Jotul IR Glass

[EJL923]

Seeing as how Hearth.com is sponsered by Jotul, im sure I will hear all about this one.
I have Jotul Rockand insert. I knew buying a flush face would result in less radiant heat, but the wife liked it. I hear that a lot on here. Although I must say I like it too. When I open my door to reload, I get a blast of heat not felt with the door closed. In the manual, it says the glass has a IR coating. I am sure this is to keep the firebox hotter. However, I feel to begin with that the firebox is too hot anyway. If I use well seasoned wood, it cruises at 650° with the air all the way down, which im sure has a lot to do with the secondary air intake. (this I also feel lets in too much air). I am not new to wood stoves, but I am to EPA wood stoves.
So here is my question. What do you think about replacing the glass with a ceramic which does not have the IR coating? This would allow more radiant heat into the room. Some people will say that Jotul designed it this way for a reason. I agree, but I would also say it is designed for general conditions and not tailored to how you might operate your stove. Anyways, I would love to hear everyones suggestions.
I am always thinking of ways to improve upon something, I suppose it is the engineer in me.

 

[firefighterjake]

I didn't even realize Jotul was a sponsor of Hearth.com.

For the record, in answer to your question, after thinking long and hard on this . . . I have to say . . . I don't know what to think.

 

[polaris]

I'm not sure either. In fact I did not even know about the IR coating and I have a couple of Jotul wood stoves. I agree that the there is an immediate increase in temperature when the door is opened. The door and glass can be removed all together and replaced with the screen Jotul makes. This might be nice but I wouldn't want to feed it.

 

[EJL923]

I wouldnt go assuming that all Jotul stoves have IR coated glass. I would bet that only their inserts have them to keep the firebox temp higher due to the blower.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

how tall is your chimney? What diameter? insulated or not?

Sometimes people are disappointed in the heat of there insert when the insert is hooked to too much chimney. Overdrafting any appliance could be the cause of less then spectacular heat output.

 

[EJL923]

You know, before my install i was worried about not having enough draft, now i do wonder about having too much.

Height app 23-25', 6" Flexible stainless, not insulated, interior chimney, block off plate at top and bottom

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

you are defiantly on the higher end, and thats a very difficult problem to fix. Does the manual give you a max hight? I will check as well.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The rockland has a listed max hight of 33'. So who knows. An all interior chimney drafts more then a exterior one, and the max hight doesn't specify what type of chimney it wants. Overdrafting symptoms are usally associated with low heat output, and shorter then expected burntimes. Glass stays super clean in a overdrafting appliance.

 

[Corey]

Well, it is called a 'firebox' for a reason. I suspect you wouldn't see much change from the glass. A few percent more heat out the front and a few percent less out the top - but the fire will be burning the same temperature regardless. It would stand to reason you'd loose a bit of efficiency, though - otherwise there wouldn't be much point to having the IR glass in the first place. I don't think 650 is 'too hot' by any means - just a good, clean burn IMHO. Might be possible to use bigger chunks or less overall wood to slow the burn a bit if you simply need less heat?