Hi elk; if you read the rest of my postings, you would see that we are trying to figure out why my stove is over heating with a full load of wood. and I'm trying different things , to see what would happen . It seems that my stove burns better with the secondary closed .
efel wood stove out of control
- Thread starter alfio
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webbie
Seasoned Moderator
elkimmeg said:
Elk, I told him to block them partially off because they are fixed open - it may be that he is getting too much air even on idle considering his strong chimney - as he says, this is for "discovery" so he can figure the reason for his short burns.
BeGreen said:
Hi , this is what happens when i load the stove all the way, i let it cum up to temp 400 degrees the recommended temp by the manufacturer
.I turn it down partially and then finally all the way off . It will soon after will start to clime to has high 900 degrees give or take , depending on the fuel load . The stack temp is around 300 to 350.
webbie
Seasoned Moderator
Couple comments, etc.
Where is the stove located in the house?
As far as safety, the pics seem to show a carpet on the floor and that stove has a side load door - you need 16" min. or whatever it shows in the manual on this side - you also should check the front clearances.
I downloaded the Lennox brochure and looked at the specs. The Firebox size is less than 2 cubic feet, which puts it in the category of Mid-sized Avalon, etc - definitely a "medium" stove - not large. The numbers are misleading (IMHO), because they show:
11,000 to 66,000 EPA
and
96,000 MAX
But they do not relate these numbers to burn time! They do show 6-8 as the max burn time, so they are fairly accurate on that point....makes me think that the stove design is for a "fast and hot" burner, which your experience indicates is true.
This brings up a former discussion about "buying by the numbers" - whether EPA or Manufacturers marketing material.
We have to compare most stoves by the firebox size. I recently had a conversation with the folks at Blaze King about their claimed long burn times - and it turns out that their large cat model can hold over 100 Lbs of cordwood! Now there is a stove that you can get a long burn from! They claim 40 hours, but working backwards and considering decent heat output, I would calculate like this.
100 lbs of wood = about 550,000 BTU to be released to the house.
550,000 BTU divided by 12 hours = over 40,000 BTU per hour - plus some left over for when you reload.
So physics is at work here - wood in = heat out. There are ways around this- for instance, it looks like you have a lot of interior masonry - so you might be able to burn a small load very hot in the evening and charge up all this masonry with heat before turning the fire down. This will help with the overnight heat.
Many wood stoves cannot heat a house in NH for an overnight burn....unless the house is very tight...or the stove very big....
So it may be your expectations are too high....
Typical overnight burn might be 15-20,000 BTU per hour, whereas your house might need twice as much as that on many cold nights. Also, the location of the stove is important......hopefully not a basement, etc or other room with cement floor, etc.
For many folks, an overnight burn is just "holding" a fire.....with blankets, warm bodies and central heat providing the remainder.
Where is the stove located in the house?
As far as safety, the pics seem to show a carpet on the floor and that stove has a side load door - you need 16" min. or whatever it shows in the manual on this side - you also should check the front clearances.
I downloaded the Lennox brochure and looked at the specs. The Firebox size is less than 2 cubic feet, which puts it in the category of Mid-sized Avalon, etc - definitely a "medium" stove - not large. The numbers are misleading (IMHO), because they show:
11,000 to 66,000 EPA
and
96,000 MAX
But they do not relate these numbers to burn time! They do show 6-8 as the max burn time, so they are fairly accurate on that point....makes me think that the stove design is for a "fast and hot" burner, which your experience indicates is true.
This brings up a former discussion about "buying by the numbers" - whether EPA or Manufacturers marketing material.
We have to compare most stoves by the firebox size. I recently had a conversation with the folks at Blaze King about their claimed long burn times - and it turns out that their large cat model can hold over 100 Lbs of cordwood! Now there is a stove that you can get a long burn from! They claim 40 hours, but working backwards and considering decent heat output, I would calculate like this.
100 lbs of wood = about 550,000 BTU to be released to the house.
550,000 BTU divided by 12 hours = over 40,000 BTU per hour - plus some left over for when you reload.
So physics is at work here - wood in = heat out. There are ways around this- for instance, it looks like you have a lot of interior masonry - so you might be able to burn a small load very hot in the evening and charge up all this masonry with heat before turning the fire down. This will help with the overnight heat.
Many wood stoves cannot heat a house in NH for an overnight burn....unless the house is very tight...or the stove very big....
So it may be your expectations are too high....
Typical overnight burn might be 15-20,000 BTU per hour, whereas your house might need twice as much as that on many cold nights. Also, the location of the stove is important......hopefully not a basement, etc or other room with cement floor, etc.
For many folks, an overnight burn is just "holding" a fire.....with blankets, warm bodies and central heat providing the remainder.
Webmaster said:
to put your mined at ease there is no rug on that floor its a slab .
Has for the masonry, it is a centrally located chimney , but believe it or not the chimney does not get warm even though it runs through the living room and foyer ,i get very little heat from it . I use-to run harman mark III. that would heat up the chimney nicely . This stove is so efficient that it does not send a lot of heat up the stack.
p.s. I emaild lennox about a 2 weeks a go and they suggested that i put a damper on it .
Yes, I noticed the small firebox too. It seems like the stove is performing reasonably well, but just has too strong draft. I agree, I would prefer the stove to be burning more in the 700 stovetop temp max, but the stack temp indicates good secondary burn. I would do as Craig suggested, get the barometric working correctly.
One thing that can help a lot after there is a nice bed of coals, is to use much larger logs or splits on the next loading. Small splits will ignite and outgas faster. Big splits will take longer and outgas slower. This can reduce secondary burn temps and extend the burn time nicely.
One thing that can help a lot after there is a nice bed of coals, is to use much larger logs or splits on the next loading. Small splits will ignite and outgas faster. Big splits will take longer and outgas slower. This can reduce secondary burn temps and extend the burn time nicely.
BeGreen said:
yes that mite work but i don't have any at this time , but i have tried to stack the wood has tight has possible and still it gets to hot for the first hour or so.So i ham starting to think that i can not fill this stove to capacity without over firing it . the only way i can burn at reasonable temp is to only place a few splints at a time
Yes, lots of small splits will do that even in my stove with 10 feet less stack. I think this is part of the issue. Combined with the strong draft, the stove is a mighty little furnace. Maybe you can test it out with bigger logs by exchanging some wood for larger splits with a friend?
webbie
Seasoned Moderator
The stove may be designed (or lack of designed!) for this type of fast burn. It may be the nature of the product....
Your wood may be TOO good, which amazingly enough may be part of the problem.
I think some experimentation using all these idea will find you a happy medium in terms of heat vs. burn.
RE: The slab - this can be tough to heat, as a slab in NH is bound to be pretty cold....and, of course, it also then radiates cold into the room.
Your wood may be TOO good, which amazingly enough may be part of the problem.
I think some experimentation using all these idea will find you a happy medium in terms of heat vs. burn.
RE: The slab - this can be tough to heat, as a slab in NH is bound to be pretty cold....and, of course, it also then radiates cold into the room.
BeGreen said:
what do you thing about quad 1200i do you like it .I have a 3100i in my fireplace and it those the same thing has the efel if i lode it to capacity it will overheat also, one time i had it glowing red ,i called the dealer and he suggested a chimney cap , seems to help a little . But i still cant lode it all the way.It seems that these high tack stove hare not designed for long burns. What you think about the new vermont casting non cats and harman's aokwood stoves. by the way lopi has a top loader too .
keyman512us
Member
Alfio...You being a "coal head" (now don't take offense...cause I'm one too)...be a little patient when "learning your hand firing wood"...becuase wood "is a whole different animal altogether". Even if you get all the bugs worked out and things work out great...you are not going to come even close to the burn times you are used to with coal.
I've just 'thumbed through your posts'...I've got to run...Just remember to be as patient firing with wood...as you were with coal...Good luck for now! Gotta run!
I've just 'thumbed through your posts'...I've got to run...Just remember to be as patient firing with wood...as you were with coal...Good luck for now! Gotta run!
The Quad 1200i is a pellet stove. Great stove, it never overfired once 
.
But there have been some complaints this year about stoves overheating. Again, the wood will make a big difference. The new generation stoves are extracting a lot more heat from the unburnt gases that normally go up the chimney in an older stove. This is a very good thing. It means more heat from less wood and less pollution. But they do require changing burning habits sometimes.
If you search the forum you will see that there have been some issues with the Harman Oakwood, VC Encore NC, and Lopi Leyden on strong drafting chimneys. The solution that works best so far is to reduce draft and burn larger splits. The Quad 3100i is a good stove, but it sounds like the wood you are burning is very dry and on the small side. That helps it ignite very quickly and thoroughly.
If you are looking for a bigger heater to replace the Efel, I would look at the Quadrafire Isle Royale or perhaps a VC Defiant? Also consider a Pacific Energy Summit. But I think all will still need that draft damper and larger splits.
. But there have been some complaints this year about stoves overheating. Again, the wood will make a big difference. The new generation stoves are extracting a lot more heat from the unburnt gases that normally go up the chimney in an older stove. This is a very good thing. It means more heat from less wood and less pollution. But they do require changing burning habits sometimes.
If you search the forum you will see that there have been some issues with the Harman Oakwood, VC Encore NC, and Lopi Leyden on strong drafting chimneys. The solution that works best so far is to reduce draft and burn larger splits. The Quad 3100i is a good stove, but it sounds like the wood you are burning is very dry and on the small side. That helps it ignite very quickly and thoroughly.
If you are looking for a bigger heater to replace the Efel, I would look at the Quadrafire Isle Royale or perhaps a VC Defiant? Also consider a Pacific Energy Summit. But I think all will still need that draft damper and larger splits.
keyman512us said:
it's not just the coal , i use to have a vermont casting resolute in the late 80's and that thing was nice , load it and forget it but it did smoke a bit . had to sale it because of allergies .So here we go again , giving it another try. tanks for the input
Webmaster said:
yes the wood may by to dry i dried it in mini green house i built whit 2x4 and 6 mil plastic, workes grate . i got the idea from a time life book called fireplaces and wood stoves it's from the 80's. got to go now my head is killing me bay now.
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