After a couple fires in my Lopi Endeavor I have a some questions!(moving air and burning)

[rdust]

The stove is working great, the fire is easy to get going, it makes an awesome fire and the secondary combustion is great to watch. Pagey's posts about running the stove are dead on so thanks for all your info through your varies posts!

My main issue right now is it's still in the 40's here and I'm getting cooked out! I have a blower on the stove and can't use it due to it getting really hot! :lol: I think this will be less of an issue when it gets Michigan cold.

Last night I started the stove with some kindling and small splits, once it got to the coaling stage I placed three medium sized splits(ash/oak) north and south and let it get going, I closed the bypass around 400* and started dialing down the air even with the air almost all closed off I was running around 600* on the top.(with magnet and IR gun) How hot do I have to keep the stove top on a steel stove to burn clean? With the top cruising at 600* it gets way to warm in the stove room, what can I safely dial it down to without causing issues? Is keeping an active flame enough?

What are some tricks/techniques I can use to not over heat the room? Smaller fires/smaller splits etc?

I think I need to move cold air into the room, I placed a small fan in the hallway blowing into the room and it seemed to help some. I've attached the floor plan since I know it'll be asked for. The F in the hallway is where I had the floor fan, the CF is where I have ceiling fan and the x in the family room is where the stove is. I was thinking of using another fan at the top of the stairs blowing down but the stairs turn 90* so I'm not sure if that will help. Any suggestion on moving air I'll be more then happy to try.

Thanks,

Rick

 

[madrone]

We have very mild winters here in general, so I deal with this a lot of the time. I tend to use smaller splits, or branches, and load small loads, which I burn all the way down. Just enough coals to start some kindling for another small load. I seldom load a full load, usually 1/2 to 3/4, even in January, but that's how it is here. Full loads are for overnight. I can keep the house at 72* on 3 loads of 3 or 4 small splits a day. I don't use a thermometer, so can't speak to stovetop temps, but I make sure I have secondaries. I clean the chimney once a year, and it's never been bad, even with less than perfect wood and an outside ss chimney.

My house's layout is simpler than yours, but I find that the ceiling fan makes the biggest difference in heat distribution.

 

[begreen]

Kind of a tough layout for even heat with the fireplace in an isolated room. If possible, I would be tempted to put a fan, low, in an open stud cavity to the right (north) of the fireplace (if there is one), sucking cool air from the family room and blowing it into the LR.

 

[rdust]

Kind of a tough layout for even heat with the fireplace in an isolated room. If possible, I would be tempted to put a fan, low, in an open stud cavity to the right (north) of the fireplace (if there is one), sucking cool air from the family room and blowing it into the LR.

Fireplace is just for the living room, the x in the family room(opposite fireplace) is where the stove is at. Everyone told me to put an insert in that room but I knew I wouldn't be able to move the heat around from having fires in the fireplace. The room get's cooking and that's about the only temp. change in the house.

 

[rdust]

I put in 4 small splits before bed last night about 10:30 and still had some coals left at 7:30 this morning when I was leaving for work. I didn't try to reload since I want to understand the stove better before leaving my wife alone with it. I'm not sure if it was enough for fresh splits to light but I may try it tomorrow morning. Last night was in the 30's and I didn't feel I cooked us out of the family room this time, still warm but livable. :lol: After just a couple fires my wife was already saying how the house was a little chilly before I started last nights fire.

 

[oconnor]

I do the same with a slow speed fan upstairs. It helps with getting the coldest air out of the corners of the bedrooms. The other option is along with what BeGreen describes - get some fire code approved floor registers (fusable links that close in event of fire) and install them in the far corners of the upper rooms. These will allow the cold air to better escape the rooms, and the heat will fill in behind.

 

[begreen]

Kind of a tough layout for even heat with the fireplace in an isolated room. If possible, I would be tempted to put a fan, low, in an open stud cavity to the right (north) of the fireplace (if there is one), sucking cool air from the family room and blowing it into the LR.

Fireplace is just for the living room, the x in the family room(opposite fireplace) is where the stove is at. Everyone told me to put an insert in that room but I knew I wouldn't be able to move the heat around from having fires in the fireplace. The room get's cooking and that's about the only temp. change in the house.

Ah, thanks for the brain nudge. All these floorplans start to look alike

When it's in the 40's we can't keep a steady fire going of large size. After about burning 5 splits, the house is warm enough for hours so I let the fire die out. Such is shoulder season burning. When it gets colder, longer burns and full loads of wood in the stove become the routine. The hallway location looks like a good place to try a fan blowing toward the stove. How large a fan are you using there?

 

[rdust]

The hallway location looks like a good place to try a fan blowing toward the stove. How large a fan are you using there?

It's just a cheap fan I had in the basement, I'd say it's a 12" diameter fan or so. Last night I did a little better, smaller splits and I started closing the primary air a little sooner so I caught it before the room was in melt the skin from your face mode.

 

[Pagey]

Typically, my Endeavor just loves to cruise between 600 and 650F. That's when I get my best heat, and my most active secondary combustion. I'd say the lowest I can run it and maintain a relatively clean burn is around 450F. I was able to run it that way this morning with 3 pine splits loaded e/w rather than n/s. I typically load n/s, and this seems to result in quicker, hotter fires as the splits get more air. You might try a smallish e/w load for kicks n giggles.