So being that I am almost completely out of firewood, I decided to try pellets.
My first attmpt was a bust as pouring the bag directly into the stove turned out to be a bad idea... it didnt work well at all. then, after poking around my shop for a container to use I came acrossed this nice little wire basket... PErfect! stuck that in there, loaded it up with 20lbs of pellets, started a small wood fire on top of the basket.. to get the pellets lit took about 30 min before the pellets were good and hot...
some observations as I have been burning pellets almost exclusively for a week:
1) pellets last a LONG time in the stove... Like, I load my basket (20lbs) come back 18hours later, and I can relight the stove from the coals alone. the stove is warm to the touch but open the lid, and its toasty still on the inside, and thats with the primary damper open... and my pipe damper shut at 30-40% closed.
2) the stove itself when running at 'normal' temp... seems ALOT hotter than when burning with wood. Like I can keep the stove steady at about 650F with out much effort, where as wood seems to ride the temperature roller coaster.
3) a close eye at about the 30 minute mark is required as flue temps can easily exceed 1000F 4ft above the stove. I am still working out the kinks in this, and adjusting airflow to keep those temps in the 5-700 range... I couple times tho, the needle on my thermostat was majorly pegged to the red... Shocking to say the least.
4) draft is hugely more important with pellets than wood... especially when lighting. However once its lit, burning good and hot, you can just about turn off all air to keep the temps up...
5) I rarely use the main damper in the stove when burning wood, as my pipe I think is one section too short... a problem which ahs arisen thanks to my Magic Heat box you all hate. It smokes too much, and just about puts the fire out lol. However with the pellets, it seems to have the reverse effect of making the stove itself skyrocket in temps... and hold those temps over longer periods. I am currently trying trial and error on this finding the right mixture of flue openess and primary damper... open or closed...
anyone have any suggestions, would be appreciated.
My first attmpt was a bust as pouring the bag directly into the stove turned out to be a bad idea... it didnt work well at all. then, after poking around my shop for a container to use I came acrossed this nice little wire basket... PErfect! stuck that in there, loaded it up with 20lbs of pellets, started a small wood fire on top of the basket.. to get the pellets lit took about 30 min before the pellets were good and hot...
some observations as I have been burning pellets almost exclusively for a week:
1) pellets last a LONG time in the stove... Like, I load my basket (20lbs) come back 18hours later, and I can relight the stove from the coals alone. the stove is warm to the touch but open the lid, and its toasty still on the inside, and thats with the primary damper open... and my pipe damper shut at 30-40% closed.
2) the stove itself when running at 'normal' temp... seems ALOT hotter than when burning with wood. Like I can keep the stove steady at about 650F with out much effort, where as wood seems to ride the temperature roller coaster.
3) a close eye at about the 30 minute mark is required as flue temps can easily exceed 1000F 4ft above the stove. I am still working out the kinks in this, and adjusting airflow to keep those temps in the 5-700 range... I couple times tho, the needle on my thermostat was majorly pegged to the red... Shocking to say the least.
4) draft is hugely more important with pellets than wood... especially when lighting. However once its lit, burning good and hot, you can just about turn off all air to keep the temps up...
5) I rarely use the main damper in the stove when burning wood, as my pipe I think is one section too short... a problem which ahs arisen thanks to my Magic Heat box you all hate. It smokes too much, and just about puts the fire out lol. However with the pellets, it seems to have the reverse effect of making the stove itself skyrocket in temps... and hold those temps over longer periods. I am currently trying trial and error on this finding the right mixture of flue openess and primary damper... open or closed...
anyone have any suggestions, would be appreciated.