On a fresh room temperature split or on the outside? I live in the same area as you and my wood after 3 years is no where near that dry
That reading is suspect but 3 years split should fix about anything. How are you operating and loading the stove? Packing it to the gills and doing a top down fire?
Hi Sealcove, Yes, it is a Liberty catalytic combustor stove. Per Travis Industries instructions, I get the temps anywhere up to 800 to1200 on the cat thermometer , then close the damper, let things settle a bit and close the air intake bit by bit as you do. I can see the secondary burn from the cat, but in terms of temperatures in the room, not so good.
Hi Weee123, I have a guy who I buy wood from who dries it in a huge barn for year; I then keep it outside for 3 years, and I consistently get about 8-10 on my moisture meter. It is VERY dry
Pretty much operating per Travis Industries instructions. I start off slow, get a good draft going, then build up to a full firebox, and yes, top down. When temps reach 800-1000 on the cat thermometer, I close the damper and the cat kicks in. Just don't understand why I'm not getting the heat output that was advertised and that I see on other Lopi users. I'm stumped.
Describe the venting system total length and any elbows. How long is a fully loaded stove burning? What is cat temp while cruising? Do you have stove top temp?
The existing flue and pipe measurements are the same from my previous stove ( which was the same dimensions as this Lopi). No elbows, double pipe. See attached pix. Full load burns for about 5-6 hours, then down to embers. Cat temp after the initial closing of the damper is about 800-900, then it goes down to about 600. Stove top thermometer. This is the same set up I had for my non cat stove which gave off tremendous heat! I don't understand why this Lopi is not giving off good temps to heat the room. I know it's a big room with windows, but the other stove gave off such good heat we could sit around in a tee shirt in winter! Thanks much
To be clear you are cruising at a cat temp of 600F. That seems low. What is the middle center stove top temp.
Hi EbS-P, The cat temp, after it settles down runs between 600-700 ish. The stove top thermometer usually reads about 100-150 higher than the cat temp
How tall is your chimney from the top of your wood stope to the cap? Different stoves handle chimney length differently.
I have learned this lesson the hard way. My wood "guy" ran out of seasoned wood and brought me a load mixed with almost freshly split unseasoned wood. He didn't tell me and I didn't catch it right away. I tried using it but the MC was too high and the stove would not get hot. I threw all of the green wood off to the side and ordered seasoned wood from another seller and left the other wood for the next year. I don't buy wood from the first guy any longer.
You had the same issue with your old stove in Dec 2024 and in
Aug 2025
A chimney sweep indicated that the old chimney needed to be replaced. Did you replace it? I'm going to guess that you did.
So, New stove. New Chimney. Same problem... The only constant here is the wood. If the wood isn't properly seasoned, the moisture will keep the fire burning cool. I've read back and I know you store your wood in the car port. Have you brought freshly split wood in the house and checked the moisture content on the freshly split side? Split 2 or 3 and see what the average is.
If the meter still says 10, buy another meter. Here's an inexpensive meter that I use and it's under $17-
![[Hearth.com] Lopi Liberty Wood stove Poor Heat Output](/talk/data/attachments/342/342400-768b5065dd16711b0b08c80b4dd966d2.jpg?hash=jKTL4cHm8f)
