Will do. When do you turn on the fan? When I lite the stove or later when the flue is up to temp?
ESCAPE 2100 little to no heat output
- Thread starter Lowtech84
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Some general questions/observations:
1. After about 3 hours of good burn i start to see no flame. The stove top is still warm maybe 400-500f but the flue will make its way down to 300F. I need to agitate/stir the coal pile up to get some more flame and open the air control. This get the fire going and the flue comes back up to the 400F mark and the stove stays at a consistent 500F. I keep repeating this process every hour or so and the temps are maybe 50-100f lower each time. Is this normal? Looking back at the startup process w/the air control needing to be cut off much sooner and limit the air in and out of the stove am i not shooting myself in the foot w/opening the air?
If I don't do the above process the fire box just has a large amount of cold coal and some unburnt logs at the bottom. The smell outside my house is also very unpleasant. I attribute the smell to the smoldering I have going on in the fire box.
2. After about 8 hours of burning yesterday I had a what I thought was a good bed of coals to add more wood. Ill need to work on adding wood because it seemed as if i was unable to keep the flue temp under 400F without snuffing the fire out, but that will be something Im sure i can get better at. However after a few hours the same problem w/large amounts of coals needing to be agitate was now compounded by the previous fires coals.
3. Ran the blower yesterday. Jury is still out. I don't have a good idea/way to accurately measure what affect the blower is having.
1. After about 3 hours of good burn i start to see no flame. The stove top is still warm maybe 400-500f but the flue will make its way down to 300F. I need to agitate/stir the coal pile up to get some more flame and open the air control. This get the fire going and the flue comes back up to the 400F mark and the stove stays at a consistent 500F. I keep repeating this process every hour or so and the temps are maybe 50-100f lower each time. Is this normal? Looking back at the startup process w/the air control needing to be cut off much sooner and limit the air in and out of the stove am i not shooting myself in the foot w/opening the air?
If I don't do the above process the fire box just has a large amount of cold coal and some unburnt logs at the bottom. The smell outside my house is also very unpleasant. I attribute the smell to the smoldering I have going on in the fire box.
2. After about 8 hours of burning yesterday I had a what I thought was a good bed of coals to add more wood. Ill need to work on adding wood because it seemed as if i was unable to keep the flue temp under 400F without snuffing the fire out, but that will be something Im sure i can get better at. However after a few hours the same problem w/large amounts of coals needing to be agitate was now compounded by the previous fires coals.
3. Ran the blower yesterday. Jury is still out. I don't have a good idea/way to accurately measure what affect the blower is having.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Thermometer a good ways away (in another room around the corner)from the stove 4’ off the floor.
I wonder though if that would be a good measure w/out the insulation present? Anyway here is a diagram of my basement. Not sure if that helps explain any. But the living space is 1500 sq ft. over 2 floors, id say the 500 sqft in the 2nd floor, 100sq ft on the 1st floor, The basement is probably another 1000 sq ft.
The woodstove, chimney, stairs were a last min addition so they are not to scale w/the rest of the diagram.
thanks for all reply!
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Isn't temperature the only good measure?
Temperatuer within 3 ft of the stove doesn't matter. Temperature of the room, i.e. its air, matters. Hence go around the corner to be away from the radiation. The IR is good - it heats things/walls (though in your case not so much, given the no insulation). But it heats the thermometer.
I wonder if you're used to strong IR radiation when you're near your old stove, and not necessarily a warm room.
This stove may warm the air of the room more than it radiates on you as compared to the old stove?
Temperatuer within 3 ft of the stove doesn't matter. Temperature of the room, i.e. its air, matters. Hence go around the corner to be away from the radiation. The IR is good - it heats things/walls (though in your case not so much, given the no insulation). But it heats the thermometer.
I wonder if you're used to strong IR radiation when you're near your old stove, and not necessarily a warm room.
This stove may warm the air of the room more than it radiates on you as compared to the old stove?
YES! for sure the heat is different compared to the old stove. Which is something my mind struggles with.
I agree temp is a good measure but making sure its controlled in a way to get usable data out is my concern.
My thought process.
1. I put a thermometer at one of the far corners of the basement.
2. Run the woodstove without the blower
3. take temperature readings periodically.
do the same process w/the blower running.
Compare results.
1. If the results are the same does that prove the blower does nothing?
2. If the results are different does that prove the blower is working?
Are there other conditions that should be calculated into the experiment? Outside air temp, basement temp without stove running.
Maybe i am just over analyzing this whole thing and should trust the industry and just insulate the basement
Im just not sold that w/proper insulation that this stove is going to be a whole home heating solution for me. At that point i might as well put the money into something else.
It's a 3.5 ft stove, if you need bigger than that you should be look at wood burning furnaces. I think your are greatly underestimating the difference insulation will make.
The thermometer far away might suffer from the large temperature gradient you have due to a hot stove and a cold wall.
Did you have a flue probe thermometer?
If you're burning and the BTUs are not going up the flue, they're going in your room.
Im
My point is that you may be wrong in that it doesn't give heat. That you're used to searing heat from the radiation. But that this stove sheds heat differently that doesn't give you that burning surface feel.
Maybe previously the room was colder as measured on a thermometer, but you felt better because of the IR radiation.
Now the temperature is the same or even better but you are not feeling what you expect.
If you don't send the heat up the flue, it's going in your room.
Did you have a flue probe thermometer?
If you're burning and the BTUs are not going up the flue, they're going in your room.
Im
My point is that you may be wrong in that it doesn't give heat. That you're used to searing heat from the radiation. But that this stove sheds heat differently that doesn't give you that burning surface feel.
Maybe previously the room was colder as measured on a thermometer, but you felt better because of the IR radiation.
Now the temperature is the same or even better but you are not feeling what you expect.
If you don't send the heat up the flue, it's going in your room.
No I don't have a flue probe thermometer. Seems more of a want vs. a need at this point.
The magnetic will give me the same info no? Will it be less accurate yes but it gets me to the same place.
Can anyone tell me how to manage the fire after the few hours of burning?
Does this stove need to be stirred up every hour or so to burn through all the wood?
After a few hours there are no flames and air outside my house smells terrible. I assume this is the wood just smoldering not burning.
I try to get stir the unburned wood and coals to get things going again. I open the air temporarily and then start shutting it down. Seems like a lot of effort.
Is the intent to just add more wood after a few hours?
Does this stove need to be stirred up every hour or so to burn through all the wood?
After a few hours there are no flames and air outside my house smells terrible. I assume this is the wood just smoldering not burning.
I try to get stir the unburned wood and coals to get things going again. I open the air temporarily and then start shutting it down. Seems like a lot of effort.
Is the intent to just add more wood after a few hours?
I would say the opposite.
When wood burns, BTUs are released. They go either up the flue (part of that by evaporating water) or into your room.
Knowing your wood is dry, and knowing what flue temps are is important.
A magnetic one can work, on single wall pipe only though.
Given that you are not getting the heat you expect, seeing where it is going should be action number one (after ascertaining that the wood is dry enough).
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
If it’s Smokey/smoldering the wood is too wet or the air is too low. If opening up air way doesn’t help. Then it’s not an air flow issue. Any time i have experienced this it’s been because my wood was not dry enough.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
If the wood was actually dry you'd not have to screw around raking it all the time.
Just get 3 years ahead on your firewood stash and you'll not have to worry about it, as pretty much any species will dry in that time if it's top covered with sides open for air flow. Plus it's nice being ahead on your supply if something happens and you can't make wood one year...
Just get 3 years ahead on your firewood stash and you'll not have to worry about it, as pretty much any species will dry in that time if it's top covered with sides open for air flow. Plus it's nice being ahead on your supply if something happens and you can't make wood one year...
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