Hearthstone Heritage Operating Temp

[dabbott]

Hello. This is my first season burning with a heritage and I'm concerned about my operating temperatures.
I run the stove right around 500 most of the time. Anything less and my house doesn't warm up. I don't
want to over fire my stove. What do other owners of the heritage burn at?

Thanks.

 

[rydaddy]

My heritage exits out the rear. I have 3 temp. gauges... one on the center of the top stone, one on the cast iron "cap" that seals to top exit flue, and one inserted in the chimney.

500 on the top stone is great. I have had it higher, but not often. The one on the cast iron is usually 600 if the stone is 500.

I think you are on the right track.

 

[edthedawg]

Temps are highest around that top exit casting, even on mine w/ that blocked off and using the rear exit. I've measured 600 on specific surfaces w/ my cheap IR thermometer, and it is CRANKING when i find that. stovetop Rutland contact / magnetic thermometer just sitting on the top center stone (as close to that casting as i can get w/out clipping onto it) usually reads 550 in such a case. And I throw a box fan right next to the stove when i see that - usually the fan just sits in the next room, aimed in the direction of the stove.

As for not heating the house, i'm curious what you're doing to circulate the air - gotta move cold air TOWARD the stove.

 

[Highbeam]

The redline for our heritages is 600 maintained. Now to me, that means don't get it to 600. I have run it up to 550 on occasion when trying to test things out and "burn it out" a bit, everyone should know how their stoves behave throughout the operating range. Our extreme cold weather burns are a maintained 450-475, never needing the heat of 500+ for very long. To maintain temps above 450 for extended periods is pretty hard in this stove for me, too much loading. For normal weather days we use the whole range of 250-450 and burn in batches that include a full load and then after the fire burns to coals another full load. Really taking advantage of the heat-life of soapstone.

If you need to run the stove at 500 to keep the house reasonably warm then I think you are undergunned. The exception being if you are suffering through an extreme cold snap in the weather.

All of my temps are measured as the manual specifies.

 

[edthedawg]

Highbeam - I've got a pair of identical IR thermometers (don't ask) - not sure if you use one, have one, etc... Just curious if you'd wanna do a temp survey / comparison for hotspots. I rarely find the hottest temps at the top center stone.

 

[Highbeam]

I nearly purchased one of those IR guns but didn't see enough uses for one to justify the cost. Trying to cut back on gadgets these days. I have no intention of finding the hottest spot on my stove, the manufacturer tells you the redline and tells you where to measure the temp so I don't really need to know anything else. For fun, sure, but from a practical point of view I don't want to worry about hot spots here and there that may change based on the particular wood load.

 

[rydaddy]

Highbeam - I've got a pair of identical IR thermometers (don't ask) - not sure if you use one, have one, etc... Just curious if you'd wanna do a temp survey / comparison for hotspots. I rarely find the hottest temps at the top center stone.

You know, its funny. I have always kept one on the top center stone and one on the top of the exit. Tonight I am going to move them and gain new info. What is it with us "guys" with the Heritage Stoves... we love to "hate" them and challenge ourselves with making them "better". And we still keep burning with them. Side doors are the ticket. If the Mansfield had a side door I would probably have one already. This is the only woodstove I have owned and I have become spoiled by it.

 

[rydaddy]

I'm sure that there are threads out there talking about this, but since I have a couple of Heritage guys in this thread already... Do you find that you have to change your gaskets AT LEAST once a year? And buy the middle of the season you are feeling like you need to do it again before the season is over? I have done it myself, I've had the dealer do it... all with the same end results. Just curious. Stupid thing has 3 doors to gasket and the ash pan door gasket is a PITA.

 

[Highbeam]

On gaskets. I've pushed just over ten cords through my heritage and have never changed a gasket. I've had to lube up the handles so that they operate without squeaking though. The ash pan gasket should last forever since I don't open that one. The front door gasket should last almost forever since I only open that about once a month. The side door, the crown jewel of the heritage, has a gasket that I will need to change if it ever begins to leak. I inadvertently shop vac'd part of that gasket out of the door and just pushed it back in place.

Why do you keep changing the gaskets?

I don't know if we love to hate the heritage. I see issues with the smaller Hearthstones and I see some issues with the biggest one but the mansfield and heritage guys don't seem to have stove issues. I can't remember back to a heritage thread where it was actually the stove that failed to perform, usually chimney, wood, expectation issues.

My only gripe is the burntime and that is not an issue with the stove itself as much as with the EPA rules and a smaller firebox, maybe the non-cat decision that I made years back.

Ed, I would like to begin monitoring flue temps. Curious about what heat I am wasting up the flue.

 

[edthedawg]

I admit - i haven't even checked my gaskets yet. I've only been running since October - I'm gonna do a full sweep/vac once we string together a few warm days in March or April, but til then I'm running hard. I'm beginning to suspect the bottom of the side loading door gasket as being a problem - seeing slightly taller flames over there sometimes. Nothing that has me too worried, or that I'd characterize as out of control.

One thing I do notice - the side door can be a real pain lately when the stove has cooled off. It jams shut and you have to really haul on it to open the door. Then when it's fully heated up, the door pops open w/ a feather touch. That worries me a little, because it just means sealing the door when cold could be a little bit of an issue. And then in that in-between heating-up stage, having to pull hard on the door invites a good push of smoke out into the room with it... This started a month or so ago - i keep looking for the castings to show some wear spots, so i can apply Corrective Dremeling.

HB - you have double-wall pipe, don't you?

 

[Highbeam]

Yes double wall straight up and out. Center of house. My next project will be a stove top damper right on the flue collar and then above that a condar flue thermometer. Some day, I may try to rig up a couple of those radio shack 4" muffin fans to blow through my rear heat shield to replicate the OEM blower.

I have also considered switching to single wall pipe with one of those bolt on heat shields since my pipe is 12" from the back wall. I like the look of a smaller stack.

 

[dabbott]

Thank you all for responding to my question. My magnetic thermometer sits on the center
stone and my stove exits through the rear. Before the stove was installed I installed
a 6" flu liner in my existing fireplace chimney. My chimney is about 22' in height.

I have 2000 square foot home, and we keep the up stairs door shut. I've been a little
disappointed with the stove heating the house. The temperature on my thermostat rarely
reads over 66 degrees even when when we're home all day reloading the
stove.

I live in NH, and it's been pretty cold this year. The other morning is 12 below, house never got about
62.

I'm just concerned that by consistently burning at temps ranging from 500 to 550 I'm going to damage
the stove.

Thanks,
Dale

 

[edthedawg]

i got a kid on me so typing slow. if u get 500-550 stovetop for multi-hrs that stove should be COOKING. and house is still cold?? u need to seriously move air better w/ fans.

 

[Highbeam]

So in the downstairs of this home, is this a basement with concrete walls? Your heat is going somewhere since the heritage at 550 is making major mojo and in 1000 SF this amount of heat should get you warm. It won't warm all 2000 SF, it was never designed for that much area, even if the entire 2000 SF was well insulated. The heritage is a radiant stove so its heat is absorbed by the surrounding surfaces and those surfaces will get warm which will eventually warm the room. Now if those receiving surfaces are concrete or other conductive material then the surface will never warm up and the heat will never warm the room.

I would also be concerned that sustained temps of 500-550 will do damage to the stove. I know that when you try and keep this stove at 500-550 that you will see higher temps. For instance, when the stove has dipped to 499 and you reload that hot firebox, you will easily get temps near 600 as that fresh load bursts into uncontrollable fire in the hot firebox.

So you have two choices, either upsize the stove or figure out where the heat is going and solve that issue. I would shoot for the latter. You just can't keep going the way you are.

 

[edthedawg]

Agreed - stove size shouldn't be an issue if you're focusing on the downstairs. If you are trying to quickly heat up from cold, and the stove isn't running 24/7, then yeah - probably too big a job for it. But if you are keeping a decent overnight burn and running it during the day, then no reason it shouldn't be heating your downstairs. I have a 1200 sq ft main floor - whole house is 2800 incl. finished attic, and had the downstairs up to 79 yesterday.

 

[edthedawg]

Yipe! I made that last post, and about 2 minutes later went to the stove to load for the night. didn't pack it - just two big splits, and an EcoFirelog. and one of the splits was heavy wet - just brought it in from the stack on the porch. Left damper and primary both mostly open. now 20m later and the room was glowing brightest yellow ever, stove was reading 600 on the top casting, 450 inside the top metal blockoff plate, and 450ish on the stones around the top casting. Glass over 800. Didn't measure the flue temp but would guess it was 450-500ish. Shut damper and primary full. plan to revisit in a few hours just to see how things are doing...

 

[dabbott]

The stove is in situated on the first floor in the living room of our home. The stove sits
on the hearth of our existing fireplace. I extended the hearth this fall to give the appropriate
clearances. The house is 2040SF, but the upstairs is closed off except for 1 bedroom and bathroom.

I suspect that the brick mantle is probably absorbing some of the heat that is being radiated from
the stove. Also, I installed a stop block to seal off the damper area of the chimney. I haven't placed
any fans behind the stove because I was afraid of a fire hazard.

Maybe I'll have to go back to my Harman P61 pellet stove.....I thought I would get more heat of the stove.

Dale

 

[edthedawg]

Well I hate to say it sounds like you're giving up, but it sounds like you're giving up... It's really a fabulous stove and lots of us online here are having great success with this same stove.

you also didn't answer my post #12 - when you are seeing 500+ stovetop readings, doesn't the heat coming off the glass just blast you away?? I can't leave my hand anywhere near the front of the glass when the stovetop is over 500 - the glass itself is around 800 then and radiating like crazy.

It took me some getting used-to, but I do well heating my place w/ sub-500 stovetop temps most of the time, and I have crappy wood. If you had a pellet stove in that same spot and were happier with the heat, have you compared the BTU ratings for both stoves? I don't know what a Harman P61 generates for heat output, but a 55k BTU Heritage really should be plenty enough for your house.

Just FYI - I wouldn't put a fan behind my stove either - just in the next room, aimed toward the stove.

 

[04RevX]

The stove is in situated on the first floor in the living room of our home. The stove sits
on the hearth of our existing fireplace. I extended the hearth this fall to give the appropriate
clearances. The house is 2040SF, but the upstairs is closed off except for 1 bedroom and bathroom.

I suspect that the brick mantle is probably absorbing some of the heat that is being radiated from
the stove. Also, I installed a stop block to seal off the damper area of the chimney. I haven't placed
any fans behind the stove because I was afraid of a fire hazard.

Maybe I'll have to go back to my Harman P61 pellet stove.....I thought I would get more heat of the stove.

Dale

If you give up on that Heritage I will buy it off you! Sorry to hijack...2nd hand Heritage's are rare.

I wonder though where your heat is going. If your running temps of constant 500* that should be more than enough to keep the temp in the house more than 66*. How is your insulation? How high are your ceilings? Is there a big wide open stair case that leads to the second floor? Just seems to me that the problem isn't with the stove. I heat about 1000 square feet with my smaller Homestead with ease. Average temp in the house has been 75* all winter. Not that its much of a comparison thought, just thought I would throw that out there.

 

[dabbott]

I don't think I'll give up on the stove, I think I might hook up the pellet stove at the other end of the house.
We do have a cathedral ceiling that leads to the second floor. I have a fan ontop of the stairs pushing the heat
back down.
Getting ready to head out to work stove is running at 475 and the temp in the house is 61 degrees. Got up at 6 this morning, stove temp
was at 150, house temp got down to 55 (had to turn on the furnace to get the house temp up to 60).

I'll try re-positioning fans around the house.

Dale

 

[dabbott]

I forgot to mention, the house was built in 1989 and is insulated pretty well.

 

[Highbeam]

We do have a cathedral ceiling that leads to the second floor. I have a fan ontop of the stairs pushing the heat
back down.

Wait a sec, does this mean that your basement has a two story ceiling? This stove is only rated to heat a max of like 1800 SF of floor space with a standard flat ceiling.

 

[rydaddy]

There has to be something crazy going on in that house for his house temps to be this low. Crazy.

 

[edthedawg]

I just want to know if he actually feels heat pouring off the stove when it's "reading 500+ stovetop". I can't hardly stand near the glass if it's that high. a fan anywhere nearby and the stove that hot, for an hour, and it should be 70. or all the heat it IS making is simply Going Somewhere Else.

 

[karri0n]

It makes me wish houses(and heating ability of the appliance) were measured in cubic feet, not SF. A stove that can heat a 2000 SF area with 7 foot ceilings won't be very effective at heating a 2000 SF area with 10 foot ceilings, or 18 foot cathedral ceilings.