General Inquiries

[Autorotate]

Hello all,

It's been a couple months now that I have been using my Hearthstone Manchester. I have gained some great info and reviews on here before I made my decision. All is going well with the stove. It is heating my entire house in these 9 degree temperatures in Philly.....

Now since everything is running so smoothly, I think I have problems...haha. I had a few questions and I read some the answers on the stickies as well.

1) What is a good thermometer that I can pick up from Amazon (Flue or stove top suggestions)?

2) I have read that the "pinging" noise is ok as it is only the metal expanding and contracting?

3) My burns...I get a nice bed of coal and then keep loading the logs. I stack around 2-3 east/west unless I try to burn overnight (next question) and keep them burning hot with the air opened all the way.. They catch right away and the stove continues to put out good flaming heat. This is where I am slightly scared that I am burning the stove too hot. I can still put my hand on the flue and stove for a second without getting burned though.

4) The night burn....I'm definitely a rookie. I stack about 4-5 logs East/West on a nice bed of coal. I try to close the air to half or a little less. I'm not sure what time they completely burn out, but 5-6 hours later I am lucky to strike up a hot coal. Any ways to better do the night burn?

I just want to make sure that I don't over fire my stove and that I am doing everything proper. Sorry for all the questions, but it just seems that this is working too well to be right. haha.

 

[bobdog2o02]

would think you can fit more fuel in there, fill er up. The long burn times rely on a large fuel supply.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hello all,

It's been a couple months now that I have been using my Hearthstone Manchester. I have gained some great info and reviews on here before I made my decision. All is going well with the stove. It is heating my entire house in these 9 degree temperatures in Philly.....

Now since everything is running so smoothly, I think I have problems...haha. I had a few questions and I read some the answers on the stickies as well.

1) What is a good thermometer that I can pick up from Amazon (Flue or stove top suggestions)? I'm a bit partial to Condar thermometers. Have had pretty good luck with them . . . they seem relatively accurate . . . at least for the price.

2) I have read that the "pinging" noise is ok as it is only the metal expanding and contracting? It's (as my wife says) the sound of heat . . . pinging, ticking, etc. all normal . . . although it is entirely possible someone is near to you in a submarine running sonar.

3) My burns...I get a nice bed of coal and then keep loading the logs. I stack around 2-3 east/west unless I try to burn overnight (next question) and keep them burning hot with the air opened all the way.. They catch right away and the stove continues to put out good flaming heat. This is where I am slightly scared that I am burning the stove too hot. I can still put my hand on the flue and stove for a second without getting burned though. Not a big fan of the "seared skin" thermometer . . . better to get an actual stove top or flue thermometer. That said . . . many folks underestimate how hot their stove is and actually end up running it cooler than they should. You may or may not realize that once the stove is up to temp you want to start closing the air control . . . for longer burns and to take advantage of the secondary burn (if you thought the flames were scary looking before, just wait until you get a load of the secondaries -- mine often look like a portal to hell has opened up in my woodstove. I half expect to see ol' Beelzebub poking his head into my woodstove to see if I need a hand.

4) The night burn....I'm definitely a rookie. I stack about 4-5 logs East/West on a nice bed of coal. I try to close the air to half or a little less. I'm not sure what time they completely burn out, but 5-6 hours later I am lucky to strike up a hot coal. Any ways to better do the night burn? Longer burns call for more wood . . . better wood (think oak, locust, sugar maple, etc.) stacked nice and tight . . . but you may also want to see if you can close the air even more . . . as long as you've got a good flame . . . or secondaries . . . you're all set.

I just want to make sure that I don't over fire my stove and that I am doing everything proper. Sorry for all the questions, but it just seems that this is working too well to be right. haha Best bet to make sure you don't overfire the stove is a thermometer . . . or to never ever burn a fire in it . . . but that kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a woodstove, right? .

 

[Autorotate]

Thank you very much for all that information! That is exactly what I am looking for. I was very curious as to whether or not I was running the stove too cold or too hot. And you are right, the hand method is probably unreliable....haha. I am definitely going to get a thermometer to see what temperatures I am running at. Then I can come back and further discuss my night burns.

In the meantime, as long as the heat pump isn't kicking on, I am a happy person at 75 degrees in the house.