30NC Install

[Highbeam]

It has a lot with how soon one will be turning down the fire and where the air control are set to. If the stove is being asked to heat a cold barn up 20º one MAY CHOOSE to push it a lot harder than if one is raising the temp 3-5º in a well insulated house.

Sure, but that has nothing to do with what the stove is capable for burn time. In order to get the stove to burn for as long as possible you reduce the burn rate as much as possible and get what you get for heat. As a stove performance specification, envelope demand is irrelevant. The stove could be outside and still have the same burntimes.

 

[realstihl]

Sure, but that has nothing to do with what the stove is capable for burn time. In order to get the stove to burn for as long as possible you reduce the burn rate as much as possible and get what you get for heat. As a stove performance specification, envelope demand is irrelevant. The stove could be outside and still have the same burntimes.

Yeah, it ain't like a Blaze King where you can lower the burn rate. You just have regulate the amount of heat by how much fuel is loaded into it.

 

[begreen]

Not quite right. One can definitely regulate burn rate. The fire is regulated by the amount of fuel, size of fuel, species of wood AND the amount of air supplied. A vast majority of stove owners have figured this out and done it for a long time.

 

[CO burner]

At 9200 feet in centeral CO, I would venture to guess that your wood choices consist mainly of lodge pole, spruce, and fir. With these fuels I think you might be disappointed with your real world burn times. I had the 30 for a winter and had a tough time getting matchless relights overnight while keeping the chimney clean. My firewood availability is similar to yours, and even mixing hard earned gamble oak in my evening loads, I would have to cold start more often than not if I slept in. After a disappointingly dirty mid season sweep, I swapped my interior single wall for double wall and saw a significant improvement in buildup and draft over the rest of the winter.

Don't get me wrong, the 30 is a fantastic heater. Just don't commit to an install with unreasonable expectations. I would also highly recommend going with double wall. I found that I could burn a little lower and longer with less buildup on my chimney cap due to higher temps at the top of the pipe. With your elevation and need for elbows, it would be smart to do everything you can to help improve your draft right from the start.

 

[Highbeam]

Yeah, it ain't like a Blaze King where you can lower the burn rate. You just have regulate the amount of heat by how much fuel is loaded into it.

As BG said, you can regulate the burn rate somewhat on a non-cat. Much less control than with the BK but I can pretty easily select between a high burn rate where the NC30 runs at 500 cleanly and a higher burn rate where the NC30 runs cleanly at 700-750, all with a full load of fuel. Burn time is much lower at the higher burn rate.

If you only partially load the stove you can play with the pulse and glide technique where you sit there and trickle wood into the stove or restart frequently to reduce heat output.

 

[begreen]

For Feb. with mild 40-50º temperatures I have been trickle and gliding loads into the stove at 12 hr intervals. A full load at 6:30 am and partial load at 6 or 7pm. Most mornings are a restart though the stove may still be warm to the touch. A chunk of SuperCedar, dry kindling and wood make this a very easy cycle. If temps keep rising like they did last year we will probably be wrapping it up by the end of March. After that the sun warms the place well enough and if not the heat pump covers the load though we may to an evening fire just for the beauty of it.

 

[concourspilot]

Begreen, what do you think about Duraplus? It's triple-wall will that hurt my draft at 9200'? Im definitly doing DVL from the stove up to support box

For Feb. with mild 40-50º temperatures I have been trickle and gliding loads into the stove at 12 hr intervals. A full load at 6:30 am and partial load at 6 or 7pm. Most mornings are a restart though the stove may still be warm to the touch. A chunk of SuperCedar, dry kindling and wood make this a very easy cycle. If temps keep rising like they did last year we will probably be wrapping it up by the end of March. After that the sun warms the place well enough and if not the heat pump covers the load though we may to an evening fire just for the beauty of it.

 

[begreen]

DuraPlus is the budget DuraVent chimney pipe. I've only worked with DuraTech which is double-wall. It's better insulated and easier to work with.

 

[concourspilot]

You are correct, Lodge Pole mostly and some Aspen when I can. Right now I can get restarts from coals in my insert after 6 hours with these fuels and much smaller firebox. My wood is pretty dry, 18% on some of it. I'm going with double wall or triple from the stove up to the support box. I'll report burn times if I get it installed this season.

At 9200 feet in centeral CO, I would venture to guess that your wood choices consist mainly of lodge pole, spruce, and fir. With these fuels I think you might be disappointed with your real world burn times. I had the 30 for a winter and had a tough time getting matchless relights overnight while keeping the chimney clean. My firewood availability is similar to yours, and even mixing hard earned gamble oak in my evening loads, I would have to cold start more often than not if I slept in. After a disappointingly dirty mid season sweep, I swapped my interior single wall for double wall and saw a significant improvement in buildup and draft over the rest of the winter.

Don't get me wrong, the 30 is a fantastic heater. Just don't commit to an install with unreasonable expectations. I would also highly recommend going with double wall. I found that I could burn a little lower and longer with less buildup on my chimney cap due to higher temps at the top of the pipe. With your elevation and need for elbows, it would be smart to do everything you can to help improve your draft right from the start.

 

[begreen]

E/W loading and large splits of dry wood will help extend the burn time too.