Englander 30-NCH Update

[leeave96]

I gave the Englander 30-NCH it's first intense burn last night, made a few adjustments and here are some observations and background:

My addition is complete, the Englander is in the basement, insulated with a stairwell, and two bedrooms and bath above. The addition is on the end of the old house and my other woodstove, a Woodstock Keystone is on the main floor at the far end of the old house. The last thing for the builder to do is re-roof the old house and for that, they really don't want to be working around a hot chimney, so the Keystone is offline until they guys finish the roof.

With us beginning to occupy the new addition and the wood heat source in the old house idle, I decided to mash the Englander to keep things warm.

I got a fire started and then loaded the stove N/S across the bottom with about 4 medium splits. Once they got going, I added at least 4 more splits E/W across the top - making a second row. This fire was started about 8 pm last night. In short order, the Englander was making stove top temps at 500+ degrees and dampered down over time, I started getting some secondaries. To this point and with previous burns, I've blocked the air supply to the dog house, but haven't found a damper balance for overnight shut down without snuffing out the secondaries (haven't had enough fires to learn it yet). Further, for my Wife and oldest teen, they were confused about damper settings with the dog house air being blocked. For my part, my latest thought was having the dog house air open would allow air to the bottom of the burn/splits and help keep the firebox temp up - which would help out keeping the stove temp hot enough to light off the secondaries during a long low overnight burn.

After trying to strike a balance between snuffing out the secondaries or having to much flame vs secondaries, I decided to open the dog house air supply (I had it's air intakes blocked by a couple of magnets). Once I did this, I was able to damper down to almost closed, within a 1/4 inch of being closed. I got decent secondaries (not the pits of hell stuff) and the dog house kept the log in front of it glowing bright orange, but not burning. I pretty much had very little to no flame in the fire box off the bottom/splits, and constant secondaries. My stove top settled between 550 and 600 degrees and that's where it stayed.

For now, I'm going to leave the dog house air open until I get a better feel for how this stove burns. It's also a bit more comforting that my family can close the damper all the way down and I know that the primary air is not totally closed off creating a smoke dragon. Kind of a safety stop for them.

BTW, got to the stove about 6:30 am this morning and easily had enough coals to get things going again.

Bill

 

[Pagey]

I'm tellin' ya, if I ever have the CTCs for a 30, I'm getting one.

 

[joecool85]

I'm tellin' ya, if I ever have the CTCs for a 30, I'm getting one.

What does CTC stand for?

 

[ddddddden]

Clearance To Combustibles

 

[BrowningBAR]

I gave the Englander 30-NCH it's first intense burn last night, made a few adjustments and here are some observations and background:

My addition is complete, the Englander is in the basement, insulated with a stairwell, and two bedrooms and bath above. The addition is on the end of the old house and my other woodstove, a Woodstock Keystone is on the main floor at the far end of the old house. The last thing for the builder to do is re-roof the old house and for that, they really don't want to be working around a hot chimney, so the Keystone is offline until they guys finish the roof.

With us beginning to occupy the new addition and the wood heat source in the old house idle, I decided to mash the Englander to keep things warm.

I got a fire started and then loaded the stove N/S across the bottom with about 4 medium splits. Once they got going, I added at least 4 more splits E/W across the top - making a second row. This fire was started about 8 pm last night. In short order, the Englander was making stove top temps at 500+ degrees and dampered down over time, I started getting some secondaries. To this point and with previous burns, I've blocked the air supply to the dog house, but haven't found a damper balance for overnight shut down without snuffing out the secondaries (haven't had enough fires to learn it yet). Further, for my Wife and oldest teen, they were confused about damper settings with the dog house air being blocked. For my part, my latest thought was having the dog house air open would allow air to the bottom of the burn/splits and help keep the firebox temp up - which would help out keeping the stove temp hot enough to light off the secondaries during a long low overnight burn.

After trying to strike a balance between snuffing out the secondaries or having to much flame vs secondaries, I decided to open the dog house air supply (I had it's air intakes blocked by a couple of magnets). Once I did this, I was able to damper down to almost closed, within a 1/4 inch of being closed. I got decent secondaries (not the pits of hell stuff) and the dog house kept the log in front of it glowing bright orange, but not burning. I pretty much had very little to no flame in the fire box off the bottom/splits, and constant secondaries. My stove top settled between 550 and 600 degrees and that's where it stayed.

For now, I'm going to leave the dog house air open until I get a better feel for how this stove burns. It's also a bit more comforting that my family can close the damper all the way down and I know that the primary air is not totally closed off creating a smoke dragon. Kind of a safety stop for them.

BTW, got to the stove about 6:30 am this morning and easily had enough coals to get things going again.

Bill

All that typing and no mention to how well it's heating the house? :-S

 

[Pagey]

I gave the Englander 30-NCH it's first intense burn last night, made a few adjustments and here are some observations and background:

My addition is complete, the Englander is in the basement, insulated with a stairwell, and two bedrooms and bath above. The addition is on the end of the old house and my other woodstove, a Woodstock Keystone is on the main floor at the far end of the old house. The last thing for the builder to do is re-roof the old house and for that, they really don't want to be working around a hot chimney, so the Keystone is offline until they guys finish the roof.

With us beginning to occupy the new addition and the wood heat source in the old house idle, I decided to mash the Englander to keep things warm.

I got a fire started and then loaded the stove N/S across the bottom with about 4 medium splits. Once they got going, I added at least 4 more splits E/W across the top - making a second row. This fire was started about 8 pm last night. In short order, the Englander was making stove top temps at 500+ degrees and dampered down over time, I started getting some secondaries. To this point and with previous burns, I've blocked the air supply to the dog house, but haven't found a damper balance for overnight shut down without snuffing out the secondaries (haven't had enough fires to learn it yet). Further, for my Wife and oldest teen, they were confused about damper settings with the dog house air being blocked. For my part, my latest thought was having the dog house air open would allow air to the bottom of the burn/splits and help keep the firebox temp up - which would help out keeping the stove temp hot enough to light off the secondaries during a long low overnight burn.

After trying to strike a balance between snuffing out the secondaries or having to much flame vs secondaries, I decided to open the dog house air supply (I had it's air intakes blocked by a couple of magnets). Once I did this, I was able to damper down to almost closed, within a 1/4 inch of being closed. I got decent secondaries (not the pits of hell stuff) and the dog house kept the log in front of it glowing bright orange, but not burning. I pretty much had very little to no flame in the fire box off the bottom/splits, and constant secondaries. My stove top settled between 550 and 600 degrees and that's where it stayed.

For now, I'm going to leave the dog house air open until I get a better feel for how this stove burns. It's also a bit more comforting that my family can close the damper all the way down and I know that the primary air is not totally closed off creating a smoke dragon. Kind of a safety stop for them.

BTW, got to the stove about 6:30 am this morning and easily had enough coals to get things going again.

Bill

All that typing and no mention to how well it's heating the house? :-S

OMG, they heat, too?! :lol:

 

[BrowningBAR]

I gave the Englander 30-NCH it's first intense burn last night, made a few adjustments and here are some observations and background:

My addition is complete, the Englander is in the basement, insulated with a stairwell, and two bedrooms and bath above. The addition is on the end of the old house and my other woodstove, a Woodstock Keystone is on the main floor at the far end of the old house. The last thing for the builder to do is re-roof the old house and for that, they really don't want to be working around a hot chimney, so the Keystone is offline until they guys finish the roof.

With us beginning to occupy the new addition and the wood heat source in the old house idle, I decided to mash the Englander to keep things warm.

I got a fire started and then loaded the stove N/S across the bottom with about 4 medium splits. Once they got going, I added at least 4 more splits E/W across the top - making a second row. This fire was started about 8 pm last night. In short order, the Englander was making stove top temps at 500+ degrees and dampered down over time, I started getting some secondaries. To this point and with previous burns, I've blocked the air supply to the dog house, but haven't found a damper balance for overnight shut down without snuffing out the secondaries (haven't had enough fires to learn it yet). Further, for my Wife and oldest teen, they were confused about damper settings with the dog house air being blocked. For my part, my latest thought was having the dog house air open would allow air to the bottom of the burn/splits and help keep the firebox temp up - which would help out keeping the stove temp hot enough to light off the secondaries during a long low overnight burn.

After trying to strike a balance between snuffing out the secondaries or having to much flame vs secondaries, I decided to open the dog house air supply (I had it's air intakes blocked by a couple of magnets). Once I did this, I was able to damper down to almost closed, within a 1/4 inch of being closed. I got decent secondaries (not the pits of hell stuff) and the dog house kept the log in front of it glowing bright orange, but not burning. I pretty much had very little to no flame in the fire box off the bottom/splits, and constant secondaries. My stove top settled between 550 and 600 degrees and that's where it stayed.

For now, I'm going to leave the dog house air open until I get a better feel for how this stove burns. It's also a bit more comforting that my family can close the damper all the way down and I know that the primary air is not totally closed off creating a smoke dragon. Kind of a safety stop for them.

BTW, got to the stove about 6:30 am this morning and easily had enough coals to get things going again.

Bill

All that typing and no mention to how well it's heating the house? :-S

OMG, they heat, too?! :lol:

Don't know, at this point. Leeaves ain't telling us! :lol:

 

[leeave96]

All that typing and no mention to how well it's heating the house? :-S

What I'm am learning with this stove vs my smaller cat stove is - if you got a stove in a small room (like my Keystone), that's a good thing. If this stove were in the same living space as the Keystone, we'd get blisters from the heat!

The Englander really puts off the heat and fast! I haven't even cranked it up to a 750ish stove top yet. The basement it sets in is open, 24 x 24 with stairs leading up. There is an open doorway to the old basement, which I am loosing a lot of heat into and will block off with a door very soon. I think my house is to segmented for any stove to heat the whole thing, but the Englander will provide the muscle to get some massive heat if I need. I can easily run-up the temp in the basement addition to 80 degrees. I plan to add the side heat shields and blower later this year. I purposely did not insulate the floor above the basement to allow for heat to soak up to the bedrooms a bit easier too. Last night the stove was putting out some some awsome heat, but everything was having to come up to temperature from a cold start. Once we go 24/7 with this stove and everything is heat soaked, that will be the real test of this stove.

Bottom line - the Englander 30-NCH is a heating monster if you have the need. I don't want to rush the cold, but I have a feeling that my kids snow boots and cloths will dry out very fast in my basement this year.

Bill

 

[leeave96]

Update:

I've got another nice burn going in the Englander tonight as again the Keystone is idle, so I am pushing the stove a little harder. In the basement, the temp is a balmy 79 degrees and on the other end of the house, upstairs, it is about 69-70ish degrees. It's not that cold outside, about 50 degrees, but cold enough to warrant a fire to keep the chill at bay.

I am watching the chimney tonight (and started another post on the topic) trying to understand if what I see sometimes with secondaries going is light smoke or steam. My Keystone, when the cat is engaged and lit-off, produces zero smoke - almost like turning a switch and poof, no smoke. The Englander is a bit more tricky as I learn the stove's lower limit for producing no smoke and what that damper setting and secondaries ought to look like.

Right now the stove has settled at about 525 degrees stove top with a few flames in the bottom, lots of red coals in front of the dog house, some secondaries lifting off the wood and a few off the secondary air tubes and at the moment, no visible smoke out the chimney.

Bill

 

[pen]

If you are doing something wrong leeave, I can't find it from what you are reporting. Well done.

Yea, you are going to waste some wood by having that stove in the basement by heating up blocks or concrete and then the earth, but there is nothing like the warm floors that a stove in the basement gives you. My house could be 68 degrees and cold if the stove is out because the floors are cold. Fire that stove up and before it's had the chance to heat the air up upstairs the floor is warm, and it's just as comfortable as can be. If I ever get old %-P and can't heat with wood, I'm going to put in in-floor radiant heat. Nothing more soothing than a warm floor under your toes.

pen

 

[leeave96]

If you are doing something wrong leeave, I can't find it from what you are reporting. Well done.

Yea, you are going to waste some wood by having that stove in the basement by heating up blocks or concrete and then the earth, but there is nothing like the warm floors that a stove in the basement gives you. My house could be 68 degrees and cold if the stove is out because the floors are cold. Fire that stove up and before it's had the chance to heat the air up upstairs the floor is warm, and it's just as comfortable as can be. If I ever get old %-P and can't heat with wood, I'm going to put in in-floor radiant heat. Nothing more soothing than a warm floor under your toes.

pen

Thanks Pen. We've got it rolling again this morning for a quick warm-up and then out for the day. It peaked at 600 degrees stove top and is around 525ish and cruising. No smoke out the chimney. Fire started from pretty much from a cold start. I think we are getting a better burn this AM due to colder overnight temps and better draft as a result of it.

Thanks,
Bill