Bought two cords of crapwood on Craigslist last winter (my bad). Lots of splitter trash. With that, I was able to stack it up fairly well and get it ready for this year. There are many 12" long splits, to which I thought I could burn north-south, like many of you do on a regular basis. The last few cold nights I have loaded her up in this manner. Despite closing off the air immediately, I am off and running at 850*+ and putting the blower on high so as to not melt down the stove. Temperature taken with my cheapo infrared thermometer from harbor freight. You cant really pack the splits tight with this junk. No glowing parts or weird sounds from the stove. I'm wondering if I am damaging my stove or is the themometer off? I point the laser inside the blower vent, close to the flue.
On the bright side, it was 30* out and I had the upstairs of my 2800' house at 70*, but between the fans blowing and the blower on the stove, my house sounded like an WWII airfield. My guess is that I have softwood, with too much space within the splits. My concern is overfiring the stove. 650* is a normal high temp for me.
Jotul C550, by the way.
On the bright side, it was 30* out and I had the upstairs of my 2800' house at 70*, but between the fans blowing and the blower on the stove, my house sounded like an WWII airfield. My guess is that I have softwood, with too much space within the splits. My concern is overfiring the stove. 650* is a normal high temp for me.
Jotul C550, by the way.
