Trivia question

[ScotL]

I heard a statistic a little while ago but I don't know how accurate it is. If it is correct, it's something everyone would want to know. So I'll ask a trivia question and maybe those well versed in this kind of thing can enlighten us.

"How thick does the layer of ash on your stove/furnace/boiler's heat exchanger need to be to reduce it's efficiency by 50%?"

(Guess the poll question is too big to fit above, but this is the full question.)

 

[nailed_nailer]

gonna guess 1/8"
Seems about right.
Any amount of ash has to block thermal transfer.

Just my SWAG.
---Nailer---

 

[Defiant]

I'll go with 1/4"

 

[DneprDave]

I don't know, I can't see my stove's heat exchanger. There's a built in scraper that I pull in and out every couple of days.

Dave

 

[subsailor]

I notice a difference after a week of burning, although I don't believe it's 50%.

 

[jtakeman]

I guessed 1/4" cause after 40 plus bags through mine and about 1/8" build up. Mine only dropped about 20ish %.

 

[DexterDay]

I'm guessing 1/4" also. I don't measure in weeks for cleaning anymore. I go in "months". Just did the Quad today. Not bad after almost 2 months. Still using Low, and still getting good temps..

 

[Bioburner]

1/8 inch. Sure screws up the ESP

 

[ScotL]

The answer is: 1/8"
That's the number that I was told by 2 different people and both of them should know.
I've always heard that ash is an excellent insulator. Just goes to show how important it is to keep a stove clean.

 

[Defiant]

Thanks for the info Scot, does not surprise me at all

 

[Bioburner]

I won't claim to be that smart as I had just gotten off the Goverments web site trying to check out how good aspen pellets were. Might try them as they are available for $200 a ton.

 

[mepellet]

I won't claim to be that smart as I had just gotten off the Goverments web site trying to check out how good aspen pellets were. Might try them as they are available for $200 a ton.

He says in a thread started by scotl......

Luckily you are not from the northeast.

 

[ScotL]

He says in a thread started by scotl......

Luckily you are not from the northeast.

I try to keep my interest in this forum on a personal level. I have a PB105 at home and a Kedel at work and enjoy talking about all things pellet - no matter what brand. This is a great forum to both learn new information and to share what information you have (like the 1/8" thing in this thread). Don't worry about offending me in any way.

 

[mepellet]

I try to keep my interest in this forum on a personal level. I have a PB105 at home and a Kedel at work and enjoy talking about all things pellet - no matter what brand. This is a great forum to both learn new information and to share what information you have (like the 1/8" thing in this thread). Don't worry about offending me in any way.

I knew you wouldn't take offense. I just had a chuckle in my head when I read his post. How do you like that kedel? They look pretty nice.

I didn't know that only 1/8" of ash caused that much efficiency loss.

 

[ScotL]

I knew you wouldn't take offense. I just had a chuckle in my head when I read his post. How do you like that kedel? They look pretty nice.

I didn't know that only 1/8" of ash caused that much efficiency loss.

It's a smaller capacity than my Harman but has a lot of features. But, that also means it takes more to get it setup correctly which it still isn't. It's supposed to have a compressed air pump, that didn't ship with it, which cleans out the burnpot. The fuel/oxygen ratio isn't adjusted correctly yet either. And I don't think they installed the correct exhaust ductwork on it. They put on something you'd see on an oil furnace - with a draft damper.
Eventually I think it will be a really nice unit.