THE HOMESAFE FIRESIDE E-NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST
THE FIRESIDE E-NEWSLETTER #005 - MAR. 5, 1997
FIRESIDE e-NEWS #005 - March 6, 1997
ARCHIVED @ http://www.homesafe.com/fenA freely distributed product of
HOMESAFE CHIMNEY SERVICE
Baltimore - Martinsburg
(304) 725-6787===
IN THIS ISSUE OF THE FeN:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR :
1. Carbon Monoxide : Information request from CO poisoning sufferer.
FEATURE :
1. FIREWOOD - Efficient Firewood Burning Tips
'NET RESOURCES :
2. Wood-Heat.com offers insight to ethics and practices of heating with wood in a modern world. * * * * *
3. HEARTH's HEARTH-PRO Search Engine offers homeowners the ability to find HEARTH Certified Pro's in their area. NOW AT THE HPA CONVENTION IN RENO, NV. * * * *
Q&A - READERS QUESTIONS ANSWERED :
4. a) Installing a woodstove in a pre-fab fireplace.
b) Efficiency problems with a Vermont Castings Winterwarm Stove
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From the Editor :
As the weather warms and the stoves cool, soon will be the best time of the year to have your heating systems checked and readied for next year. It's the right time to make repairs and improvements to your system - the warmer weather is needed for many products and building materials to "set" properly. (And it beats waiting around for weeks in the Fall for an available sweep, then to find your chimney needs some work - but it's too cold, or they're too busy to do the repairs when you need them.) So get your chimney checked this spring - think of it as just more "spring cleaning" - but you don't have to do it yourself!
Thanks again for spreading the word about the FeN to your favorite search engines, hot lists, friends and family. Enjoy! If you have any ideas / requests for future content - please feel free to send them directly to me.
Stay safe - Stay warm.
HOMESAFE.COM
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR :
From: BOB PAWLICK (bpawlick@mail.state.tn.us)
To: fen@@@
Subject: Tammie's Carbon Monoxide StoryRef: The Fireside e-Newletter #002 - Carbon Monoxide
Dear Editor,
I read Tammie's letter about her experience with carbon
monoxide poisoning. I have been surfing the Net looking for
information on treatments for long-term, chronic with acute
(possible), exposure to carbon monoxide. The reason...
My wife, while a teenager, was diagnosed with muscle
spasticity in her legs . The condition began 18 years ago
(when she was 8 years old). Every neurosurgeon, specialist,
and the like took MRIs, x-rays, spinal exams...a battery of
exhaustive tests without results. She even went to
psychologists who determined her condition was not
psychosomatic. We had tried various exercises, doctors,
and have contemplated extreme treatments for the
symptoms, but we could never pinpoint the cause. As of
now, she is being treated by a chiropractic doctor who is
using a "cold laser" on acupuncture points and is the first
doctor who has been able to get results. My wife has had
some relief, but not enough to carry on with a "normal"
quality of life.
We were casually watching ABC-TV's 20/20 program
(February 7, 1997 ABC Transcript # 1706) on carbon
monoxide poisoning. They showed a 7-year old boy with
muscle-spasticity in his legs that developed as a result of
chronic (long-term) exposure to carbon monoxide. This was
the first time we were aware that ANYTHING caused this
condition. From the information we and her doctor have
gathered, the muscle spasticity is caused by chronic
exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning while she lived with
her parents.
My wife's bedroom was atop their garage. She slept with her
windows closed. It is an older house that only had carpeting
and the floorboards between her room and the garage. The
garage wasn't finished, so there wasn't insulation or drywall
in the garage ceiling. Every day in the winter, her mother or
father would start up the family sedan and let it warm up for
10 to 20 minutes before opening the garage door and leaving.
We believe this went on through 4 winters before her walking
was affected (from 4 until 8 years old). It was another 14
years before my wife moved out. Her "walking problem"
never dissipated and actually got progressively worse.
We have gas heat, a gas fireplace, and a gas water heater in
our newly-constructed home. We also have a carbon
monoxide detector now installed in our bedroom. We will be
getting these checked annually. We are now aware of the
possibility of "backdraft" and will keep windows cracked
when we use the fireplace.
We have only begun to research the possibility of carbon
monoxide poisoning over the past week and could use help
in finding toxicology specialists who have treated long-term
exposure to carbon monoxide, as well as support groups and
relevant web-sites.
Anyone with information, please contact me via e-mail at
bpawlick@mail.state.tn.us
We would appreciate your help. And we hope Tammie's
health improves.
Best regards,
Bob Pawlick
[Bob - I thought your request stood well on it's own - I hope you receive the response you requested. - MB]
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1(a). FEATURE : FIREWOOD - Burning Firewood More Efficiently
Since 1988 new woodstoves have had to meet federal regulations regarding efficiency and pollution production - resulting in "EPA Approved" stoves that use a variety of methods to lower emissions and increase efficiency. These stoves use advanced design, catalytic combustors, and re-burners to "burn-off" the smoke produced by the initial combustion of wood.
Smoke is wasted fuel from a wood fire - in fact a cleanly burning EPA Approved woodstove operating correctly will give off little more than a transparent vapor cloud - with no real amount of smoke escaping the stove. That's because the smoke itself is burned within the stove - resulting in better efficiency and greater heat output from the same amount of wood.
The BEST method to increase your woodburning efficiency is to get rid of your old, smokey insert or freestanding woodstove, and properly install one of these newer stoves.
Besides a re-vamp on your appliance, there are a few other things you can do to produce hotter fires, which produce less creosote and smoke, and burn more cleanly with greater heat output.
The single most important factor is the dryness of your firewood. Seasoned firewood contains much less water than "green" firewood - so the fire doesn't waste it's energy steaming off the water content, and more heat is available for complete combustion of the smoke. (See FeN #003 about firewood seasoning tips.) Seasoned firewood is easier to start, and will help keep the stove temperatures hot - to lessen the amount of smoke released up the connector pipe.
Another important part of efficient woodburning is to allow plenty of combustion air to enter the stove. Become familiar with the air inlets on your stove - this is usually the best area of the stove to ignite the kindling when first starting your fire. Once the fire is started, give it plenty of air for 15 to 30 minutes - allowing the stove and wood to heat-up and a bed of coals to start forming.
For hot "flash-fires" - intended to give off lower heat levels over several hours - load your stove in a small stack, loose criss-cross fashion, leaving plenty of space for air to flow into and around the stack. You want to get the fire hot and bright. Cut back on the air inlets as the fire progresses - but never enough to smolder the flames. When you have a hot bed of glowing coals, cut the air back enough to keep them hot and radiating heat. Repeat this process as needed to keep the house at the temperature you feel is comfortable.
For extended heating, and when you want to maximize heat output - start your fire like you would the flash fire - and when you get down to a hot bed of coals, load plenty of wood on the sides and on top of the bed of coals, concentrating the heat in a "pocket" of fresh firewood. This will sustain the fire and maximize heat output. Add wood around and over the "pocket" as needed to keep the heat concentrated.
To get a longer-lasting fires - burn your wood from the top-down. This is an ancient method of woodburning in Europe and is "catching on" here in the States. Basically you build your fire up-side down, with the split log base, working progressively smaller sections of firewood in a criss-cross manner to the top where you put you kindling. The only problem is that it's less common to find the finely split wood needed for the center section of the stack - in America we just cut and split into large sections. Some experienced woodburners are finding the top-down method of burning is much more efficient, with long-lasting burns - a 18 inch stack can burn hot up to 4 hours without needing to be refueled.
Following these simple tips can help increase the efficiency of your woodstove or fireplace, decrease emissions, and warm you longer.
UPCOMING RELATED ARTICLES ; MASONRY HEATERS - Use a hand-full of trash wood to warm your home for hours, FIREPLACES AS HEATERS - New refractory fireplaces rival EPA Approved woodstoves for heat out-put and efficiency.
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2. 'NET RESOURCES (Related Web Sites Rated 1 to 5 stars " * ")
a) WOOD-HEAT.COM * * * * *
http://www.wood-heat.com"The straight goods on burning wood for heat and enjoyment in your home" - I have just recently found this charming web destination - and was truly impressed with the scope of the site. Primarily focusing on the environmental and ethical benefits of heating your home and family with wood, a renewable resource, it covers almost every aspect of heating with wood in today's world.
With such topics as "Why Big Business Doesn't Want You heating With Wood" to "The Real Story on Global Warming" - there is tons of interesting material for you to peruse during your visit - I highly recommend stopping by and staying for a while.
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b) HEARTH's HEART-PRO Search Engine * * * *
http://www.hearth.com/hearthproI have to admit first that I was involved in the design and execution of this particular site - but the people at HEARTH had much more to do with it than me - so I'll offer you my "semi-biased" opinion of the new 'net resource.
HEARTH-PRO is a searchable database of HEARTH Education Foundation Certified woodstove, fireplace, pellet stove, and gas hearth appliance Specialists. The search engine is easy to use for the first timer, and can be pretty exacting if you have higher criteria for your search. Stop by today and check your local area for a HEARTH Certified Specialist.
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3. Q&A : Readers Questions Answered
QUESTION :
From: Thomas Peretic
To: fen@@@Subject: Prefabs and woodburning inserts
I recently purchased a 17 year old home with a Majestic MD-36 prefab
fireplace. I would like to install a woodburning insert for heating
purposes. Can I do it? If not, what alternatives are there? I am not sure
if the metal flue is triple or double wall. What would have been the
standard installation?Thomas Peretic
McKees Rocks, Pa.ANSWER :
Thomas -
Putting woodstoves into pre-fab chimneys is not a good idea - (except for a few stoves and pre-fab chimney systems that are rated and listed to be used together) - this type of installation goes against manufacturers instructions and many building and fire safety codes - and sometimes common sense.
There are several things to consider :
1) The exhaust temperatures of most insert woodstoves is much hotter than the air-diluted exhaust of the open fireplace. The chimney may not be rated for such high temperatures.
2) Often times those pre-fab fireplaces and chimneys are framed in with wood studs, just like the rest of the walls in your house. While the clearances to the wood studs may be OK for the fireplace rating, they may not meet the minimum requirements for the woodstove insert. The only right way to measure the clearance-to-combustables behind and around the fireplace is to remove the fireplace entirely - but they're often not designed to be removed, and to do so would destroy the unit.
3) The top of the fireplace housing makes a nice shelf for putting paint cans, wood scraps, trash, and other combustibles that may have been accidentally left there during construction. This happens more often than you might think. This could cause a problem even if there is not insert woodstove, but can be more of a problem with the higher temps and extended use associated with insert woodstoves.
4) The age of your pre-fab chimney may be a problem. We are finding many of these units are nearing the end of their serviceable lives by age 10 to 15. Rust, corrosion, expansion & contraction, wear and tear, use or age, etc...can cause the pre-fab fireplace and/or chimney to come loose at the joints, rust-through, or fail due to some other reason. I would recommend to all pre-fab fireplace and chimneys owners to have these systems evaluated very closely. I would recommend a video chimney evaluation - where a specially designed video camera is used to see the entire length of the chimney - from the inside. In cases where the unit is no longer serviceable (many manufacturers of older pre-fabs are no longer in business, and parts are not available) the whole unit needs to be pulled out and replaced.
Now I did mention an exception. There are a few stoves made to be installed in pre-fab fireplaces - but you have to make sure the stove and fireplace listings and part numbers match exactly. One stove you can inquire about at your local stove shop is called the "Cricket" - it's rated for a few pre-fabs. Understand - there are literally hundreds of different makes and models of these things installed across America - DOUBLE CHECK YOUR NUMBERS!
A different option, if you don't mind your woodburning pleasure being dependent on your electric supply, is the pellet-stove insert. Many more of these are rated for pre-fabs, and come with special kits for such installation. I would, however, recommend you run the liner for the pellet stove to the top of the chimney - not just up the first few feet (like a few systems I have seen installed). You'll get better performance, easier maintenance, and less chance for excessive creosote build-up. But when the lights go out - so does your pellet stove (which is really more like a computer that burns wood than a stove).
I hope this helps - please check the owners manual in every instance - if it doesn't say you can do it - don't do it!
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QUESTION :
From: Donna R. Weston
To: fen@@@Subject: Vermont Castings Winter Warm Small Insert question
I had a Vermont Castings Winter Warm Small installed about two years ago and have loved it. I can heat the whole house (of course, I live in California) with it. Recently, I noticed that the heat efficiency had decreased significantly so I had the chimney cleaned, and the insert inspected, and all fiberglass rope seals replaced. The catalytic converted appeared to be in good shape. However another problem began just before all of the above inspecting, etc., that continues. With the damper closed, the throat hood gets hot enough to glow red...the overheated area does not appear to extend over the full fireback and no part of the stove exterior has ever glowed red. I've tried to figure out if there are particular circumstances that accompany this overheating but can find none. The external thermometer indicates a temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit when the throat hood is clearly much hotter. I've always burned only clean firewood and since the catalytic converter looked to be in good shape, I am stumped. The local Vermont Castings dealer hasn't been able to give me any suggestions beyond replacing the gaskets. Do you have any ideas?? Thank you in advance for your help.
ANSWER : ( Courtesy of FCCS )
From: FCCS
To: @@@Subject: Re: Vermont Castings Winter Warm
Donna,
I have much experience servicing VC appliances.
I feel the efficiency of the stove decreased is because of fly-ash clogging
the "cat". A good sweep will tell you, then show you how to clean the "cat"
yourself - should be checked and cleaned if needed, after burning about 1/4
cord!Is your stove connected to a 6" round liner that goes all the way to the top
of the chimney?Did the sweep who worked on your stove seem to have a hard time figuring out
how to remove the "Cat"?If he did, do you know how to remove the "cat" and check it?
Did the sweep put the refractory package COVER back over the front of the
catalytic combustor after he removed the cover?With the "cat" not engaged, can you see a significant change in the flame
pattern when you use the air inlet controls to allow more, then less air in
the stove? The fire should pick up when you let air in, then the fire should almost go
out when you close the air inlets.Please take a dollar bill, put it in 3 different places along the top of the
stove doorway. Close the door with the dollar partway in - you should NOT be
able to pull the dollar out when the door is closed tight. DO THIS ON ALL 4
SIDES OF THE DOOR (It could be the wrong gasket size was used when replaced
recently)Problem could be the cat was put in wrong - the cells should be pointing up
and down.Check the refractory package - does any of it look like it was broken away?
( If the top left or right side of this is broken away, could be your problem. )This is a new Winterwarm - the "small" ones are only about 3 yrs old - MANY
sweeps/chim techs don't know this stove, unfortunately, they don't tell the
homeowner because few homeowners would know the difference.PS. Make sure your thermometer is placed on a SINGLE sheet of metal.
WARNING : RUNNING THE STOVE OVER 700 DEGREES WILL DESTROY
THE INSIDE OF IT; so, if it's "OVER FIRED", it's NOT UNDER WARRANTY.Also, to avoid a common problem that is destroying "cats" before their normal
life -- ALWAYS BE SURE TO LOWER THE FLAME (closing down air inlet knobs
momentarily) BEFORE ENGAGING THE CAT!!E-mail if need more info.
Harry/FCCS
[ Thanks Harry - I knew I could count on you for the right answers. - MB ]-- If you have a question you'd like answered, please e-mail it to me at fen@@@ and I may be able to use it in a future issue. If you include your postal mailing address in the e-mail, and I choose your letter for the FeN, I'll send you one of my custom "SOOT HAPPENS" black and white bumper stickers! --
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