I've had the new insert burning for 48+ hours straight now. Just thought I'd post a few observations and questions for the group.
1. I need gloves. Haven't burnt my hand on the metal surfaces yet, but when the stove is at 500 degrees, putting a new split in almost gives me surface burns.
2. I need to start filling the log holder inside the night before so that I don't have to go out in the cold first thing in the morning.
3. My bypass damper is great but its starts to stick when the stove is up over 400 degrees according to the Rutland 701 sitting on the top surface.
4. I need an ash can. Haven't emptied the ashes in in 48 hours since I started it up Saturday morning. I'm at about 1.5" thick in places.
5. I need a bigger fan to put on the floor in my hallway to move the air around. I've got a little floor-standing 10" diameter fan that does great at pulling the cold air into the stove room. This heats up the hallway pretty well, but I need to get some other fans to put in the bedrooms to pull the cold air out of them better. Can anyone recommend a good box fan thats quiet when run on low speed? The little fan is a bit too loud.
6. I bought a little corner fan to put in the upper corner of the doorways. It doesn't seem to do a whole lot. I think that pushing the cold air out of the rooms works much better than trying to pull the hot air into them. Also this fan is very noisy.
7. Tried the sample of Super Cedar firestarters I was sent last week. For their size they work very well. I've got some inherited firestarters that are larger brick like things and they are harder to light than the super cedars and probably about twice the weight of them. Will put a case of Super Cedars on my Christmas list.
8. Not sure yet on the temp when secondary combustion starts on my Revere. I tend not to damper it down until I'm up over 350. Lower than that seemed to create a lot of smoke out the chimney.
9. Loaded up stove at 9:30. Put one additional split in at 1:30 when kids got up. Blower still on when I got up at 6am. Temp at about 125. Relit fire from lots of coals. Wife very happy.
10. Seems to take my chimney a while to get hot enough to where there's no visible smoke coming out of it. I'm sure this is just the learning curve.
11. With the insert on the first floor of my raised ranch my basement is getting colder. You can tell because the floors of the first floor are cold.
Is there a way I can put in a relay and install a second thermostat in the basement? I only have a single zone system. I'd like to throw a switch and determine which thermostat is running the furnace. That way I can close off the upstairs vents and keep the basement at about 60 and not have to worry about freezing pipes, cold floors. etc.
12. I need an indoor/outdoor thermometer with multiple sensors so I can start monitoring things a little better.
I guess that's enough for now. I'm sure there will be more coming with the cold we're getting this week.
Later,
Eric Finn (Starting to get the hang of this woodburning for heat thing...)
1. I need gloves. Haven't burnt my hand on the metal surfaces yet, but when the stove is at 500 degrees, putting a new split in almost gives me surface burns.
2. I need to start filling the log holder inside the night before so that I don't have to go out in the cold first thing in the morning.
3. My bypass damper is great but its starts to stick when the stove is up over 400 degrees according to the Rutland 701 sitting on the top surface.
4. I need an ash can. Haven't emptied the ashes in in 48 hours since I started it up Saturday morning. I'm at about 1.5" thick in places.
5. I need a bigger fan to put on the floor in my hallway to move the air around. I've got a little floor-standing 10" diameter fan that does great at pulling the cold air into the stove room. This heats up the hallway pretty well, but I need to get some other fans to put in the bedrooms to pull the cold air out of them better. Can anyone recommend a good box fan thats quiet when run on low speed? The little fan is a bit too loud.
6. I bought a little corner fan to put in the upper corner of the doorways. It doesn't seem to do a whole lot. I think that pushing the cold air out of the rooms works much better than trying to pull the hot air into them. Also this fan is very noisy.
7. Tried the sample of Super Cedar firestarters I was sent last week. For their size they work very well. I've got some inherited firestarters that are larger brick like things and they are harder to light than the super cedars and probably about twice the weight of them. Will put a case of Super Cedars on my Christmas list.
8. Not sure yet on the temp when secondary combustion starts on my Revere. I tend not to damper it down until I'm up over 350. Lower than that seemed to create a lot of smoke out the chimney.
9. Loaded up stove at 9:30. Put one additional split in at 1:30 when kids got up. Blower still on when I got up at 6am. Temp at about 125. Relit fire from lots of coals. Wife very happy.
10. Seems to take my chimney a while to get hot enough to where there's no visible smoke coming out of it. I'm sure this is just the learning curve.
11. With the insert on the first floor of my raised ranch my basement is getting colder. You can tell because the floors of the first floor are cold.
Is there a way I can put in a relay and install a second thermostat in the basement? I only have a single zone system. I'd like to throw a switch and determine which thermostat is running the furnace. That way I can close off the upstairs vents and keep the basement at about 60 and not have to worry about freezing pipes, cold floors. etc.12. I need an indoor/outdoor thermometer with multiple sensors so I can start monitoring things a little better.
I guess that's enough for now. I'm sure there will be more coming with the cold we're getting this week.
Later,
Eric Finn (Starting to get the hang of this woodburning for heat thing...)
