hot fires: is it necessary and how do you get it there

Modern stoves need to be "up to temperature" to work properly.

If your wood is not properly dried, you may never get there!

Do you hear sizzling, or see water oozing and bubbling out the ends of your splits when burning? This is a sure sign the wood is wet.

When burning, only turn down the air control in stages (maybe 20% at a time) to keep the fire lively. During the first load, you probably won't need to turn it down at all. Once the stove is hot (2nd load and there after,) you'll be able to turn it down more.

I tell my wife, "if it looks like an inferno, turn it down!"

BTW, we have no thermometer on our insert, we work by feel/sight.

If you're a new wood burner, you'll eventually get the hang of it.

bholler said:

This is a very general procedure and is not right for all stoves

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Ah....remember when you said this?

I try to keep my stove under 450 Celsius.

Lumber-Jack, do you really mean Celcius? 450 C + = 842 F. Seems pretty hot for a stove.
NYCPrincess, it is important to look in your manual to see where you are supposed to take temperature readings on your stove. For example, on my Jotul F 600 you are supposed to take your temperature readings from one of the four corners on the top of the stove. When I get a corner reading 450F the center of the top is well over 600 F. So, if your stove has similar characteristics and you are reading at top center 450F I would think you are burning at a fairly low temperature. My true stove reading would only be around 300 F if I had a 450F top center reading. On the other hand, 450F is a good operating temperature for many stoves when the reading is taken at the proper place on the stove.

Stone stoves are different. My hearthstone had a max temp per the owner's manual of 600. It took a lot of effort to get that stove past 500 and it spent most of its life in the 400-450 range. My plate steel noncat is run at 650 as much as possible.

NYCPrincess said:

I am new to all this wood stove thing. I have heard some people talk about the importance of burning your stove hot sometimes. But my neighbor who has had one for 30 years never goes above 450 and she's never had an issue. To burn hot or not to burn hot, that is the question.

Honestly, we can't get it past 450 anyway. How do you do it? Please provide step by step. When do you start closing down the air intake?

Thanks.

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Eliminate most of your burning issues with good fuel. How seasoned is your wood?

According the the shelburnes manual 600°f is max temp in the center of the stovetop. So long as your house is warm and your chimney is clean don't worry about burning hot.

600 isn't really hot. My steel stove runs up to or over 600 on every load for at least 2 hours after reloading.

Chimney Smoke said:

600 isn't really hot. My steel stove runs up to or over 600 on every load for at least 2 hours after reloading.

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Lopis like it hot.

Nick Mystic said:

Lumber-Jack, do you really mean Celcius? 450 C + = 842 F. Seems pretty hot for a stove.

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Yeah it's a little warm. That's why I try to keep my stove under that temperature, but I have no trouble at all getting it up there. All I have to do is forget to close the draft control.

However 450 Fahrenheit seems a might cool, my stove burns cleaner when its closer to 600 F. I'd be thinking something was seriously wrong if I couldn't get my stove above 450 F.

Are you using a blower? That will cool the stove top. Most discussions about stove top temps assume no blower air going across the top.

NYCPrincess said:

When do you start closing down the air intake?

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My stove is a different model, but I start to turn down the air when the secondaries are burning consistently and when the flue temps are above creosote levels. Depending on fuel load, this can happen at a stove top of less than 200F, but the secondary and flue temps are the most important measure of when to begin turning down the air. Then I continue to turn the air down in stages, watching the fire for "lazy" flame and continued secondary burning. I generally end up with the air close to fully down (air is never fully off with epa stoves) and the stove top from 500-550F but sometimes higher if needed.

As for maximum stove top temps, many members here routinely run over 600 or 700 or even more with some stoves, but stick to your manual at 600 max if that's what it says.

If you really have trouble getting more than 450 without a blower or fan, then I agree with the others that you should take a close look at the wood's moisture content. A meter is the only way to really know and it really makes a difference. But I've heard that the Shelburne is a bit unique in operating temperatures, so you should probably rely mostly on other Shelburne users.

Highbeam said:

Stone stoves are different. My hearthstone had a max temp per the owner's manual of 600. It took a lot of effort to get that stove past 500 and it spent most of its life in the 400-450 range. My plate steel noncat is run at 650 as much as possible.

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The Shelburne is cast iron, not stone.

OP: I like to get mine to a stovetop (center, back by the flue) temp of 500 or more, then let it start to work its way down. I don't think I've ever had it go to 600.

I don't have a problem getting it that hot because my wood has been cut, split, and stacked for two years or more. If you've bought "seasoned" wood from someone, dollars to doughnuts it isn't dry enough. Spend $20 on a moisture meter and know for sure if your wood is dry enough for an EPA-approved stove.

I have a shelburne as well. It does not run real hot like I have Seen on other stoves. Normal is about 450-500, it will drop into the 300's for quite awhile on the way down. I usually re-load around 350-400. I have taken apart my stove and there is a heat sheild about 1" below the cast iron top. I think it's much hotter inside than the stove top reads because of the shield. I have never hit 600, I think the hottest I have seen is 550. Burning hot to 450-500 and then closing it down I have checked and only had a small cup of soot after a sweeping after months of use, my wood was not great either. 20-25% but I would use a lot of cut up pallets as kindling and to get the stove up to temp. If you have questionable wood start picking up free pallets.

jrems said:

I have a shelburne as well. It does not run real hot like I have Seen on other stoves. Normal is about 450-500, it will drop into the 300's for quite awhile on the way down. I usually re-load around 350-400. I have taken apart my stove and there is a heat sheild about 1" below the cast iron top. I think it's much hotter inside than the stove top reads because of the shield. I have never hit 600, I think the hottest I have seen is 550.

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In response to OP, I wouldn't like to run mine at 450 or less all the time...I think getting it to 500 or so every day is good practice re: creosote. I usually go more by my flue temp than stovetop anyway...

DanCorcoran said:

The Shelburne is cast iron, not stone

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And I've heard that it's thicker than most stove tops which may affect typical stove top temps. Sound to me like you're okay, assuming that your wood is really dry enough. But, be sure of that, and the only way to know for sure is to measure it with a meter.

NYCPrincess said:

Most of the time there is no sizzling or oozing. Only a log here or there

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Sounds like maybe you need to look at the wood's moisture content. Wood can be in excess of 30% without any sizzling or oozing. Personal experience. Seriously, get a moisture meter and measure the face of a fresh split. Otherwise, you'll never know and it does make a big difference. Modern stoves are designed around a moisture content of 20-25%.

I burn mine a touch hotter in the morning with about 2-3 smallish splits to clean the soot deposits off the corners of the glass from an all night load, and for a faster house warm up. I find it helps to warm the flue back up in a hurry too. I leave it full open until I see the soot start turning white. My stove top climbs fairly high but in my case the more open I leave the controls the cooler the stove actually stays. If I were to close down quickly after a burn like this I would see temps pushing 750+. If I step down slower after a "clean up" burn it will settle in right around 650 but of course the wood burns up quite quickly. I only get about 2-2.5 hours burn if I'm luck with that method.

Sconnie Burner said:

My stove top climbs fairly high but in my case the more open I leave the controls the cooler the stove actually stays. If I were to close down quickly after a burn like this I would see temps pushing 750+.

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Sconny, what model is your stove? Mine is similar in that the sooner I turn the air down, the hotter the stove gets because the secondaries have a greater affect. Not sure if that applies to the Shelbourne since different models work differently. In my case, the secondary air is controlled along with the primary air and that may make a difference.