First Impressions and a few ?'s

[hct4all]

First I would like to thank every one for all the advice and great information I have received here.

A little background info.

Englander 13NC self installed in a 600 square foot camp. I still have to make it pretty and tile the back. All clearances are exceeded.
8' Single wall pipe. 6' of class a chimney.
Old heating method was a large noisy electric furnace. Then switched to a modern 20,000 BTU wall mount heating fan and small room elec heaters in the bedrooms.

Camp is located in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania

I had a startup fire when installed in April outside. Then in May I completed the install and had a small fire that I to cure the paint.

This weekend I was at camp hunting. The weather was perfect. Frosty mornings and high 48 - 58 degrees.

So I installed my CO detector and extra smoke alarms and had at it!

I have never been this warm at camp. Slept in shorts and a light blanket. Even the floors were warm. With the old heating systems the place was tolerable but never really comfortable. Not this time. Even with the high winds and temps in the low 30's it was awesome!

I went to the local hardware store that usually has everything and I was going to pick up a stove thermometer but they were out, so I was kind of flying blind.

I has pretty good burn times for my first go around and a small fire box.
Last load 11:00 still had good coals and decent heat output at 5:30
Burning well seasoned walnut, elm and cherry. Can't wait until the oak is seasoned.

Now for the questions.

1) Bart can I have a shirt?
2) Where is the best place to put a thermometer on an Englander 13NC?
3) How deep should the coal/ash bed be?
4) Should I choke the stove all the way down for overnight burns or leave it open a little? I choked it all the way down after going down by 1/3's every 10 min.
5) I was on the roof fiddling with the dish and noticed 1 creosote drip and a thin film of amber creosote inside the pipe. Is this normal already?
The fire in May was poor. I had a hard time starting it and could not keep it going. This time things went great.


Thank you!

Rick

 

[ckarotka]

I have the same stove but it's still kinda new to me, purchased in Jan 2010 and installed the same time.

I place my thermo a few inches back from the front lip on top just off center rt.

As far as how far to shut her down.....time will tell, every set up is different. Mine really likes the wood around 20% learned that last year when I struggled a bit. So far this year with better wood things are going fine.

Try building a fire like you would for the night during the day so you can watch it all the way through a burn cycle, that helped me.

That stove might heat you out at 800 sqft, but it's a nice problem to have especially when in the cold all day hunting.

Happy burnin you'll love that stove I know I do.

 

[soupy1957]

!. "Shirt?" What Shirts? I want one!!
2. 18" above the top surface of the stove, on the flue pipe (Condar is a fine one).
3. 1/2" bed of ash/coals, at all times..........take out the rest. Store safely.
4. Choke it down to the level that your stove and draft can tolerate. Some stoves (like mine), if you
choke it all the way down, it'll smolder, and you DON'T want THAT!
5. Burning wet wood, or trash will be a promoter of creosote, ........don't know
about the "dripping" but.....just burn dry seasoned wood, and don't burn
colored paper or trash, treated wood or painted wood.

P.S.: When you've got the wood stove crankin.........AND........the kitchen stove..........that's a heck of a lot of heat coming from that one part of the camp!! I know you said you were going to do some more work on the surrounding surfaces, but I'm wondering about that wood behind the stove. Paneling?



-Soupy1957