First post, new stove owner, some questions

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

murphyslaw1978

New Member
Jan 10, 2011
25
Chicago, IL
First, I love this site. It's been quite interesting reading all the valuable info on here. Without this site, I would NOT be headed in the right direction with regards to proper safety, operation, efficiency, etc. of my stove.

Secondly, I'm new to anything relating to wood burning. My house did not have a fireplace, so we put one in about a month ago. It's a Lennox Montecito EPA 2.0 cu. ft. built in stove. I have two different blower systems and I love it so far.

Questions:

1.) I have no temperature gauges on this thing. How hot can I get it? The manual says that the max temperature setting (with the primary air controls on max) results in 1-2 hour burn times, but they don't say anything in there about overfiring. I'm a little concerned about getting this thing too hot. I'd like to be able to just run it at the highest temp setting if it's cold outside. Should I get a thermal from Lowe's? Will that tell me how the stove is performing?

2.) My first face cord wood delivery was red oak, and I couldn't get a good fire going. I went to Jewel and bought kiln-dried hardwood bundles, and that stuff burned well. So the wood guy came back and replaced the red oak with white oak from his personal stash, and now that stuff is burning very well. He said that the red oak is not wet, and he left a few sticks for me. But whenever I put it in there (after an hour and with coals on the bottom), it doesn't gas up, but it sure seems to last a long time, and I don't see much smoke or creosote from it. I'm still not sure the wood is truly dry enough though.

3.) Attached is a picture of the new firebox, and here is a link to the manual (in case anyone's interested in the design of it):

http://www.lennoxhearthproducts.com...nox_Hearth_Montecito_Installation_850037M.pdf
 

Attachments

  • photo.jpg
    photo.jpg
    64.6 KB · Views: 474
sounds like the batch of red oak wasn't quit dry.
 
Most plate steel stoves (assuming that is what you have) overfire around 800F or so. I like to keep mine under 650F, personally. I figure it can't hurt, and it might add a few years of service to the unit.

Oak takes about 2 years to fully season, so that could explain your difficulties.
 
I am not familiar with your unit and took a quick look at the manual.

I have what now a days would be considered an antique (VC Vigilant- cast iron construction). The rule of thumb I use is 600 degrees- that is the point where I shut down my damper and begin regulating the air going into the stove (although today, even with closing the air, I am getting consistent 600 temps- must be wind direction). But, mine is free standing and I am not certain about the built ins. Having a thermometer is never a bad thing with a stove in my opinion.

As for the red oak, sounds to me like it is exhibiting the characteristics of wet wood. I am not certain why the person would tell you it's dry, but red oak can take up to 2 years to dry. If you use it, I would anticipate you could see increased creosote buildup.

I am certain plenty of other people will chime in on this, but thought I would share some thought that are my humble opinions.

Good luck with the new unit- looks great in that wall!
 
I can't believe the guy took back the red oak and switched out for (I assume) better seasoned wood! Sounds like a wood guy you want to keep happy. Next time, keep the red oak and stack for the following year (or year after) and buy the extra 1/3 cord of seasoned wood - you won't regret it! Cheers!
 
Welcome to the forum murphyslaw1978.


Just a word of caution on the wood. Most wood sellers will not tell you this but most oak needs 3 years of drying time before it is to be burned. I think the red oaks are the worst on this but the end result is terrific. Once it is dry you get good fires and fires that will last a lot longer.

When buying wood, do not ever think you will get seasoned wood, no matter what the wood seller says. Just about all of them cut and split and sell; they simply do not have the space to stack wood up and don't want to handle it another time which they would have to do if they let is dry before it is sold. So, the rule of thumb is to always get your wood way ahead of time. Like now you should have next year's wood split and stacked already! Stack the wood so it is off the ground a bit and stack it so some wind will hit the stacks. Wind and time are your friends here. If buying oak, get it so you have a minimum of 2 years before you plan on burning but 3 years is even better.

The benefit you will get by having your wood stacked up ahead of time is that you will need less wood for the same amount of heat and you won't have a problem with your fires getting going. One more benefit is you will not have creosote problems.


Make sure you check your chimney monthly! Pay no attention to those guys (like me) who don't clean their chimneys very often. They probably have burned wood for a long time and have good dry wood to burn. Keep an eye on that chimney.
 
hi murphyslaw...we burn this unit , its awesome :)
you can burn this unit on high just find.
the only down side is you will have to reload every hour or two.
your manual tells you about high , med and low burn. medium being the ideal fire.
do not burn construction decree, 2x4's wood paneling etc these can cause trouble.
but stick to your nicely seasoned oaks and your fireplace will be fine!
its a great unit.
 
Welcome and nice install, other than the purple its my tastes.

heed Backwoods, I jsut cleaned mine last week, on about 2 months of burning. (yes some of it i know was unseasoned) I ended up with about 2/3 - 3/4 a cup maybe more of cresote. not shabby, but i plan on doing that until I gain the perspective.

Stay warm.
 
Someone with an insert (which it seems is what you have) needs to tell you whether a thermometer will be of any use. It doesn't look like you can access the top of the stove (which is where a woodstove thermometer would normally go), and putting one on the front doesn't tell you anything, as far as I know.

Someone with an insert please correct me if I'm off base.

(Great looking installation, by the way!)


Late edit: your manual says the interior temperature can get up to 932 degrees F. when first starting (500 C.). As you noted, though, it doesn't tell you how or where to measure this. Maybe you should give Lennox customer service a call, to see if an IR thermometer aimed through the glass at the top of the firebox would be of any help.
 
i suppose you can get a magnetic thermometer and put in on the face of the unit and keep the unit at around 600...i think thats what the manual said...5 or 600 .better check.
the only way to overfire those is to keep the door slightly cracked open...you would NOT want to do that. but if the door is closed and the air control is all the way open...that is considered a high burn. but it will not be over fired.
closed the air control more and its a medium burn....close it all the way..and its a low burn :)
very easy unit to operate!
 
Stump_Branch said:
Welcome and nice install, other than the purple its my tastes.

heed Backwoods, I jsut cleaned mine last week, on about 2 months of burning. (yes some of it i know was unseasoned) I ended up with about 2/3 - 3/4 a cup maybe more of cresote. not shabby, but i plan on doing that until I gain the perspective.

Stay warm.
Click to expand...

Looks great. Very classy and modern. Btw, my wife loves the purple walls. Looks like the same color she had me paint the guest bedroom/her office. Welcome to the site and to the "hobby".

Al
 
ruth140 said:
hi murphyslaw...we burn this unit , its awesome :)
you can burn this unit on high just find.
the only down side is you will have to reload every hour or two.
your manual tells you about high , med and low burn. medium being the ideal fire.
do not burn construction decree, 2x4's wood paneling etc these can cause trouble.
but stick to your nicely seasoned oaks and your fireplace will be fine!
its a great unit.
Click to expand...

Great - that makes me feel better about burning on high, which I rarely do anyway. Looks like I have the smaller version of your, but same basic design. My house is only 2000sq.ft., so mine is right sized. I love the double doors on yours.
 
Warm in RI said:
Stump_Branch said:
Welcome and nice install, other than the purple its my tastes.

heed Backwoods, I jsut cleaned mine last week, on about 2 months of burning. (yes some of it i know was unseasoned) I ended up with about 2/3 - 3/4 a cup maybe more of cresote. not shabby, but i plan on doing that until I gain the perspective.

Stay warm.
Click to expand...

Looks great. Very classy and modern. Btw, my wife loves the purple walls. Looks like the same color she had me paint the guest bedroom/her office. Welcome to the site and to the "hobby".

Al
Click to expand...

Purple was wife's choice, and women seem to love it. It's technically "Cabernet" from Benjamin Moore. Oh well, it's girlie, but I can deal with it :)
 
DanCorcoran said:
Someone with an insert (which it seems is what you have) needs to tell you whether a thermometer will be of any use. It doesn't look like you can access the top of the stove (which is where a woodstove thermometer would normally go), and putting one on the front doesn't tell you anything, as far as I know.

Someone with an insert please correct me if I'm off base.

(Great looking installation, by the way!)


Late edit: your manual says the interior temperature can get up to 932 degrees F. when first starting (500 C.). As you noted, though, it doesn't tell you how or where to measure this. Maybe you should give Lennox customer service a call, to see if an IR thermometer aimed through the glass at the top of the firebox would be of any help.
Click to expand...

I bought an IR and a wood moisture meter off Amazon.com to see if that will help me figure out a little better what I'm dealing with and how wet the red oak is. See if my hunch is correct about the wet wood.
 
yup yup they are designed to burn high, but again you use your wood faster, after tyou get it nice and hot back it down to med/low a nice steady burn, then at night fill it up really good and bring in to low, this will give steady heat but a longer burn. :)
have fun.
 
Your stove is pretty. I'm just a newbie here, but I wouldn't hang those stockings or anything else that close to the stove.
 
summit said:
sounds like the batch of red oak wasn't quit dry.
Click to expand...

So here's a bit of an update. I received my moisture meter, learned how to use it, split some wood, and ran some numbers. The original red oak was showing an average of 21% on the meter, while the white oak replacement wood was showing 14% on average.

Can 7% really make that much difference? I'm amazed at how well the white oak burns, and how crappy the red oak burns. I thought 20% was considered "seasoned" and that it would burn fine, but apparently, my stove likes the dry stuff much better.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

W
Wood burning insert first timer
Replies
10
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
bigealta
bigealta
F
New member. So many questions. What stove??????
Replies
53
Views
3K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
jjam
J
K
  • Locked
New Stove! First Stove! And it's outside :-)!
Replies
129
Views
4K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
begreen
begreen
P
Outside air kit question
Replies
6
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
Poindexter
Poindexter
tinyorchid
First Fire for New Morso 2B Standard, cast iron
Replies
32
Views
2K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
tinyorchid
tinyorchid
Top Bottom
Back