Newbie ALMOST looking forward to the winter!

[Prishie]

I know I made the mistake of a newbie. I bought 4 tons of Envi Blocks but haven't bought any wood yet! I have a contact who says he get true 'seasoned' wood so hopefully I'll be okay. My question is, what is the best thermometer to purchase? I have a Quadra Fire Cumberland Gap stove. Thanks, Trish.

 

[BruceNorEast]

Hi Trish, welcome. I too am looking forward to the stove heat, but would be very happy to go from fall to spring, skipping winter altogether

I don't have an answer for your thermometer. But I do want to make sure that you have considered the possibilities of using the Enviro-Blocks (or any similar products); these may void your warranty. You may want to use these to augment any wood you get instead of being the primary fuel. Also, there are quite a few posts here of people recommending how to use these blocks - that they should be tightly packed to avoid over firing the stove.

I apologize if you've already considered all of this and more. Best of luck to you and hope you enjoy your stove!
Bruce.

 

[BurnIt13]

I've had good luck with Condar's thermometers. I have both a stove top and a double wall stovepipe probe type thermometer. I tend to keep my eyes on the probe-type more often.

 

[firefighterjake]

Another vote for Condar thermometers . . . at least I've had good luck with them and have found the accuracy pretty decent.

 

[Prishie]

Another vote for Condar thermometers . . . at least I've had good luck with them and have found the accuracy pretty decent.

Condor it is, thanks guys! Trish

 

[Prishie]

Condor it is, thanks guys! Trish

Meant Condar

 

[Grisu]

I know I made the mistake of a newbie. I bought 4 tons of Envi Blocks but haven't bought any wood yet!

Not sure why you said you made a mistake? I think with a bit of care you can burn those blocks exclusively and enjoy your stove. Here are some tips on how to use them:
http://www.ecobrick.net/instructions
Start with a few at the beginning and then slowly work yourself up to filling the whole box with them. I am sure after a week you have figured out how to adjust the air to keep the temps in check and enjoy long burn times. I should add that when I started burning a lot of pine instead of hardwood it was almost like trying to figure out a new stove. It took me a few days to know when the close the air to not get a runaway fire.

 

[BrotherBart]

Agree. There is a learning curve with a new stove, cord wood or blocks. Start slow and get in sync with how it burns with different loads.

 

[firefighterjake]

Meant Condar

Good catch . . . it's hard to keep those condors attached to the hot stove for very long and I don't think they're very accurate when it comes to reading temps. Condars are a different story.

 

[Treacherous]

This unit works well if you want to track flue temps.

 

[Boomer Sailor]

I traded in my Jotul F-3 after 2 years for what I have now AND burned Envi-8 blocks. Your 4 tons should easily get you through the winter without any problem! Just be careful - those suckers are full of btu power and can over-fire your stove easily. My advice... just go S L O W L Y and burn a little at a time until you truly understand how to burn them carefully. There is a big difference if you're using, say, just 3 blocks and space them out - or - place them 'side to side' tightly as if the 3 blocks were just 1 big block!

I didn't mind using Envi blocks - but the wife HATED IT and was afraid to load the stove if I wasn't home (she works days - I work evenings, so needless to say I was never home after her until 1:30am... whereas the fire would be out most of the time and nothing more than a few embers remaining to try and get the stove burning again)