[Closed] Burning Pine in a stove.

I have access to many a wood source, Iam just confused why a HETAS installation complete with flue liner, would be a lot more inefficient than a £200 self install.

We have a self installed Aga Little Wenlock, flue liner and the like, only ever get black stains on the window when wood burns touching it, these clear after a few minutes of burning with nothing on the window, this is mainly burning builders offcuts at the moment.

The clue could be "in the morning", do you bank up the stove and slumber it over night?.

Some stoves including mine specificaly state that they shouldnt be slumbered

If we run the stove with all the vents closed (except the secondary preheated air)the glass will get residue, perhaps your old stove was quite leaky (air) so even when the vents were closed enough air is getting in to enable a clean burn

100-300 is that what the manufacturer recommends?

I burn around 400, at 100-200 I would get dirty glass very quickly.

i dont get the obsession with slumbering.

it saves about 6 seconds in the morning.

last thing i do at night is open my stove right up to let the embers burn brightly and go out quickly.

Airwash always part open.
Open up at night so it burns out quickly.
Garage forecourt wood is rarely seasoned. (Properly)

And maybe I'm missing something, but I thought pine was particularly sappy? If I burn Douglas Fir my stove goes black in minutes, seasoned mixed hardwood keeps it clean and even the firebricks don't go black.

Very few stoves are designed to be left and run all night it will be burning too cold. Apparently doing that is not good if you have a chimney liner.

Sooty glass is definitely an indication of running too cold or to a lesser extent using 'dirty' material.

Why are you using pine? Its burns instantly!

Pine is a poor wood for burning, it spits and burns fast and is often resinous, which is not good for the flue. Your flue temperature needs to be in the 350-400C range; below that you will be getting smokey combustion, yellow flame and plenty of soot. Use the airwash to keep a good draft on the fuel and as others have written, don't allow the stove to slumber, which will cause more sooting and could even allow carbon monoxide into the room.

Is the stove too big for the room? The best advice we were given was always to err on the smaller size when choosing a stove as you will be burning it harder and therefore cleaner.

I have a charnwood 4, and do exactly as trail rat says, open up the secondary vent before bed. I burn all sorts of woods in it too, no issues.

In terms of pine, I like it, my perfect mix of wood in the store is about 1 of pine to every 4 of hardwood, as it's great for getting the fire going quickly, then getting the hardwood on. As for pine spitting, it's not an issue in a wood burner. I suggest you're either not getting the stove up to temperature, or there is an issue with your flu.

I only burn softwood/spruce really as its all off cuts from work and smokeless coal. If I choke my fire back ill get some blackening but that's to be expected as I use coal for that. I only do it if its lit early then we go out for the day. Once back rev it up with clean dry wood and it burns off. Air wash system in my little firewarm is great though.

Clear glass comes way down the priority list. I put the last block in mine last night at about 9pm. The ashes are warm and so is the stove as I type. Handful of sticks and so bits of Scots or larch got it blazing in seconds. Bugger keeping it in overnight it just uses wood.

The glass on my stove goes black fairly fast, not that I particularly care - but is this indicative of a problem? I had the chimney cleaned a week or two back, fwiw.

The only way I can run my stove and keep the glass clear is by purchasing a [s]1ton bulk bag of seasoned pine[/s] load of any old wood and putting it in my logstore until it's properly dry.

To remove the black stains from the glass rub it with some of the ash in the bottom of your stove. Works a treat.

No problems here when I burn it if it's seasoned well run at around 200c and get no sooty build up.

Sooty build up is an indication of poor airflow or bad fuel Mogrim, if it's doing that to the glass the the flue will be choking up even worse.

100c is too low. decent running temp is 200c +

Ski, when you say 400 I presume you mean f and not c.

To remove the black stains from the glass [s]rub[/s] scratch it with some of the ash in the bottom of your stove.

For the last few years I had a £200 pound stove from machine mart, with a flu pipe up the chimney, and I could burn anything with no issue.

That said, not all stoves are the same. We have two stoves of the same make that we run the same way (200c minimum temp and decent wood) and the glass never soots up - ever. They only get cleaned about once a month to remove the inevitable slight coating of light grey ash.

So to summarise - a bit more air, dry wood (coal should be OK but I've read that smokeless can rot a liner quite quickly), higher temp. If it's still doing it then maybe it's your stove.

Sooty build up is an indication of poor airflow or bad fuel Mogrim, if it's doing that to the glass the the flue will be choking up even worse.

Hmm... fairly sure the fuel's good, I buy it from a place that's been selling wood for years, and it certainly seems seasoned (not that I've actually checked...). The chimney's been cleaned recently. Dunno, then.

If it's seasoned it will feel light and will have radial cracks in the ends from shrinkage. Two pieces banged together will ring, not thump, and it won't smell green. Stack a few pieces beside the stove; if they are damp you'll smell and feel the moisture in the room and they will give off a nice woody smell until they dry. After three or four nights the smell will stop and they should be properly dry - then you'll see how well-seasoned wood should burn.

This for dirty glass:

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IME wood of any variety is fine IF dry.

Some stoves are just crap at keeping the glass clean. if its clear while burning i dont think you have an issue, a bit of sooting while it cools down isn't a big problem.

If it's seasoned it will feel light and will have radial cracks in the ends from shrinkage. Two pieces banged together will ring, not thump, and it won't smell green.

Definitely well seasoned, then. Perhaps it's just a poorly designed stove.

We have two identical Dovre 250 stoves in identical chimneys with identical pots and cowls, but one burns far better than the other. The chimneys are both on the same gable end but one is on the west facing slope of the roof and the other on the east facing slope. The one at the back, on the west facing slope, is the one we use every day and it flares up like a small nuclear reactor when we open it up while that on the other side is sluggish, smokey and difficult to get started. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of venturi effect with the prevailing westerlies over the roof but also the block work of the chimney in the back is permanently warm and the vital smooth column of hot gases rising up the flue is quick and easy to achieve, unlike with the cold flue at the easterly side.