Pulled Trigger On Ideal Steel Hybrid

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Status
Not open for further replies.
Well the last thing I can really do I think would be to add 3' more to the insulated chimney pipe outside, which would make the run a total of 15.5 feet.
 
See how it goes. Adding 3 ft is a reasonable option to consider if the stove still underperforms.
 
Okay, I did end up adding 3 feet. The draft seems to be nice and strong now. In the yurt, I am only able to get 6 hours of heat before I have to add wood. Once 6 hours comes, the heat on the stove top drops under 300 and the yurt cools down quickly. I figured it wouldn't work as good in a yurt as it does in a house, but I was really hoping for 8 hours. I am open to any suggestions?

I am currently burning some really good seasoned yellow birch, maple and beech. I have about 50/50 ratio between large and small splits. I restrict the airflow to under 1/4. I have tested several levels within 1/4.
 
A yurt is a pretty large and virtually uninsulated place with a lot of volume. Your talking 6,833 cubic feet of volume to heat.
 
In the yurt, I am only able to get 6 hours of heat before I have to add wood. Once 6 hours comes, the heat on the stove top drops under 300 and the yurt cools down quickly.

Something is definitively off here. When I load my 2 cu ft insert with dry hardwood it is closer to 400 F than 300 F after 6 hours. A large 3 cu ft stove should easily be that high then, not even considering it is a cat/hybrid. Have you measured the internal moisture of your wood? How full do you load the stove? And how many coals do you still have left after 6 hours?
 
Last edited:
A yurt is a pretty large and virtually uninsulated place with a lot of volume. Your talking 6,833 cubic feet of volume to heat.
Our friend's yurt is pretty easy to heat using a little Morso 2110. At 32F it's easy. At 15F it is at its limit. You have to refill it every few hours due to the small firebox but the stove can heat the space comfortably during our normally mild winter days.
 
The stove heats the place fine. I was just hoping to get a longer burn time. :)
6 hrs seems very short. Is the air control run wide open or reduced once the fire is going strong?
 
Did you see my post?
Something is definitively off here. When I load my 2 cu ft insert with dry hardwood it is closer to 400 F than 300 F after 6 hours. A large 3 cu ft stove should easily be that high then, not even considering it is a cat/hybrid. Have you measured the internal moisture of your wood? How full do you load the stove? And how many coals do you still have left after 6 hours?

Just trying to help you in figuring out why the IS is giving you such short burn times. I highly doubt that's how the stove is supposed to work.
 
Something is definitively off here. When I load my 2 cu ft insert with dry hardwood it is closer to 400 F than 300 F after 6 hours. A large 3 cu ft stove should easily be that high then, not even considering it is a cat/hybrid. Have you measured the internal moisture of your wood? How full do you load the stove? And how many coals do you still have left after 6 hours?

I have not measured the moisture, but the wood is really dry as far as feeling it. It is lighter than the greener wood we have seasoning, much lighter. I load the stove as full as I can and still be able to close the door.
 
What is the thickness of the average log being burned? Are the mostly small splits or large?
 
I have not measured the moisture, but the wood is really dry as far as feeling it. It is lighter than the greener wood we have seasoning, much lighter. I load the stove as full as I can and still be able to close the door.

I hope it is not punky... How many coals are left when the temp drops to 300F? And do you have a cat probe?
 
What is the thickness of the average log being burned? Are the mostly small splits or large?

They are about a 50/50 mix of large and small splits. I usually use the smaller splits to fill in the gaps. I am not at my yurt until Friday, so I can't give you an exact measurement, sorry. :(

I hope it is not punky... How many coals are left when the temp drops to 300F? And do you have a cat probe?

There are quite a few coals. I do not have a cat probe, just the mag temp gauge they give you.
 
There are quite a few coals. I do not have a cat probe, just the mag temp gauge they give you.

I am wondering whether your draft is still too weak that the fire slowly goes out and then the stove does not pull enough air in anymore to sustain combustion. A cat probe would help in determining if your cat is still active at those temps or not.
 
Have you gone over this with Woodstock?
 
I am wondering whether your draft is still too weak that the fire slowly goes out and then the stove does not pull enough air in anymore to sustain combustion. A cat probe would help in determining if your cat is still active at those temps or not.

I really don't think it is a draft issue. The fire doesn't go out at all. If anything, it is as if it burns up too fast lol.

Have you gone over this with Woodstock?

I have not yet, I figured I would run it by you all first.
 
It would be good to consult with them to be sure all components are in their right place and operating correctly. I've never burned in this stove or any hybrid for that matter. I would expect that when the air control is set down to 1/4 or lower that the fire would be lazy, not vigorous. If not, draft doesn't seem to be the issue.
 
Thanks @begreen I will do that. Actually, when you turn it down to a 1/4 or less, most of the flame goes out, as it states in their manual it should. You just see the occasional flare up or secondaries. The temp above the combustor increases quickly as the catalyst does its thing. It runs great like that for 6 hours and then starts to diminish in heat steadily. Well, thanks for all your help! :)
 
Is this a metal cat in the stove? Reports are that they burn fairly aggressively early on until the break in. When you reload this next Friday, only put in large splits and see if that extends the burn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jafo
Is this a metal cat in the stove? Reports are that they burn fairly aggressively early on until the break in. When you reload this next Friday, only put in large splits and see if that extends the burn.

Well the metal cat is in a second chamber. You engage it by pulling a lever which redirects the gasses through it. I will try load it up with all large split and see if that makes any difference, thanks! :)
 
Actually, when you turn it down to a 1/4 or less, most of the flame goes out, as it states in their manual it should. You just see the occasional flare up or secondaries. The temp above the combustor increases quickly as the catalyst does its thing. It runs great like that for 6 hours and then starts to diminish in heat steadily.

If at that point you still have plenty of coals left then the stove is not sustaining a high enough combustion temp for the wood to outgas its particulates which the cat needs as fuel. Could be wet wood or insufficient draft.

If instead you have little coals left you either burn it way too high early on or the wood quality is questionable.

How about getting a few packs of compressed wood logs and doing an almost full load with those? (Careful, those will expand during the burn; leave some space.)
 
If you do that, get good ones. The cheap compressed fuel burns up quickly like pine and expands a lot. High quality compressed logs like NIELs or HomeFires barely expand at all.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.