break-in fire temps for new Hearthstone Tribute...

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crow

crow

New Member
Dec 4, 2005
88
Ohio
I'm reading my manual and I see that they do not list any specific desired temperatures for the break-in fires for a Hearthstone Tribute. It says the first fire should get the stove warm to the touch...but not too hot. I have a stove top thermometer. Should I concern myself with an actual temperature reading? Or should I just get the stove warm on the first run, and then progressively warmer w/ each additional fire allowing the stove to cool completely between fires?

Do they forgo giving a desired burn temp. because of the variables in the heat absorption of the individual cuts of stone?

I'm asking because a friend who just did this with a new stove(iron) had specific temperature guidelines to follow with the break-in fires for her stove listed in her manual.
I appreciate your input!
 
My hearthstone didn't tell me exactly either, rather said something like,

Crumple a piece of paper, lay 10 pieces of kindling, where each is approximately 12" in length and each side 1/2", light the paper and close the door. What you'll see is moisture come out of your soapstone. I then let it cool and repeated again to be safe, then did the same but added two small branch pieces and let it cool. Then did the same and added 2 small branches and 1 small log piece. By that time there wasn't any moisture coming out of the soapstone and it had gotten warm. I then lit a small fire. I never got this "paint curing" lots of stink and eye and throat irritations, better open the windows phenomina that most people experience when lighting their first fires, and I should have. People say it can takes days to get your unit so the stove paint doesn't stink and irritate your eyes and throat.
 
My Hearthstone manual said the same thing. So I just made a small fire. I did the same thing at the start of this season, and again after we had a warm spell and the stove wasn't used for a few days. Probably overkill, but I figure it can't hurt.

Rick
 
I just fired up my new Woodstock soapstone last week. That thing smoked like a freightrain for a good 4 hours.
 
I had the first break-in fire tonight. Thanks for your posts . They were helpful.
The stove got warm to the touch uniformly...then let it die to embers. Fire has been out for over two hours and the soapstone is still warm...
Pretty cool. I can tell I am REALLY gonna like this little stove.
 
crow said:
I had the first break-in fire tonight. Thanks for your posts . They were helpful.
The stove got warm to the touch uniformly...then let it die to embers. Fire has been out for over two hours and the soapstone is still warm...
Pretty cool. I can tell I am REALLY gonna like this little stove.
Click to expand...

My wife fell in love with that little stove at the dealers showroom. She thought it was cute. But we ended up with a Homestead.
Just be prepared as you make progressively hotter and hotter fires you will experience some off-gassing from the stove. Our third break-in fire smelled pretty bad and bothered my eyes. Had to open some windows. It actually set off my smoke detector. That was the last time my detector has made a peep while running the stove. Now it's just great.
 
I was very torn between the Tribute and the Homestead as well. My house is at most 1000 square feet, and I was concerned that I would have to burn low fires in the Homestead (and create more creosote)...but the larger firebox and longer burn time were very appealing...and it is a great looking stove.
I think the Tribute should heat my house pretty nicely, as it is a pretty open floor plan.and there are ceiling fans in every room....
Even doing the first break-in fire(stove top therm. read 100 degrees) it heated the room enough to keep the thermostat from kicking on. That makes me hopeful.
Did not really have any noticeable off gassing , but it was very low fire , so temps probably weren't quite high enough for that.
 
We didn't really get too much of the smell until we got the temperature up around 400 - 500 F.
 
Break-in fire numero 2 tonight. Still takin' it easy on the temp. Got to 150 degrees . Still no off gassing.
Tomorrow I will bring her up a few notches . And then hopefully can start to burn at true heating temps.
I am playing it cautiously as I have an alarm that is directly wired to dispatch the fire dept . if it is set off .
I can call the monitoring company and put the system on "test" for a set time , and during that time they will not dispatch if I accidentally
set it off. So far, no problem.
It doesn't pick up chemical smells...so I don't think I'll have to worry. But , I'll be glad when she's all broken in and I can start heating my house without worrying about off gassing.
 
150F ? It probably got hotter in the back of the semi trailer this summer coming from the factory. I'd double or triple that if you really want to start the process!! Just my opinion.
 
roac said:
150F ? It probably got hotter in the back of the semi trailer this summer coming from the factory. I'd double or triple that if you really want to start the process!! Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Today I will bring it up to about 250~300 for the first time.

I only bought it up to 150 because the manual says to get the stove surface warm but "NOT HOT TO THE TOUCH."
At 150 it is almost HOT to the touch.
It is a tiny stove.

So today, after already having done 2 small very low temp fires , I will feel ok about going higher without doing damage to the soapstone.
 
Don't worry about specific temperatures. You want to dry out any moisture in the stone gradually but it doesn't have to be at a specific temperature. A couple of kindling fires is all you should need.
 
Got it up to 350 and 400 today and it seemed fine...a few fumes intermittently. but honestly it was not that bad.

The previous 2 small fires seem to have done the trick.

Now we're cookin' !

Kept the the furnace from kicking on at all today.
That's the ticket!
 
I just got my Tribute going today for the first time. Stove warm to the touch..but is that soapstone on the top? The sides? The cast iron? All heated up differently. I just ran a small one until the sides were warm, and the top was getting there, and will plan another. It didn't help that my kindling burned mostly on one side of the stove.
 
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