Ha! You have very little control. Fully closed intake is still open enough to burn clean.
The flue will be insulated, I've already started stacking my firewood for next winter. The short hot fire situation is what I am trying to figure out seeing as I've never owned a wood stove before, so the learning curve begins.
That's enough stack height to run a PE..they breathe very well.
Yep, in that case go for the big stove.
Yeah, but that's a complicated cat stove requiring more maintenance and doesn't particularly like a short stack, from some reports. Not to mention that the PEs can be had in gorgeous enamel and/or cast iron jacket, and a cooler over-all look. For less money.
No argument there.That's enough stack height to run a PE..they breathe very well.
If you have a wood lot to work, find some dead <8" trees with the bark falling off; Those may well be dry already.
I'm working on our door weatherstripping now. If your place is older, you may need the screw-down metal flange as in this pic. If you have newer doors, they may have a kerf sawed into the frame for a fin on the other version of this strip. I have that on the next door I'll work on. It presently has a similar V-strip design, but a cheaper version, foam covered with a plastic jacket. I went ahead and got the better rubber stuff..
View attachment 256012
Yep, in that case go for the big stove.
Yeah, but that's a complicated cat stove requiring more maintenance and doesn't particularly like a short stack, from some reports. Not to mention that the PEs can be had in gorgeous enamel and/or cast iron jacket, and a cooler over-all look. For less money.
Right on...thanks! I've gotten some good feedback to consider.That's enough stack height to run a PE..they breathe very well.
If you have a wood lot to work, find some dead <8" trees with the bark falling off; Those may well be dry already.
I'm working on our door weatherstripping now. If your place is older, you may need the screw-down metal flange as in this pic. If you have newer doors, they may have a kerf sawed into the frame for a fin on the other version of this strip. I have that on the next door I'll work on. It presently has a similar V-strip design, but a cheaper version, foam covered with a plastic jacket. I went ahead and got the better rubber stuff..
View attachment 256012
Yep, in that case go for the big stove.
Yeah, but that's a complicated cat stove requiring more maintenance and doesn't particularly like a short stack, from some reports. Not to mention that the PEs can be had in gorgeous enamel and/or cast iron jacket, and a cooler over-all look. For less money.
For sure! You made the correct move by coming here first, before dropping 2-3k on a stove.
Normally that is unnecessary unless the wood has too much moisture. An EPA stove does not close the air down 100%. It always admits some air to avoid a smoldering situation. The exception is with some catalytic stoves that rely on the hot catalyst to burn the smoke.
Right, you don't have to worry about smoldering and creo in the chimney, and once you get the hang of judging the startup fire and using the flue meter to tell you when to start cutting the air, you can control the burn to where you don't get an excessively hot fire..stove top about 650 or so, and that only lasts an hour or two with a partial load.
So start cutting the air once the flue temp reaches 650 or cut it sooner? I’m sure this is going to be something I just have to try out to know
No, he said stove top, but stove top temps are slow to come up and not a good reference when doing a cold start fire. Flue temp is a much better guide. With a double-wall probe thermometer you would be turning down the air around 350-400ºF. The stove top could be only 250º at that point.
www.hearth.com
Yes, thanks for the correction and the link I’ll definitely give that a read. So when I start a fire in the morning before work, knowing I won’t be back for 10+ hrs am I essentially loading the stove (T6) full and waiting until the flue temp hits 350-400F turning down the air intake and leaving for the day? Would I come home after 10hrs to a warm house and a bed of coals to start it up again?No, he said stove top, but stove top temps are slow to come up and not a good reference when doing a cold start fire. Flue temp is a much better guide. With a double-wall probe thermometer you would be turning down the air around 350-400ºF. The stove top could be only 250º at that point.
Starting a fire and running an EPA stove
Questions about starting a fire and avoiding a runaway stove come up so frequently I decided to document starting our stove. This is a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 with about a 3 cu ft firebox. The stove is connected to a straight-up, 20' interior flue. The outside ambient temperature is 34ºF. The...
You'll also use your eyes to assess the fire, and look for the first hints of a secondary burn. Then you want to start cutting air, but not so much that you kill the secondary and flue temps stop rising. You'll get the hang of it with practice.
That's good to know. I wish they would let you try a stove out for a month before purchase...this is feels like a big deal!
"enjoying the fire from the outside" ? What's that mean, you roast yourself out and end up going outside to watch the fire through the window, where you don't have to sweat to death?
I ran into this when upgrading from the Castine to the T6. The local stove shop refused to sell me the T6! Said that I would be pissed off with too much heat. Fortunately, by reading the chat on the forum Tom Oyen knew I was considering an Alderlea. He sent me a PM and then we had a long phone discussion about the pros and cons of the larger T6 vs the T5. It ran similar to what is being discussed in this thread. I already knew how a 1.7 cu ft stove would run after a couple seasons with the F400, and Tom convinced me that I wouldn't over heat the house unless I wanted to. He was right and I bought the stove from him instead of the local dealer. That was 11 winters ago.
Thanks begreen. There seems to be a huge discrepancy between the people selling the stoves and the people running them (yourselves). The wife is on board with getting the larger stove so I am going to trust this forums collective knowledge and experience and get the T6. Thanks again for the info. I will share my experience once it’s installed.
It definitely seems that way. Funny thing though is that Friendly Fires out of Peterborough states that the T5 heats up to 1500 sq ft in warmer climates. But talking to them on the phone the technician said the T6 would be too much for my space which is in a cold climate and 1200 sq ft? I don’t get the logic.
