2022/23 VC Owner thread

[arnermd]

the restrictor plate is an interesting idea

what are your thoughts

Not sure yet.... I may try two dampers in series. One did not seem to seem to have much effect, but it did not seal very well either.

Splitting: Not me. I got 4 years worth of red oak cut, split stacked and under cover. ~20 cord. All set for now.

Glass: Running with really low air like you do my glass gets coked up pretty bad and it does not burn off on a reload, maybe it does a little bit.

Interesting burn last night:
- Half load with some bigger splits, started from cold.
- Cat engaged at flue gas temps = 550, 100% air
- reduced air in increments at 600, 1050, full closed air 1400
- Cat went to 1575, opened the damper and let the stove heat up in bypass for 10 min
- Re-enagaged cat, set air to 10% open. Temps were pretty stable.

A bad start but other than that a good burn I think. Other than glass being coked up....

Notice my griddle temps barely broke 400 the whole time.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Im not sure who posted this. There was a comment made about turning the stove back and the house not being as warm. To SOME degree.. this is the nature of wood heat. You will, and I do get some
temperature swings in the houe.. this shoud be expected.. BUT not severe.

Below is an example of how I run my stove

During this past cold snap,

My stove was run differently then normal based on HEAT DEMAND... I started my stove back up friday after a cleanout.. Got the stove up to temp.. ran it fot a little while.. got ready for bed and loaded the stove and did my normal overnight burn..

Woke up Saturday.. open the air all the way, opened the bypass and let the stove heat up, add wood and let the glass burn off. load wood and closed the bypass, let the cat get to temp and put the air to half way.. from there the stove ran by itself un touched for roughly 6 hours, did a hot reload, did a small hot reload, loaded up the stove for an overnight burn and went to bed
Woke up Sunday.. and basically repeated
Woke up monday.. and basically repeated

Basically all.I did was just add wood.. no fiddling with the stove no air up or down the entire day

During the cold snap I did turn my heat on.. the stove will not be able to heat my home with a -12 windchill and keep it at 70 degrees inside. I set my 3 thermostats to a temperature that I feel comfortable with to wake up to.. or set it to a temperature that I dont want the house to go below, how ever you want to look at it. As a side note.. my heat did run a little this weekend and hasn't run since 2020.

I basically ran my stove none stop until yesterday when I did a cleanout that is six days straight.. In the morning the temperature of the house will not be 70.. burning off the stove gets the house up to temperature relatively quickly and feeling comfortable.. Im an early riser.. I start my day at 5am.. by the time my wife and kids are up.. its magically warm.. the heat fairy came to our house...

During a normal work week and normal temperatures for my area.

Waking up in the morning and starting from an overnight burn. and same as above.. burn off glass, load wood, close bypass, cat to temp, air half way.. I go to work.. wood gets charred/ starts the coaling stage.. Wife gets ready for work and before she leaves the house.. turns the air all the way back.. There is plenty of wood and coaling in the box.. it burns all day. I get home fro. work.. Yes the house temperature dropped some.. to me.. thats ok.. There are still plenty of coals in the stove and my stove is plenty warm.. Load the stove, get it up to temp, close the bypass, cat to temp, air half way. I may change what I do based on HEAT DEMAND. sometimes I leave the air at half, sometimes I dial it all the way back. hang out with kids, Eat dinner, talk to you guys, shower, get stove back to tem.. if needed.. load my overnight burn.. go to bed
I repeat this day after day.. sometimes my stove stays running like this for 10 or more days.. the stove will eventually get shut down for 1 of 2 reasons.. its to warm to run the stove or its time for a clean out

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

It's certainly a lot easier when it's cold outside. I work from home during the day, so I tend to add 2-3 splits every few of hours. That seems to keep a steady burn and I don't have to mess with the vent. I'll load it up around 9pm, turn the air up to half way and watch it for an hour or so and slowly turning down the vent to about a half inch from lowest.

At 7am, there is 4-5 inches of nice black chunky lump char. I'll open the bypass, turn up the air to get the coals going, then add 2-3 splits. After 15 minutes, I'll shut the bypass and turn the air down to half way for another 10-15 minutes and then back to almost lowest and off to work I go And repeat.

So, long way to say 10hr burn at night.

It's going to be in the 50s tomorrow so I may burn it out in the morning and clean it out.

This is largely what I do as I work from home. Loaded the stove last night, at 8:15. Woke up today around 7 which is late for me stove was a little cooler than normal. But 11 hours later still have a solid bed of coals and just tossed a few small splits and I'm off

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Not sure yet.... I may try two dampers in series. One did not seem to seem to have much effect, but it did not seal very well either.

Splitting: Not me. I got 4 years worth of red oak cut, split stacked and under cover. ~20 cord. All set for now.

Glass: Running with really low air like you do my glass gets coked up pretty bad and it does not burn off on a reload, maybe it does a little bit.

Interesting burn last night:
- Half load with some bigger splits, started from cold.
- Cat engaged at flue gas temps = 550, 100% air
- reduced air in increments at 600, 1050, full closed air 1400
- Cat went to 1575, opened the damper and let the stove heat up in bypass for 10 min
- Re-enagaged cat, set air to 10% open. Temps were pretty stable.

A bad start but other than that a good burn I think. Other than glass being coked up....

Notice my griddle temps barely broke 400 the whole time.


View attachment 306517

the only time my glass gets dirty is an overnight burn.. Ill put in about 1/4 of a box of medium to small wood and let it rip.. glass cleans up.. if its still a little dirty on the corners.. burning with a half box or more at 1/2 air and bypass closed will clean the rest

 

[dmccoole]

This sounds really good.. if your glass is a little dirty in the morning crank it up.. burn the glass clean.. dial it back down..

Well my wife got up before I did and already added a few splits. I'm still going to burn it off hot like you said to get the glass clean and then empty it out.

 

[arnermd]

the only time my glass gets dirty is an overnight burn.. Ill put in about 1/4 of a box of medium to small wood and let it rip.. glass cleans up.. if its still a little dirty on the corners.. burning with a half box or more at 1/2 air and bypass closed will clean the rest

I have a suspicion your stove gets hotter faster, less mass and that helps clean the glass off. I am experimenting this morning with a small load from a cold start. Initial start was full air in bypass, when flue gas reached 400 I dialed the air down to ~10% till griddle came up to 400 (this is new) then I engaged the cat. Once I engaged the cat I had to open the air back up a bit to get cat to light off and then it stalled at 800. So I am still working on it. Curious to see how it works with a larger load, maybe tonight. I did plug the EPA hole yesterday and it is pretty warm outside so that may be working in my favor.... Draft is measuring .09 - 0.1 iwc with bypass closed and full air, flue at 370F. A little lower than what I typically see.

With regards to low heat output, certainly house temps will vary all over the place depending on conditions and how / how often you burn. If you want consistent house temps with minimal effort a wood stove is probably not for you.

The point I was trying to make was I can get my stove into a mode where the load is just smoldering, cat will be 1200+ and griddle temps <300. The "burn times" will be really long but there is no heat coming off the stove, it is all going up the chimney.

 

[dmccoole]

Burning off nicely! 600 STT.

 

[U235]

I have a suspicion your stove gets hotter faster, less mass and that helps clean the glass off. I am experimenting this morning with a small load from a cold start. Initial start was full air in bypass, when flue gas reached 400 I dialed the air down to ~10% till griddle came up to 400 (this is new) then I engaged the cat. Once I engaged the cat I had to open the air back up a bit to get cat to light off and then it stalled at 800. So I am still working on it. Curious to see how it works with a larger load, maybe tonight. I did plug the EPA hole yesterday and it is pretty warm outside so that may be working in my favor.... Draft is measuring .09 - 0.1 iwc with bypass closed and full air, flue at 370F. A little lower than what I typically see.

With regards to low heat output, certainly house temps will vary all over the place depending on conditions and how / how often you burn. If you want consistent house temps with minimal effort a wood stove is probably not for you.

The point I was trying to make was I can get my stove into a mode where the load is just smoldering, cat will be 1200+ and griddle temps <300. The "burn times" will be really long but there is no heat coming off the stove, it is all going up the chimney.

I’m amazed at all your plots in the difference between catalyst exit temperature and flu temperature. Especially since you’re measuring actual air temp in the flu with same k type TC. I don’t think your heat is going up the chimney if you’re seeing a 500 degree drop in the 3 feet between catalyst exit and flu probe. Certainly at griddle temps of 300 you won’t feel anything off the main stove body. And it’s kind of moot if you’re not getting the heat you need off the stove, but I don’t think you’re “wasting wood”.

 

[Eman85]

the poplar will season fast.. not many BTUs.. its a great shoulder season wood.. I wouldn't want to have to much of it and be stuck burning it in the dead of winter.

I have large poplar logs that I'm hoping to get to the sawmill, also some really large oaks. Had 5 poplars that were in the 80+' range. Plenty of oak and locust already split and stacked and a lot of oak cut but still needs to be split from this cutting. I still have a lot of smaller trees I want to cut this winter in another area that I'm clearing.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

This sounds really good.. if your glass is a little dirty in the morning crank it up.. burn the glass clean.. dial it back down..

This definitely works. Basically my standard morning routine after you mentioned this initially in an earlier post. Keeps my glass clear all day

 

[Eman85]

Im not sure who posted this. There was a comment made about turning the stove back and the house not being as warm. To SOME degree.. this is the nature of wood heat. You will, and I do get some
temperature swings in the houe.. this shoud be expected.. BUT not severe.

I guess that was me that posted about not getting enough heat when the cat is engaged. Example was last night after hot full reload I cut air back and of course temp on ST dropped. Even with air shut down cat still went over 1400, give it a little more air and it would take off. kept air shut and ST dropped to 300. After 2 hours cat was at 1300+ and ST 300 I went to bed. Woke this morning to cool house. Right now it's not too big of a deal as it only went to high 20's last night.
This morning the glass was smoked almost completely which I expected after smoldering all night. All I did was open the air all of the way and let it burn the coals down. ST went to 500 and glass cleared up. It's been 13 hours since the full hot reload and I haven't put any wood in yet. Coals have burnt down and I might throw a split or 2 in as it's supposed to be in the 60's today.
@arnermd As I stated above my glass gets completely smoked black every night but opening the air and burning hot clears it right up. As far as heat going up the flue it's not happening on mine and from your graphs it's not on yours either. With the air cut back to hold the cat in check there is no heat being made except in the cat chamber. I don't have a probe in my pipe but I have a magnetic thermometer on the stovepipe adapter right at the exit of the stove and it's always 100* cooler than STT. I know it's not exact flue temps but it is consistently the same reading every burn.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

I guess that was me that posted about not getting enough heat when the cat is engaged. Example was last night after hot full reload I cut air back and of course temp on ST dropped. Even with air shut down cat still went over 1400, give it a little more air and it would take off. kept air shut and ST dropped to 300. After 2 hours cat was at 1300+ and ST 300 I went to bed. Woke this morning to cool house. Right now it's not too big of a deal as it only went to high 20's last night.
This morning the glass was smoked almost completely which I expected after smoldering all night. All I did was open the air all of the way and let it burn the coals down. ST went to 500 and glass cleared up. It's been 13 hours since the full hot reload and I haven't put any wood in yet. Coals have burnt down and I might throw a split or 2 in as it's supposed to be in the 60's today.
@arnermd As I stated above my glass gets completely smoked black every night but opening the air and burning hot clears it right up. As far as heat going up the flue it's not happening on mine and from your graphs it's not on yours either. With the air cut back to hold the cat in check there is no heat being made except in the cat chamber. I don't have a probe in my pipe but I have a magnetic thermometer on the stovepipe adapter right at the exit of the stove and it's always 100* cooler than STT. I know it's not exact flue temps but it is consistently the same reading every burn.

What if you burned some small splits before the overnight load? Get the stove temp up to 650 then do the reload? I was doing this during the cold snap to keep the temps from fluctuating as much. Doing this my stove only went down to about 400 on the full reload as opposed to its usual 300.

 

[Eman85]

What if you burned some small splits before the overnight load? Get the stove temp up to 650 then do the reload? I was doing this during the cold snap to keep the temps from fluctuating as much. Doing this my stove only went down to about 400 on the full reload as opposed to its usual 300.

I can throw some small splits in and leave the bypass open and run it up, close the bypass and I'll have to cut the air to control the cat and of course the STT drops. It's a real game with the cat having the ball. I have to reload a couple of hours before bed time just to be sure cat isn't over firing and or the box isn't going to flash over and puff smoke into the room. I've also lost some heat the house by installing a DW stove pipe this year. Had a SW for years and it did make a difference in the heat in the room.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

I can throw some small splits in and leave the bypass open and run it up, close the bypass and I'll have to cut the air to control the cat and of course the STT drops. It's a real game with the cat having the ball. I have to reload a couple of hours before bed time just to be sure cat isn't over firing and or the box isn't going to flash over and puff smoke into the room. I've also lost some heat the house by installing a DW stove pipe this year. Had a SW for years and it did make a difference in the heat in the room.

Yeah I fight the same battle with the cat. Especially on a full load I make sure the air is low. But I find if I get the room up to 72 and load it and go to bed it's atill about 68 when I get up. Gets back up to 70 real quick from there. It's always nice sleeping a little cooler so I never worried too much about the temp drop.

 

[arnermd]

I’m amazed at all your plots in the difference between catalyst exit temperature and flu temperature. Especially since you’re measuring actual air temp in the flu with same k type TC. I don’t think your heat is going up the chimney if you’re seeing a 500 degree drop in the 3 feet between catalyst exit and flu probe. Certainly at griddle temps of 300 you won’t feel anything off the main stove body. And it’s kind of moot if you’re not getting the heat you need off the stove, but I don’t think you’re “wasting wood”.

Certainly there is some heat coming off the stove as evidenced by the change in temp. However.... the change in temp is only part of the equation. "heat output" as measured in BTU's is mass flow * dT * Cp. So even with a large dT if mass flow is low the BTUs will be low.

Or..... it could be dilution if outside air is finding its way into the exhaust stream. I do have some holes in my stack where it is sucking in room air.

I agree it is not a waste of wood. I should not have said its all going up the chimney..... clearly is is not, for the reasons you stated. There just is not much of it.

Just reading Johns post.... 72 to 68 overnight! Wow you must have been freeeeezing at 68 . My bedroom was 65 when I went to bed that night and 55 when I woke up. All things are relative.... Typically I can keep the bedroom around 65 during the day, down to 60 overnight on a cold winter night.

Glass: My stove has never been very easy to clean up. I have a buddy who is running 2 older encores and he says the same thing as you guys, fire it up and the glass clean up nice, it comes off in sheets he says. Mine never does that. On mine I found best way to clean the glass (without scrubbing) is have a nice thick hot bed of coals at the end of a burn and throw air at it. If I get the stove up to 500+ it will clean it up a bit. Bottom center burns off first, top and side corners take a while. I suspect this just a product of the bigger stove, takes longer to heat up.

 

[JohnDaileyNH]

Certainly there is some heat coming off the stove as evidenced by the change in temp. However.... the change in temp is only part of the equation. "heat output" as measured in BTU's is mass flow * dT * Cp. So even with a large dT if mass flow is low the BTUs will be low.

Or..... it could be dilution if outside air is finding its way into the exhaust stream. I do have some holes in my stack where it is sucking in room air.

I agree it is not a waste of wood. I should not have said its all going up the chimney..... clearly is is not, for the reasons you stated. There just is not much of it.

Just reading Johns post.... 72 to 68 overnight! Wow you must have been freeeeezing at 68 . My bedroom was 65 when I went to bed that night and 55 when I woke up. All things are relative.... Typically I can keep the bedroom around 65 during the day, down to 60 overnight on a cold winter night.

Glass: My stove has never been very easy to clean up. I have a buddy who is running 2 older encores and he says the same thing as you guys, fire it up and the glass clean up nice, it comes off in sheets he says. Mine never does that. On mine I found best way to clean the glass (without scrubbing) is have a nice thick hot bed of coals at the end of a burn and throw air at it. If I get the stove up to 500+ it will clean it up a bit. Bottom center burns off first, top and side corners take a while. I suspect this just a product of the bigger stove, takes longer to heat up.

When I moved in to this house last December we set the thermostat to 60, eventually 58. New house. Much bigger space wanted to save money on oil. Especially since we saw the prices go up. Our bill went from 500 a delivery for 150 gallons all the way to 850 for the same 150 gallons, hence the wood stove purchase.

But now, if the house is below 70 some people here complain it's too cold. Can't win lol.

I keep the bedroom door closed to keep it cool. Open it a few hours before bed let it get to 64-65. It'll be about 60-61 in there in the morning. Perfect sleeping weather in my opinion.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I guess that was me that posted about not getting enough heat when the cat is engaged. Example was last night after hot full reload I cut air back and of course temp on ST dropped. Even with air shut down cat still went over 1400, give it a little more air and it would take off. kept air shut and ST dropped to 300. After 2 hours cat was at 1300+ and ST 300 I went to bed. Woke this morning to cool house. Right now it's not too big of a deal as it only went to high 20's last night.
This morning the glass was smoked almost completely which I expected after smoldering all night. All I did was open the air all of the way and let it burn the coals down. ST went to 500 and glass cleared up. It's been 13 hours since the full hot reload and I haven't put any wood in yet. Coals have burnt down and I might throw a split or 2 in as it's supposed to be in the 60's today.
@arnermd As I stated above my glass gets completely smoked black every night but opening the air and burning hot clears it right up. As far as heat going up the flue it's not happening on mine and from your graphs it's not on yours either. With the air cut back to hold the cat in check there is no heat being made except in the cat chamber. I don't have a probe in my pipe but I have a magnetic thermometer on the stovepipe adapter right at the exit of the stove and it's always 100* cooler than STT. I know it's not exact flue temps but it is consistently the same reading every burn.

this sounds very positive..and going in the right direction.. sounds like you burns are getting better

 

[Eman85]

this sounds very positive..and going in the right direction.. sounds like you burns are getting better

Yeah, I'm not as dumb as I look or type. I understand the mechanics of the stove and also the catalyst, just becomes a babysitting job when I have other things to do.
As far as the heat deal I like my stove for the heat factor. My wife doesn't like being cold and the older I get the less I like it too. When I relax I want to sit around the house in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, not in a snuggie while burning a woodstove. I've lived like that, not how I want to live.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

When I moved in to this house last December we set the thermostat to 60, eventually 58. New house. Much bigger space wanted to save money on oil. Especially since we saw the prices go up. Our bill went from 500 a delivery for 150 gallons all the way to 850 for the same 150 gallons, hence the wood stove purchase.

But now, if the house is below 70 some people here complain it's too cold. Can't win lol.

I keep the bedroom door closed to keep it cool. Open it a few hours before bed let it get to 64-65. It'll be about 60-61 in there in the morning. Perfect sleeping weather in my opinion.

My feelings are the same.. My house is 70 .. our bedrooms are on the far side.. normally at 65/66 degrees

This past fall my wife was wanting to fire up the woodstove but it was to warm
. she opened up.all the windows in the house 1 night that got cooler and our bedroom was 57 degrees

 

[arnermd]

My feelings are the same.. My house is 70 .. our bedrooms are on the far side.. normally at 65/66 degrees

This past fall my wife was wanting to fire up the woodstove but it was to warm
. she opened up.all the windows in the house 1 night that got cooler and our bedroom was 57 degrees

Before wood stove, I set thermostats to 55 at night. I grew up in a house with a Shenendoah wood stove, think of a metal box with firebrick. Amazingly we only had one chimney fire. My room was in an unheated basement, Stove was on first floor. So I got used to the cold at night....

In my first house we had a coal stove which was awesome. Coal is a great low maintenance fuel, that sucker burned 24 hours on a load (about 3 -4 gallons) and no cat, no chimney cleaning. Sadly I do not have coal on my property here in CT. But I got plenty of trees.....

 

[Kevin Weis]

Before wood stove, I set thermostats to 55 at night. I grew up in a house with a Shenendoah wood stove, think of a metal box with firebrick. Amazingly we only had one chimney fire. My room was in an unheated basement, Stove was on first floor. So I got used to the cold at night....

In my first house we had a coal stove which was awesome. Coal is a great low maintenance fuel, that sucker burned 24 hours on a load (about 3 -4 gallons) and no cat, no chimney cleaning. Sadly I do not have coal on my property here in CT. But I got plenty of trees.....

When I got to pay for all my wood next stove may be a coal burner. You can't beat that constant heat for hours on end. Right now my wood is mostly free from a neighbors property so the Intrepid fits the bill for now.

 

[Eman85]

Coal stinks pretty badly, you and your neighbors won't like it. I have neighbors tht have burned coal. it actually smells worse than when they burn their garbage.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

When I got to pay for all my wood next stove may be a coal burner. You can't beat that constant heat for hours on end. Right now my wood is mostly free from a neighbors property so the Intrepid fits the bill for now.

Keep searching for fee wood and line it up for the future.. I have a number of sources.. I don't use the same source in back to back years.. Im pulling like 7/8 cords in log length per year from each area..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

So today is kinda weird.. First time in I dont know how.long I woke up to a cold stove. Probably almost a month Im thinking.. Im going to do a full cleanout and vacuum the cat.. Its 50 degrees out this morning, with a warning trend.. Looks like the next week is just a fire here and there

Happy new year to all that read this...

 

[Diabel]

Interesting how busy this thread is this season.
Happy new Year and safe burning!