Alderlea T5 operation

[JJXB]

New Alderlea T5 owner here. First off, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS STOVE. The ease of operation, the heat output, how long it holds a bed of coals for, is truly impressive. Burning since the first cool night this fall, I'm also very pleased how efficient the stove burns; my chimney upon inspection last week has never looked so clean in twenty years. To the poster who recommended this stove to me over the summer, THANK YOU. I have zero regrets. I would buy this stove all over again.

The stove goes into a 7" flue, into a 7" chimney. It drafts extremely well. My question is about controlling the stove temp, when reloading it once the stove and chimney up to temperature. As you can see the picture, I have two Condor thermometers installed. I burn a mix of maple and red oak. Once my secondary burn starts up, I'll close down the air all the way and the stove operates fine. The stove top thermometer will read anywhere from 400-650F, and the flue pipe will ready around 350. So far, I've been burning the maple during the day, and save the oak for overnight burns.

Where I have a concern, is if I reload the stove with a full load of oak and get the secondary burning, the stove top will touch 700, and go over depending on how much oak I put in it. The flue temp will be 350-450. This is with the air closed down all the way.

Any thoughts or concerns on how I am operating this? I'm a little concerned with the +700 stove top temp with my air closed down all the way when burning a load full of oak.

 

[begreen]

I'm glad you are enjoying the stove. It's a good, versatile heater. I hit 700º occasionally when burning hardwood. It's ok, but you can prevent it by turning down the air sooner. Do this in increments as soon as the flames get strong. Don't wait to see secondary combustion. When the flames build and are starting to get strong, turn down the air until the flames slow down then wait for the flames to regain strength. This will take 5-10 minutes depending on the split thickness and dryness. When the flame regains strength, turn down the air again.

As a general rule, watch the flue temp more closely than the stovetop temp. That's a better guide. When it hits 400º (surface temp) turn the air down to slow down the flames (and heat lost up the chimney). 300º is ok with the surface thermometer on single wall. That translates into roughly 600º internal flue gas temp.

If you get a chance can you post a quick review in the Ratings section? That's a helpful database for people researching.

 

[JJXB]

I'm glad you are enjoying the stove. It's a good, versatile heater. I hit 700º occasionally when burning hardwood. It's ok, but you can prevent it by turning down the air sooner. Do this in increments as soon as the flames get strong. Don't wait to see secondary combustion. When the flames build and are starting to get strong, turn down the air until the flames slow down then wait for the flames to regain strength. This will take 5-10 minutes depending on the split thickness and dryness. When the flame regains strength, turn down the air again.

As a general rule, watch the flue temp more closely than the stovetop temp. That's a better guide. When it hits 400º (surface temp) turn the air down to slow down the flames (and heat lost up the chimney). 300º is ok with the surface thermometer on single wall. That translates into roughly 600º internal flue gas temp.

If you get a chance can you post a quick review in the Ratings section? That's a helpful database for people researching.

Great reply; thank you. I've typically been waiting till 500 to tame it down.

Will get a post in the Ratings section in a bit.

 

[begreen]

Staying on top of the flue temp makes a big difference in controllability. What you are doing is slowing down the outgassing rate of the wood. A digital probe thermometer helps a lot with staying on top of this. It reacts almost instantly to air changes.

 

[JJXB]

Staying on top of the flue temp makes a big difference in controllability. What you are doing is slowing down the outgassing rate of the wood. A digital probe thermometer helps a lot with staying on top of this. It reacts almost instantly to air changes.

Any recommendation on a digital probe thermometer? I see Condor makes a probe thermometer, but it's only recommended for double l wall pipe.

 

[begreen]

I have an Auber on our stove. The AT-200 is their standard unit.

Thermometer for Stove Pipe,Chimney,Outdoor Wood Boiler,w/ Alarm Thermometer for monitoring temperature on stove, chimney, or outdoor wood boiler [AT200CHIM] - $79.99 : Auber Instruments, Inc., Temperature control solutions for home and industry

This thermometer kit can be used for monitoring the temperature in stove pipes, chimneys, and outdoor wood boilers. This thermometer reads a thermocouple probe, shows the temperature on its red LED display, and makes a buzzing sound when temperature rises above the pre-set alarm temperature. For...

www.auberins.com

They also make a pair that has a wireless remote. This is what I use.

Wireless Thermometer for Stove Pipe,Chimney,Outdoor Wood Boiler Wireless Thermometer for Stove Pipe, Chimney, or Outdoor Wood Boiler [AT210-COMBO] - $139.99 : Auber Instruments, Inc., Temperature control solutions for home and industry

Monitor temperature on your stove or wood boiler from another room in your home.

www.auberins.com

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I start decreasing the air once the frames reliably lick the baffle.

The stove is a really easy breather. I found a key damper really helps out too.

Limiting the combusted gasses going up the flue limits the air going into the stove.

 

[Highbeam]

It would be super easy and cheap to add a key damper to that straight section of pipe above the stove. Then you can always control the burn rate.

 

[JJXB]

I was able to keep it under control last night with a lot of TLC. I'm going to install a key damper for the times it gets roaring.

 

[JJXB]

Merry Christmas to everyone. On Tuesday I installed a key damper. This has made a huge difference. I can now 'load it for bear', and keep it under 600-625. Thank you for all the replies.

 

[begreen]

Great, thanks for the update. That will extend burn time too. I recommend getting a flue thermometer for running the stove. There is a lot of lag time on getting the stove up to temperature vs flue temp. One note, if it gets really cold outside, the stove can take a 700-725º stovetop without damaging it.
Have a great holiday!

 

[clancey]

How many hours of burn do you get begreen and how many logs do you put into it to start..clancey

 

[begreen]

That depends on the temperature outside. A partial load of 4-5 splits in milder 40º+ weather often suffices and could be good for 6-8 hrs. In colder weather I fill the stove up, the number of splits depends on how thick they are. With temps in the 30s we get a 10-12hr burn out of this load, but in colder weather, that might drop down to 8 hrs or even less depending on how hard I need to push the stove. We're about to experience a deep freeze starting tonight, so we will see. I'll be burning madrona hardwood for the coming week.

 

[begreen]

This is a typical winter reload.

 

[JJXB]

Great, thanks for the update. That will extend burn time too. I recommend getting a flue thermometer for running the stove. There is a lot of lag time on getting the stove up to temperature vs flue temp. One note, if it gets really cold outside, the stove can take a 700-725º stovetop without damaging it.
Have a great holiday!

Can you recommend something different than the condor probe, that doesn't required to be plugged in to electric? I can't seem to find a probe thermometer for single wall.

And are the Condor probe thermometers really a no-go for a single wall flue pipe?
I was reading the Q&A on amazon:
Can this be used on a single wall pipe as well? Is there anything to melt? Thank you!
Answer:
Single wall pipe is fine. Just clean the probe with a soft (brass) wire brush once in a while otherwise it will not be accurate. I'm not even going there with the melting.
By Paul G. on January 14, 2015
Yes it can be used any single wall flu pipe. Nothing has melted yet on mine and this is my third year I could not be any more pleased.
By James Tennessen on November 1, 2014
I think it would work for a single wall pipe. We have had ours for about a year now and nothing has melted. We live where it is cold 8 months a year so we get a lot of use out of it.
By freezinnak on November 2, 2014
Yes, it has been mounted in our single wall pipe since purchase with no problems.
By Rowdy on November 2, 2014
Its a stove pipe thermometer, why would you think anything would MELT? ( DUHHHH! )

 

[Todd]

I’ve tried the condor flue probe on single wall pipe and tested it with an Arbure thermocouple and found the condor to read about 100 degrees high. Probably from the heat radiating off the pipe. I think I just pulled it out a tad to get a closer reading to the thermocouple.

 

[marty319]

This is a typical winter reload.

View attachment 288455

I liked it better with the other stuff you had loaded In there the other day😁

 

[JJXB]

This is a typical winter reload.

View attachment 288455

That's what I call 'loaded for bear'.

 

[Woody5506]

On my T5 I'm not all that concerned with high stove top temp, more so concerned with high flue temp. I've definitely had my stove top thermometer pegged over plenty of times and no I do not recommend doing that but that stove can handle those high temps. Fortunately the stove reacts very quickly to the air adjustments so in the case of an overfire, turning the adjustment all the way down gets things back to proper temp within a few minutes.