New Clydesdale Owner

Hey all, new to the forum. Been reading the various posts over the last week or so and it was between the quad voyageur grand or the clydesdale due to the brown enamel finish which was a must to fit decor (wifes demands) and size. The clydesdale was the clear winner for me both in aesthetics and the soapstone liner.

Its my first Insert so I purchased a thermometer and am wondering on where the best location should be. I want as much radiant as well as convection so I am not doing a flush mount. Top, side?

2nd is break in fire: its being installed monday and I was going to do a break in fire the second the installers say "you're all set"!, do i have to wait for it to come all the way back down to room temp or can i let her sit for an hour or so once the coals die out? Or do i do a 2nd break in the next morning and let her rip when i get home from work.

I've attached the fireplace where clyde will be going. Its in the basement and i have been struggling wether or not to cover it with a insert but after being in 3 of my neighbors homes and them not having to run their heat yet this year I'm biting the bullet. your posts have been extremley helpful and any feedback would be greatly apreciated! Oh and have any of you been successfull heating the whole house from the basement?

[quoe="webby3650, post: 1865567, member: 6398"]Does the owners manual mention break in fires? The Shelburn and Manchester no longer require one in the manual, I thought Clyde was the same. The soapstone Hearthstones only require 1 break in fire.[/quote]
Yes it sais to do it once for the first and than the firstburn every year after but I have read alot of posts from clyde owners who have done 2 and even 3 just wasnt sure about need to get it all the way down to room temp and if so is one enough? Thanks

gls289 said:

Welcome! We are on year 3 with our Clyde and love it. I removed the warming grill on top and placed a condor stove top magnetic thermometer right next to the draft bolt in the center. That seemed to be the warmest spot on the stove top based on IR readings.

As for breakin fires. I do one each year and let them cool down. First time I did a couple and let them cool. As much as these stoves cost I figure better safe than sorry. Happy burning!

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Thanks! I will do 2 to be safe. Your right they are pricey but sure are purdy!

Clyde S. Dale said:

Welcome to the forum fellow Clydesdale owner. I am in year 5, only do 1 break in at the beginning of each season. No issues at all thus far. Nice to have another SEPA member as well. There are a good number of us on here.

Clyde

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uote="Clyde S. Dale, post: 1865900, member: 16261"]Welcome to the forum fellow Clydesdale owner. I am in year 5, only do 1 break in at the beginning of each season. No issues at all thus far. Nice to have another SEPA member as well. There are a good number of us on here.

Clyde[/quote]
Thanks Clyde! I'm glad I found hearth.com, didn't know what I needed until I did some dd here and am looking forward to getting it installed. Scheduled for Monday but it looks like mother nature has different plans! Oh well, we have a fireplace on the main floor with a grate heater and that will work for now but its a wood hog.

hamsey said:

I did 3 break in fires and let it cool down to room temp before doing the next one.

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Thanks Hamsey, did you increase the temp each time or were they equal burns?

Awesome, thanks for the info! By the way, I noticed in another post you were having some issue's with burn time. I have an endless supply of white ash and saw that you have ash that has been sitting css for 10 months. I am in the exact situation, I have my wood css for 10 months, it is a mix of logs that were harvested and sitting for 2 yrs before css, and green that's been css for 10 months. I have a moisture meter on order that is coming on Monday so I will be able to see what I'm dealing with. Right now I have a grate heater in the upstairs fireplace that took me a year to figure out how to maintain a roaring fire. I have a log carrier that is in the Carhart material that I have to fill with kindling roughly 1-2" in diameter and HAVE to burn all of that in the beginning to get a large bed of coals, than I have to slowly increase the size until I can put some big daddies on there. I am wondering if the same rules are going to apply with the Clydesdale? Its a totally different animal but I wonder with the ash not having more than a year to season if that's what will need to happen to maximize efficiency even though it is a naturally dry wood? Thanks again,

Stevo

Thanks Tenn!

Here's a loaded question... Ive been burning in a fireplace with a grate heater for the last 2 winters and I am averaging 2-2 1/2 cords per season. The clydesdale is getting installed thursday. I am only burning from the time I get home (4pm-11pm) with the grate heater and plan on burning as close to 24/7 as possible. The grate heater is a hog as it is still an open fireplace concept so im pounding through 12-15 pcs in that short time. I only burn white ash as that is what is readily available here due to EAB. I know there are alot of variables that determine burn time, moisture content, etc... but is there a set amount of cords you clydesdale owners typically burn through 24/7 per season?
Thanks

Thanks for all of the responses! So here is a quick layout I drew up. The finished basement where clyde is going is approx. 680sq ft. It is WELL insulated. The original owner was a master carpenter and when we purchased the house in 2012 the inspector said it was one of the tightest homes he'd ever inspected . I've read a lot about transferring heat from the basement and mstoelton I agree it will be difficult but am wondering with the close proximity to the stairs if that will help. The other thing to keep in mind the main thing you guys can't see in the drawings is that we had a central hvac system installed last year so right now I have a bunch of areas in the ceiling in the basement opened up to accommodate the the duct work which I am hoping will allow more transfer, not sure if I'm trying to will the heat upstairs or if I'm safe in my assumptions. The shop area is completely closed off to the finished area and that is where the central hvac system is located so that stays pretty warm anyway.

One other thing I've noticed in reading the other posts is heat transfer upstairs using fans or other means to get cold air to the unit. I have the 2 vent caps you can see at the bottom right and left hand corners of the fireplace that are piped outside and am wondering if that would be enough to allow heat transfer upstairs or do I HAVE to bring the cold air down from upstairs?

Total sq ft of living area including basement 2508

Thank you again, you all have been tremendous help!

Hi Grisu, if you look at my avatar there are round caps at the bottom right and left hand side of the fireplace, they are vent pipes for the fireplace. Would that suffice?

Also we had a energy audit done before we installed the geo system and they required fresh outside air. We had a fresh air circulator installed to accommodate the need but not sure how that will work since it circulates the whole house and I can't regulate it to a specific area.

Grisu said:

Correct me if I am wrong but it looks like they would be pulling air from the inside. If the whole house is airtight you will have trouble getting a good draft going. You would need some air coming from the outside going into the firebox cavity close to the air inlet of the Clyde.

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Actually they pull the air from outside, I pull the caps off and its 3" copper piping going through the wall to the outside and is capped outside with screened vents. When I start a fire you can put your hands in front of them and feel the air coming through quite well. The original owner said he put them in to cut down on the heat loss up the chimney. A open fireplace is an open fireplace, your going to lose more heat than you will create but i'll give him credit it does actually heat the basement fairly well when I get her roaring.