Finally got a place with a wood burner and not doing a very good job at being a man.

We had the chimney swept last week but it still sounds like crap is falling down the flue… Is this ok or was the chimney sweep having a joke?

But worried as we are due to be leaving it on slow burn each night of the winter.
Also the misses had to throw some burning logs out side last week before the chimney got swept as a load of crap bloked it

Have you got CO2 alarm in?

i found that we get a “tinkling” noise which sounds like flakes of soot or whatever falling down the flue, when it is running super hot. Pretty sure it is flakes being dragged up by the heat flow. Give it a week or two and see if it settles down? might just be because it has been disturbed?

ours needs sweeping some time!

Or possibly more importantly a CO detector.

Do some reading but slow burn is pretty much the most danerous way to use your stove

Your chimney doesnt sound lined and it doesnt sound jn good shape

Did te sweep give any feedback on the state of the chinney ?

Remove the stove then drop a chicken down the chimney. Live, obviously.

And if that doesn’t work a frozen one might.

slow burn is ok, but when the fire isnt running at high temperature the fumes are not burned completely. These have to go somewhere – they end up lining your chimney. So its really important to clean your chimney well and often. Its easier when its cold, but open up the air inlets when the fire is lit and let it roar away this cleans the chamber and helps clean the flue. Do not burn unseasoned or wet logs. If you hear a tinkling sound this can often be the steel flue expanding. If it has been swept then there will be a little loose tar making its way back down the chimney but not a great deal.

Same as Olly, happens after every sweep, normally stops after one burn though

Thanks guys,

I didn’t meet the sweep as I was out meeting a client… didn’t get any feedback – but it’s a guy who has been doing this place for a few years so I guess he knows what to do… that’s kinda why I was even more surprised when it carried on making noises!

Once the fire is going it seems to burn well but (this is with the airflow thingy open) but it burns even better with the door slightly open…

Seems a bit of a bugger to get going – not sure if it’s just me being shit at fires or maybe the wood could do with a bit more of a dry… I’ll try some better wood.

I’m living in an old farmhouse chalet with single glazing and only a few radiators so it will need to be on most of the time over winter – so if it’s not ideal it’s going to have to happen as it gets down to -25 here in Morzine.

think this is what we’ve got

Any fire starting tips appreciated as I want to light it, shut the door and come back to it ablaze!

http://www.supra.fr/en/products/Wood-stoves/boston-2-110306.html

How are you lighting it at the moment ?

I went for the traditional ripped paper, kindling in a crisscross with a couple of half logs resting against each other above them…

That didn’t work great so I tried a bit of youtubing and did the upside down fire – which was also just “ok”

I’ve only had open fires before which seem to smash the heat out and burn really fast – this thing seems a bit of a pain so far..

tempted to get some fire lighters…

Don’t bugger about. Use some firelighter!

What positions are all the vents in ?

Firelighters are for wimps, its not a hard job to light a fire, decent wad of paper to get some heat up the chimney displace the cold air and get a draw going , some kindling to provide a medium , avoid logs , 1/2 smal/ medium split logs on top.

Vents fully open

Should roar.

Also if you want to set it and leave it i suggest a wood burner will be a lifestyle adjustment as they are not set up and forget

only one vent I can see is a lil metal tab you pull and it opens up a few cm hole… i’ll go investigate

yep that is all I have I believe… just taking a look with the light on the phone – I think the bits that have been making the noise down the flue are like honey nut clusters of a coaly / shiney / crystally looking thing – does that sound like the crap that gets stuck in the flue?

Ripped paper btw, roll it tightly or loosly ball it , ripped paper burns too quick

I would suggest you got problems with air flow, it needs a good flow of air/oxygen to get it going. Is it possible to have a look up the chimuck, maybe use a torch and mirror. I use newspaper scrunched up then tied in a loose knot, then kindling, bust up pallets about as thick as your finger are the best. Then as said before some semi sized logs on top. Has this logbuner got a lid that can be taken off, can you inspect that the whole fire chamber has been vacuumed out. You must get a carbon monoxide alarm as said b4 if you intend to slow burn.
How long have your logs been seasoning? depending on hard/soft wood it really needs 12 months to dry sometimes longer.

Agree with trail rat, 4-6 balls of paper then I stack the kindling in a square formation on top say 3-4 tears high with good air gaps in the middle and between layers will start things off well

Open top vent fully and let a bit of air through the bottom vent if you have one until things are going well

Thinking about it might do a YouTube video, not the first time I have been asked how to do this 😉

What Ski says and have the door a jar for a the first few minutes too until it’s burning well.

Firelighters are never needed.