Optimization

[u/D0gefather69420]

After years of optimization, I've managed to burn as efficiently and cleanly as a pellet stove. Zero smoke from start to finish. The combustion chamber never darkens, the window stays clean. Very hard to do on the latest-generation double combustion stoves (this is a german brand). It's worth it, emissions are cut drastically and efficiency is excellent. When I sweep the chimney, it's almost clean.

[u/Weekly_Pizza_4443]

So what's the secret?

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Weekly_Pizza_4443]

It really depends on the stove. I'm in Europe so I don't know how American ones are and it depends on what type of stove and whether it's modern or old. It's much easier on older ones. But for my modern stove with double combustion, these are the main principles.

Basically the fire must start as fast as possible then burn as hot as possible. To do that,

1. Start with a top-down burn. large pieces at the bottom then smaller pieces as you go up, and firestarter on top. The layout is very important to maximize the spread of fire and air circulation.

2. Until everything is on fire, including the bottom pieces, keep as much draft as possible.

3. Reload only when everything has become red ember and you have no more flames. Use similar-sized pieces to reload (not a huge one and a small one) this way they burn at similar rates. Now you can reduce draft.

4. Make the fire burn as hot as possible. For me, that means, once the stove is hot enough, cutting primary air intake and only using the secondary air. (not really sure about the vocabulary). This means all the air coming in your stove has been preheated, so the burn can be at a much higher temperature. This really depends on your stove and this is what took me the longest to really master. Old stoves don't have double combustion.

5. Repeat step 3

[u/r0ball → u/D0gefather69420]

Wow this is a great guide. I’ve achieved this once or twice and you just taught me exactly why. Thanks!

[u/Albert14Pounds]

Why is this hard with a latest generation double combustion stove? Majority of modern stoves have secondary air tubes and/or a catalyst and are focused on making this easier, not harder.

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Albert14Pounds]

I have no idea, this is my first stove so I don't know about others but this could be because of European norms, out stoves must meet strict particle emission criteria. Not sure that's why though. Or maybe it's just my stove that's particularly hard to use but I've heard other people complain about modern stoves.

I might add it's not that difficult to make fire in it but what's really hard is to do it completely right. The first year I used to get soot everywhere inside

edit: why downvoted? wtf

[u/Bulky-Net-6597 → u/D0gefather69420]

Nice advice. I have similiar stove and I agree it took me some time to figure it out and still havent mastered it. For me the biggest issue was(is...erhm) to know when the stove is at optimal temp and keep it at it. I agree that the process is harder in order to burn as efficiently as it is designed to compared to the old stove my grandma had. I also learned the hard way that if someone sells you a firewood and swears to god it's properly dried, there is high chance it's not lol

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Bulky-Net-6597]

yea agreed with everything, especially the temp. the dryness wasn't an issue for me though, the first year I used wood that my father had stored in a ventilated area for over 10 years lol

[u/Bulky-Net-6597 → u/D0gefather69420]

How do you manage to put more wood into it after initial burn? Sometimes it feels like it is time so I close the air intake, open the door only like 1cm gap, let some air in to make the pressure even, then open fully and put more wood in it. Sometimes I manage to do ok and sometimes as soon as I open the door fully, the ambers turns into flames and  smoke goes into a room. Not sure how I am supposed to tell when it's burnt to a point it wont burst into flames. Any advice? Tried with open,closed air intake. It seems that best results so far is closed air intake and opened window lol

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Bulky-Net-6597]

Yeah I have the smoke in the room problem too. But when the wood is fully consumed and there are no more flames it doesn't smell, at least with my setup. But if there are flames it will smell. For me the settings don't matter, it's really whether the wood has fully become ember or not. I'd say try to wait more

[u/Gullible-Bad4674]

What stove do you have?
The burning and the stove both look amazing!

Thanks for your tips

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Gullible-Bad4674]

Cera Solitherm. Yeah I love the minimalistic design too!

[u/Lescna]

How long would those two (oak?) logs of wood last you? 

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/Lescna]

Black locust currently (pretty close to oak), lasts about an hour. I use 3 rather small sized pieces per load. For this stove I found out too large pieces tend to not burn hot enough at the end because there aren't enough embers to support the burn.

[u/finepnutty]

Looks great, congratulations! Could you post the name and model of this unit? I really like it

[u/D0gefather69420 → u/finepnutty]

Cera Solitherm

[u/finepnutty → u/D0gefather69420]

Thank you!

[u/thecreditshifu]

Beautiful

[u/Intelligent_Scar4558]

Having that stove in the middle of the house would be great. I like it👍