Outside air intake

[deezler]

About once a week I use an ash shovel that I drilled a bunch of 1/8" holes in to make it a sifter. I move all the ash and coals to one side, then take a scoop and shake it near the front of the stove. The ash falls through, and the charcoal and hot coals stay in the scoop. I toss those into the back corner, and repeat. When I get a good pile of ash, I scoop it into the ash pan under the woodburner. Takes about 10 minutes to sift all the ash for the week.

Then I move the pile of charcoal and hot coals back to the center of the stove, load it up with wood, open the air control fully, close the door and walk away. Come back in 20 minutes to a blazing fire, throttle down the air and I'm good for another week.

I get about a month's worth of ashes in the ash pan under the stove before I have to empty it.

This is basically we we try to do also, keep the good coals and just get the ash out. Also get close to a month on our 3-gal ash bucket. Can usually accomplish a good sorting/sifting with the solid scoop and a little adept hand work. But one of our problems is that its kinda messy! Always get a thin cloud of ash dust that escapes the stove when we do this - do you?

 

[MossRoad]

This is basically we we try to do also, keep the good coals and just get the ash out. Also get close to a month on our 3-gal ash bucket. Can usually accomplish a good sorting/sifting with the solid scoop and a little adept hand work. But one of our problems is that its kinda messy! Always get a thin cloud of ash dust that escapes the stove when we do this - do you?

Once in a while if I'm impatient. But usually the stove is still hot, so there's a good draft, and it sucks it right back into the stove.

 

[BX23D]

If your wood stove starts a fire outside of itself, you got a bigger install problem than duct work.

The problem is radiant heat. If you've ever seen a stove pipe glow a very bright red and have seen the moisture in the wood 18" away turning to vapour, you would be very careful of any wood stove installation. Every time that wood is dried further and further to complete dryness makes it easier for the wood to combust, and it happens very quickly.
A friend of mine lost his, "new to him", house 2 weeks after moving in, to a wood stove fire. This previous install was inspected prior to purchase, by people that are specialists in this field and it still happened. He needed the inspection and certification to get fire insurance.
I'm surprised that the owner in this thread was given fire insurance if he declared his wood stove installation. Building codes take direct access between floors and rooms very seriously, e.g. fire stop sealant around any penetrations between floors of a dwelling this includes pipe and cables or wiring, fire blocking methods of various type are also used to slow the spread of a potential fire. Might not stop a fire from spreading, but delays it some to give one more time to get out. That is why a vent through the floor above a stove is not a good idea, there are safer ways to direct warm air.
Best of luck to this and other wood burning owners.

 

[PILOON]

Why didn稚 the FD put out the fire when it was small? It didn稚 go from a smoldering pile of trash to burning 70 houses instantly.

Shucks rather than than go to extremes you can p-ss and extinguish a fire if U act fast enough.
But then that is not in the job description.

 

[PILOON]

The problem is radiant heat. If you've ever seen a stove pipe glow a very bright red and have seen the moisture in the wood 18" away turning to vapour, you would be very careful of any wood stove installation. Every time that wood is dried further and further to complete dryness makes it easier for the wood to combust, and it happens very quickly.
A friend of mine lost his, "new to him", house 2 weeks after moving in, to a wood stove fire. This previous install was inspected prior to purchase, by people that are specialists in this field and it still happened. He needed the inspection and certification to get fire insurance.
I'm surprised that the owner in this thread was given fire insurance if he declared his wood stove installation. Building codes take direct access between floors and rooms very seriously, e.g. fire stop sealant around any penetrations between floors of a dwelling this includes pipe and cables or wiring, fire blocking methods of various type are also used to slow the spread of a potential fire. Might not stop a fire from spreading, but delays it some to give one more time to get out. That is why a vent through the floor above a stove is not a good idea, there are safer ways to direct warm air.
Best of luck to this and other wood burning owners.

Don't talk to me about 'inspections'.

I did lots of renovations and a few after well paid inspections.
Often I found more than a few totally taboo situations.
Like shared flues, bad wiring hookups, overridden fuses, and a few very scary.
Often door and window changes that lacked proper structural considerations.

INMHO the best evaluators are probably experienced renovation contractors as we have seen it all.
I have done a few and I start off with categories like, electricity, heating, structure, septic roofing water etc etc. and take it from there.
OK, some you simply can't do: ex can't see lead pipes or insulation.

LOL, on my house they snagged my slow combustion installation but I pointed out that he stove alcove was a concrete block 'nook' which could never combust, passed!

 

[goeduck]

If your wood stove starts a fire outside of itself, you got a bigger install problem than duct work.

I could see it if the door were to be inadvertently left open and embers shot out. When my insert was installed they did not level it correctly and the door would swing open if not latched. I fixed that right quick :thumbsup:

The installer said that they all do that so I went to the place I bought it and sure enough that one did the same. Then I thought maybe my installer set that one up as well. I studied it and he was not putting them together correctly. Now it stays wherever I leave it with a slight tendency towards closed.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The problem is radiant heat. If you've ever seen a stove pipe glow a very bright red and have seen the moisture in the wood 18" away turning to vapour, you would be very careful of any wood stove installation. Every time that wood is dried further and further to complete dryness makes it easier for the wood to combust, and it happens very quickly.
A friend of mine lost his, "new to him", house 2 weeks after moving in, to a wood stove fire. This previous install was inspected prior to purchase, by people that are specialists in this field and it still happened. He needed the inspection and certification to get fire insurance.
I'm surprised that the owner in this thread was given fire insurance if he declared his wood stove installation. Building codes take direct access between floors and rooms very seriously, e.g. fire stop sealant around any penetrations between floors of a dwelling this includes pipe and cables or wiring, fire blocking methods of various type are also used to slow the spread of a potential fire. Might not stop a fire from spreading, but delays it some to give one more time to get out. That is why a vent through the floor above a stove is not a good idea, there are safer ways to direct warm air.
Best of luck to this and other wood burning owners.

You’re in a different country than the OP, so rules could be different.

Also, the issue was a hood over the stove and duct to take the heat upstairs. No one said anything about taking the chimney pipe thru the floor.

Also, the only way the chimney pipe will get cherry red is if you have a chimney fire in it. (BTDT)
Again, not the fault of the stove.

There is no difference in a wood stove with a heat shield and duct work than an oil burner doing the same thing in the same manner.

 

[arrow]

What is often misinterpreted is the "why" of regulations. To my way of thinking, a wood stove in the living space is as dangerous (if not more so) as a wood stove in a cellar with a hood over it. My stove is surrounded by concrete on floor and wall with cement board on the ceiling and surrounding the vent itself as it comes through the floor. A wood stove in a living space can be surrounded by wood, carpet and furniture. Life is about playing the odds and to each his own with their decisions. You're not gonna tell everyone with a cigarette in their mouth that they shouldn't be doing that, right?

There are insurance companies that simply will not allow any type of wood stove within a house but will allow a wood furnace or boiler within the cellar.

 

[goeduck]

Seems a grease fire in the kitchen would be an equivalent danger. Maybe all kitchens should be in the cellar surrounded by concrete. Being that grease fires are the leading cause of home fires and all.

Grease Fires: Dangerous, Fast-Spreaders - CBS News

People need to have their wits about them when it comes to both kitchens and wood stoves and there will not be a house fire.

 

[deezler]

The problem is radiant heat. If you've ever seen a stove pipe glow a very bright red and have seen the moisture in the wood 18" away turning to vapour, you would be very careful of any wood stove installation. Every time that wood is dried further and further to complete dryness makes it easier for the wood to combust, and it happens very quickly.
A friend of mine lost his, "new to him", house 2 weeks after moving in, to a wood stove fire. This previous install was inspected prior to purchase, by people that are specialists in this field and it still happened. He needed the inspection and certification to get fire insurance.
....
Best of luck to this and other wood burning owners.

..... whaaaa? My wood stove is hundreds of pounds of solid cast iron. The fire does not, and cannot, escape the stove. My 6" flue is only single wall pipe and yet has NEVER glowed even a tiny bit. As buckeye noted, it would take an actual chimney fire to do that. I only burn dry, seasoned wood, to intentionally have a very hot fire in the stove that burns clean and leaves no creosote accumulation in the chimney pipe that could ignite.

Totally understand if you are not comfortable with a wood stove in your own house; to each their own. But no need to use scare tactics to sway anyone else, as you clearly don't really understand the basic mechanism of safe, stable wood burning stoves. It's very controllable. Sorry for your buddy who burnt his brand new house down, but he must have been doing something very wrong.