Determining flue temps and secondary burn

[FireNewbie]

First of all hello to everyone. This is my first post since lurking for a bit. First week of January I had a Regency H-2100 hearth stove installed with a liner in the exsisting chimney. After reading a few posts about flue temps and secondary burn I have a few questions. How, where, and is it possible to mount and use a thermometer to monitor the temps? I have learned by trial and error what I think are good temps with regards to backing down the air and having secondary combustion, but I have doubts if I am correct. Seems like I am not getting the burn times alot of you speak of. Advice please...

 

[cmonSTART]

Well, the best places to measure surface temperature are on the stove top itself and about 18" up the pipe if possible. As for what temperatures to to start backing down your air control, that really depends a lot on your setup and it will come with practice and experience. Get the stove nice and hot before starting to cut back the air. Do it in increments, and check to see if you have any visible smoke coming from your chimney once in a while.

Burn times with my 30-NC fully loaded where the the stove produces meaningful heat are about 5 or 6 hours usually.

 

[FireNewbie]

Thanks. I have been watching the chimney smoke or lack of it when it's burning right! Was just wondering some temp estimates for efficiancy with regard to air control and burn times. I only have a 1.6 cu ft. box so still learning about split size and amount. Seems I am only getting about a 3-4 hour actual burn time using mixed hardwoods.

 

[Todd]

Since your insert sticks out some you have an advantage over other insert owners and can put a stove top thermometer right on center top. Experiment with turning the air down at different temp readings to see what works best for you. It will take some trial and error but a thermometer is a great tool to learn what's going on.

 

[FireNewbie]

Stove top thermometer it is then. Now the search.... Any better than others, recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Todd]

I like these.

http://www.condar.com/stove_top_meters.html

 

[firefighterjake]

I like these.

http://www.condar.com/stove_top_meters.html

+1 . . . I like the Condar thermometers.