New Guy wih a few questions on my PE

[BurningBrutus]

Hello Gentleman and Ladies,

I found this great web sight after i purchased my Pacific Energy Super Insert. Lots of great info on this sight and hope to learn a lot and make new friends!. My first question is am I operating my insert correctly? I feel as i am not getting the long burns as you guys are, or maybe i am interpreting the language wrong? For example, this morning at 1015am i loaded my insert with 2/3 full of wood, at 1230 i have little wood left with just about no flame, after that i have red hot ashes for a while. At 1015 i got the wood going for about 15 min then i turn it all the way down, i see blue flame and secondary's etc. I feel as i maybe have to much draft? or is what i am describing normal, please see pics below, these are after 2 hours and 15 min. the last pics are my dog enjoying the heat I just hope i didnt purchase the wrong brand, i spent alot of money.

thank you

Chris

 

[Sons924]

good looking dog. you should be able to get more then 2 hours. hopefully someone with the same insert chimes in.

 

[USMC80]

Bad ass dog! Are you dialing the air down little by little?

 

[BurningBrutus]

Thanks, he is still a puppy, only 1 year 4 months old, he's a bull mastiff. To be honest i do not know how long the wood has been split for, according to the "guy" i got it from over a year, it has been in my garage stacked for about 2 months or so. This first face chord is cut into a little smaller pieces than i would like. I look forward to putting bigger pieces in. I with i could throw in large rounds. As for the dial it down little by little, NO. i usually wait for it to be going good then i just lower it down all the way. Should i be going down in steps??? what are the advantages?

 

[begreen]

I would say bigger splits are in order. Small, dry splits burn up quickly. And try turning down the air a bit fasters, increments say 5 minutes apart.

How tall is the flue on the insert?

 

[BurningBrutus]

If you are referring to the flue length? I would say 25ft long with 2ft of it sticking out the top with the cap

 

[Sprinter]

That's about what I'm getting right now, but only because I want just a quick hot fire for a couple of hours to get the chill off the cold morning. If you use small splits and stack them loosely in the stove 3/4 full, then what you are getting is probably about right and that's what I've been doing lately.

After lighting, watch the fire closely and as soon as you see that the secondaries are starting to work and the chimney stops smoking outside, turn the control down about 1/2, then another 1/2 after a few minutes until you get all the way down or maybe 1/2" off. With 25' of flue, you probably will be running all the way down most of the time.

Everybody has a different idea of what burn time means. Usually it means just having enough coals to start a reload, but the stove itself could be only warm. You should be able to get 8 or 10 hours or so with a stuffed stove of larger splits with the air all the way down, but there are a lot of variables there like quality of wood, draft, etc.

What kind of wood do you have?

 

[Sprinter]

I just hope i didnt purchase the wrong brand, i spent alot of money.

You didn't. The Super is a well established, highly regarded stove with many happy users here, including me. Mine is a free standing version of your insert.

You'll soon learn how to get the most out of it.

 

[BurningBrutus]

Thanks Sprinter, i did a lot of research and for the money and quality from what i read i am getting more comfortable with my purchase. I am not really sure what exact kind of wood i have, the wood guy told me a mix "hardwoods" So i will have to assume its the standard mix. Like i said i look forward to seeing my burn times increase as you described with bigger wood splits, i would love to throw big rounds in, as the opening is pretty big. I appreciate the help.

 

[Sprinter]

When you say "rounds", have they been split at all? Wood really needs to have been split in order to dry properly. In any case, you should get yourself a moisture meter and see for sure what the moisture content is of the wood you're burning. If you don't measure it, it's only a guess and it's too important to guess. A two pin model like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/DUSIEC-Handheld-Digital-Moisture-Content/dp/B004KWAQAI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382656468&sr=8-2&keywords=moisture meter

You split open a piece and put the pins in on a freshly split face. Then you know for sure. 20% is ideal. 25% is "okay", but more than that you need to take steps.