A few questions for you guys

[raiderfan]

First off, I have to say that I love the new T5!! Getting used to its operation little by little, burn by burn. Yesterday was the first day that I loaded it up to see how that would go. Still not real cold in the basement yet (sitting at 63* so far) so the true test won't come until that temp drops into the mid to low 50's.

Started with two splits on either side of the firebox and across those, horizontally, were kindling and small splits. Underneath that, between the two splits, was a 1/4 of a super cedar and some small kindling. Fired that up (around 9:15am), and let it burn down to coals, (except for the two regular splits on the bottom), before loading her up. Stove top temp was around 300* on reload.

Loaded her up around 12pm and gradually shut the air down, until it was shut down as far as it could go. Stove top temp peaked at 650*, room temp rose to 80*, and upstairs temp (first floor of house) rose 9* -- which was a very pleasant surprise. Total burn time lasted from 12pm until 7pm, when I just threw 3 splits on for the Celtic game. The temp at that time was in between 350 and 300*.

Questions:

1) Burn time: What is meant by that, exactly? Is it from peak temp to reload temp or is it from start up to the stove going out completely? I from the info above, I had around a 7hr burn time, but the last few hours were just coals. Was also reading that I should get a 10hr burn time with this stove?

2) Blower: Blower worked great. Big difference. Really didn't need it yesterday, but used it anyways as I hadn't before and wanted to test it. Probably what helped to distribute the warm air upstairs. Seemed to come on around 350* (on AUTO, according to my rutland stove top thermometer). Problem today though, as the stove was running this morning, and the stove temp went passed 350 all the way to 600, the blower never kicked on. Turned it to MANUAL and ran fine, but when switched back to AUTO, turned right off again. Did i burn something out in one day??

3) Stove Top Temp w/ Blower: So the stove top temp, with blower running on high, went down about 150-200*. From what I read, that should be about right. My question is, though, that that is strictly the stove top temp and not how hot the fire is, right? Meaning, if the stove ran away and got to say, 800*, and I put the blower on high and the temp went down to *600, its still an overfire, correct? I know if I had combustibles near the stove, (which I don't) then that drop would make it safer, but the inside of the stove would still be of concern, correct?

Thanks guys.

 

[begreen]

Good to hear you are having fun with the new stove. Take a table fan and put it at the top of the stairs blowing colder air down the steps. That will help moderate the basement temps and will accelerate the convective loop of heat coming upstairs.

Burn time is a nebulous marketing term defining from start to the point where coals are still glowing enough for a restart. It would be better if they used a more helpful term like Period of Useful Heat. The nice thing with a stove that has a lot of mass like the T5 is that it slowly radiates heat even after the coals have died down. Soapstone stoves also have this attribute. As you get more used to it, you'll easily get 10 hrs from start to restart with the stove.

The blower issue may just be that the stove body hadn't warmed up enough yet. It's not triggered by the temp of the stove at the top. The sensor is low on the stove. If the blower doesn't come on after the stove body has fully heated up, then I would check to be sure the snap switch is making contact firmly with the body of the stove.

Don't angst too much about the stove top at 800F. It is not going to get there very often and the stove can take it. Also, no worry about combustibles as long as they are at least as far away as required by the stove clearance charts. This stove is a convector, I have never noticed the sides getting to the point where I had concerns about nearby furniture or walls.

 

[raiderfan]

Thanks BG.

You know, come to think of it, the whole process today, of starting the stove -- to loading it up -- to shutting the air down was done in a much quicker fashion today as compared to yesterday. I bet that was it -- the stove body itself didn't heat up enough. I just ended up turning it on "Manual", and told my girlfriend to turn it off before she heads to work this afternoon. When I get home and load up the stove again, I'll keep an eye on it to see if it works.

Thanks for the burn time clarification. I was happy with the 7hr burn time of yesterday. It probably could have gone longer, as it was at 325*ish on reload. Coming from the 602, 7hrs feels like 7 days to me!! Burn time to me isn't much of an issue anyways, i guess, as I normally just use it to heat the area that its in, when I plan on hanging out down there. I'm just kind of experimenting with the whole "lets see if i can get some heat upstairs, to stop the boiler from running to heat that zone" thing. I will definitely try the table fan at the top of the stairs in the future.

Hoping to see some nice hot coals in the box when I get home around 3pm today!! My gf said everything in the box now looks bright orange (she said the splits are still intact) and the stove top temp is a little above 400* (with the blower on medium). Going to have her turn the blower off and let it do its thing!

 

[begreen]

Whoa, you let the GF into the man-cave?! Careful or she'll be tidying it up soon.

 

[raiderfan]

Whoa, you let the GF into the man-cave?! Careful or she'll be tidying it up soon.

:red:

Just a trial basis. If i see my beer can empties are removed from the coffee table or the tv channel isn't on ESPN when I turn it on, she won't be asked back!

 

[raiderfan]

You were right on, BG. When I called home to have my gf turn off the blower, she said, "I did. I flipped the switch but it just kept on blowing."

Realizing she simply flipped the switch from "Manual" to "Auto", and didn't turn the knob to "OFF". Well, that's a relief!!