Hampton HI200

[mxvet747]

ric5145, How is it going with your insert?

Going good but wish I could keep the glass clean. Unless it is blazing hot all the time the glass gets pretty dirty.

 

[mxvet747]

I have an i200 & it burns hot. I can heat my just under 2000 sq' house when the temps are 20f or above with out using the furnace. Below 20 & it is supplemental heat. The first time I loaded it up full I had a real nail biter. With dry wood it gets very hot.. I put my block off plate at the top of the chimney.

mxvet747 Curious on how your running your damper. Do you pack the box and then damp down to what point after the fire gets rolling? What sort of layout do you have for your house? Is it well insulated?

My home has good insulation but the windows suck!! So I am somewhere in the middle I guess. It really depends on the wood & the weather. Also you need to have a nice bed of hot coals going. With very dry wood & hot coal bed I start open for abot 10 minutes then go down to 1/2 open for 5-10 mins then go down to closted or just a crack open with the fan on low. I know the manual says 1/2" open minimum if blower is on but with good wood & weather I can close it all the way with the fan on low & it still stays very hot. With other wood I may have to stay abot 1/3 open with the fan on low to burn good. With crappy wood about 1/2 open..
I also wanted a bigger insert but I am impressed by how well this one works for the size...

 

[ric5141]

HI there I played around with some temp readings but it really does not make sense until I get some good wood. I did notice that a few loads I could damp it down to the 1/2 inch and the fan would stay on high in the auto position. When that happens the heat,...even the radiant heat is really nice. I did buy the kiln dried wood but have not run it through yet. I think I was just really getting a good handle on the air control and stuffing the box then I ran out of the (semi good ) wood. I am not sure if I want to buy a cord from a local or not. The season (fingers crossed) is almost over. It would be nice to be able to run through into April but I am tossing around wood or oil......

I have no issue with the glass staying clean. It must stay clean because when I burn I have to keep the air control open more to burn the wood I have. As for insulation (on my to do list.... :-S ) This house has almost none. I am working on getting some in the cap first....That should be finished up this spring. After the cap I will see what I can get into the walls. As for my windows I did those a couple of years ago. The windows helped a lot keeping the drafts down in this almost 100 year old house ...

On the bright side I have been cutting and dragging lots of wood to an area where I can do the final bucking and splitting. I hope to have at least 7 to eight cord for next year of dry seasoned Maple, Birch, and Black cherry. There is no Oak on my land....

 

[mxvet747]

Remember you need the thick bed of red coals first & then load it up. Burn a load of the wood you have to get the bed of caols & then load it up with the kiln dried stuff on top of the caols & see what it does.