Am I being too cautious?

[BigAcres]

Hello my fellow burners. Sorry if this is long, but I'm looking for an educated response . I've got the heatilator constitution and have had quite a few fires in it now. Some of which have lasted about 48 hours. I'm an ex firefighter and so I know I'm a little cautious and over anxious. But here we go.

First let me start with the house: 2150sqft ranch. 9' ceilings throughout main floor and basement with a 900sqft great room with cathedral ceilings. Its pretty open layout with great room in the center and 2 bedrooms and bathroom on one side and master bed/bath and office on the other side.

When I burn i constantly monitor temps unless i really have the air choked off like i do at night or after i leave in the morning (the wife isnt ready to poke and throw wood in....yet). The hottest I've gotten the top of the fireplace and into the chimney is about 420deg. At that point the stove is putting out a lot of heat, but with the expansion of all the metal, the pinging and popping sorta freak me out, so i like to throttle it back to about 350 ish. I have not been able to "cruise" at 350 just because of my wood selection. Im burning oak, poplar, and maple so depending on what I throw in there i can tell the burn temps are different.

My main question is probably what i think but can i run it hotter without any worry? Once i do it a few times i will get more comfortable, i feel like im being too cautious. Also, I notice quite a temp difference from the mian floor to the basement, even with a heat zone kit blowing warm air down there, it doesnt seem to help much. I close all the HVAC vents in the great room and run my furnace fan at 25%. Should i run my furnace fan at a higher speed to help circulate the heat or will that in essence cool the air more? Also, on comparible units (I know the QF7100 and a few others are basically the same) where do you measure temps and what do you see or what would a MAX temp be? I've read that the manufactures will give you zero info on temps and what over fire temp would be.

Thanks for any and all advice, even if you have to tell me to chill.... ive been known to be anxious!!

 

[ShawnLiNY]

Do I understand correctly , stove is on first floor and you are attempting to heat a basement? As far as temps I feel you are being very conservative I have a small enameled cast iron stove that can easily cruise in 500 range

 

[BigAcres]

Sorry, yes fireplace is on main floor. Im trying to heat the while house as evenly as possible. I understand that the fireplace room will be warmer generally which is fine. It would be great to get the great room to 72-75ish and then have the bedrooms/basement 67ish .

 

[ShawnLiNY]

I’m not sure how effective this will work in this situation , but the ONLY way to get warm air into a cold space is to bring the cold air into the heating area and the warmer air will fill the space the colder air occupied ! Does this make sense to you ?idealy you would have cold air exhausted near stove and your air handler pumping heated air downstairs , is it possible to rig a temporary intake from great room ?

 

[BigAcres]

I’m not sure how effective this will work in this situation , but the ONLY way to get warm air into a cold space is to bring the cold air into the heating area and the warmer air will fill the space the colder air occupied ! Does this make sense to you ?idealy you would have cold air exhausted near stove and your air handler pumping heated air downstairs , is it possible to rig a temporary intake from great room ?

I understand completely. This is a new build so i won't be rigging anything but I do want my HVAC company to put in a few cold air returns in the basement. My basement is a walkout with approx 30% of it being walkout. I have 6 windows and a 8' doorwall down there. Originally they installed 7 heat ducts down there but no cold air returns. Adding a few cold air returns would probably help some.

 

[kborndale]

Very tough to get hot air to go downstairs. Would it be possible to put a small stove or insert in the basement?

 

[BigAcres]

Very tough to get hot air to go downstairs. Would it be possible to put a small stove or insert in the basement?

I don't want to add another insert. I may end up doing some electric heaters for supplement down there .

 

[ShawnLiNY]

I don't want to add another insert. I may end up doing some electric heaters for supplement down there .

If you decide to go the electric route , look into oil filled baseboard they are more money up front but will definitely save you over the long run and be much more comfortable .

 

[Highbeam]

All electric resistance heaters are 100% efficient. Don’t fall for gimmicks. The wall heaters are just fine and actually a pretty decent way to go for supplemental basement heat.

 

[BigAcres]

Ive never heard of the oil filled heaters, I'll look into them when the time comes. I like the electric heaters, they are efficient and quiet!

 

[Sawset]

We went with electric heat in the basement. On demand, efficient, quiet. We don't use it often, but it is nice to switch it on and off in a moment. We tried the furnace fan and added returns. Trying to force warm air down (or cold air up) failed to make enough of a difference to continue.

 

[dBrad]

I have the QF 7100 and the pinging was normal for the first several hot fires. As I understand it, it's normal for most all of these ZC units, and probably most steel stoves period. Where are you measuring that 350 temp?

 

[Eureka]

Let that thing rip, it was made to run hot. I have a Kozy Heat z42 in the living room, which looks to be similar and in the same class as your Heatilator. I routinely get the front of the stove above the doors at or over 600° for the last 3 years. I still get the burnt paint smell once in a while with an especially hot fire. It doesn't put out good heat unless it's burning hot with secondaries rolling. There is no "low" heat output setting that I've had success with; it likes to be filled and fired hot or I get black firebox and glass. It heats too well for my newly built house and I could have gone smaller.

Point is, new tube stoves are designed to run hot and won't perform well (or safely after some time of cool burning) unless they are. I've found that splitting very small and doing short fires work best for me to get the stove hot and running clean, and then coast off the heat in the stove for a few hours. Trying to drive wood heat down is an uphill battle that many fight but seldom win. The little pinging sounds from the stove are the sound of it heating your house, embrace it!

 

[BigAcres]

Thanks everyone for the advice. It sounds like I will give up on the heating the basement, the heat zone was my first attempt which back fired. Sounds like many people have tried other means of transferring the heat without success.. Id say my main concern now is how hot to get this thing .

 

[BigAcres]

I have the QF 7100 and the pinging was normal for the first several hot fires. As I understand it, it's normal for most all of these ZC units, and probably most steel stoves period. Where are you measuring that 350 temp?

I get the 350-400 temp from the top of the fireplace behind the front grill. I get similar temps on the chimney pipe that you can see through the grill as well. How hot should or can I get that area?

 

[begreen]

Where is the temperature being measured? Is this with the blower on?

As noted, it's really hard to heat a basement from above unless the basement is small and very well insulated.

It's a bad idea to block off vents and run the furnace fan. That imbalances the system which can cause the blower to race and lead to premature burnout.

 

[BigAcres]

Where is the temperature being measured? Is this with the blower on?

As noted, it's really hard to heat a basement from above unless the basement is small and very well insulated.

It's a bad idea to block off vents and run the furnace fan. That imbalances the system which can cause the blower to race and lead to premature burnout.

Temp is being measured on the top of the fire box as far as I can tell. Looking through the faceplate I'm measuring the top plate of the fireplace and the beginning portion of the chimney i believe.

 

[begreen]

Is this with the blower on?

Are you measuring through the top arched grillework with an IR thermometer?

 

[BigAcres]

Is this with the blower on?

Are you measuring through the top arched grillework with an IR thermometer?

Yes with blower on and yes through the top arched grill with a ir thermometer.

 

[dBrad]

I routinely run my 7100 at 700-800 when measuring at that spot (I have a magnetic thermometer attached to the base of the black pipe where it connects to the firebox before the double-wall chimney pipe begins (this is the same cavity where the blower air exits into the room). That's about the temp I see there when my secondaries really start rolling.

Before I figured out the automatic blower fan feature, I would usually wait until I heard some pinging before even turning on the blower fan - now I just leave it on med/low and it comes on when the firebox gets hot enough. If I keep the air on and the fan off, it'll rise above 800 quickly, but even low fan will keep it under 800 no problem, and that's about where I like to run it. My wood this year hasn't been stellar because 2018 was incredibly wet here in the SE (it's semi-covered outside, but still...), so 500-700 has probably been more my average this year, but when I do manage to bring in a good batch of wood this thing burns great in the 800 range.

Honestly I can't imagine getting much heat at all out of it at 350.

 

[BigAcres]

I routinely run my 7100 at 700-800 when measuring at that spot (I have a magnetic thermometer attached to the base of the black pipe where it connects to the firebox before the double-wall chimney pipe begins (this is the same cavity where the blower air exits into the room). That's about the temp I see there when my secondaries really start rolling.

Before I figured out the automatic blower fan feature, I would usually wait until I heard some pinging before even turning on the blower fan - now I just leave it on med/low and it comes on when the firebox gets hot enough. If I keep the air on and the fan off, it'll rise above 800 quickly, but even low fan will keep it under 800 no problem, and that's about where I like to run it. My wood this year hasn't been stellar because 2018 was incredibly wet here in the SE (it's semi-covered outside, but still...), so 500-700 has probably been more my average this year, but when I do manage to bring in a good batch of wood this thing burns great in the 800 range.

Honestly I can't imagine getting much heat at all out of it at 350.

Wow thats incredible! I wonder how much heat transfers to the outside layer of pipe in your attic. It just creeps me out, hopefully a few more opinions roll in on this. 800 is hot

 

[begreen]

Yes with blower on and yes through the top arched grill with a ir thermometer.

Done this way, the readings will be about 100-150º lower than with the blower off. Sounds like you are in the zone and burning well, but I wouldn't be concerned about cruising in the 450-500º range. You could turn off the blower for 5 minutes and take a reading if you want to get that reading. I would not exceed 750º for the blower off reading.

 

[dBrad]

I wondered about the chimney pipe temps too, so I started the stove's break-in process as soon as it was installed in the house (new construction and no sheetrock was installed yet). Lit several fires over the course of a week and let each subsequent one get hotter. With the first few fires the outside of the SL300 was barely even warm. The last fire I let get good and hot to get rid of the paint smell, and the pipe was warmer - still not worrisome though. I could leave my hand on it briefly so it was likely under 140. If the unit is installed properly and clearances are maintained as recommended, imo 800 at the collar is fine.

 

[BigAcres]

Thanks everyone. I will begin letting it burn hotter. My secondaries have yet to really maintain burning more than 15 20 minutes after choking the air down some.

 

[BigAcres]

I wondered about the chimney pipe temps too, so I started the stove's break-in process as soon as it was installed in the house (new construction and no sheetrock was installed yet). Lit several fires over the course of a week and let each subsequent one get hotter. With the first few fires the outside of the SL300 was barely even warm. The last fire I let get good and hot to get rid of the paint smell, and the pipe was warmer - still not worrisome though. I could leave my hand on it briefly so it was likely under 140. If the unit is installed properly and clearances are maintained as recommended, imo 800 at the collar is fine.

What was ambient temp during this time?