Video transcript

Scene #1 Greeting at door of Vanessa’s house

a) John walks up to door and rings bell. Vanessa answers.

They both go inside.

Vanessa: Hi John.

John: Hi Vanessa. I’m here to talk wood stoves.

Vanessa: Great. Come on in.

Scene #2 In front of wood stove

John: This is a nice looking installation. Can you describe it to me?

Vanessa: Sure, this is a medium-sized EPA certified, non-catalytic stove connected to double wall flue pipe running straight up into a high-temp factory-built metal chimney.

John: Whoa, that’s a mouthful. Can we go through that again, one step at a time? What does EPA certification mean?

Vanessa: It refers to a regulation put in place by the US Environmental Protection Agency back in the late 1980s requiring all wood stoves to meet stringent smoke emission limits. To be certified, a stove must put out less than 7.5 grams of smoke per hour. This one is certified at 3.2 grams per hour. On average, EPA certified stoves emit around 90 per cent less smoke than older conventional so-called “airtight” stoves.

John: You also said something about catalytic.

Vanessa: Yes, this is a NON-catalytic stove, which uses firebox insulation, internal baffling and preheated combustion air distributed around the firebox to burn the wood completely. Catalytic stoves pass the wood smoke through a catalyst coated ceramic honeycomb where it burns cleanly.

John: I see, so whether the stove is catalytic or non-catalytic, it burns the smoke inside instead of letting it go up the chimney. It’s nice that these stoves don’t pollute the neighbourhood, but are there other advantages?

Vanessa: Oh sure. These things use about one-third less wood for the same heat output than older stoves. That’s a lot less cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling. Plus they are a lot easier to use. You’ll see what I mean when we get a fire started.

John: That’s just what I came for. I was hoping you could give me some tips on how to operate a stove to get the best performance out of it.

Vanessa: You bet. Let’s pull up a couple of chairs and get organized here.

John: I see you have a full wood box, and some kindling and newspaper all ready to go.

Vanessa: Right, I’ll get to them in a minute. But first I want to remove some ash from the last fire so it doesn’t get in the way of the new fire we’ll build.

Vanessa: This stove has an ash pan, but you can also use a shovel and ash bucket.  . . . . . . There. Notice this tool I’m using. It is a rake and it is the most important tool for managing heating fires. I’ve just used it to rake the ashes into the ash pan, but I’ll show you later why it is so important.

Okay, now we’re ready to build the fire.

e) Vanessa, at the stove, turns to John.

Places two logs north-south in the fire box.

Vanessa: The main goal in starting a fire from scratch is to heat up the stove and chimney fast, creating the conditions for a clean, efficient burn. The thing to avoid is having your kindling fire collapse on itself, which slows everything down and makes a lot of smoke.

John: Does that mean there is only one right way to build a fire?

Vanessa: No, not at all. Everyone who burns wood develops their own method through trial and error. For example, one way to build a fire that heats fast and doesn’t collapse is by using two parallel logs placed with a space between them, like this. Then you put crumpled newspaper between them and some kindling on top. That method works fine when the logs are placed north-south, like this, but if your firebox is east-west, it is not so good.

John: What do you suggest then?

Vanessa: I like to build top-down fires.

John: Top down? Really?

Vanessa: Sure. Here, take this newspaper and roll up some single sheets corner to corner into tubes, then tie a knot in each tube.

John: You’ve got to be kidding.

Vanessa: Now four or five newspaper knots go on top, like this. These knots work great because they don’t move around as they burn the way crumpled newspaper does. Time to light the newspaper.

John: But I thought you had to light a fire from the bottom because hot air, and flames, rise.

Vanessa: They do, but that is not really what gets fires to start. It is the heat radiation off the glowing bits of newspaper and kindling that actually ignites fires, and radiation flows in all directions, including down.

I’ll set the air control fully open and close the door.

h) Close up of fire as it progresses through the newspaper and begins to ignite.

Fade out as V and J get ready to go outside.

John: And why do you build fires top down?

Vanessa: Well, as I said, they don’t collapse and smother themselves. Also I don’t have to keep opening the loading door to tend the fire and add more kindling like you do with a regular fire. This fire should be good for two hours or so without attention. And top-down fires start up with very little smoke. Want to see?

John: Sure.

Vanessa: Come on outside and we’ll see if there is smoke  coming from the chimney.

Scene #3 Outside looking for smoke coming from the chimney.

a) They walk into frame looking up at the chimney.

Shot of chimney with no smoke.

Back to Vanessa and John.

Back to shot of top of chimney. Fade out.

Vanessa: See, no smoke.

John: Wow, and you just lit that fire a minute ago!

Vanessa: That’s why I like building fires top down.

John: I’m impressed.

Vanessa: Let’s head back inside.

John: Right. And I want to see how your top-down fire is burning.

Scene #4 Back to stove briefly

a) Shot between V and J as they look at the well-established fire burning down through the load.

Fade out.

John: That’s just amazing!

Vanessa: If you build it right, a top down fire will burn consistently like that every time. How about we go have some lunch while that fire burns down, then I’ll show you how to rekindle a fire from coals.

John: Okay.

Scene #5 Vanessa and John having lunch

John: So, what are you going to show me after lunch?

Vanessa: I want to show you how to rake a coal bed in preparation for putting on a new load of wood. And I want to talk about different ways to load the stove, depending on how much heat you need and how long you need it to burn without reloading.

John: I had no idea there were techniques for that sort of thing. I’m looking forward to seeing this.

Scene #6 Back at the stove, where the fire has burned down to coals.

John: That lunch was great, Vanessa, thanks. Well, the stove is still warm and it looks like there are some red coals in there. Where do we start?

Vanessa: Well one thing I wanted to mention before we get started is that wood fires burn best in cycles. A cycle starts when you rake the coal bed and place a new load of wood, and it ends when that load has been reduced to coal bed and it is time to reload.

John: I see, so it’s not a good idea to add a log or two every hour so the stove puts out a steady heat?

Vanessa: No, not at all. If you put on one or two logs at a time, they will usually smoulder. You need at least three at a time to create a sheltered pocket of glowing coals where the fire can get started. The idea is to ignore the fire until the room or house starts to cool off slightly, and then reload it. I’ll show you why in a minute.

b) Vanessa moves to the stove and opens the door. Takes the rake and pokes the coals. Points to air-wash slot.

Close ups of coals and air-wash slot.

Rakes the coals forward.

Holds two smallish logs and gestures north-south or east-west.

V reaches for a couple of pieces of poplar.

V loads the stove. Alternating shots of firebox close up and V selecting pieces from the wood box.

V closes door and sets air controls. Close ups of each.

V goes back to the chair.

Vanessa: Okay, notice that the remaining coal bed is at the back of the firebox furthest from the door. That is because most of the combustion air enters the firebox through this slot and reaches the fire at the front, so the fire burns from front to back.

John: And that air keeps the glass clear too, right?

Vanessa: Yes, its call glass air-wash. Now then, if this were the morning fire we were building after an over night burn, we would find a lot of ash right here behind the door, because we would have raked coals there several times the day before. So, the best time to remove ash is first thing in the morning before disturbing the coal bed.

John: Ahh, that makes sense.

Vanessa: In the cold part of the winter when I’m burning around the clock, I like to remove a small amount of ash each morning. Of course we don’t need to remove ash because we did that before lighting the fire.

Okay, now here’s the important part. We rake the coals forward like this, so they are just inside the loading door. Then we’ll place the new load of wood on and behind the coals. That way, the combustion air reaches the coals first, then the wood, and we get fast ignition.

John: Very clever.

Vanessa: Now, because the floor of this firebox is roughly square, I can place the logs either north-south or east-west in the firebox. The fireboxes of a lot of stoves are oriented either one way or the other so you might not have that option.

John: Why does that matter?

Vanessa: Because a load of wood breaks down more slowly when placed east-west because the air isn’t able to penetrate the load as much as it does a north-south load. That makes east-west loading better for mild weather when you want low heat over an extended period. North-south loading is better in very cold weather both because it tends to burn faster and hotter, and because you can fit more wood in the firebox because it can’t roll out.

John: I never knew that.

Vanessa: Okay, let’s get to it. Today is fairly mild, so I’m going to load east-west. I’m also going to use some poplar firewood, which is very soft and light and good for low heat output fires.

John: A lot of people say oak and maple make the best firewood.

Vanessa: Yes they do, but that advice is just a little old fashioned now. Years ago, when people used old cast iron parlour stoves, they couldn’t get a fire to burn overnight unless they burned big chunks of hardwood. But I can get a good, clean overnight burn using poplar in this stove, and I won’t overheat the house in mild weather like this.

Okay, I’m going to load the stove east-west using poplar. I put the biggest piece in first, then the next and next and put the smallest piece of firewood on the coals. That’s my igniter.

John: I see what you’re doing. You put the small piece on the coals where it will ignite first.

Vanessa: Right, and I put the larger pieces towards the back where they will break down slowly to extend the burn. Now I close the door and set the air control to fully open.

John: Look at that, your smallest piece has already ignited!

Vanessa: Exactly. That’s the whole idea. A quick start and very little smoke.

c) Camera between V and J with stove burning beyond them as they talk.

V reaches forward and adjusts air control.

J moves forward looking up into the firebox.

John: So you adjust heat output by the type of wood you use - hardwood for cold weather or softwood for mild weather - and by the way you place the logs - east-west for mild weather or north-south for cold weather.

Vanessa: Yes, and also by how much wood I put on - smaller loads for mild weather. I’ll build a small fire by placing a few small logs crisscross in the firebox if I just want to take the chill off the house.

John: I had no idea there were so many ways to control heat output. And here I thought that was what the air control was for.

Vanessa: Well I do use the air control, but not before using all the other ways first.

This fire is coming along well. The firebox is full of flames, which is what I want to see.

John: Gee, that fire’s getting pretty hot. Don’t you worry about overheating the walls behind it?

Vanessa: No, I don’t have to worry because this stove is installed exactly according to the manufacturer’s instructions, so nothing will overheat. I know that because the guy who installed it is trained and certified under the WETT program --that stands for wood energy technical training.

Every time I load the stove for a new heating cycle, I need to burn it hot like this to heat up the chimney and firebox parts so the fire will burn clean.

John: I guess you couldn’t run the stove hot enough to burn clean if you were constantly worried about burning your house down.

Vanessa: That’s right. You would keep stove temperatures down causing the wood to smoulder, which produces a lot of smoke outside and creosote in the chimney. In fact, that is what leads to chimney fires. With a safe installation, I can run the stove hot enough at the start of each heating cycle.

Now, I’m just going to reduce the air supply a bit at first to slow things down. I don’t want to make a big adjustment because that will cause the fire to go into a smoulder.

John: You said earlier that there were some other advantages to these new EPA certified stoves, advantages other than low pollution and higher efficiency.

Vanessa: Oh yes. Well, you noticed how quickly the fires started, both our kindling fire earlier and this one started from hot coals. That’s because these fireboxes are insulated, and reflect heat back towards the fire, raising its temperature. This one also has a baffle at the top of the firebox that also acts as a reflective surface.

Come and look inside the firebox. See all those flames up high? They are being fed by small jets of hot air fed to the fire through those secondary air tubes. That’s how you get the clean burn and no visible smoke.

Speaking of smoke, want to see if there is any smoke coming from the chimney?

John: You bet I do. And I should probably get going. I’ve already taken up too much of your time.

Vanessa: I’m going to turn the air control down a bit further before we go out. It’s a good idea to turn the air down in two or three stages, instead of one big adjustment.

John: Vanessa, you just keep coming up with great tips that I’ve never heard before.

Scene #7 Outside looking up at the chimney.

a) V and J walk into frame looking up.

J turns and walks to his car. Waves goodby.

John: Well I’ll be darned. You wouldn’t even know there was a fire burning.

Vanessa: This is exactly what I wanted to show you - that using a good stove, good fuel and good technique, you don’t get smoke. Plus, by burning the smoke in the stove and not letting it escape up the chimney, you get much higher efficiency. More heat with less wood.

John: This is great. I can hardly wait to try all this at home. I can’t believe I’ve been heating with wood all this time and had so much more to learn. Thanks, Vanessa, I really appreciate you’re teaching me all this new stuff.

Vanessa: You’re very welcome. Be sure to let me know how you make out.

John: I sure will. Thanks again.