Our place stays cool during the summer. Most do not have AC however the humidity is stifling and our pillows are soaked. My goal is to get dehumidification taken care of this year and then consider a mini split system. I don't think a mini split would take care of all of the humidity so I'm going to try this first then if needed get mini splits. Maybe get rid of the old oil1980s trailer furnace. We do hit 90 degree days a few times a year. So for that a couple of stand up ac units have been used.
Jotul F45 Greenville Experiences
- Thread starter Todd
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Yep, sounds about like me--67 seems pretty warm when I come inside from working, but after loafing on the internet for a time, 70 feels a bit cool. Seems the older I get, the warmer I like it. 👴 😏
Similar weather here--couple more cool nights with small overnight fires, then a stretch of ~70/50. I'll still probably be firing a short load here and there, the rest of this month. Todd, however, will be no doubt be burning a bit more wood than I will--He's a couple of cold zones north of where I was when I lived in WI. ⛄
I can count on five months of time I won't need heat. And that's even a stretch. Hallelujah for wood stoves.
Yay, 63 today! Felt like 80. Some serious melting going on. Suppose to be the same tomorrow. Good break for the stove I may just burn a little propane to take the chill off in the mornings.
Also called a logger dude to see about a semi load of Oak, $100 per logger cord. I may split a load with my neighbor to make my life a little easier.
Also called a logger dude to see about a semi load of Oak, $100 per logger cord. I may split a load with my neighbor to make my life a little easier.
Nice..we weren't much above that! 🌞
That log load sounds like a deal, and easy processing when it's all right there in one pile. What is that, four or more cords?
Will be nice to have a bank of some longer-burning stuff when you need/want it.
That log load sounds like a deal, and easy processing when it's all right there in one pile. What is that, four or more cords?
Will be nice to have a bank of some longer-burning stuff when you need/want it.
More like 10-12 cords. We may get a couple loads and divide it up between three of us neighbors. I can mix it in with all my Aspen I have around here.
Had a few warm days in the 70’s a while ago then Winter returned. Snowing again today with highs in the 30’s. I’ve been burning some supper dry Red Pine and the stove has been handling it very well. I can load her up full and have full control but it will only burn for maybe 6-7 hours and leaves little coals. Nice shoulder season wood with little ash.
Comparing this Pine with my Aspen which are suppose to be about identical in BTU I’d say the Aspen puts out more heat, longer burns, better coaling but way more ash.
Finally able to get in the woods and start splitting next seasons firewood. It will be a mix of Jack Pine and Quaking Aspen. Some of it is already at 20% moisture. Once my Oak logs show up I’ll fill the other side of my woodshed with an Oak/Aspen mix for the 2024/25 season.
Comparing this Pine with my Aspen which are suppose to be about identical in BTU I’d say the Aspen puts out more heat, longer burns, better coaling but way more ash.
Finally able to get in the woods and start splitting next seasons firewood. It will be a mix of Jack Pine and Quaking Aspen. Some of it is already at 20% moisture. Once my Oak logs show up I’ll fill the other side of my woodshed with an Oak/Aspen mix for the 2024/25 season.
Added a little thermal mass to my hearth. I was thinking of doing something like this with all the rocks I have on my property but when I was strolling around at Menards the other day I came across these 4x10x20” concrete pavers and got to thinking hey this may look nice behind the stove, add some thermal mass and protect the logs. They each weigh 63lbs so there’s a good 750lbs there.
Nice--I'd think that would keep more heat in the room. Not sure how much though...I don't know how fast heat transfers through the logs?
Protecting them from the radiation certainly seems like a good idea..
Hey, I can see if SIL2 will come up there and "illusion" the pavers to disappear into the log wall..
Protecting them from the radiation certainly seems like a good idea..
Hey, I can see if SIL2 will come up there and "illusion" the pavers to disappear into the log wall..
Yeah I don’t think it will make much of a noticeable difference especially with a shrouded cast stove. I did take off the rear heat shield since it sometimes rattles when I walk bye. Who knows more mass can’t hurt and it looks nice.
Start of the shoulder season somewhat. Had our first frost the other day so I’ve had a couple evening fires so I don’t wake up to a chilly cabin.
Got tinkering on my mind so I removed the bottom heat shield to get a look at the secondary air intake. It’s much larger than I expected, about 3/4”x4”! That’s quite a lot of air being sucked up into the stove unregulated. I’m going to mess around covering it with some magnets and see what happens. The shoulder season burns are fine but I could see where covering some excess air in colder weather could help. I wish we could have more secondary control in these stoves.
Got tinkering on my mind so I removed the bottom heat shield to get a look at the secondary air intake. It’s much larger than I expected, about 3/4”x4”! That’s quite a lot of air being sucked up into the stove unregulated. I’m going to mess around covering it with some magnets and see what happens. The shoulder season burns are fine but I could see where covering some excess air in colder weather could help. I wish we could have more secondary control in these stoves.
How does the quaking Aspen burn? I have a bunch of it and am iffy on if it's any good or not.
I think it burns pretty good but leaves a lot of ash. I can buck and split it in the Spring and it’s under 20% moisture by Fall. I leave a lot of it stacked around my property in round form then split it in the Spring to refill the woodshed. It will rot in log form pretty quick. I think it’s on par with the Silver and Red Maple I’ve burned.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I forget do you have a key damper? If not just skip the experiments and add one. I’m convinced that the primary/secondary ratio is really quite good on a standard draft (to meet EPA requirements) I tried blocking mine secondary air. Still didn’t have control I wanted at the low end burn rate. High end was still way to much heat up the flue. Still too much primary. Damper fixed it up nice. No longer messing with blocking secondary air. I need to explore closing more holes in the damper. Still can get away from me if I’m not paying attention.
No pipe damper but I’ve been thinking of it. I want to try this first. I previously had a 602 CB on this chimney and had some success blocking the secondary air on it. Maybe I’ll find the sweet spot for this chimney and not need a damper or maybe not we'll see.
I'll be interested in that experiment. No burning weather here yet, not even close. I rented a towable lift 5 weekends ago before my latest hernia surgery, to pressure wash siding, clean upper windows, some gutter maintenance and I sooteater'd the chimney. 2.5 cups of dust. I was pleased. Other then maybe 8" of crusty easily removed stuff at the top there was just dust below. After sweep liner looks new. Keep us informed of the secondary experiment.
I had a small fire last night maybe half load. I covered the secondary 2/3 and there was a noticeable difference. It took longer to get up to temp before turning down but when I did I had a nice lazy orange/blue floating flame above the load for about an hour with the STT hovering around 500 and my internal flue temp around 400. After that the flames died down to an occasional burst with the temps dropping so I set it just below medium and the flames came back. I still had quite a bit of fuel left so I just let it go like that overnight. At 7am I still had some coals and a 150 STT. About a 10-11 hour burn, not bad for 3 splits of Aspen and 1 Jack Pine. Next I’ll try covering the secondary air by half, 2/3 was probably too much especially this time of year. I think if left it going on low it would have smoldered all night but then again the draft wasn’t very strong on a 50 degree night.
Swept mine a month ago and had the same. This stove burns nice and clean and I run mine on low probably 90% of the time.
Had hernia surgery last year, got to stay away from lifting those big heavy rounds in the woods lol
Hernia last year? i just got my 2nd one 3 weeks ago. They said 4-6 weeks to back to full recovery. But yeah maybe good idea not to wrestle with those huge rounds.
Finally got back to some cooler weather so had an evening fire. Outside temps were mid 40’s with a good NW wind. Loaded 3 splits of Jack Pine and 3 splits of Aspen. I rearranged the magnets over the secondary hole to cover roughly 45%. Once the stove settled in I set the primary air to just a smidge above the lowest setting. It was a nice lazy flame with nice secondaries and floating flames. STT was pretty steady around 500 and internal flue temp around 425. After 12 hours I had a 200 STT and plenty of coals left.
The next few evenings look like I’ll be burning. I think I’ll leave the magnets where they are at 45%. So far with the few fires I’ve had it seems the flue temps are running a tad lower than without the magnets but I need colder weather and more experimentation.
The next few evenings look like I’ll be burning. I think I’ll leave the magnets where they are at 45%. So far with the few fires I’ve had it seems the flue temps are running a tad lower than without the magnets but I need colder weather and more experimentation.
Lots of cold start evening fires last couple weeks. Highs have been in lower 50’s give or take so just one 3/4 load keeps the cabin comfy til the next evening.
I left the magnets on blocking the unregulated secondary air by about 45% and have had pretty consistent results. For the most part it seems the internal flue temps are consistently staying about 100 degrees cooler than the stove top temps at the lowest air setting. 400-500 flue temps for a 500-600 stove top temp. Plenty of secondary flames and those ghostly floating flames above the logs.
I left the magnets on blocking the unregulated secondary air by about 45% and have had pretty consistent results. For the most part it seems the internal flue temps are consistently staying about 100 degrees cooler than the stove top temps at the lowest air setting. 400-500 flue temps for a 500-600 stove top temp. Plenty of secondary flames and those ghostly floating flames above the logs.
Thanks for the update Todd. That sounds good, has there been any effect on startup. I burned a morning smallish cold start load yesterday and today. Both went well. I haven't blocked any ports yet. I replaced the doghouse top gasket. I'm thinking the only air that is controlled is the glass wash air. I don't see any control on the boost ports unless I am missing something.
Start ups are good. I just stack about 5-6 split’s straight in and use a single square cardboardish fire starter thingy and I’m in business in about 20-30 min.
No control I can see for those boost air holes. I really don’t see a need for them other than more air to pass the EPA test.
Looks like I have another week of these nice 50’s Fall days then the weather looks to cool down to where I may have to keep the stove going 24/7.
No control I can see for those boost air holes. I really don’t see a need for them other than more air to pass the EPA test.
Looks like I have another week of these nice 50’s Fall days then the weather looks to cool down to where I may have to keep the stove going 24/7.
Low was 39 this morning here, but Indian Summer starts tomorrow, maybe 80 Saturday before a drop next week, but not the temps you will see soon Todd. My Auber probe is 14" above the stove top, and 5" below the 90 deg turn towards the thimble. So no doubt I see higher flue temps then you do as I am closer to the stove and perhaps the 90 has some effect on temp readings. I have never had stove top temp higher then flue temp.
Where do you take your stove top temps? That could make a difference. I take mine pretty much dead center, that seams to be the hottest spot.
Had a record burn time the other day. Had my usual evening fire around 7pm, went to bed at 9pm stove tuned in just a smidge above lowest setting. Next morning around 7am stove was still at 200 and I could see some good coals and small chunks of wood in the back of fire box. I went about my day and never checked the stove until 6pm when I was getting ready to start another fire and noticed the stove was still warm like 120 or so. There were still coals in there! Probably enough to rekindle but I used a fire starter anyways. Must of been a fluke, it wasn’t even a full load, probably 3/4 load of Aspen.
Had a record burn time the other day. Had my usual evening fire around 7pm, went to bed at 9pm stove tuned in just a smidge above lowest setting. Next morning around 7am stove was still at 200 and I could see some good coals and small chunks of wood in the back of fire box. I went about my day and never checked the stove until 6pm when I was getting ready to start another fire and noticed the stove was still warm like 120 or so. There were still coals in there! Probably enough to rekindle but I used a fire starter anyways. Must of been a fluke, it wasn’t even a full load, probably 3/4 load of Aspen.
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