First winter burning....update...

[Ultrarunner]

Ok, so this first winter is about in the books here in SW CT, our current nor-easter storm notwithstanding. As some may remember, I'd researched this quite a bit, ramped up last summer with a wood shed, has sourced a good amount of dry wood, etc....

In Sep. I had installed a Regency i2500. It's been running non-stop since end of Oct. I can count on less than one hand, restarting the stove from cold. I've got a traditional 3200 sq. foot center-hall colonial.

 

[Niro]

Just curious do you know how much wood you went through?
I probably burn 3 cords in my insert and it still wasn't enough as I ran out few weeks back.

 

[peakbagger]

Ok, so this first winter is about in the books here in SW CT, our current nor-easter storm notwithstanding. As some may remember, I'd researched this quite a bit, ramped up last summer with a wood shed, has sourced a good amount of dry wood, etc....

In Sep. I had installed a Regency i2500. It's been running non-stop since end of Oct. I can count on less than one hand, restarting the stove from cold. I've got a traditional 3200 sq. foot center-hall colonial.

Have you had a chance to check the stack yet?

 

[spuldup]

Hey there fellow first-yearer! We're making it through as well. Burnt about 5-6 cords heating our 2800sqft contemporary with cathedral ceiling. I'm 40 now and back to my college weight. It has been a journey. Scrounging dry wood for this year and cutting wood for next year (got 7 cords). Looking forward to some time in the pool this summer.

 

[garth_2022]

I am also a first year burner on Long Island. I have the Regency Hi500/Ci2700. As we all know on the east coast this year, it was a very mild winter. I pretty much went through 3 cords non-stop burning from sometime in November until a few days ago. Now I put it on when it gets too cold. I load it at 8:30am, 4:30pm and 11:00pm.

 

[Garbanzo62]

First year here. Central CT with same insert.. Any trouble getting heat upstairs. I did not have a good stock of wood so I burned conservatively. Would love to know if you had any issues with shutting down the damper, use of the cat etc.

 

[Ultrarunner]

So, I’ve gone through 5 cords and have two more, which will be plenty to finish the season. We go on vacation early April and I’ll have the stack checked. No issues utilizing the side damper and catalyst. I get the stove up to 600-700 degrees, engage it and then partially close the side draft. Stove still plenty warm in the morning. My upstairs will keep a steady 62, which is fine for us. The upstairs heat zone will typically kick on in the very early morning on colder nights <25. Downstairs keeps a steady 67 to 72 in the stove room.

 

[Garbanzo62]

So, I’ve gone through 5 cords and have two more, which will be plenty to finish the season. We go on vacation early April and I’ll have the stack checked. No issues utilizing the side damper and catalyst. I get the stove up to 600-700 degrees, engage it and then partially close the side draft. Stove still plenty warm in the morning. My upstairs will keep a steady 62, which is fine for us. The upstairs heat zone will typically kick on in the very early morning on colder nights <25. Downstairs keeps a steady 67 to 72 in the stove room.

I've probably gone through 1.5 cords. But since I knew I was deficient on wood, there would be days I did not burn if it was warm., and smaller burnss during the day. At night I had the side damper closed all the way. Similar temps in the house. When you said partially closed, are you talking 1/2, 3/4 7/8? What species of wood have you been burning?

 

[Ultrarunner]

So, I’ve experimented with the damper. Last night for example I brought the stove temp up to 600 or so, let it stabilize, closed the side draft 3/4, engaged the catalyst and turned the blower to high do you have a special. So a relatively slow burn all night. I came downstairs this morning with a temp of 64. Opened up the stove and turned over the cold, they were still super hot. Threw in some logs and poof!

Burning mostly oak and maple. With some black walnut in there as well.

 

[Raddler]

So, I’ve experimented with the damper. Last night for example I brought the stove temp up to 600 or so, let it stabilize, closed the side draft 3/4, engaged the catalyst and turned the blower to high do you have a special. So a relatively slow burn all night. I came downstairs this morning with a temp of 64. Opened up the stove and turned over the cold, they were still super hot. Threw in some logs and poof!

Burning mostly oak and maple. With some black walnut in there as well.

Does the temp reading stay around 600 while the blower is on? I'm new to my i2500. My start up goes as you've described but as soon I put the blower on, the temp reading drops rather quickly and usually wants to stay around 400. So I find myself engaging, disengaging and worrying about what I should be doing with the cat.

 

[begreen]

The stove temperature will drop a bit with the blower on. Leave the cat engaged as long as it's in the active zone and open up the air a little if more heat is desired. Also, try with the blower on a lower speed if it's on high.

 

[Garbanzo62]

I have the same issue with My I2500. Last year ran the fan on High, this year running on Low. I actually think the air is coming out warmer on Low and the stove is staying hotter. It makes sense as you are pushing less cool room air into the box so it does not cool it down as fast and it gives the air being pushed in more time to heat up. The Cat on the I2500 is not going to add much heat if any. The I2500 is an I2450 with a cat added to get the EPA rating. Most of the heat generated by the Cat goes up the flue. That being said, running the flue gases hotter is never a bad thing. The Cat will restrict the airflow a bit so you might need to fiddle with your Damper settings. I first drop the damper to half way and then 15 min later, I go 3/4 . Once I see the fire is stabilized at that setting I go to about 7/8's. You might even try engaging the cat half way. The manual says to wait until temp is 500 to engage cat. I wait until it is over 600.

 

[Raddler]

Once I see the fire is stabilized at that setting I go to about 7/8's.

If I close to 7/8 with the fan on low, I won't get more than an hour or two before the temp drops below 500 and I start to question if I should disengage the cat. Maybe I need to try cramming more wood in? The stove is in the basement that opens up to the main level on two ends. At 600 or above, the basement is uncomfortably warm and the rest of the house stays in the high 60s so it's not really a problem. I'm just wondering if I am missing the ability to use the cat to achieve some higher state of being where the stove cruises at 600 for 8 hours. I also see no smoke coming from my chimney without the cat engaged so I'm wondering if I should even bother with it anymore. Maybe I'll feel differently when the real cold arrives and I start attempting to run it hotter.

 

[Garbanzo62]

There are a lot of factors. Last year If I went 7/8s, the fire would bog down and my glass got black. However, my wood was between 19 and 21% MC. This year, the MC is between 14 and 18%. Also chimney height and draft have a lot to do with it. Mine is 25 - 30 Ft, so I have a lot of Draft. Smoke or lack there of is not a definitive inductor of if the cat is doing anything. When you engage the cat, do you see a rise in the probe temp? Mine goes up, levels off and then eventually comes back down as the fire burns hotter and consumes more of the flammable gases. I've run the stove with the cat engaged and not engaged. Again, the Regency 2500 series was not designed as a cat stove, they are non-cat 2450 designs with cats added to get to that 75% EPA Threshold.

 

[JonH]

There are a lot of factors. Last year If I went 7/8s, the fire would bog down and my glass got black. However, my wood was between 19 and 21% MC. This year, the MC is between 14 and 18%. Also chimney height and draft have a lot to do with it. Mine is 25 - 30 Ft, so I have a lot of Draft. Smoke or lack there of is not a definitive inductor of if the cat is doing anything. When you engage the cat, do you see a rise in the probe temp? Mine goes up, levels off and then eventually comes back down as the fire burns hotter and consumes more of the flammable gases. I've run the stove with the cat engaged and not engaged. Again, the Regency 2500 series was not designed as a cat stove, they are non-cat 2450 designs with cats added to get to that 75% EPA Threshold.

I’ve got the same stove, it’s my first one so I have nothing to compare it to but I like it. I agree I don’t think our stove gets as much bang for the buck out of the cat bc if it’s placement. I may be wrong but I think one way the cat creates more heat is when the cat is engaged it causes much hotter air to be blown out by the fan bc the air is blown around the box and past the cat where it’s slid into the flu. So in an alternative way it does create more heat than if it wasn’t engaged. Plus getting the tax credit on the i2500 saved me a ton of money and knowing I saved all that money makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside lol.

 

[Garbanzo62]

Yeah, my guess is 90% of the heat generated by the Cat is going right up the flue.
I2450 HHV 67% LHV 72% 75000 BTU I2500 HHV 76% LHV 82% 78,0000 BTU So the I2500 is 10% more efficient, but only produces 4% more BTU. I think that BTU number is per/hr using cordwood

 

[Ultrarunner]

Ok, so, into the second winter burning the i2500. Definitely a bit of a learning curve. The stove hasn't been off since late Oct. When the stove gets too full of hot coals to pack it, I open the damper, crack the door, and let the coals burn down to the sill, then repack. I've only had to empty ash twice since firing up in Oct. My evening routine is to get a good hot fire going, fully packed, and let the temp get to 1000 degrees F or so, with a good fire, then close the damper and engage the Cat. This gets us through the night with the downstairs not dropping below 64. My downstairs heat zone hasn't kicked on this season, it's set at 63. My upstairs zone typically kicks on at 2 or 3 in the morning, once the house is cold-soaked. At rise and shine, I mix up the coals, get 'em super hot and repack. Downstairs is back to 70 in short order and 65 upstairs. Once I chaff these crappy 35 year old double hung windows for some Marvin's, we'll have a pretty tight hut and be much more efficient. Appreciate any tips and/or comments. Thanks.

 

[peakbagger]

My guess is you are running into math, The heat leaving the house into the surrounding environment is exceeding the heat input from the stove on a 24 hour basis. It sounds like you are concentrating on the right side of the equation. Not knowing your stove, the normal approach is to bring out the "superfuel", high btu well seasoned wood like white oak. If the stove is at its maximum heat output all this means is a bit less work moving around less wood as the " the pedal may already be to the floorboards" . Stove have an operating range and new EPA stove have a smaller range than the old non regulated stoves. If you size a stove for the worse case heating load its going to be a PITA during the 95% of the heating season when the temps are warmer. A wise old professor at UMaine (who invented the world's most efficient wood fired heating system) suggested that the best method was buy two stoves, a big one for the cold temps and smaller one for the shoulder seasons and swap them out mid season. A typical heating oil or natural gas furnace installed in home is sized for the worse case outdoor temperature, the usual nameplate for residential home is 100,000 btu per hour. It may be oversized by 10 percent to cover hot water loads. For rough approximation the nozzle size is usually 0,75 to 1 GPM of heating oil per hour if the boiler is running continuous. It may be more in large older home. Not many wood stoves are sized for 100,000 Btus per hour they are usually down in the 30 to 50 thousand BTU range.

So let's look at the left side of the equation, heat demand of the house. Have you had an energy audit to go after the low hanging fruit for reducing heat demand? Your utility may already have a program that is free or very low cost, Eversource in some areas will do the audit and split the costs to do energy upgrades with the homeowner for half cost. The government passed the IRA bill last year but itsr not really kicking in until the states get their programs in place but there are hundreds of millions in each states kitty to spend on energy efficiency so its worth seeing when your states program kicks in and planning to take advantage of it. You mention the windows but rarely do energy audits justify window replacements as there are usually a lot of other lower cost fixes to reduce heat loss. One of the main tools of the audit is a blower door test where a big fan is mounted in a door and the house is depressurized to find air leaks, it is pretty effective. You probably do not realize that when running a wood stove especially one without an outdoor air kit that you are inadvertently running a blower door test when you are running a wood stove at full bore. All that hot flue gas leaving the building has to be made up with cold air from the outside and that cold air is usually leaking into the building through all sorts of cracks and leaky dampers. They may not be as apparent on a 30 F degree day but down around 10 degrees it adds up. Ideally you want to seal up the house to the point where its so tight that the stove will not run without an outdoor air supply but before then the air in your house will be stale and unhealthy which means time to install an indoor to outdoor heat exchanger that pumps indoor air through a heat exchanger that is taking in outdoor air. What this does is reduces the blower door effect so that the pressure inside the building is near the outdoors. That is the approach with modern super energy efficient homes, seal them up tight and built them with lots of insulation so they do not need a lot of heat over a 24 hour period.

In the mean time, if the stove is running flat out in very cold weather, the last thing is do what most folks did years ago, live with the cold house or find a light sleeper to get up in the middle of the night to feed the stove and wait a few days for it to warm up outside. It is painful to hear the oil or gas boiler run in addition to the wood stove in very cold temps but from a heating season point of view, a properly sized wood stove versus and over sized one is going to win out. The ther short term fix is find the household member that is most sensitive to drafts and ask them to volunteer to be the draft detector and go around the house looking for drafts and follow them with a caulking gun. If they are not up for it, many home depots rent a thermal scanning gun at daily rates that will allow you see heat leaks on cold days. You just walk around the house looking at the screen and see the cold spots. If you look at the sample of my bathroom ceiling you can see that the NE corner of my house needs more insulation and the square exhaust fan is pulling air through a duct from the outdoors up in the ceiling. I do not have an air to air heat exchanger so the exhaust fan duct is sucking in cold air from the outdoors.