This post has been helpful to me since I picked up a F45. Todd also has been very helpful in giving me his experiences with the stove. I thought it may be helpful to others that are looking for experiences with the F45 to compare my experiences as a newbie, new not only to the F45 but to wood burning altogether, and Todd's experiences as a seasoned wood burner and experienced F45 user. Maybe the help I receive from these posts on this thread will also help other newbies out!
- Todd and I have compared our stoves because he has the V2, whereas mine is the older version. So far, the only difference I have seen is that the V2 has the Turbulator baffle, whereas mine does not have the top fins on the baffle. Does that make a difference in the burn? I don't know. Possibly that is emissions related only.
- Our house is not very big, just under 1200 sq.ft. and 2 stories. It apparently is very well insulated and holds the heat very well. So far, I have not had to keep a fire going over a 24 hour period, but usually do one fire in the morning and that carries us through till the next morning with the room temp. being around 65 degrees in the morning. Right now, we are seeing lows in the mid 20's at night and mid to high 40's during the day. So again, I have not had to keep the stove fired up because it would be way too much heat.
- When I start a fire, I have been starting top down fires with 3 medium splits on the bottom, decreasing in size working my way up, stacking crossways on the previous layer, until I reach to top with kindling. The fire starts easily and within 30 minutes, I am seeing flue temps. around 200-250 SURFACE, so 400-500 internal (?). At his point, I start shutting it down in 1/4 increments. If the fire looks kind of weak, I will let the flue temp. go up to 300 SURFACE.
- With this startup load, I am not able to turn the stove air control below halfway. If I do, the flue temp. drops quickly and the secondaries stop working. It seems like I have to keep the flue temp. at least around 200 SURFACE. The stove air control stays at halfway through the entire burn and the flue temp. never goes above 300 SURFACE, or the stt over 450-500 this way. Sometimes it is difficult to keep the flue temp. above 200, and the stt at 400.
- One time, curiosity got the best of me, and I loaded 3 medium splits on top of the startup coals when the flue temp. dropped to around 150 SURFACE. It immediately took off and the flue temp. jumped quickly as well as the stt. When I did this, I was able to shut the stove air control down all the way and let her cruise. It held the stt temp. around 500-550, and a flue temp. around 250 SURFACE for approximately 3 hours before starting to drop off. After 10 hours there were still hot coals that I raked forward to the front, added 3 splits, and she took right off!
- I have yet to load the box full of splits, because it gets way too hot in the house right now. So at the most, so far I have loaded about 3 medium splits and 2 smaller splits on top of hot coals. That took the room temperature up to 79 degrees! I actually had to open the outside door.
- The wood I am using right now is 2 year seasoned Ash, with a mc of 15-18 percent.
As you all read this, I am sure there will be some pointers to help out. Shoot 'em out there so other new wood burners like myself can get some help from you experienced guys. Let me also know what works for your F45.
I still do not quite understand the small fire in the bigger stove idea though. When I try to build a small fire in the morning, (see my startup procedure above for what I mean by small fire), it is very difficult to keep the flue temp. up to keep the secondaries active and not get smoke out of the chimney. Which in my limited understanding is what causes the creosote. I think that is why I can never turn the stove air control below halfway on the small fires. And doing it that way to keep the temps. up gives it a much shorter burn time, 4-5 hours. I assume this is normal?
And sometimes with the small fires, that really start putting the heat out, the flue temp. drops too quickly if I try to throttle it back so as not to get the room to hot. The I get smoke out of the chimney and the secondaries stop working. If I open the stove air control all the way back open and get the flue temp. back up, the smoke out the chimney stops and the secondaries kick in. In my thinking, that means that it dropped off too soon, before the off-gassing stage was complete. I don't know. Am I doing this right?
The small fire thing for me is more challenging trying to keep from too much smoke going up the chimney. Seems like it is possible to have too small of a fire and thereby never getting the temps. high enough for the secondaries to work and stop the smoke.
I hope this post that Todd started can turn out to be a help to all the new guys like myself. and new users of the F45. So far, I love the stove. It is very controllable and responds quickly to adjustments. Perfect for a newbie!
