Kuma Wood Classic LE install/first fire

[wormser]

My wife and I enjoyed a 3 hour ride to pick up a Kuma Wood Classic on Saturday that would replace an early 80's Kodiak Stove. My first impression seeing the stove worried me as it was smaller than my Kodiak which at times struggled to keep the house warm. All went well on the trip even hitting a few snow squalls on the way home.

I planned to wait until next weekend to do the install but the wife wanted none of that and required it be done Sunday morning. So Saturday evening I put a few pieces in the old stove and left it burn out overnight. Waking up this morning, I cleaned all the ashes/coals out and left the doors open for a while before disconnecting the pipe. My son helped me lift if off the hearth before leaving for his guard duty. Getting the Kuma on the hearth was aided by a jack and the wife. Surprisingly, things went just as planned.

Once hooked up I lit the first fire. I was a bit worried as I'm going to an external masonry chimney with 7x13" clay liners. The fire took off without issue. It wasn't long and the smell of a new woodstove and pipe filled the air. Nothing overpowering. I allowed it plenty of time to warm up and have yet to put a full load in the box. The house is already up to normal temperature. Some of that may be aided by the sunny day and temps almost reaching the freezing mark.

My initial thought is why did I wait so long to move into a newer burning stove. I'm also glad I chose to make the drive to pick up a Kuma. This is my first stove I can see the flame as it burns. Watching the secondary gasses burn is relaxing. The heat coming off this thing with only 2 splits and little coals is for the most part as warm as the old one would get running for a few days. I'll update as I go but very happy to have purchases a quality stove made in the USA. Two thumbs up for Kuma. Excited for an tonights Flyers game, Knob Creek, and watching the fire.

 

[buc74]

We also just got our Kuma insert this Fall. We love it.

 

[wormser]

Very nice. It's going to take getting used to see the flame and not getting nervous that the fire is out of control. The gauge that shows active made me uneasy as it moved past the halfway point with the air mostly shutdown. She stopped at 3/4 though and really put out some nice heat.

 

[buc74]

i believe the manual states you can run the gauge past full with no issues. You may want to pick up a magnetic gauge to help with knowing what your stove temp is. i have two, one the top and one in the front. By the time our stove hits ~400f our air is completely closed. It then will still creep up to near 650f and hang at that temp when the stove is packed full with oak. Of course, how big your splits are and what type wood will also contribute to how hot the stove may burn and how long.

 

[farmer]

How’s the stove been working out for you?

 

[wormser]

@farmer Good so far. It's been a bit of a learning curve going to a cat stove. I'm surprised at the ease of restarting from few coals after a long burn. I'm not sure I'm getting the burn times that are listed but that could be due to setup. Currently have a masonry chimney with 8x13 flue liner. I plan to put in a liner this summer even though the draft has been no issue. I'm sure I could use more seasoned wood as well. That will come with time. Once you get her going it's relaxing to watch the tube burns. It reminds me of norther lights the way they waffle around. It's keeping the house at a constant 65 which is perfect for our non humans.

I haven't had the chance to test in really cold weather yet. We went quite a few weeks below zero and since I got the stove it's been warming into the 40's each day. If we get sun during the day and 40's the house sucks in the heat from the sun. The past few days have been short burns which works for me as I really chewed through my wood during the long cold stretch.