Hey, guys. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. My wife and I recently bought a vaulted-ceiling log home last spring in SW VA. It's 1800 sq ft, but 1200 floor plan and 2nd story loft, so more like equivalent to 2200 to heat with a few rooms closed off. At the end of last season, be bought a new insert to replace the useless one that came with the house. (It was a mid-80's "slammer" without flue connection that would blow smoke into the house whenever the fan was on, and not put out any heat when it wasn't). We chose the Summit Insert after lots of research on size, efficiency, clearance requirements, and burn-time. Installed it myself, about 18' of insulated smoothwall SS liner, and Roxul in the (external) masonry fireplace hole. Hope to use it almost exclusively for heat, as a heat pump is the only other option in the house.
Has anyone figured out if the EBT is gone from the Series-B? My thought is for the longest possible burn times (at low output), keeping the fan off should allow for the EBT to open less to keep the firebox hot enough, and I wouldn't lose much to the masonry since it's insulated. It seems to burn through the wood faster when the fan's running, but I don't want to waste heat going in to the masonry or having hotter flue gasses than necessary.
Also, how reasonable is it to be running this thing long-term at mid settings? I grew up with wood heat and the overnight or leaving-the-house-empty M.O. was always to keep the damper closed to make sure it doesn't burn too hot unattended. I've only got one year prior to this house of being the "decision maker" WRT gathering wood, estimating how much to need for the winter, etc. The past few days have been the first real test of the stove we bought. It definitely will crank out the heat, but it seems that in the 30's on windy nights, I'll have to run it pretty much at mid settings with mid-fan to keep up and have the house in the mid 60's. Any experiences or suggestions for how long a full load will last in these kind of conditions? I'm thinking I'll be glad I got what was 2 years' worth, since it looks like I'll burn through it quicker than I thought.
Thanks!
Has anyone figured out if the EBT is gone from the Series-B? My thought is for the longest possible burn times (at low output), keeping the fan off should allow for the EBT to open less to keep the firebox hot enough, and I wouldn't lose much to the masonry since it's insulated. It seems to burn through the wood faster when the fan's running, but I don't want to waste heat going in to the masonry or having hotter flue gasses than necessary.
Also, how reasonable is it to be running this thing long-term at mid settings? I grew up with wood heat and the overnight or leaving-the-house-empty M.O. was always to keep the damper closed to make sure it doesn't burn too hot unattended. I've only got one year prior to this house of being the "decision maker" WRT gathering wood, estimating how much to need for the winter, etc. The past few days have been the first real test of the stove we bought. It definitely will crank out the heat, but it seems that in the 30's on windy nights, I'll have to run it pretty much at mid settings with mid-fan to keep up and have the house in the mid 60's. Any experiences or suggestions for how long a full load will last in these kind of conditions? I'm thinking I'll be glad I got what was 2 years' worth, since it looks like I'll burn through it quicker than I thought.
Thanks!