# Wood stove run by a wall thermostat?  What?



## Sconnie Burner (Sep 10, 2015)

Just cruising through the wood stove manufactures sites seeing whats new and getting ideas and options for a future home purchase, I came across the Quadra-fire adventure series that are run by a wall thermostat! I currently am using the 3100 steptop in my buddies house that I'm renting from him and its a great little stove. So I'm intrigued and guessing this is pellet stove like technology being applied to a wood stove.

With the III (3) series boasting a 4.0 cu ft firebox accepting 22" recommended splits, able to heat 3,500+ sq ft, and claims of 40 hr burns (we all know 12-14 would be most realistic), it even runs on a 6" flue! Its definitely an interesting set up and will be interesting to see and hear how it actually performs.

http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Adventure-III-Wood-Stove.aspx


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## begreen (Sep 10, 2015)

Very interesting. On that linked page the specifications have the Adventure III  listed as 4.5 cu ft., 24" wood (but the manual says 24" max, 22" ideal). This is the biggest stove I've seen on 6" pipe by a long shot. Sounds like a good basement stove with the thermostatic control. It will be interesting to hear about average burntimes with this monster.
http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Adventure-III-Wood-Stove.aspx?page=Specifications


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## Smoked (Sep 10, 2015)

Sounds really cool.  I am curious for any of the thermostatically (might be the wrong word) stoves out there, is there any chance of a very inexpensive part failing and causing an over fire that ruins the stove?


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## begreen (Sep 10, 2015)

Early VC and Hearthstone stoves had thermostats. BK stoves have them now. Nestor Martin and a few others have added this type of control, but this is the first time I've seen a 4.5 cu ft stove with a 6" collar. The thermostatic control is icing on the cake if it works well. Looks very similar to Dan McFarland's Smart Stove control. http://inveninc.com/


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## Sawmonkey (Sep 10, 2015)

This stove has a control board, and is ran by two thermocouples ran into each side of the firebox. When it calls for heat based on you programed temp, it opens the air control automatically. Tells ya when to re load the stove and if its overfiring. So all in all, seems like it's design is that of a pellet stove. It's pretty interesting.


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## Oldman47 (Sep 11, 2015)

Does it have a fail-safe condition when the power fails?


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## Sawmonkey (Sep 11, 2015)

6d cell battery backup, they say it will run on the batteries for 30 days, but its not enough to power the fan.


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## begreen (Sep 11, 2015)

Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.


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## blades (Sep 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> Early VC and Hearthstone stoves had thermostats. BK stoves have them now. Nestor Martin and a few others have added this type of control, but this is the first time I've seen a 4.5 cu ft stove with a 6" collar. The thermostatic control is icing on the cake if it works well. Looks very similar to Dan McFarland's Smart Stove control. http://inveninc.com/



Maybe Dan made a deal?


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## Sconnie Burner (Sep 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.



I was wondering that as well. My guess is it shuts down to a minimum like all other tube stoves so it's still going to push a little heat even on the minimum temp. I see it working better as a basement install with the stat on the upper level or a larger home better than a small space. I know in my situation right now I have to have the basement family room (stove location) 80-85 at times to get the upstairs to 72 depending on outside temps, with fans moving air. So it would work great for my situation. Not having to run up and down strairs in the morning to get the air controls settled in would be great But then again I like to fiddle with the stove in the evenings and on weekends.....


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## Jags (Sep 11, 2015)

Very neat stuff.  4.5 cuft?  Me likey.

Local dealer pricing is 35 hunnert.


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## Highbeam (Sep 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.



The thermostat likely only adjusts the stt from 400-700. Hardly "idle" which will keep it clean burning. This is innovation. I can't wait to hear the reports from users.  

Bk went the other way and took numbers off of their thermostat. 



Oldman47 said:


> Does it have a fail-safe condition when the power fails?



The way bk does it is that a broken thermostat slams closed. The applied power of the thermostat acts to open a normally closed valve which will fall closed when that power is removed.

For 3500$ I'd just buy a king.


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## begreen (Sep 11, 2015)

The thermostat adjusts room temperature, there isn't a readout for firebox temp. It appears to work more like Dan McFarlland's Smart Stove or the Nestor Martin control, but that is just a guess. Not sure if there are servos on primary and secondary air or just one of these.  4.5 cu ft load on a 6" stack is a first and one that the BKK can't match.


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## MishMouse (Sep 11, 2015)

A 4.5 stove that has smart capabilities with a 40 hour burn time that works on a 6" pipe, wow!


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## begreen (Sep 11, 2015)

It will be interesting to hear the first season reports on this series of stoves.


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## Jags (Sep 11, 2015)

Only down side I see is "pedestal",  Dang it.


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## Highbeam (Sep 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> The thermostat adjusts room temperature, there isn't a readout for firebox temp. It appears to work more like Dan McFarlland's Smart Stove or the Nestor Martin control, but that is just a guess. Not sure if there are servos on primary and secondary air or just one of these.  4.5 cu ft load on a 6" stack is a first and one that the BKK can't match.



Of course it measures room temp. The only control it has is to command the stove to run between about 400 and 700 without polluting or overfiring.


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## begreen (Sep 11, 2015)

It may be able to run the stove top temp a bit lower. Hard to say without running one first. Yes, it wouldn't surprise me it if polluted more at low temps. This is what you found with your stove too, right?


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## Highbeam (Sep 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> It may be able to run the stove top temp a bit lower. Hard to say without running one first. Yes, it wouldn't surprise me it if polluted more at low temps. This is what you found with your stove too, right?



On my cat stove, a different animal, I was getting some smoke at low settings with the old ceramic cat. So far with this steel cat the smoke has gone away which corresponds with the epa testing that low rates are cleaner with a cat.

There is no way that a big noncat will burn cleanly at anything less than a mild roar with flames in the box and hot stove temps. So while I appreciate the new tech of this quad, I know that the thermostat will only be able to switch between high and higher output. Unlike a furnace which can cycle on/off or high/low. The marketing leads you to believe that, like a furnace, the stove will not overheat the room.


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## begreen (Sep 11, 2015)

In winter that may work fine as long as the stove is sized right to the heat load and loss of the house. The majority of people heat successfully with non-cat stoves. This should be a nice improvement for some. We had a thermostatically controlled Resolute in a fairly small house. It worked pretty well at controlling room temp swing in spite of the radiant stove being in a small space.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2015)

Highbeam said:


> There is no way that a big noncat will burn cleanly at anything less than a mild roar with flames in the box and hot stove temps. So while I appreciate the new tech of this quad, I know that the thermostat will only be able to switch between high and higher output. Unlike a furnace which can cycle on/off or high/low. The marketing leads you to believe that, like a furnace, the stove will not overheat the room.


Your making assumptions and claims on this stove without any real knowledge of it. Time will tell how it performs.


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## Sconnie Burner (Sep 11, 2015)

I believe it to be no different than any other epa approved stove in the fact that it can only be closed off to a certain point. But with a thermostat that opens the air controls towards the end of a burn on a call for more heat, I can imagine there will be less coal build up to contend with vs the manual stoves. Temps swings could/should be minimized as well. I agree it isn't going to be a perfect science but it should help get more and longer outputs of heat out of each load of wood! Just like anything new, it needs to be put into some homes to get some real world testing in an array of variables.


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## Highbeam (Sep 12, 2015)

Ash said:


> Your making assumptions and claims on this stove without any real knowledge of it. Time will tell how it performs.



No poop Sherlock. Nobody has the stove, all we have is vague marketing and as stove enthusiasts we try and fill in the blanks. We can also assume or guess that the actual firebox volume and burntime will be much less than advertised. Are you going to go through this entire thread and tell each person that they are dumb for making educated guesses about unreleased specifications or just me?


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## begreen (Sep 12, 2015)

The specs and manuals are published. We can know the usable firebox area is less than marketing total by measuring up the firebrick pattern, though it's unknown how much in front of the firebrick, close to the glass, that the stove can be loaded. The working capacity looks to be about 3.75-4.0 cu ft.. Burn times and sq ft heated are always speculative due to the variables involved. Same for any stove.


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## Ash (Sep 12, 2015)

Highbeam said:


> No poop Sherlock. Nobody has the stove, all we have is vague marketing and as stove enthusiasts we try and fill in the blanks. We can also assume or guess that the actual firebox volume and burntime will be much less than advertised. Are you going to go through this entire thread and tell each person that they are dumb for making educated guesses about unreleased specifications or just me?


Just you. 
" I know that the thermostat will only able able to switch between high and higher output"
When you make a statement like that it doesn't sound like an educated guess, more like a fact.


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## Swedishchef (Sep 12, 2015)

It is a good idea! What a beast!

I think that eventually wood stoves will have options that will allow some models to become like pellet stoves to a certain extent....thermostats, blowers, etc. and this seems to be happening sooner than later.

Andrew


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## begreen (Sep 12, 2015)

That is what Dan McFarland has worked out with the SmartStove. It works to control both the air supply and the blower. It appears that the Quad controller also controls the blower speed. Can't wait for someone to pick up one of these big boys and run it through a season. In the meantime I think I'll make a field trip sometime to a dealer that has one of this series in stock.


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## Swedishchef (Sep 12, 2015)

Buy one and give it a try


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## begreen (Sep 12, 2015)

LOL, I don't have a basement to hide it in.


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## Sconnie Burner (Sep 12, 2015)

Swedishchef said:


> Buy one and give it a try


I would but don't own the house I'm using the current quad 3100 in. That will hopefully change this coming spring though. Looking to build or buy something that has a 3 car garage and room to stack wood! As in acres instead of a .25 acre city lot. Hence the stove research!! It will definitely be interesting if any other stove makers follow suit or try to improve!


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## ddahlgren (Sep 13, 2015)

Or you could have bought a coal stove with 12 hours easy and some go 30 a very low output. Thermostats common as well with no electrics needed. Sure the fuel is more but the work much less. Why does no one add their time in to cut split and stack into the cost of the heat? You chainsaws splitters and trucks to make it happen as well. I take it this way take a week off work there goes 700+ chainsaw 200 at least splitter 700? Truck taxes and gas/insurance 800 so how free is the wood? Some are fixed costs but the week off and truck expenses are recurring. I get 3 1/2 tons of coal for around 1000 delivered washed and bagged and season for 300 million years wet dry does not matter it is a black rock that burns between 1800 and 2200 degrees. Usually burn only 3 tons for 72 to 74 24/7 and 10 minutes of my effort a day. I suspect at 63 that wood is a young mans game or someone with a houseful of responsible teens that are willing to help to stay warm.


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## bholler (Sep 13, 2015)

ddahlgren said:


> Thermostats common as well with no electrics needed.


What coal stoves run off of thermostats with out power?  I am genuinely curious i have not seen one despite working on a hundred or so coal stoves a year.   If they do exist many of my customers would be curious. 



ddahlgren said:


> I suspect at 63 that wood is a young mans game or someone with a houseful of responsible teens that are willing to help to stay warm.


I have many customers much older than that that still process all of their wood themselves.  I have nothing against coal but many prefer wood over coal it is personal choice.  I have heated with both and will probably install another coal boiler once i have the funds but i will still have a wood stove.




ddahlgren said:


> I take it this way take a week off work there goes 700+


Hardly any of us take a week off work.




ddahlgren said:


> chainsaw 200


already had the saw for general cleanup ect.




ddahlgren said:


> splitter 700


Yeah many still do it without a splitter but they sure do make it nicer.  I personally went in with 4 others and bought one so it was about $200 per person. 




ddahlgren said:


> Truck taxes and gas/insurance


Already had the truck to


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## Sconnie Burner (Sep 13, 2015)

Well with the money saved by using wood many of us have used that money to cover the costs of the equipment. Over time (I only have $1000 into a saw and splitter over two years) if taking care of they will last many many years and the cost will long be negated. As for the truck, I would have one anyway! I've got a boat to tow, hunting gear to haul around, ice fishing shack, snowmobile and trailer, on going landscaping projects that I haul stuff for, etc. So Im not counting that in my expenses other than the gas that is used to haul the wood.
Heck I've even sold some of my wood and recovered 2/3rds of that $1000. So I'm darn close to free! I'd be surprised if I had more than $30 into a cord of wood and I burn 3-4 a year. So for $120 to $150 at most a year with gasoline costs, Im keeping my house quite warm and staying in great shape! And my time in the woods is my therapy away from the daily grind. Its all a Win Win to me anyway.


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## Highbeam (Sep 13, 2015)

Coal? The only coal we have here is on trains coming from the east to be loaded on a boat for export. You can always buy your wood cut, split, and even stacked.


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## Swedishchef (Sep 13, 2015)

There's NO coal for sale where I live..we only have a few coal mines in Canada. 
I don't cut my own wood so it is not very cost efficient. I do it because I enjoy it. BUt to be honest, I'd rather just cut it and sell it.

Andrew


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## ddahlgren (Sep 13, 2015)

Coal stove with thermostat Hitzer comes to mind right away and believe DS Machine has a few as well. I have had the bad fortune of a used up back and arthritis early on mostly hereditary and no choice on it. Around here to buy wood it is a 2 years in advance deal as nothing is really seasoned no matter what they claim and we all know how miserable that is to burn in anything but a smoke dragon. Wood here has gone from outstanding to miserable if buying it and caused the change for me. For the price of the wood that would not burn and putting that up to the coal that would and selling the woodstove for pretty much an even trade for the coal stove it became a no brainer for where I live and the things I live with. The back is bad enough that much more than 25 pounds in the bucket a challenge so splitting wood out of the question. You younger and older tougher guys have my respect and no doubt out live me and it is all ok I have had a ball and used up too much too soon but a good time doing it as well. Everyone picks their own poison or task list mine is the best I could figure out where I live and what is available in cash and energy and local resources.


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## bholler (Sep 13, 2015)

ddahlgren said:


> Coal stove with thermostat Hitzer comes to mind right away and believe DS Machine has a few as well.


Ok you are talking about a simple thermostatic air control.  I have seen many of them and most i have seen are disconnected because they don't work worth a damn. But what we are talking about here is a totally different animal.   Hitzler makes some decent caol units but ds units are designed horribly and dont hold up well at all.  Coal is a good choice in some areas but others it really is not an option at all.


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## ddahlgren (Sep 13, 2015)

All I know is the folks with Hitzers love them I never had one but have an old Crane 404 that does a fine job and I am is the thermostat.


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## bholler (Sep 13, 2015)

ddahlgren said:


> All I know is the folks with Hitzers love them I never had one but have an old Crane 404 that does a fine job and I am is the thermostat.


Yeah hitzlers are good units nothing fancy but they work well.  And yes if you are just talking about a simple thermostatic air control there are lots of wood and coal stoves with them.  But this is a big step above that.  Cranes are good solid stoves as well.  There really hasn't been any new innovations in coal units in a long time so they are all still pretty basic stoves.


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## Highbeam (Sep 14, 2015)

I was thinking about this stove over the weekend. If the stove is big enough to be adequate in the coldest part of the winter then it will be too large to run constantly, even on low (400 STT), for at least half (75%?)of the year. During that time this tech will still be a benefit since you can let the house cool, start a fire, and let the stat take over until the fuel load runs out. It won't be a constantly burning fire but rather just a more automated batch burner. That's not bad. It's not a pellet stove with high/low or on/off but it is a step in the right direction.

I hope that there is a way to manually adjust the draft. Just in case.


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## begreen (Sep 14, 2015)

There is a manual override option. You pull the pin that connects the servo to the air control. Then it can be manually operated.


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## ddahlgren (Sep 14, 2015)

Personally I am an off the grid guy and the less electricity the better. I cook with gas in the summer and yes the gizmo that lights it electric but can easily do it with a match if no power and in winter on top of the stove works just fine for most anything wanted. Only catch is use cast iron pans steel and aluminum with struggle with it. About every other year we have some silly storm blow though and last one no power for 13 days. I have a small generator and at that time of the year I buy 20 gallons of gas and rotate the cans out every week so never more than 4 weeks old. That gives me hot water dish washer washing machine clothes line is the dryer so life goes on pretty easy. I have satellite tv so get news and weather as long as satellite does not fall out of sky. I have heat with either wood or coal as well. Charge the laptop and cell phone so have phone and internet if wires not down for that. If they are a hot spot can be found in the commercial areas with buried cables. I have a bunch of friends and neighbors that think I am nuts for 2015 but when power out they are lost and for me a minor problem. Had one yuppie a couple years ago confused why I would tie the house to a tree in a couple places and was I worried about the house or the tree. What a moron should have filmed explaining what a clothes line was LOL.

In '95 spent 3 weeks in the Aussie outback about 400 to 450 miles from the so called real world and learned a lot about living off grid while the rest complained. Wood fired hot water camp fire to stay warm and water came from a hand pump. You could use a flush toilet as long as willing to pump a few gallons of water to flush it. Food cooked on a wood grill or campfire. No internet no phone and a very small amount of electricity from a generator for very essential things. Health care 3 hours or so away by small plane and in the meantime hope you don't bleed to death or heart attack does not take you out. I was fine washing up out of a bucket of water if did not feel like lighting the water heater.. We spent a few days in a medium sized city after flying in to decompress and searched out a grocery store to buy 10 rolls of toilet paper. By the end of week 2 could have traded for their dinner and a 12 pack of beer for 1 roll LOL. I was there to race a car and sent the owner what I considered essential things machete hatchet dust tape tiewraps a box of trash bags though would not put the shotgun in the container LOL. Oh well time for bed and end of funny story need to travel 5 hours tomorrow for work to do 4 hours then drive back the next day.


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## bholler (Sep 15, 2015)

I am a little confused you are off grid except when the power is on and even when the power is off you still use a dishwasher and a clothes washer?  And you are worried about a stove that needs a few batteries every few days for the controller?


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## ddahlgren (Sep 15, 2015)

bholler said:


> I am a little confused you are off grid except when the power is on and even when the power is off you still use a dishwasher and a clothes washer?  And you are worried about a stove that needs a few batteries every few days for the controller?



I try to have things that don't need to be hooked to city power. Things that could run off solar and a battery bank. If I can finally move out of the house I am in now I would have solar and a windmill in a heart beat. My current backup is a generator with limited power.


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## bholler (Sep 15, 2015)

ddahlgren said:


> I try to have things that don't need to be hooked to city power. Things that could run off solar and a battery bank. If I can finally move out of the house I am in now I would have solar and a windmill in a heart beat. My current backup is a generator with limited power.


fair enough but this stove really doesnt need much power at all but to each their own.  I am curious to see how it works out


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## hiimdusty (Oct 13, 2016)

Hi All,
I was very interested in this stove while evaluating a replacement for my Blaze King KTJ-304.  I gambled and bought the unproven Adventure III.  It was fully installed yesterday.  I will be posting here on the experience of how it performs as we get into the winter.  One thing right away that seems wrong is everyone assuming the firebox size is smaller than advertised.  With a tape measure, I came up with a fire box size of 4.34 cu. ft - measuring to the bricks.  I didn't include the entire lip in front of the glass door.  If I would have done that, it would have come out right around 4.5 cu ft.   Based on this forum, I thought it would be 4.0 cu. ft., so nice surprise.

I had this professionally installed.  It's an 18.5' stack that now has a 6" insullated 316 liner in it with a cap.    There is a double wall pipe out to the thimble and into the snout.  I should mention that we do live on a heavily wooded lot with many trees fairly close to the house, one installer thought this could potentially cause a draft issue, but I doubt it. 

I should burn my first fire tonight as it's supposed to get down to 38°F tonight.  If anyone has any questions that I might be able to answer with no experience yet, shoot them my way.


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## edyit (Oct 13, 2016)

i would love to see some pics of this


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## Swedishchef (Oct 13, 2016)

I am anxious to see how the thermostat works. Quadrafire have some nice videos on YouTube about the design, details about the components, etc. I am curious to see how it works for the end user.

Keep the updates going!

A


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## begreen (Oct 13, 2016)

hiimdusty said:


> Hi All,
> I was very interested in this stove while evaluating a replacement for my Blaze King KTJ-304.  I gambled and bought the unproven Adventure III.  It was fully installed yesterday.  I will be posting here on the experience of how it performs as we get into the winter.  One thing right away that seems wrong is everyone assuming the firebox size is smaller than advertised.  With a tape measure, I came up with a fire box size of 4.34 cu. ft - measuring to the bricks.  I didn't include the entire lip in front of the glass door.  If I would have done that, it would have come out right around 4.5 cu ft.   Based on this forum, I thought it would be 4.0 cu. ft., so nice surprise.
> 
> I had this professionally installed.  It's an 18.5' stack that now has a 6" insullated 316 liner in it with a cap.    There is a double wall pipe out to the thimble and into the snout.  I should mention that we do live on a heavily wooded lot with many trees fairly close to the house, one installer thought this could potentially cause a draft issue, but I doubt it.
> ...


That is a big beastie. It's amazing that if can work with a 6" flue. Looking forward to reports on how it performs in mild and in cold weather. FWIW, stats like firebox size, like sq ftg heated and max btus can be exaggerated for marketing purposes. Based on the firebrick configuration it looks like the cu ftg to the top of the firebrick is 3.1 cu ft., but that doesn't include the space above the firebrick or to the front of the firebox floor. How much higher over the firebrick sides are the burn tubes?


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## mellow (Oct 13, 2016)

Would be interested in pics of the components on the air supply and how that works.


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## begreen (Oct 13, 2016)

Looks like the primary air is fed from the back through the refractory package.


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## mellow (Oct 13, 2016)

Was it ever determined if Dan was able to license his device to Quad?  I would like to think he was able to make a deal, he worked hard on that smartstove setup.


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## begreen (Oct 13, 2016)

Dunno. Haven't heard from him in awhile.


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## stovelark (Oct 13, 2016)

We've sold 5 or 6 of them so far-  not one complaint.  One person came back for the blower, he replaced a wood furnace with this beast.  Too early to tell its future, it is a monster.  I too am disappointed that its only pedestal, but the electronics are below (obviously).  We'll see...


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## JA600L (Oct 13, 2016)

I hope there is a good warranty on the actuator(s). I imagine there is a calibration for it too. As the stove wears and parts don't move as well as they used to problems could arise.


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## JRHAWK9 (Jan 17, 2017)

Any updates with this stove?  A co-worker is curious about it and wants to hear real-world results.


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