Low emissions can be achieved by design not just burning flat out.

Bung:

 

Low emissions can be achieved by design not just burning flat out.

 

Valid point, but often manufacturers make one design that will satisfy both a 'rural' design and an 'urban' design, often by simply adding a roll pin that prevents too much dampening for the urban version. To slow the burn rate down once installed and inspected, it is possible to remove said roll pin. You will then of course be adding to the particulate levels in you town or city...

Ge0rge:it is possible to remove said roll pin. You will then of course be adding to the particulate levels in you town or city...

 

Please don't be that person.

Hardwoods will burn more slowly. All I ever order is hardwood.

I live in a windy location, so I'll put the wood in across, rather than head-first, into the stove. It seems to cause the airflow to go over the wood vs the airflow in through the wood....shrug

turtleattacks:

 

Ok, another silly question.... with the damper on high or low, where does it suck in the air from? 

Chimney? 

 

I suggest you read the wikipedia article on the flue - seems like it might be your first time living somewhere with a fireplace? 

turtleattacks:

 

Can you please explain more? 

 

Fires burn more cleanly when there is a sufficient flow of oxygen. If you try to slow down the burning by reducing the oxygen, it produces more particulate matter (e.g. smoke, soot) - think about a log smouldering for hours. These days there are limitations on how low fireplaces can adjust the airflow, in order to reduce air pollution in urban areas. 

Environment Canterbury has some useful resources https://www.warmercheaper.co.nz/

turtleattacks:

 

farcus:

 

"Ultra Low Emission Burner"

This is why you can't dampen it down very much.

 

Can you please explain more? 

 

turtleattacks:

 

Ok, another silly question.... with the damper on high or low, where does it suck in the air from? 

Chimney? 

 

Sorry I've done it again - another novel...

I have 9 years experience with my ULEB burner - I have a very early model in the form of a Masport Mystique which is a twin chamber model. Mine suffers from some of the early design flaws that were inherent with the ULEB philosophy. Namely it burns hot and fast. I like to say mine has two settings - "molten lava" and "surface of the sun".

The two biggest challenges to overcome (at least for me) have been overheating of the house, and chewing through the firewood. It could be argued that the log burner I ended up with is just too big for the space I need to heat, however as an early adopter it was the only suitable model permitted by my council at the time. This has required me to carry out my own R&D to land on a management plan that works for me.

• I generally use pine to light the fire as this makes for the easiest starting. This consists of a layer of screwed up newspaper, two layers of finely split kindling in a cross-crossed stack(aka Jenga), then two layers of split logs with each piece about 2-3cms each side. Light it and allow the fire to take hold for the next 20 minutes or so.
• After the startup fuel has burnt down and created a bit of an ember base, I switch to a harder wood such as larch or oregon. These species offer a slower & less intense burn when compared to pine. 
• I found hard woods such as macro to be generally unsuitable in my ULEB as they just die out without burning - unless they are supplemented with smaller pieces of soft wood to support the burn and maintain an ember base (ULEBs - particularly the twin chamber models - are notorious for completely consuming the ember base, meaning a large log on top has nothing underneath it to keep it lit.
• I have a mix of wood sizes in my arsenal - larger logs generally burn slower (but not nearly as slow as they do in a standard logburner), but those smaller pieces are also required to quickly rebuild or maintain that ember base.
• To control heat output, a lot of the time I am waiting until the fire has died right down before adding another log - and usually that log has to be fairly small in order to take hold again.

In essence, it's my experience that ULEBs are not set and forget - you can't chuck a big log on and expect to ignore it for the next three hours. I am up and down a couple of times an hour to fettle with mine. The first couple of years I did use more wood than I should have, and I suffered from ridiculous temperatures - think 35-40 degrees in the lounge when it's zero outside. There were even comedic times when the wife and I were sitting in the lounge in singlets and T shirts with the ranchslider door half open when it was -3 degrees outside LOL. Now, through trial and error, I can control the heat at a comfortable temperature in the mid 20's, but it requires effort and the right firewood.

One of the biggest inconveniences of ULEBs I have found, is that you can't load it up to the hilt, go out to dinner, then come home 2 hours later expecting the fire to still be burning. It will burn one decent size log in an hour, or it will burn 7 decent logs in the same hour - you can't slow the rate of burn very effectively. And I guess that is the crux of the OP's problem - putting more wood on won't make it burn slower, it will just burn more wood in the same amount of time. The only solution is to put smaller pieces on more often and just generally micro-manage the input.

Quick tip - if you are buying firewood from a bigger firewood retailer, you are probably wasting money IMHO. Your usual generic firewood is usually split too big to burn economically and effectively in a ULEB. Yes they do sell "special" ULEB wood which is cut and split smaller, but they charge a premium for it. No way am I paying $160-$170 a cube for ULEB firewood from my local supplier. I get my larch and oregon direct from a timber mill - what are effectively log off-cuts. This stuff is cut smaller with a variety of sizes which is exactly what I need. They load my 2.8m3 trailer for $100. I have to buy in advance as it normally takes 3-4 months before it's seasoned enough to burn. I usually buy from November through to February so that the oldest stuff is well ready to burn by the time I need it in April. I use between 2 and 3 trailer loads a year (April to September or October) and that is with the fire burning from 8am to midnight almost every day (I work from home a lot).

I know that there are now ULEB burners available that can offer the ability to bank down the dampener for lower heat output as well as extended overnight burning. If I hadn't paid so much for my current burner I'd consider swapping now, but I'm likely to try and get my money's worth out of this one and then maybe replace it with better dampening functionality in another 5-10 years from now.

Not sure if this has been helpful or not, but just my experience. In short, I love my ULEB, it did change my life (first winter in my house I had $500/month power bills from an ineffective heatpump) and through trial and error I have settled on a fire management method that works for me. Yes I have to work at it by continually adjusting the fuel every 30-45 mins (but you definitely get used to it) and I probably do use more wood than I did in the standard logburner at my previous house, however I have a cheap and reliable source of wood that burns well. Our power bill remains the same all year round (less than $200 a month), and I spend $200-$300 per year for winter heating which to me seems pretty reasonable. However if I was paying $170 a cube for special ULEB wood it would not be nearly as cheap to run - 3 of my trailer loads of special ULEB wood at local RRP would cost me over $1500...

Just noticed the vents/damper.

If these vents gets reduced, will it reduce the burn rate?

>Typically it is drawn from the room. Outdoor air kits do exist, but I have not seen one in NZ

Well, I have one on my woodburner - which is a Firenzo (Napier).

Perhaps being an ex-Canadian, I take heating more seriously than most ;-)

When I planned the new house (2014 - N Auckland), I wanted to 
(a) use underfloor (hydronic) heat
(b) have a woodburner as backup and for 'cosiness'
(c) avoid consuming the lounge's warm air to (i) feed the fire and (ii) cool the flue.

So I fitted one of Firenzo's 'outside air adaptors' and an 'eco flue kit' (to seal the flue where it passes through the ceiling). 

Sorted.

turtleattacks:

 

Just noticed the vents/damper.

 

If these vents gets reduced, will it reduce the burn rate?

 

Yes, restricting the airflow will slow down the burn.... you've just got to find the sweet spot the keeps the fire going enough without making it smoke too much 

Scott3:

 

As you might have guessed, these fires are often designed in a way that it is trivial for the homeowner to remove the limiter post install. which of course undermines the intent to reduce emission's.

 

And this is why we can't have nice things :D 

turtleattacks:

 

Just noticed the vents/damper.

 

If these vents gets reduced, will it reduce the burn rate?