until he found out after setting it up that the wiring wasn't to Canadian code. Good thing he didn't finish the drywalling before he found out because all the wiring had to be replaced.

 

[NeTree]

Somebody forgot to factor in the exchange rate, is all. All the 14 gauge wire became 16 when it crossed the border.

 

[treesmith]

I prefer wood heat as we had wood heat growing up, and I like to back up to something HOT, then once I'm warmed, I can move away form it. Just coming in to a house that's 75* seems to take longer to warm up. I like it warmer in the living room than I do my bedroom and wood heat does all that. Plus, I basically get paid to haul my own wood.....

Plus, I love coming in to the smell of a pot of beans that's been simmering on the heater all day.

 

[HolmenTree]

Somebody forgot to factor in the exchange rate, is all. All the 14 gauge wire became 16 when it crossed the border.

I don't know exactly what the issue was. But knowning my relative with his big mouth he probably pissed the inspector off. Sometimes silence when around these people is the best way to get around issues.

 

[HolmenTree]

I prefer wood heat as we had wood heat growing up, and I like to back up to something HOT, then once I'm warmed, I can move away form it. Just coming in to a house that's 75* seems to take longer to warm up. I like it warmer in the living room than I do my bedroom and wood heat does all that. Plus, I basically get paid to haul my own wood.....

Plus, I love coming in to the smell of a pot of beans that's been simmering on the heater all day.

I agree with you. But years agree before I got my tree service going I sold firewood and got turned off of it fast. Now doing tree removal I just let some one else take it away.

 

[stig]

I have central heating today, but woodfired.

I certainly agree with the need for warming up after a cold day in the woods, which is why I have installed a hottub, that runs off the central heating system via a heat exchanger.

A quick shower after work and ½ hr in the tub, Then I don't mind the even medium heat in the house.

 

[NeTree]

Thinking about the outdoor wood boiler option, myself. In addition to the wood stoves, we already have an oil-fired boiler, with circulated hot water for heat. Should be simple to tie into.

 

[treesmith]

My folks love theirs, though I don't care for it. You don't have the scorcher to back up to, and I don't care for the whole house being the same temp. We lose power out here from time to time, and the wood stove never knows the difference. My dad has a generator, but it won't run the 220-volt blower on the central (or if it would, it wouldn't run the circulator pump at the same time), so therefore no heat when the power's off. And at 180*, the hot water will take the hide off....