First burn...Wholy HEAT!!!!! Need some advice please

[Mike821]

All....I had a Lopi 1750i installed last week. This morning was my first burn knowing I was going to be home for the day. I wanted to be around to watch over the stove and get used to the way it operates. Upon reading many hours and countless treads I was able to start a top down fire with little effort. I used some 2x4's that I split into small slices on top of some splits. It worked like a charm. I had a good burn with the door slightly ajar for three hours to season the paint as per the manufacturer. After that I closed the door and closed the damper just about all the way. (including the bypass that Lopi has...such a great feature) The stove hovered around 500-550 with a half load of sycamore spits. It appears that sycamore burns real hot and fast. I had three splits on the coal base and they only lasted 2 hours. OK....so I have heat and a s-load at that. My home is 1700 sq ft and my stove is heating it like no tomorrow. In the room that the stove is in 20x15 it is an easy 80-85 deg. The other rooms are at 77 downstairs. Upstairs is also 78 deg.. My wife has changed into shorts and a tank top. She is laughing saying that we are making Margaretha's tonight and sitting tub side with our feet in the water. OK..enough with the humor. I have dialed my stove down to no draft at all. (flue lever in all the way) I have a hot coal base and little fire (no secondary). The stove temp is 350-400. It is starting to feel better but temps are still in the 78-82 range in the house. How do you get the temps down in the house...open windows for a draft? Is it OK to run the stove between 3-400 without the secondaries burning?

I never thought I would be saying I have too much heat....lol.

This Lopi is a heat machine. All I have to do now is practice the art of heating with a wood stove. My first overnight burn should be fun....

 

[pyro68]

quick question, do you have a damper in the chimney other than the bypass on the stove? As to running the low temperatures, just be aware that without the secondary burning, you run the risk of building some creosote. Try to give the stove about 20 - 30 min / day of flat out burning on high. You can even open the bypass to dump some heat up the chimney. Might want to consider some creosote remover products as well. When the temps drop a little you should be able to burn it hotter.

 

[Mike821]

No damper in the stack just on the stove. I am thinking that I might have made a ripping fire with both bypass and damper open all the way at first. I burned that way so that the paint can cure and then closed the door. I am getting some secondary burn, but not as much as when I had three splits on the coals...just one log now.

 

[Pagey]

I have the Endeavor, which is the same firebox. If I load north/south, it will cruise around 550-650F. I find that loading smaller loads east/west will usually let it cruise at a somewhat lower temp. Welcome to the Lopi family. They are great stoves.

 

[agartner]

The best way to control the heat on the stove is to control the load - small hot fires are more efficient than big choked down ones. It's a little science, and a little magic, but you're looking at how best to "cycle" your stove. Colder days get bigger loads or more frequent small loads. With time will come experience and soon you'll be down to a routine that works for you. A couple of fans strategically located will help you move the heat from the stove room to other places in the house - this will also help to "level out" those roasting temps in the stoveroom, but I'll tell you, if ~my~ wife showed up in shorts and a tank with two margaritas ready for the hot tub - well lets just say I wouldn't let that opportunity pass me by.

By the way, your overnight burn really shouldn't be all that different from your day burn. It's just another cycle.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

All....I had a Lopi 1750i installed last week. This morning was my first burn knowing I was going to be home for the day. I wanted to be around to watch over the stove and get used to the way it operates. Upon reading many hours and countless treads I was able to start a top down fire with little effort. I used some 2x4's that I split into small slices on top of some splits. It worked like a charm. I had a good burn with the door slightly ajar for three hours to season the paint as per the manufacturer. After that I closed the door and closed the damper just about all the way. (including the bypass that Lopi has...such a great feature) The stove hovered around 500-550 with a half load of sycamore spits. It appears that sycamore burns real hot and fast. I had three splits on the coal base and they only lasted 2 hours. OK....so I have heat and a s-load at that. My home is 1700 sq ft and my stove is heating it like no tomorrow. In the room that the stove is in 20x15 it is an easy 80-85 deg. The other rooms are at 77 downstairs. Upstairs is also 78 deg.. My wife has changed into shorts and a tank top. She is laughing saying that we are making Margaretha's tonight and sitting tub side with our feet in the water. OK..enough with the humor. I have dialed my stove down to no draft at all. (flue lever in all the way) I have a hot coal base and little fire (no secondary). The stove temp is 350-400. It is starting to feel better but temps are still in the 78-82 range in the house. How do you get the temps down in the house...open windows for a draft? Is it OK to run the stove between 3-400 without the secondaries burning?

I never thought I would be saying I have too much heat....lol.

This Lopi is a heat machine. All I have to do now is practice the art of heating with a wood stove. My first overnight burn should be fun....



No damper in the stack just on the stove. I am thinking that I might have made a ripping fire with both bypass and damper open all the way at first. I burned that way so that the paint can cure and then closed the door. I am getting some secondary burn, but not as much as when I had three splits on the coals…just one log now.

No joking but if the wife has changed into shorts and tank top I'd say you have the heat about right. That is how I judge the heat. If the ladies aren't removing some clothing, I have to stoke the fire a bit.


How to keep the temperatures down in the house? It all boils down to how much fuel you put into the stove. It does seem a shame to get the house warm and then open windows but once in a great while we do it but only for short periods.

You will need some practice with regulating the heat but it is a short learning curve. It all starts with good fuel. For overnight or long burns it is best to have larger splits or even some rounds. We like to put a round in the bottom rear of the stove, a quick lighting type wood in the bottom front and then fill with good hardwood the rest of the way. Let the fire get established good so the wood is charred and then start dialing down the draft in increments, and that usually takes us usually 10-15 minutes maximum. Within 20 minutes (or sometimes even 10 minutes) we can get the final setting and relax.


At first you made a rip roaring fire with both bypass and damper set open all the way thinking that would cure the paint....and then closed the door. You actually did the opposite of what you should have done. With the cooler air entering the door the stove stayed cooler. Also, with the draft set full open (it needs to be at first but not for long), you will find that most of the heat simply goes straight up the chimney. By closing the draft part way once the fire gets started you will keep more heat in the stove which will benefit you with more heat in the house.

Take your time, relax and experiment but if unsure of something, lots of folks here are willing to help. Good luck.

 

[jharkin]

Another thing to keep in mind is that this time of year its still mild enough that you might not need to burn that stove all day. Maybe just one fire in the morning to warm up then let it cool of and lite again in the evening.

With my cat stove I have it burning all day but I have the air almost completely closed trying to keep the house under 75F.


Wait till it gets down into the 20s then it will be fun lettin her rip

 

[ckarotka]

Tank top and shorts! Only a little more to go......add more wood

Try building smaller fires IE. only a few splits that burn down in 1hour instead of 3 hours. Ya more work in reloading but, more comfortable temps. Still burn the smaller fires hot to get that clean burn just not as long.

 

[HotCoals]

We need to hear more about the wife taking her clothes off..and pics would really help! lol.

 

[Mike821]

OK....I have added a fan in the mix to circulate the cold air from the furthest point of my downstairs to the, "fire room". I read it is best to move cold air than warm air...in this case I don't know if I am doing things the right way, but somone will chime in. As for the stove....I noticed smaller fires do heat less, but I dont quite get the secondary burn all the time. I just put anohter four splits in the stove. I let them char and choked it down all the way. I have both primary and secondary working like a charm. I am sure the heat is going to crank now, but I want to see how hot it gets with a full load and full choke. She is sitting at 500 now and the steamer is boiling like mad...guess I need one of those heat plates..cast iorn to defuse the heat so I dont have a boiling tea kettle each time.

Would a fan in the room work to move heat? Anyone use those door fans that sit in the upper part of the door?

 

[Mike821]

HotCoals.....if ya pay the bills the woman is yours.

As for the hot fire....well I made another one. Went out an bought a few bottles of wine. Kids due to be in bed by 7:30pm. Pic's.....ya killing me man!

 

[bimmerFAITH]

The short answer is to burn less wood. The long answer is to practice with your new investment and you shouldn't have a persistent problem with overheating. Don't let your first day burning experience set an expectation of an ongoing problem. If it happens to get too hot in your house, open the windows. Better than sweating it out.

Unfortunately, I don't think I could get the house hot enough for my wife to take off her clothes to get comfortable . . . she sits on the couch with a freaking blanket in the middle of summer.

Good luck with your learning curve, and enjoy your Lopi!! I really began liking my Lopi Freedom after the few weeks it took to get the hang of it after burning with a non-EPA beast for a few years.

 

[bimmerFAITH]

My house is a long narrow ranch with the bedrooms down a hallway separated from the living areas. I use a box fan on the floor in the hall doorway sucking the low cold air out of the bedrooms into the stove room. The hot air flows down the hall ceiling and enters the bedrooms up high. If the stove room is 72, the bedrooms are 66-68 with the box fan running. Without the fan running the stove room could be 72 and the bedrooms would be about 60-64.

Depending on the circumstances, with the convection the box fan creates I will sometimes be surprised by a very warm stove room in the 80-84 range even when I am sucking the cold air into the room from the back of the house.

Although curious about their effectiveness, I have never used one of the door jam "corner" fans. They seem expensive at $20-$30 each compared to the 70s era METAL box fan I picked up at a yard sale for $1.00. All this plastic disposable crap they sell at the big box stores for $$$$ is really a waste of money in my opinion.

 

[agartner]

I have one of those doorjam "corner" fans before I learnt the ways of the hearth.com forums. I too was trying to use it to push warm air out of the stove room and up the stairs. I found it better to have a box fan at the bottom of the stairs pulling the cold air down. The corner fan is unplugged.

Your dollar was well spent.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Tank top and shorts! Only a little more to go......add more wood

Funny I was thinking the same thing! ;-P

 

[Mike821]

WOW The stoker set I have is a pos. It looks good....some set my wife picked up. I was moving some ash/coals to the front of the stove and the shovel caught on fire. Yup..the paint was burning. I ran outside and launched this tool across the yard. Time for me to pick up some MAN tools for the fire. I was thinking the local tractor supply store should have something. Any suggestions?

 

[Bobbin]

I was so irritated by marginally crappy tools I went to a local blacksmith, told him what I wanted and he made them for me. I have a long "L" shaped tool that replaced the crappy poker and a long rake that allows me to easily seperate coals and ash. I use a standard, cheapie shovel from the hardware store to remove ash and I have one of the covered ash pans on legs in case the ashes are still warm/hot. We keep a galvinized trash can out back under the filon roof to receive the ashes over the winter. It sits on a bed of crushed stone. We use the ashes on the lawns and in the gardens throughout the year.

 

[DBoon]

My father-in-law has the Lopi 1750 and I have a Lopi Answer - good stove, you'll love it.

Add less wood (try three splits) and don't add as often. If your splits are big (I'm guessing that you are putting 5-6" splits in there), then make some half-size splits and only put three or four of them in there. Keep the quantity and surface area of the wood lower, and you will get less total heat. Then, wait longer to reload - let those coals sit for a while, they aren't going anywhere. Reload at about 200 to 250 degrees.

 

[Mike821]

Bobbin....you have a good idea. A local blacksmith wold be the ticket to quality tools. I have a bud whom is a furrier by trade. I am sure he can FIRE me up a set of tools in a heartbeat. The trick is getting to him...he is about an hour and a half from me and busy as heck. Usually a case of beer lures him in like a deer to a bait pile. (lol) DB...you are right about the small fires. Yesterday I had a coal base of 3" and was adding quite a few splits 5-6" each time. That cranked out the heat even with the fire choked down 90%.

 

[tickbitty]

Welcome to the club Mike! Got any pictures?!

To you and the other 1750i owners, do you guys have block-off plates or no? I still don't have one but would still like to do that.
My house is built like a bunker - brick on block and if the dogs are barking outside I can't hear them unless a window is open - but when I read your posts about heating so much space it just reminds me how drafty ours must be in comparison to something with new windows or more insulation. We get the core of the house good and hot but down around the corner down the hall, it's still frequently mid to high sixties. That's where it would be with any regular heat system anyway, so I'm not complaining, but our house is only 1450 sq feet so I figure if you guys are heating the heck out of bigger houses with the same stove, in a bit colder climate I bet, then I would think mine would be heating us out of house and home! Note to self, more insulation next year.

I'm extremely pleased with the stove. Electric bill was $70- last year in Jan it was almost $500! If it makes that big a diff in the power bill during the real cold months this year, the stove will have paid for itself in no time! And it's soooooo cozy.

The only tools we use are a poker that was left for the fireplace, nothing special, and a 3$ ash shovel and small galvanized lidded trashcan. And a fiskars super splitting axe! I would love to try one of those pokers you blow through though. Neat idea!

 

[tickbitty]

Welcome to the club Mike! Got any pictures?!

To you and the other 1750i owners, do you guys have block-off plates or no? I still don't have one but would still like to do that.
My house is built like a bunker - brick on block and if the dogs are barking outside I can't hear them unless a window is open - but when I read your posts about heating so much space it just reminds me how drafty ours must be in comparison to something with new windows or more insulation. We get the core of the house good and hot but down around the corner down the hall, it's still frequently mid to high sixties. That's where it would be with any regular heat system anyway, so I'm not complaining, but our house is only 1450 sq feet so I figure if you guys are heating the heck out of bigger houses with the same stove, in a bit colder climate I bet, then I would think mine would be heating us out of house and home! Note to self, more insulation next year.

I'm extremely pleased with the stove. Electric bill was $70- last year in Jan it was almost $500! If it makes that big a diff in the power bill during the real cold months this year, the stove will have paid for itself in no time! And it's soooooo cozy.

The only tools we use are a poker that was left for the fireplace, nothing special, and a 3$ ash shovel and small galvanized lidded trashcan. And a fiskars super splitting axe! I would love to try one of those pokers you blow through though. Neat idea!

 

[Mike821]

WOW.....my first 7hr burn last night. Woke up this morning with a hot coal base and my stove at 3-350. I love the heat. My wife is asking about the humidity...we do have a seamer and keep that going as much as possible. Any suggestions at to how to keep the humditity (what my daughter calls it)..lol up in the house.

 

[agartner]

This is what I use for a humidifier: http://www.holmesproducts.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=1283

Ultrasonics suck - if you have hard water you get white "stuff" all over the place and they don't last but a damn.

This one is simple, just uses a "wick" filter, bowl of water, and a fan. Holds like 5 gallons.

 

[begreen]

OK....I have added a fan in the mix to circulate the cold air from the furthest point of my downstairs to the, "fire room". I read it is best to move cold air than warm air...in this case I don't know if I am doing things the right way, but somone will chime in. As for the stove....I noticed smaller fires do heat less, but I dont quite get the secondary burn all the time. I just put anohter four splits in the stove. I let them char and choked it down all the way. I have both primary and secondary working like a charm. I am sure the heat is going to crank now, but I want to see how hot it gets with a full load and full choke. She is sitting at 500 now and the steamer is boiling like mad...guess I need one of those heat plates..cast iorn to defuse the heat so I dont have a boiling tea kettle each time.

Would a fan in the room work to move heat? Anyone use those door fans that sit in the upper part of the door?

Distributing the heat better to the rest of the house is a great idea and you are right to try to push the cold air towards the stove room. That should bring it down to the low 80's. That one fan may suffice. Play with it a bit for location to see how it works.

Can you describe your floor layout? Is this an open area connected to the kitchen and then a hallway for the bedrooms? A quick sketch would be even better.

 

[oldspark]

WOW The stoker set I have is a pos. It looks good....some set my wife picked up. I was moving some ash/coals to the front of the stove and the shovel caught on fire. Yup..the paint was burning. I ran outside and launched this tool across the yard. ?

That made me choke on my coffee.