How hot can I go?

[strongarm]

So I finally purchased a new stove. A Pacific Energy T5 Alderlea. It's my primary heat. Going from a smoke dragon to a modern stove has been a learning experience. It's amazing how you can go from 200 degrees to thermonuclear in a short time. My question is after a fire is set up and settled down, how high can I run the stove? The manual states if the outlet pipe is glowing it's too hot.(ya think?) They don't state numbers. I can cruise at 500 degrees stack temp with the air turned off. But if I'm trying to heat a 50 degree house after not being home for the weekend, what's too hot?

 

[Hogwildz]

750 peakish, cruise 650ish. Stove top. I don't have access to my liner, so I don't watch flue temps. These stoves almost run themselves. Just run normally as you have been. Don't purposely try and find the stove's limits. Stick with your normal routine, it shouldn't take that long to get the place heated up.

Start a "coal" load by firing up from cold with some kindling & two smallish splits N-S, and 2 or 3 smallish splits on top E-W. It will get hot quick, start heating the house up well, and will create a nice bed of hot coals to load her full next round. Pack that bich N-S full.

 

[strongarm]

I've been pretty much doing that. Didn't want to go too far. But didn't know if I wasn't pushing it enough. Found out it will coal up if you reload too soon. Thanks for the help.

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[begreen]

Bringing a full house and the mass of it's content up 20º takes a lot of heat over an extended period of time. This will be far in excess of normal running requirements to maintain temp. The stove will be fine with a stove top under 750º. Is there also a flue thermometer to help regulate the stove? Turning down the stove air based on the flue temp instead of stove top temp will save some heat from being wasted up the flue.

Does the house have a primary heating system?

 

[strongarm]

I've found that when turning the air all the way down around 500 degrees flue temp it will maintain, maybe rise to 550 for an hour or maybe two. Wasn't sure if I should let it go any higher before turning it down. I didn't know if I was under driving it.
Primary heat source is a oil fired boiler with steam radiators, they take the edge off the other rooms.

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[maple1]

How are you measuring flue temp? There can be some apples & oranges talk around that depending on how done & with what & type of pipe etc. that could be misleading & get someone in some trouble.

 

[strongarm]

I have a condar magnetic thermometer on single wall stove pipe. I've used a ir on the stove top. I've found on startup the pipe can have a 300 degree difference between the stove. After calming down there is about a 100 degree difference.

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[maple1]

Have you used your IR gun on the pipe next to the Condar to see how they compare?

The biggest potential trouble is when people measure surface temps of double wall pipe with a magnetic gauge (or even IR) & think they have it figured out. Not the case here certainly. But it is a lot hotter inside the pipe than the surface is. Makes it kind of hard to judge sometimes. Haven't used a Condar so not sure on their relative quality or accuracy but I think they are usually decent from what I remember reading.

 

[strongarm]

They are pretty close, I've always been under the assumption that inside the pipe is double the surface temp on single wall.

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[olddawgsrule]

How are you measuring flue temp? There can be some apples & oranges talk around that depending on how done & with what & type of pipe etc. that could be misleading & get someone in some trouble.

I have a condar magnetic thermometer on single wall stove pipe. I've used a ir on the stove top. I've found on startup the pipe can have a 300 degree difference between the stove. After calming down there is about a 100 degree difference.

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I do agree with Maple1. Careful about flue temps and how read.

I also have a Mag temp gauge and my IR shows it off by 20-30 degrees (low). Stove top reads very close to it and upper sides reads 20-30 higher. The firebox can be as much as 200+ degrees higher (depending on stage of fire).

With all that said, I rarely push my flue reading into the 450's. I keep about 1100 sqft warm (not hot). Crusing flue reading for me is 300/350 degrees (above zero outside temps). That's my stove, my flue, my wood, my situation and where I'm at. Yours can be completely different.

 

[xman23]

I used to heat a 45 degree house up with the stove and electric heat. Rise was about 3 degrees an hour. At times the stove was hitting 700 F. I can't be good for the stove. So now the heat comes on 7 hours before we arrive. Much better for the stove and us.

 

[begreen]

I've found that when turning the air all the way down around 500 degrees flue temp it will maintain, maybe rise to 550 for an hour or maybe two. Wasn't sure if I should let it go any higher before turning it down. I didn't know if I was under driving it.
Primary heat source is a oil fired boiler with steam radiators, they take the edge off the other rooms.

Are these surface flue temp readings or are you doubling them to represent expected flue gas temps? If they are actual surface flue temps, they are on the high side. 500º surface temp is about 800-1000º internal. You can start turning down the air much sooner if that is the case. I try to keep my probe flue temp at below 600º for less heat wasted up the chimney and faster stove body warmup.

 

[strongarm]

These are only flue surface temperatures, thermometer is 20 inches above stove for easier sight. If I don't shut it down at 500 degrees stove pipe surface temp, the paint on the upper part of the pipe will start stinking. That is a quick reminder I'm too hot.

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[Highbeam]

These are only flue surface temperatures, thermometer is 20 inches above stove for easier sight. If I don't shut it down at 500 degrees stove pipe surface temp, the paint on the upper part of the pipe will start stinking. That is a quick reminder I'm too hot.

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I am one of those yahoos that heats a large 50 degree space to 70 ASAP with wood stove heat. So I push the safe limits of output. I don’t ever want to see 500 on my single wall pipe surface. All of the interconnected smoke alarms go off at or just before 450 so I aim to run at 400 flue temp. Seems to be a good balance between maximum safe output and efficiency.

Once the space is up to temp, the stove is throttled back a bit and flue temps settle to 300 for load after load.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Too hot? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. I run mine up past 1000* F on the cooktop on occasion with 800* F being more normal.
The stovepipe reads 250-350. I have yet to get the pipe glowing because the stove is so good at soaking up and giving off heat.(1,000 lbs of steel will do that) I’m not sure of my internal firebox temps, but the firebrick glows, the flames are blue/white, and I get solid glass clinkers.

A lot depends on the sove model and how it’s built. Stack temps over 400 are wasting heat IMHO. I like to get the stove as hot as I can to get a clean burn while keeping stack temps below 400F.
The old lopi would glow for 4 months straight and needed a rebuild after two years. The cook stove doesn’t seem to break a sweat.