Englander NC13 Installed and heating, flue and stove temps

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Pilgrimfarm

Member
Dec 15, 2010
15
Nc
Thanks to those who offered advice/suggestions on choosing a heater. I picked up my Englander NC13 on Sunday and installed it. I have to admit at first sight I thought, humm, too small, not substantial especially compared to the old Virginian I had been using. Boy was I mistaken! We got it in place, after dark , around 6pm and built a small fire. It was 20 degrees outside. The heater really started heating up and burning well. The paint started curing and smoking like crazy. We opened the windows and doors and put on a couple of fans. With all that said the house stayed warm. I have built 5 or 6 fires in it, with only 2 or 3 splits of oak each time. My house is newly remodeled with spray foam insulation and with two windows up a few inches it is still upper 70s. The flame display is amazing, especially when you get a really hot secondary burn going on. Tonight I fed it with 3 small splits and I got the top of the stove up just above 650, not sure how accurate these thermometers are. I have a thermometer on top and about a foot up on the stack. The stack temp only got up to around 300. On my rutland thermometer it lists anything less than 300 as creosote. Any suggestions on the operating temp for this stove? I am about an hour from adding the splits, it has coaled out and is holding steady at 400 degrees for the stove top , flue surface temp 200, and about to run me out of here. I have two windows open and a fan going and I am at 78 inside. I am still getting some smoke from the paint and the one new piece of stove pipe i had to add to adjust in difference in height between my old and new stove. I guess I am a little unclear about the goal for the burn. Is it to keep a steady burn to output just as much heat as I need or is it to get it to coal up? Once the initial burn is over and you get a bed of coals, I throw in a small oak split and wow, talk about a light show. I cant stop looking at the flame. Love this heater and love seeing the fire. It is amazing the difference in the heating ability in this heater and my old non-epa stove. The small baffle in the old stove was really not preventing much of the heat from going straight up the stack. Thanks again for talking me out of buying that NC30 I thought I needed and for all the advice.
Any input on the operating/firing technique of this stove is appreciated.
Sean
 
I'm gonna give this a bump because I'd like to know.

BTW, what kind of hearth do you have?
 
What is it you'd like to know?

BTW, great signature :)
 
I'd like to know a few things:

1) What is the ideal cruising stove top temp (not chimney temp--I have double wall) for the NC13?

2) Is a stove thermometer the same as a chimney thermometer, just with different "safe/danger" zones printed on the face?

(I just had an NC13 installed and I'm getting a lot of confusing and contradictory information. And the very warm drywall next to the stove isn't making me feel very good....)
 
How far is the stove from the drywall?

I can't say for sure since we don't have the NC13, but ours usually hangs around 600 ish (it'll climb to 700 then drop down and hang between 600/650 most of the time unless it's a smaller fire, then 500/550 and probably mostly because the fuel isn't as close to the tubes).

We use a Rutland thermo, it is meant to be a single wall thermometer but it's what we could find. We just ignore the "zones".
 
I don't have that stove, but many here do. I've heard many of them say that they cruise at 650-700 all day long and (I think) the manual just tells you not to let it glow in the dark. For me and my stove, I like to keep things from 500 - 650 depending on the need.

As far as I know, the magnetic stove pipe thermometers read in degrees of surface temp, like the stove top ones do. But those are suitable only for single wall. You would need a probe type for double wall. You should be able to use a single wall surface thermometer on the stove top and ignore the color stuff.

A warm-to-the-touch wall is nothing to worry about by itself. Make sure your installation is according to clearance requirements. It's been discussed here and you could find more info on that with a search.
 
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The manual says the stove should be 8-1/2 inches from combustibles. Ours is 9 inches away from the wall. But I was really surprised at how hot the wall got last night. I wondered (hoped!!) that I was running the stove too hot. All I have is a stovepipe thermometer, but I wondered if a thermometer is a thermometer?

I went to the source and called Englander. The guy said the stove should cruise at about 500 degrees. But you know how sometimes you get the feeling that you're talking to someone who doesn't really have a good grip on the topic? That's the feeling I had.
 
I went to the source and called Englander. They guy said the stove should cruise at about 500 degrees.
We have an active member here who is an Englander rep. He may spot this thread.

The statement is right, though, it will cruise nicely at 500 and sometimes that's quite adequate. You run the stove according to the heat output you need.
 
I hope he does. I've called Englander a few times and have been really happy with the guys on the other end. And today's guy may have been on the ball and I'm just confused by other folks saying "I usually run my puppy at 750...."
 
I won't worry about the drywall if your clearances are good. The wall behind ours gets warm, like the sun has been beating on it on a summers day, but it's no where near dangerous. You can always get an IR thermometer and see what it's at. 500 seems about like what I've heard around the fora.
 
If you can still touch the drywall without burning your hand it's probably ok yes I know very scientific.
 
I guess I am a little unclear about the goal for the burn. Is it to keep a steady burn to output just as much heat as I need or is it to get it to coal up? Once the initial burn is over and you get a bed of coals, I throw in a small oak split and wow, talk about a light show. I cant stop looking at the flame. Love this heater
Sean
The goal for the burn is to keep your house warm. 650 stovetop and 300 pipe temps are right in line with what is expected. Yea i know what you mean about lookin at the flame, its distracting. I use the NC30 but not for small well insulated spaces. I think the 13 is pretty much the same stove with about 12" shaved off the front.
 
The manual says the stove should be 8-1/2 inches from combustibles. Ours is 9 inches away from the wall. .
9 " is pretty close. Things get hot 2 feet from the sides on my NC-30. If you worried one of those stove shields should work ,but mostly for the back.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?escapeXml=false&ipp=24&storeId=6970&Ntt=stove+shield
You could fashion your own quite easily.
I use a set of metal folding doors to shield my tool locker from my stove in my workshop as its close(about18") to the stove and gets too hot. works like a charm and also creates an air current to carry the heat up.
 
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Hay Sean, if I missed ya, welcome to the forums!!

If your 13 is with in clearances, you should be OK.

While the 13 has some serious hearth requirements, it is an awesome heater.

Don't be afraid to let it cruise @ 500 - 600F. It will do the job. That being said, gradually increase your fire temps in the beginning, that paint will take some time to burn in.

I'm going to send a PM to Mike, and point him to the thread, just incase there is more you need to know.
 
Thanks to those who offered advice/suggestions on choosing a heater. I picked up my Englander NC13 on Sunday and installed it. I have to admit at first sight I thought, humm, too small, not substantial especially compared to the old Virginian I had been using. Boy was I mistaken! We got it in place, after dark , around 6pm and built a small fire. It was 20 degrees outside. The heater really started heating up and burning well. The paint started curing and smoking like crazy. We opened the windows and doors and put on a couple of fans. With all that said the house stayed warm. I have built 5 or 6 fires in it, with only 2 or 3 splits of oak each time. My house is newly remodeled with spray foam insulation and with two windows up a few inches it is still upper 70s. The flame display is amazing, especially when you get a really hot secondary burn going on. Tonight I fed it with 3 small splits and I got the top of the stove up just above 650, not sure how accurate these thermometers are. I have a thermometer on top and about a foot up on the stack. The stack temp only got up to around 300. On my rutland thermometer it lists anything less than 300 as creosote. Any suggestions on the operating temp for this stove? I am about an hour from adding the splits, it has coaled out and is holding steady at 400 degrees for the stove top , flue surface temp 200, and about to run me out of here. I have two windows open and a fan going and I am at 78 inside. I am still getting some smoke from the paint and the one new piece of stove pipe i had to add to adjust in difference in height between my old and new stove. I guess I am a little unclear about the goal for the burn. Is it to keep a steady burn to output just as much heat as I need or is it to get it to coal up? Once the initial burn is over and you get a bed of coals, I throw in a small oak split and wow, talk about a light show. I cant stop looking at the flame. Love this heater and love seeing the fire. It is amazing the difference in the heating ability in this heater and my old non-epa stove. The small baffle in the old stove was really not preventing much of the heat from going straight up the stack. Thanks again for talking me out of buying that NC30 I thought I needed and for all the advice.
Any input on the operating/firing technique of this stove is appreciated.
Sean



ok, so the stovetop thermometer is at 650 and the pipe one less than 2 ft away is reading 300? thats surprising. they should be a lot closer together in temp. with temps that high on the stovetop i wouldnt take as much stock in the flue thermometer.

ideally the stove with a moderate load should peak at about 6-650F and settle in to cruise at 5-550F. usually the stove will "jump" to the higher temp as it gets fully engaged in the secondary burn then settle out.
as for creosote , the temp inside of the exhaust stream to stay out of that zone is 212F this keeps moisture in a gas state (steam) as long as it doesnt condence back into a liquid state it exits with the "smoke" now the temp has to maintain all the way to the top of the flue so the 300F is probably a decent "guestimate" but this would vary based on flue type and height. remember the exhaust travelling through the pipe will be hotter than the outside of the pipe is. this is why ive used probe type thermometers in the exhaust stream to monitor flue temps (in my woodstove i would register 700 on my catalyst (was a cat stove) with a probe sitting on top of the cat itself, and a second probe halfway up the first section of pipe would literally "mirror" the temp on the cat. this is why the readings you are getting being so widely varied is surprising to me , but then you are reading surface temps not the temp of the actual exhaust stream itself.
 
The manual says the stove should be 8-1/2 inches from combustibles. Ours is 9 inches away from the wall. But I was really surprised at how hot the wall got last night. I wondered (hoped!!) that I was running the stove too hot. All I have is a stovepipe thermometer, but I wondered if a thermometer is a thermometer?

I went to the source and called Englander. The guy said the stove should cruise at about 500 degrees. But you know how sometimes you get the feeling that you're talking to someone who doesn't really have a good grip on the topic? That's the feeling I had.



is this stove mounted "catty corner"?

the "d" measurement is 8.5 but only with side shields and double wall pipe and in a corner installation with the back corners being measured. this would be too close for a "flat wall" installation in which case you would use the "B" column for clearances.
 
Just in case no one noticed, the OP posted this in 2010.
 
is this stove mounted "catty corner"?

the "d" measurement is 8.5 but only with side shields and double wall pipe and in a corner installation with the back corners being measured. this would be too close for a "flat wall" installation in which case you would use the "B" column for clearances.

Yes, it is installed catty corner with side heat shields and double wall pipe coming out of the stove.
 
I noticed, but I had the same question here at the end of 2013.


You're fine and the info is good. I just wanted other repsonders to know so they weren't wondering why the OP wasn't answering. Maybe he will...but since it's been 3 years it's a good guess he won't :)
 
You're fine and the info is good. I just wanted other repsonders to know so they weren't wondering why the OP wasn't answering. Maybe he will...but since it's been 3 years it's a good guess he won't :)

At this point I feel like I AM the OP! ==c
 
Just for future reference, it seems to be the accepted practice here on hearth to start your own thread when you have a particular issue or problem. Though it will happen at times, some feel that asking too many of your own questions in another persons thread is a form of hijacking the thread, though at this point, it's probably not really a problem.

Welcome, and congrats on the new stove.
 
I agree completely. But in this instance, giving the thread a bump seemed more like "resuscitating" rather than "hijacking". And, heck, he wasn't using it anyway! ;lol
 
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