Complete Newbie seeks Jotul 550 hints.

[sbleiweiss]

Also keep in mind that some IR temp guns are highly inaccurate when measuring a shiny surface. It has to do with the emissivity and some guns have an adjustment you can make. My Raytek MT6 (Fluke) is useless on things like copper pipes and sheet metal surfaces. It will read way too low.

 

[junkyard_sal]

Also keep in mind that some IR temp guns are highly inaccurate when measuring a shiny surface. It has to do with the emissivity and some guns have an adjustment you can make. My Raytek MT6 (Fluke) is useless on things like copper pipes and sheet metal surfaces. It will read way too low.

Thank you for the heads up, I wondered about the accuracy of the IR and that is my reason for seeking a magnetic thermometer. Too bad there is not an alcohol or mercury thermometer for this application. Magnetic coil thermometers are also known to have accuracy issues but we are not trying for super accuracy just within 20 degrees F is fine.

 

[buol]

while it is true that the ir's read off w/reflective surfaces (some units can compensate for this), my raytek tracks closely to the oven at whatever temp is set. my vc defiant encore says to test temp at the middle of the griddle, with overfiring being over 750 degrees. i’m totally amazed. when the raytek is about this temp the conventional therms reads only about 450-500!! over and over i have been checking and rechecking comparisons at the griddle, the corners and nearby ambient surfaces. i don’t see why anyone would waste any money on various magnetic ‘thermometers’ ; i like others have several that read all over the map at the same time; check your magnetics and ir in the oven and go from there.

 

[junkyard_sal]

Finally starting to figure some things out. Hard to take a photo and get the blue part of the flame to show up but it was a pretty fire and got pretty hot. I messed it up in haste and arrogance by putting a less dry piece of wood on to end the evening. Getting better though.

 

[junkyard_sal]

I got half a cord of kiln dried split wood and my magnetic thermometer. I ran all day at 500+ and had a few hours on two splits cranking at at +/- 600 degree. The stove throws an incredible amount of heat at 600. The glass stayed clean and I learned that I need to start stacking wood at least two years in advance. I have not tried to run through the night with the new wood. with the forecast for Feb being the coldest month of the year for the east coast, I am getting ready for a long burning Feb.

I am sure that I will have more questions. Thank you again for the help. Now I need to teach my wife to run the stove when I am not here.

Cheers,

Carl