How to keep it going 24/7

[HDRock]

I hit 650 surface temp all the time (checked with IR tester) but by the time it gets to the class a pipe its only about 450, no biggie.

What?
Do you mean 650 on the surface of your single wall pipe??

 

[oldspark]

What?
Do you mean 650 on the surface of your single wall pipe??

Yes

 

[oldspark]

is that the whole flue or just part of it?
That's the insulated pipe that goes through the roof, stove pipe is what comes off the stove.

sorry to be so thick--so that is 650 on the stovetop surface and 450 on the flue (pipe)

Its 650 on the single wall surface 18 inches above stove but about 4 feet up the pipe before it goes into the class a pipe it is only 450, checked with a IR tester.

 

[HDRock]

Its 650 on the single wall surface 18 inches above stove but about 4 feet up the pipe before it goes into the class a pipe it is only 450, checked with a IR tester.

Wow if my pipe was that hot my stove would be going ballistic.
Right now Single wall pipe temperature at 18 inches above the stove as per, IR Thermometer is 295, Stove top is at 635

 

[oldspark]

Wow if my pipe was that hot my stove would be going ballistic.
Right now Single wall pipe temperature at 18 inches above the stove as per, IR Thermometer is 295, Stove top is at 635

Been talking about my high flue temps for a long time and it is that way for some other people also, if you have raging secondaries (happens easily with this stove and my wood) I am not sure how you get away from it, as the flames are wrapping around the baffle only a short distance from the flue.

 

[HotCoals]

Did you read my quote about these non cat EPA stoves are known for doing just that, when it gets below 0 I get too many coals trying to keep the house warm and my wood is dry.

I like this post because it is simply stated and true.
That said even cat stoves can have the same problem.
Not to brag but my stove is so dang huge that even with just a lot of hot coals in it I do good with it.
Cheers!

 

[HotCoals]

These pics are 18 hours into the burn...maybe the last 3 hours of it just coal.
I have banked the coal to the back of the stove because it gets the whole top of the stove warmer and does a better job for me. The air has been on full for the last 3 hours...I'll get another 2 or 3 hours yet of good heat before i reload it.
It's cold out and breezy so the house may drop to the mid 60's but liveable for sure. I will not let the house drop to 60..takes to much to warm it back up..lol.
When I reload I'll spread the remaining coals evenly over the bottom.

Sorry the pics are so big!

 

[richg]

Buy a cat stove.

It is tortuous to think that I could have had a Blaze King Princess for what I paid for a Crappyfarter (oops, Quadrafire) 4300.

 

[oldspark]

It is tortuous to think that I could have had a Blaze King Princess for what I paid for a Crappyfarter (oops, Quadrafire) 4300.

I'm laughing my ash off here. (Crappyfarter)
Not getting the right stove sucks.

 

[oldspark]

I like this post because it is simply stated and true.
That said even cat stoves can have the same problem.
Not to brag but my stove is so dang huge that even with just a lot of hot coals in it I do good with it.
Cheers!

I miss my 4 cu ft stove.

 

[begreen]

Help burn up the coals by giving them more air, not less. I usually open the air 50 to 100% open and let them burn down for about 30 minutes. It helps to put a dry small split, a 2x4 or a cup of pellets on top of the coals when burning them down.

 

[dyerkutn]

Its 650 on the single wall surface 18 inches above stove

OldSpark--my Alderlea T5 I believe is a similar stove, so I should be OK with similar temps, right? Because the therm does show 650 to be well in the red.

Help burn up the coals by giving them more air, not less

BeGreen Yes, that really works! and keeps the warmth up for a good hour more. I am surprised how comfortable the house stays at that low level of heat output even with the current cold outside--must be because the house has gotten to a nice base level. I think the cause of my stove getting so hot (700 on the flue) so quickly as I mentioned in another thread is that I was assuming if I waited till the coals got much smaller the house would get too cool before I reload so I reloaded on a bed of large red coals--but not true--I can put much more wood on the reload if I wait till they look more like little gems than giant fireballs!!

It has been great reading all the recent threads of people learning to manage their burn temps, overfires, reloads, moving heat around the house, etc. So much info but I realized so much depends on the particular stove, layout of house, outside temp and wood and that people who say you have to experiment to get the feel of your stove are so right. Now that temps are consistently low I have been able to do that and definitely getting a better feel for it.

 

[dyerkutn]

. When the outside temp gets below about -5 the time it takes the stove to go from 500 down to 300 so I can reload is enough that the house cools off

rwhite--I know exactly what you mean now---I have been checking this out today--it has been in the 20's today--I partially filled at 11 this morning and when the coals were very red hot, about 3 pm, I decided open the air, let them burn out and let off some more heat--that was two hours ago--flue was 250 and house was quite comfortable. Now flue is 150, house is still OK and I will reload. But the other day when it was in low teens--the house got much colder while I was waiting for coals to burn off a bit more. I rarely get down below zero, even single digits is not that common. But that 10 degrees or so makes a huge difference in how fast the house cools down.

I have to use the furnace for my a couple of bedrooms which are too many turns away from the stove area--though a series of fans might solve that --I hope to experiment with that soon.

Otherwise--all other heat vents are closed off because I do NOT want to use any oil for the main part of the house.

 

[JA600L]

I rake my coals in front of the primary air. Open start-up and primary the whole way and close the pipe damper. This brings my stove back up to temperature for a good 45 minutes to an hour.

 

[oldspark]

OldSpark--my Alderlea T5 I believe is a similar stove, so I should be OK with similar temps, right? Because the therm does show 650 to be well in the red.

Yes its in the red but wont hurt any thing, I don't like it but if I want a hot fire I am going to have a hot flue, a couple of feet up the pipe it drops 200 degrees or more.

 

[oldspark]

Help burn up the coals by giving them more air, not less. I usually open the air 50 to 100% open and let them burn down for about 30 minutes. It helps to put a dry small split, a 2x4 or a cup of pellets on top of the coals when burning them down.

I have so many coals 30 minutes aint long enough to get rid of them even with a couple of 2x4's. I thinking a shovel full of tooth picks will do it.

 

[aansorge]

Having two stoves is nice...too many coals in one of them? Just crank the other stove up a bit higher while the coals burn down. Last year I pushed the Enerzone hard and I had the problem with coals too. You're always trying to get more heat during the cold months so you're adding wood sooner than you really should. This year, with two stoves, I don't have that problem. And the furnace hasn't needed to run once even during sub-zero weather.

I'm not running the Enerzone all the time, just when the weather is around zero which has been quite a bit for this early in the season.

 

[aansorge]

I think the real problem is too small a stove for your house. I think it boils down to that. A big enough stove doesn't need to be reloaded all the time and provides sufficient heat that waiting a bit for the load to finish doesn't drop the temps in the house down enough to be an issue.

So I think the best answer to a coaling issue is to either get a bigger stove or a second stove. It is not, however, the cheapest answer.

Another possibility is simply to let the stove run its cycle and add heat with your gas or oil furnace.

 

[Treemoss]

My stove is plenty big for my house. When the stove is going its 78 in here. Just when the morning comes it's 68 in here. Then when I try to burn down the coals before reload the house stays cold until the reload fire is going then back to 78. Just didn't know what to do with coals. I was just putting more wood on top of coals and I could not fill it like I did with no coals. Now I know how to get the coals down before reloading and I'm good to go.

 

[aansorge]

What I did last year was dig under the coals and remove about 3 scoops of ash every morning. This gave room for wood and left the good hot coals for quickly igniting the fire. The only problem with this method is that it introduces more ash into the house.

 

[GeneralBill]

What I did last year was dig under the coals and remove about 3 scoops of ash every morning. This gave room for wood and left the good hot coals for quickly igniting the fire. The only problem with this method is that it introduces more ash into the house.

Yes, it does! Hot ashes sure encourage clouds of ashes to float around. Anyone with an insight on this?

 

[GeneralBill]

So how do you keep the volatile gases from burning up to fast and to help burn down the coals. Put some heat tape over half the vent holes to slow things down..

I do what others have said. I stack as high as possible, especially if full. That encourages secondaries and it seems to meter out the volatile gases so the secondaries last quite a while. I think it coals less. I used to place logs evenly on a bed of coals and get few secondaries and a big bed of coals.

 

[fire_man]

But the other day when it was in low teens--the house got much colder while I was waiting for coals to burn off a bit more. I rarely get down below zero, even single digits is not that common. But that 10 degrees or so makes a huge difference in how fast the house cools down.I have noticed the EXACT same thing. > 20F the house heats great. <10F I struggle much more than expected with only a 10 degree difference.

Otherwise--all other heat vents are closed off because I do NOT want to use any oil for the main part of the house. We sound like we have a very similar attitude about NOT burning Oil!

 

[Treemoss]

What I did last year was dig under the coals and remove about 3 scoops of ash every morning. This gave room for wood and left the good hot coals for quickly igniting the fire. The only problem with this method is that it introduces more ash into the house.

Thanks, I did what you said and it work great. It did leave a light dusting on top of the stove but nothing bad. That was my first clean out with big hot coals left in there. I hated to think about taking out hot fuel coals to make room, but pushing the hot coals to the back and taking gray powder ash from up front worked great. It was the first time cleaning out the box in the passed two weeks I got about 6 full scoops of powder.