New Insert

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Curly

New Member
Nov 20, 2012
41
Wilmington, DE
Hi all, been lurking here for about 3 days now and learned alot so I signed up. Thank you. Just had a Regency I1200 (with blower) installed about a week ago Saturday. Still getting used to it but it hasn't been all that cold yet out here in the Philadelphia area. I spent just under 6 grand to get this insert up and running. First was the chimney repair (October) that was beyond repointing so I had it knocked down to the roof line and rebuilt adding an extra 2 feet to improve the draft. Next was the insert installation with insulated liner. Since it's a small insert I've noticed I have to load more often then I'd like but it isn't a big deal. Anyway, enough of me babbling. I'm looking forward to learning more from you fine people.
 
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Welcome to the forum Curly, there are alot of great people on this site. New stoves love dry wood and that means wood seasoned to 20% or less. We on this forum like to have a three year supply of wood on hand or more so if you get unseasoned wood its not a show stopper. Also the pics we love pics, show us your install, wood supply, toys we love it all.
 
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Thanks Ed. Man, I got plenty pf pics and toys too, alot of before and after pics. I had an oak tree brought down last week too. Spent most of the day today splitting all of it with $299 electric homelite (it's new too) splitter. It's a powerful little machine, slow but it gets the job done. I don't mind swinging an ax but not on the green stuff. Anyway, I'll post some pics when I get chance.
 
That Oak will more than likley take two to three years to season. I suggest because you are new to wood burning to purchase a moisture meter so you can check how seasoned your wood is, in the end its all about safety as wet wood is the root of all evil. Also put your location in so forum members can see where you are and this will help them give you advise for your given location.
 
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new insert Curley! Backwoods Savage will chime in soon about seasoning wood so I will leave that to the expert! Lastly we need pics or it never happened ;)

Ray
 
Two pics of chimney repair, the liner isn't installed yet. before chimney2.jpgafter chimney2.jpg

Insert:insert2.jpg

Here is a wood rack I made with an old ladder rack for the truck. Reinforced it and turned it upside down:wood.jpg
 
Chimney and stove looks great! The wood rack is something I've never seen and very cool!! Thanks for posting the pics! :)

Ray
 
Hey thats great Curly very cool on the wood rack chimney/stove looks great also.
 
Thanks guys. I had that ladder rack sitting around for two years and was about to throw it out. I priced a few wood racks and the idea popped in my head. I told the wife, "now you know why I kept it for so long".;) Yeah, we've been in this small house (1000 sq ft) for about 15 years now and used the fireplace once or twice. We didn't use it because of smoke coming back into the house and staining the walls. The FP was actually taller than wide. I just found out from the masonry guy back in Oct that when the fireplace was given a facelift many years ago, they never installed a smoke shelf. Now I know why it was so tall. My point, during the summer we use AC window units to cool the whole house with one big fan to circulate all the air. The way the house is layed out makes cooling easy. I figured why not heat it the same way hence the fireplace project. The power company prices are ridiculous too. <------big factor. Never thought I'd be trying to figure out where to buy wood let alone where to store it. Hell, I'm happy.
 
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That Oak will more than likley take two to three years to season. I suggest because you are new to wood burning to purchase a moisture meter so you can check how seasoned your wood is, in the end its all about safety as wet wood is the root of all evil. Also put your location in so forum members can see where you are and this will help them give you advise for your given location.
Wow, two to three years? I knew the oak was stubborn but I was figuring on a year to eighteen months. Oh well, no big deal. I've been booking up on how to tell if wood is dry or not and also ordered a meter.

Two questions, when I start a fire in the stove/insert, after about 20 minutes while it's warming I'll get one thump sound with a slight ring to it. Sorta like taking a hammer and wrapping it in a towel and lightly striking the side of the insert. It's not like the pinging and other sounds it makes. I know it's the metal adjusting to the temperature but is this normal?

On the top inside of the stove are the two secondary burn pipes, what do they do and is it ok if they slightly glow red sometimes? Thank you for your patience, the owners manual only tells you so much.
 
Wow, two to three years? I knew the oak was stubborn but I was figuring on a year to eighteen months. Oh well, no big deal. I've been booking up on how to tell if wood is dry or not and also ordered a meter.

Two questions, when I start a fire in the stove/insert, after about 20 minutes while it's warming I'll get one thump sound with a slight ring to it. Sorta like taking a hammer and wrapping it in a towel and lightly striking the side of the insert. It's not like the pinging and other sounds it makes. I know it's the metal adjusting to the temperature but is this normal?

On the top inside of the stove are the two secondary burn pipes, what do they do and is it ok if they glow red sometimes? Thank you for your patience, the owners manual only tells you so much.
Yes, oak takes a long time to season properly but it is worth the wait..
I suspect you're hearing expansion noises which is normal. My T-5 can get noisy as it's heating up and cooling down.
I don't have secondary burn tubes (the T-5 employs a heavy S/S baffle instead but same idea) but I believe they can get pretty hot. They burn the gasses that would otherwise go up the chimney as smoke this is why an EPA stove burns 1/3 less wood than a non EPA stove.

Ray
 
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Wow, two to three years? I knew the oak was stubborn but I was figuring on a year to eighteen months. Oh well, no big deal. I've been booking up on how to tell if wood is dry or not and also ordered a meter.

Two questions, when I start a fire in the stove/insert, after about 20 minutes while it's warming I'll get one thump sound with a slight ring to it. Sorta like taking a hammer and wrapping it in a towel and lightly striking the side of the insert. It's not like the pinging and other sounds it makes. I know it's the metal adjusting to the temperature but is this normal?

On the top inside of the stove are the two secondary burn pipes, what do they do and is it ok if they glow red sometimes? Thank you for your patience, the owners manual only tells you so much.

My insert pings and tings as it's waking up kinda like the baseboard heat, bet they almost all do except maybe the soapstone stoves. The secondary burn pipes have air flowing to them and are there to burn gases and smoke which is how EPA stoves achieve their efficiency and clean burning charateristics. If you go outside when the stove is to temp and the secondaries are firing you will see no smoke from your (nice new) chimney.

Maybe someone with your exact stove can chime in about the glowing. My insert says no part of the stove should glow red so you want to be careful you don't overfire. Do you have a thermometer? If not get one and figure out a good spot to place it. One or two overfires isn't likely to be a huge issue but overfiring should be avoided.
 
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Mine glow from time to time I dont worry about it. There is alot of heat around those tubes when the gases ignite.
 
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They burn the gasses that would otherwise go up the chimney as smoke this is why an EPA stove burns 1/3 less wood than a non EPA stove.
Sounds good. So an EPA stove has secondary burn pipes and burns less wood because of draft control, correct? For the record, I keep the draft wide open, I figure less creosote build-up. This stuff is very interesting.
 
Thanks jato and Ed. The pipes don't glow all the time nor is it bright red, just a little glow from time to time and not the whole length. I do have a magnetic thermometer. If you look at the insert pic it's top left next to the door. It's at an angle in the pic but I usually have it closer to the door and flush, that's the only place I can put it. The hottest I've had it, according to the thermometer, is at 450 for about 15 minutes. Putting the blower on high usually drops it.
 
Sounds good. So an EPA stove has secondary burn pipes and burns less wood because of draft control, correct? For the record, I keep the draft wide open, I figure less creosote build-up. This stuff is very interesting.
Start with the air full open then gradually reduce the air once the secondaries are well established. Keep reducing it a little at a time and make sure there is flames visible and you should be OK. At this point your stove is running much efficiently and you'll maximize your BTU's while minimizing your wood consumption. I never run my stove WOT as it definitely overfire pretty quickly. I do go wide open when starting until flue is up to temp and after adding wood to make the secondaries active again then lower down once things are rolling..This takes less than 30 mins. Wide open air will make your tubes glow and possibly other stove parts as you could be overfiring your stove..

Ray
 
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Sounds good. So an EPA stove has secondary burn pipes and burns less wood because of draft control, correct? For the record, I keep the draft wide open, I figure less creosote build-up. This stuff is very interesting.

What your going to want to do it close the air down in increments, leaving it wide open wiil result in an overfire and you will waste all your wood. When my stove top gets to 400 I will push the air in so its 3/4 open then when it hits 500 I push it in another quarter ( good secondaries are happening) then when it gets settled in normally around 550- 600 I push it in another quarter, I leave it about 1/4 open or less so the stove burns steady and clean. By regualting your air you will allow your secondaries to function and you allow your wood to burn slower giving you a longer burn. Your probably loading that stove every two hours leaving the air wide open. You will get less creosote by burning seasoned wood and allowing your secondaries to do their job. After you damper it down check your chimney for smoke, no smoke just clear vapor coming from your chimney will tell you your burning clean, if you damper down and see smoke give it some more air to clean up the burn and damper down again after a few minutes, it will take you this heating season or longer to learn all the tricks of your stove and set up.
 
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Ok, I'll start keeping an eye on my draft control. Thanks Ray and Ed.

Your probably loading that stove every two hours leaving the air wide open.
Ed, I was loading more often than that. Thanks for the education. Now all I need to figure is how to get an all night burn. I know it's tougher on these smaller stoves.
 
Thanks jato and Ed. The pipes don't glow all the time nor is it bright red, just a little glow from time to time and not the whole length. I do have a magnetic thermometer. If you look at the insert pic it's top left next to the door. It's at an angle in the pic but I usually have it closer to the door and flush, that's the only place I can put it. The hottest I've had it, according to the thermometer, is at 450 for about 15 minutes. Putting the blower on high usually drops it.

You may want to invest in an infrared thermometerm gun ( just point and shoot), these are more accurate that the magentic ones. I have both and the magnetic one if off by about 30 degrees not a big deal, I have read on here that some of the Rutland magnetic thermometers can be off by a 100 degrees or so. I think you can pick up a laser for under $75 bucks.
 
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Couple of things:
1.) It takes 1100F+ around those burn tubes to really be "active". A slight glow is not unusual. Stove body parts should never glow.

Second - your short burn times are related to keeping the primary air wide open throttle. Believe it or not, but many stoves will actually put out MORE heat as you tune the stove down. There is a sweet spot. Part of the learning curve.

C - Check your fuel. My guess is that it is probably not as dry as it should be. This doesn't mean you are screwed, just that you will be fighting it more than if the wood was dry.

Oh - and welcome to the forum.
 
Thanks jato and Ed. The pipes don't glow all the time nor is it bright red, just a little glow from time to time and not the whole length. I do have a magnetic thermometer. If you look at the insert pic it's top left next to the door. It's at an angle in the pic but I usually have it closer to the door and flush, that's the only place I can put it. The hottest I've had it, according to the thermometer, is at 450 for about 15 minutes. Putting the blower on high usually drops it.

That doesn't sound bad to me, probably just normal operation. Just wanted to make sure you're aware that the stoves can overfire which can cause damage. I keep my thermo inside the upper vent which is on top of the box. It's not that easy to read but I can tell from my IR temp reader that my door temps are much lower than the top is. According to my stove top thermo I run up to 650 even 750 fairly regularly at least in the short term, no glowing around the flue or box. Typical cruising temps are about 100 degrees lower, no problem.
 
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Curly, I am not far from you. My Dad lives in N. Wilmington. If you need help finding seasoned wood, or determining if your supply is seasoned, PM me. In my 3rd season burning and glad to assist a local forum member.
 
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