More confused now than before

[Butcher]

Got my IR gun this weekend and put it to work right away. Found that 2 of my rutland thermometers were pretty well dead on as far as temps. What I am finding though is that the left front of the stovetop is always around 75° cooler than the right side. I checked the insulation and it is laying up there as it should be. I also found the very center of the stovetop will run 125° hotter than the right front corner. I'm assuming this is normal from the heat being sucked toward the flue collar?
Right now I am using the hot corner as an indicator to when I start shutting down the air as it seems to coinside with flue temps getting to where I want them. If I went with the cooler corner my flue temps would be well into the over burn spectrum.
Am I on the right track? Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[oldspark]

Sounds like it, different stoves have the hot spots in various places and I think you found yours. My temp sensors read low it the mid range and high in the upper temps but still a good reference, glad to have the IR testor and it sounds like you are too.

 

[firefighterjake]

I found the temps in the four corners of this stove varied quite a bit . . . I ended up going with the right rear corner as it was consistently hotter . . . my theory is that ash tends to get pushed up and built up on the right side so the wood sits up higher than on the left side.

So yeah . . . you're doing what I have done pretty much . . . putting the thermo on the hottest corner . . . and I think you're right about the oval plate being hotter due to the path of the exhaust gas.

 

[Butcher]

Thanks guys. I was sure surprized to see that oval plate in the middle bumpin up to 725°. No wonder I gotta refill the cast iron teapot so often.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks guys. I was sure surprized to see that oval plate in the middle bumpin up to 725°. No wonder I gotta refill the cast iron teapot so often.

If you have a trivet you may not have to fill it quite so often.

 

[remkel]

Sounds completely normal to me. I see the same variations around my stove. I have settled on the right rear for my thermo.

 

[Stubborn Dutchman]

Sounds completely normal to me. I see the same variations around my stove. I have settled on the right rear for my thermo.

That is where I have mine located. As a newbee, I'm glad Jotul has a diagram in the manual showing where to take the readings. If I had put it dead center I probably would have been real nervous abut high temps. The center plate gets well over 100 degrees hotter than the corners do!