First Real Fire After Break-in with Hampton HI300

[jscs.moore]

Hey Guys...I did my first real fire after breaking in my recently installed Hampton HI300 with 3 small fires to cure the cast iron/paint, etc. I burned from late afternoon yesterday/overnight and was able to keep my entire 2 story Center Hall Colonial (2000sq.ft) nice and toasty (about 74 degrees) without using the electric heat pump. It was not really cold out last night (about 37 degrees), but I was impressed that it heated the house so well. I have an open floor plan and a fairly open staircase and used the living room ceiling fan to help move the heat around.
So here's my question...I have a condor stove top thermostat right at the top of the door in the middle (where dealer said it should go for accurate temperature)...but the stove reading never went above the low 400s which I believe is the low side of cruising temp? I'm a newbie to all of this and will admit that I am that I just build a tepee kindling fire with newspaper, let it get going and then start to throw some splits on top. I then knock down the air intake a bit when it's established. However, I was really afraid of over firing the insert with my first real burn, but was surprised that the thermostat took quite a while to get to 400 degrees and never went much above that? I know I probably could have fit more splits in, but again am a little anxious about over firing. Is the way to really run this stove efficiently to pack it full of large splits get it the heat really cranked up...then start knocking the air down?? Thanks for any feedback you can provide...I really thought the thermostat would be jumping to 500 or 600 pretty quickly and this was not the case??

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you are taking the right approach. No need to build a raging full fire right off the bat. Add a bit more wood each time in the next fires and see how it goes. Also, the stove is going to run about 100F cooler with the fan on, so take that into account.

 

[jscs.moore]

Sounds like you are taking the right approach. No need to build a raging full fire right off the bat. Add a bit more wood each time in the next fires and see how it goes. Also, the stove is going to run about 100F cooler with the fan on, so take that into account.

Thanks Begreen. When you say it will run 100F cooler with the fan on you do mean the internal fan for the insert right? If so, how important is it to run the fan for moving heat throughout the house? I you don't use the fan, and the insert runs a 100F hotter...would that produce more radiant heat and be better than running the internal fan?? Sorry, again...this is all still very new to me.

 

[begreen]

Yes, internal blower. The insert is a convective heater. Leaving the blower off will make the front more radiant, you'll see this by a rise in door temp, but the insert will still be convecting heat from the convection shroud surrounding the stove. Try it and see. This will be good power outage practice.

 

[jscs.moore]

Yes, internal blower. The insert is a convective heater. Leaving the blower off will make the front more radiant, you'll see this by a rise in door temp, but the insert will still be convecting heat from the convection shroud surrounding the stove. Try it and see. This will be good power outage practice.

Thanks...I wasn't aware of this, thought the internal blower was a must to heat up the house? I was going to actually get an eco-fan for power outages but have seen very mixed reviews/feedback on them. So with a Hampton HI300 and 2000Sqft Center Hall Colonial...I should be able to adequately heat the house in a power outage in cold weather just by the radiant heat the insert throws off??

 

[begreen]

Not quite right. The insert is an area heater. It will get a bit hotter and more radiant from the front with the fan off. It will not convect as well with the fan off. That is the purpose of the blower. The lower rate of convection with the blower off will affect heat circulation in the house.

What I suggested is that you try the insert for several hours with the blower off so that you can see how it works under that condition. My guess is that the room it's in will stay warm but other parts of the house will cool down.

 

[jscs.moore]

Okay...so during power outages do you have any opinion on running an eco-fan to help convect heat throughout the house...or are they just a waste of money (most of over $100 bucks).

 

[begreen]

They help a little and are handy in an outage. However they need enough heat to get spinning well. The Hampton has a convection top which may be too cool to get the little fan working at maximum capacity. It does best on a 500-600F stove top. Put the thermometer on the flat top of the insert and see what it reads.