Decided to really push the Lopi Republic 1750 today...

[joefrompa]

I mildly stacked the fire last night, closed the damper, and let the air control 1/2 open. This morning, it was still 200 degrees and had SOME coals (not really a bed).

So I put some newspaper and kindling on it, and it fired right back up very nicely. This was around 10am.

Decided to see what I could do for the whole house. Got it up to 450-500 with a full load and was a little dissapointed, so I waited till that form a lot of coals (about 1 hour) and then loaded it up again.

Bam, within 20 minutes that thing was cracking along at 725 (stove top temp, rutland magnetic thermometer).

Blower was on high, ceiling fan overhead was on high, floor fan was blowing cold air towards the stove. It was still crackling!

Let me put it this way: I got hearth gloves (http://www.amazon.com/Landmann-1527...JH2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288459168&sr=8-1) and when I adjusted the damper on top, the gloves were smoking from brushing against the stove top (doesn't bode well for the gloves).

So I choked the air control all the way, plus damper shut, and within 15 minutes it was down to 600 degrees.

Now I know a bit more about loading the fire up all the way. Heheh. That being said, the house is about 20 degrees warmer than ambient BUT it's 51 degrees out and the thermostat reads 66 degrees in the house (that's with the whole house fan on too).

Gonna need to figure out how to do better...

 

[begreen]

It'll take some practice, but you want to shoot for somewhere in between. It's best to not load on top of a large, hot coal bed. If the stove was reading 725 with the blower on high, it sounds like it may have been in danger of an overfire. Don't give it so much air and it will be safer.

The house heating is another issue. How many sq ft are you heating? By whole house fan, do you mean the furnace fan was running? Try turning everything down a notch. Put all fans on low speed and turn off the whole house fan.

 

[joefrompa]

Yes, it was in danger of an overfire. I got a little scared. I immediately slammed the air control shut and turned the overhead fan and a floor fan on high, and it cooled 100 degrees very quickly. Good to know that's possible.

I'm trying to heat about 2000 square feet; the stove is in an external chimney, which I have plans to shove ceramic ATS insulation around it's backside and up around the liner up the chimney (then wrap aluminum foil around that area too).

Nonetheless, the room its in is about 12 feet wide by 30 feet long (goes into a kitchen). That area is toasty, probably 80-85. Next to the kitchen is an open doorway leading to a foyer that is ~17 feet high as it opens to the 2nd floor. Not a huge foyer, but plenty of open space. Before the furnace fan was on, the thermostat NEXT TO the foyer read 64 degrees. After the furnace fan was left on for 30 minutes, it went up to 66 and has stayed there.

I turned the other fans to low and left the house fan on. We'll see what happens.

 

[begreen]

Turn off the furnace fan. Unless the ductwork is very well insulated (including the returns) the heat loss from it will negate the gains. And the furnace fan motor can suck a fair amount of electricity. Is the floor fan a stand fan? If so, a table fan works better. You want it to be low, close to the floor. Place that fan, on the floor, at the end of the foyer or where there is a line of sight to the stove room. Run the fan, pointed at the stove room on low and watch the temps in all areas for an hour. They should start to equalize.