Hello all. I'm basically new the forum. I joined last year after I bought my home & was having problems with the Quadra-Fire Isle Royale that was installed in the home, & now I'm back with more problems. I eventually got frustrated with the thing & suffered through a winter paying high electric & propane bills. I did some research, stockpiled kindling, got a flue thermometer, & tried it again this winter. Early on, I could get a good fire going with the 2 cords I had leftover from last year. However, I found that I would only get about 4hrs burn time from a fire. That isn't really helpful when I leave for work from 5am-6pm most days. But that is all i was getting while still having the thermometer stay above the "Creosote Level" of 275°. I thought that it was because my splits were too small, most being small slivers around 3" at the thickest.
Let me say that I don't cut my own firewood. As I mentioned I work a lot, so I found it far easier to check the local papers & online and have wood that is seasoned & split delivered to my door. Anyway, I finally exhausted the firewood I had from last year, so I went looking and had a cord delivered 2 weeks ago. It was sold as seasoned oak, and appears to be such. And the splits are definitely not too small, as the average piece is at least 6", with a lot running around 8 or 9. Now I find I can't get it to burn! I still stack a bunch of tinder and kindling in the stove to get it going & try to patiently add the firewood as the stove is hot enough. But I am having a rough time of that. For instance; I started a fire an hour & a half ago and I've got both the front air control and the "start up" air still wide open, but my flue temp is still only about 190°. I've split a bunch of the new firewood down to 4-5" pieces, and it didn't seen to matter.
So my questions that I'm hoping somebody can help me out with are: How can I make this thing burn more efficiently? The manual proclaims "20hr burn time", but I figure that is more a sales ploy. I'd be thrilled if I could get 6-8 hours of heat from this thing- that would make it almost dependable enough to keep using if I could have a constant heat source that lasted from the time I get home at night until the middle of the next day (repacking it before bed & before I leave for work of course).
Secondly, should I just assume that the newest batch of firewood I got is still somewhat green? Is that what is causing this slow, cold, burn?
Sorry, I know I've written a book, but this whole thing has me desperately searching some answers before I end up dropping 6 grand in utility bills to keep my house warm this winter like I ended up doing last year. That almost broke the back and I don't want to do it again. Thanks.
Let me say that I don't cut my own firewood. As I mentioned I work a lot, so I found it far easier to check the local papers & online and have wood that is seasoned & split delivered to my door. Anyway, I finally exhausted the firewood I had from last year, so I went looking and had a cord delivered 2 weeks ago. It was sold as seasoned oak, and appears to be such. And the splits are definitely not too small, as the average piece is at least 6", with a lot running around 8 or 9. Now I find I can't get it to burn! I still stack a bunch of tinder and kindling in the stove to get it going & try to patiently add the firewood as the stove is hot enough. But I am having a rough time of that. For instance; I started a fire an hour & a half ago and I've got both the front air control and the "start up" air still wide open, but my flue temp is still only about 190°. I've split a bunch of the new firewood down to 4-5" pieces, and it didn't seen to matter.
So my questions that I'm hoping somebody can help me out with are: How can I make this thing burn more efficiently? The manual proclaims "20hr burn time", but I figure that is more a sales ploy. I'd be thrilled if I could get 6-8 hours of heat from this thing- that would make it almost dependable enough to keep using if I could have a constant heat source that lasted from the time I get home at night until the middle of the next day (repacking it before bed & before I leave for work of course).
Secondly, should I just assume that the newest batch of firewood I got is still somewhat green? Is that what is causing this slow, cold, burn?
Sorry, I know I've written a book, but this whole thing has me desperately searching some answers before I end up dropping 6 grand in utility bills to keep my house warm this winter like I ended up doing last year. That almost broke the back and I don't want to do it again. Thanks.
