Englander 12 FP to 13 NC?

[GAMMA RAY]

Hi, I have been operating a 12 FP all this season. I have read all the posts regarding this stove. I know it is not very popular. I have spent tons of time learning this stove and overall have had good results. However, I have seen the 13 in action and am very impressed with the operation as well as it is EPA certified.

Home Depot has the 13 on sale for 537.00. My question is how much more of a learning curve will it be getting used to operating the 13?

From what I have read here people say that it is very hard to burn the 12 if you do not have good seasoned wood. Is that true?
If I don't have any difficulty burning the wood I have in the 12 does that mean the wood will burn more easily in the 13? I have read some conflicting posts.

I got the 12 to heat the mancave and the heat circulates well through most of the 1st floor with ceiling fans and the blower. I think I would get more heat with less wood with this stove.

I have learned so much from this forum. I swear I am addicted to it. I thank all the "seasoned" burners for the excellent advice.

 

[cmonSTART]

I'm sure you'll figure the 13 out quickly. S7 is a good price!

 

[tcassavaugh]

Im' not familiar with the stoves, but i am familiar with going from a old cat Dutchwest/Vermont casting that wasn't very fussy to a new EPA Summitt that is very picky about what i try to feed it. As is touted over and over again in the fourms here, the wood seasoning and dryness is most of the key to these new stoves. Dry wood = good performance, Not to dry = lesser performance. If you've burned before, the learning curve should be ok. Its mostly in the wood condition.

cass

 

[reaperman]

This is my first real season using the 13, and my first epa stove. I have to mention that the stove is not in my house, but in our kennel. I have a wood furnace in my house. I bought the stove last Feb on clearance at HD also ($300, a smokin deal). I didnt use it last season much though. The little stove does heat well, once a fire is going. But I'm still trying to get longer burn times. By burn times, I'm refering to actual burning time, not including coals. My wood is oak that has been seasoned for 3+ years. Once the wood starts buring, it seems there is no way to stop it or slow it down. I havent tried a butterfly damper and probably wont. But it does take some getting use to the fact that their is no way to reduce the air that enters the stove. I tried plugging one of the holes in the doghouse with a bolt to reduce the air. But then it seems like that one side of the stove starves for air and doesnt burn all of the wood. I occasionally put a rag in the air intake hole in the back of the stove, and that does slow it down some. What does help in burning is having about 2 inches of ash on the bottom of the stove. Otherwise its hard to lite a fire from scratch. The doghouse holes need to blow under the wood to get it going. Without a couple on inches of ashes the doghouse air blows midway up on the log, and the log seems to block the air from getting to the rest of the stove. But with a little tinkering and learned log placement, the stove does heat very well. Last night it was -25F and the kennel (1200 sq ft) was 74 degrees as long as there was a fire.

I would recommend the stove for anyone looking for a smaller stove. I believe if this stove were in my home, where I could monitor it better I would be more efficient at using it. Instead of running outside and putting on a couple of splits every few hours. I'd say I get a good 4 to 5 hours of heat with medium sized splits. Rounds do last longer.

 

[BrotherBart]

But reality is that $537 will buy the difference in wood consumed for a long time.

 

[Big Al]

There will be a difference in operation. I converted my 12 to secondary burn technology and had to relearn the best way to get the best performance, in fact I'm still learning. Many variables...wood size, condition, weather conditions etc all come into play. It's fun learning though, like a challenge...always looking for the better burn.
And the results are worth it.

My 12 could be finicky with less than ideal wood because the 12 doesn't have "zipper" or "dog house" air. It relies on airwash alone and at times that won't be enough combustion air to get wet wood burning. If you're doing well with the wood you have then you should be all set with the 13 I would imagine.

As BB said, you will get more heat from less wood. The reason being, the smoke that the 12 is sending up the chimney will be burned in the 13. That's why the two stoves are the same size, yet the 13 is rated to heat a larger area.

Hope that helps.

Al

 

[PunKid8888]

But it does take some getting use to the fact that their is no way to reduce the air that enters the stove.

Yup that is my biggest gripe with this stove. Its my second year with the 13 and last year it got hot a few times. This year I thought I had it all figured out till last night. It was -8F outside and still 64F in the house at 2am after a nice 5 hour burn. Honestly I was very impressed. But the bed of coals was still very hot, and I should have waited another hour before the reload. but with the outside temp so cold I decided to load it, and I actually loaded up pretty heavy too. I baby sat it for about 20mins reducing the air down to about an 1/8" and about 550F stove top. I watched and the fire seamed very stable, and most of the wood had been charred. My thoughts were it would creep to 600F maybe 650F in the next hour or so and eventually settle back down. I went to bed and was woken up by the smell of hot metal. Instantly I jumped out of bed and checked on the stove, 800F and its an inferno. I slammed the air close and put on the blower, I then grabbed my tinfoil (always near the stove) and covered the intake. It stayed at 800F for over 10mins, before finally coming back down. Once it was back to 700F I changed my pants and went to bed, leaving it all closed up. The only good thing was it was 72F in my house while it was -8F outside, that's an 80 degree difference in temperature!

After last night I plan on looking over the air inlets and welding some type of flapper to close them off in a runaway like that.

 

[begreen]

I slammed the air close and put on the blower,

Why was the air open/blower off for an overnight burn?