Now that my heat commander is working the way its supposed to, I'm curious how people run them when the demand for heat is lower than normal. I just got mine working correctly over the weekend, but today its back up in the 50s so I let it burn out this morning. Previously, my G damper wasn't working correctly. Now that it is, I notice that I don't have nearly as many coals left at the end of a burn and I'm getting better heat output late in the burn as a result (no surprise on either). I'm actually shocked at how long my blower runs at the low speed even though the HC Tstat isn't calling for heat. That makes me wonder if its going to run me out of the house when the weather is 45 deg and sunny. My thought for those times was to use larger splits, but cut them in half with my battery powered saw. I cut everything at 18" for this year which is on the long side for the firebox in my HC, but i can trim them down to 12"-14" and then split the short drops and toss them in when I need to get the firebox heated up and generate some coals before a full reload. Just curious how others deal with stuff like this.
How do you use your Drolet Heat Commander in warmer weather
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The HC is overkill for my house the majority of thr year. I asked the same question here a while ago and members had some helpful suggestions. Smaller fires was most helpful recommendation. It also means reloading more often but definitely cuts down on heat output. I usually end up letting the fire go out during the day.
Other things that have helped me:
-top down fires for cold starts, seem to burn cleaner and longer
-if im doing a full reload, loading logs with ends facing the sides of firebox rather than front/back of firebox seems to last longer
-can pack logs tighter together/use bigger splits. This causes more smoldering for me though and also fills my basement with smoke when secondaries eventually violently ignite and send smoke shooting out the baro
-adding 15lbs of 12 inch long splits stacked over the grate is about the least amount of wood I can add at once while maintaining a cleanish burn
-I mound coals over the grate near the end of the burn. Help keep glass cleaner/prevent smoldering while buying me time before the next reload
Other things that have helped me:
-top down fires for cold starts, seem to burn cleaner and longer
-if im doing a full reload, loading logs with ends facing the sides of firebox rather than front/back of firebox seems to last longer
-can pack logs tighter together/use bigger splits. This causes more smoldering for me though and also fills my basement with smoke when secondaries eventually violently ignite and send smoke shooting out the baro
-adding 15lbs of 12 inch long splits stacked over the grate is about the least amount of wood I can add at once while maintaining a cleanish burn
-I mound coals over the grate near the end of the burn. Help keep glass cleaner/prevent smoldering while buying me time before the next reload
Banking coals to the back, behind the grate will give a little heat for a while, and allow for an easy reload/restart once you rake them forward onto the grate and load more wood.
I like to place a nice chunky piece of oak, or something that coals well, crossways clear at the back...that usually leaves a nice hot long lasting coal pile...just depends on your house as far as how well/long that will maintain an acceptable house temperature.
I like to place a nice chunky piece of oak, or something that coals well, crossways clear at the back...that usually leaves a nice hot long lasting coal pile...just depends on your house as far as how well/long that will maintain an acceptable house temperature.
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