Any downside to running stove on low for extended periods?
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Since the temps inside will be low, there is always a chance of creosote-type buildup, and windows tend to get dirty faster.
Some stove manufacturers recommend running their stove on high for an hour or so every day....I think St. Croix is one of them.
Some stove manufacturers recommend running their stove on high for an hour or so every day....I think St. Croix is one of them.
I find that when I run on low for extended periods, the stove gets dirty much faster than normal. Everything gets covered in a nasty soot. If I'm running low alot, when I think about it, I'll crank it up and burn some of the soot off.
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
St Croix does indeed recommend a high burn for a while every day. I seldom do it, as I don't run my stove under #3, and that's hot enough to keep things cleaned out. It idles at #1 at times (thermostat), but not enough to crud things up.
My stove gets loaded up good with ash if I run it long term on #1
and the glass gets nasty quick too.
Running it on the highest setting (#5) for a bit is supposed
to help "burn things off" but I never saw it do much for the glass
once it's grimey.
The manual for mine recommends 20-30 mins a day on high. I usually
kick it up for 20 while having my coffee in the morning if for
no other reason to make sure I'm following the Mfg's recommendations.
and the glass gets nasty quick too.
Running it on the highest setting (#5) for a bit is supposed
to help "burn things off" but I never saw it do much for the glass
once it's grimey.
The manual for mine recommends 20-30 mins a day on high. I usually
kick it up for 20 while having my coffee in the morning if for
no other reason to make sure I'm following the Mfg's recommendations.
my stove gets loaded up with ash also when i run it on low. the glass gets messy also. i dont run mine to high for too long of a period cause it will heat me out of the house this time of the year
Yeah, when its really cold outside, it probably won't be enough heat to keep warm!mepellet said:
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
When mine is cold, I just use a damp sponge. Works great for me. I don't clean the glass when it's hot.
This time of year, I run almost exclusively on low. The stove is usually off during the day but when the wife lights it at night, the thermostat is calling for heat so the stove runs on 3 or 4 until the room reaches temp, then it's down to low. My window stays clean but I do check for creosote buildup at the termination of the pipe. Other than that, it seems pretty happy putting along on low.
When I do my weekly cleaning, I use a scraper to give the insides and good scraping, then I brush the tubes with my wire brush and hit the dust with my vac.
Chan
When I do my weekly cleaning, I use a scraper to give the insides and good scraping, then I brush the tubes with my wire brush and hit the dust with my vac.
Chan
mepellet said:
If you mean the glass, the easiest things are either a damp paper towel or old rag, or if the stains are stubborn, dip the wet towel in the stove ash, and scrub the stains off.
Magic Eraser works well too.
imacman said:
Sorry now, I meant the inside surfaces (sides, top etc. ) I found that the damp paper towel works very well. A lot easier than I thought it would. I've cleaned the glass 2 times already just to keep it looking good.
All I ever do to the interior surfaces is vacuum them with the brush attachment on the hose. Scrubbing the interior is getting a bit carried away....IMO.
j-takeman said:
No. At least not yet. I've only burned 9 bags though. Id say half the time it was on stove temp level 1.
mepellet said:
So its just the dusty residue your taking off? I would leave it till spring. When you coat the inside of the stove for the summer nap time. About all you need to remove now is what will come off with a common paint brush or the brush on the vac. If you must, The only criticle area is the heat exchanger. Any ash on it could effect the heat transfer. But whiping down the whole inside of the unit is overkill IMHO. It only takes an hour of burning and all that will be right back on the inner surface. I'd spend more time reading the manual than getting the unit that clean.
i think i have come to the conclusion that i burn more pellets running it on low 24/7, than i do running it on high with the thermostat.
I think pellet quality is a huge factor in a clean low burn. In the past I have noticed my stove getting dirty quickly on low but not this year. This year I got the good stuff (Cubex) and have had a nice clean burn on low the whole time 24/7 a bunch of those days. I've had my glass stay really quite clean and only a small amount of white ash inside the stove. All and all I think the pellets you use makes the biggest deference in every factor of a nice running stove.
futureboiler said:
Last winter, I came to the same conclusion. The biggest plus to running at a lower temp constantly is the fact that you don't have the large variations in temp that you get when using a thermostat even with a small 'swing' adjustment.
I have been burning on low so far this fall because of the unusually warm weather and I still get a good, vigorous burn, albeit small, so I can only assume that the pellets are being fully consumed at a high heat, which would eliminate the creosote problem. I've never seen any creosote even at the top of my 17' of piping.
DneprDave
Minister of Fire
I burn on the lowest setting most of the time. It used to soot up the glass in a few hours. I turned the combustion air bias up just a little bit and I get a few streaks of soot after 24 hours. This is with the same brand of pellets.
Dave
Dave
Stove burns on Low, just as good as High and Medium.. Quads get great combustion air. No user adjustments (other than feed). So the ash color is the same.
Never seen any creosote in my stove or vent. Just grey to light grey ash.
Never seen any creosote in my stove or vent. Just grey to light grey ash.
I argue with my wife all winter long about this Iwill crank it up in morning or sometime durring day and have tried to explain to her why I was doing it but you mght as well go out and talk to the pellet pile she comes in and shuts it down so when she isnt home I jack it up let her breath for awhile .I notice a difference running on low but I am also using blends this year when I was using softs nice fine black very little ash.
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