For those of you in colder climates that burn 24/7, what is the average stovetop temp that you maintain just to keep the house warm in winter? Im talking during the day when you are around to add wood etc.....
Maintained stovetop temp
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I'd have to go on record and say i don't think I 'maintain' a temp. Unless it is terribly cold (like sub zero) I usually wind up building a decent fire that gets the temp up to 500-600F, but then the house is warm and that dies off to coals. Then a couple hours later, I throw in another log or two and build back up to 500-600F, and repeat.
Burning lower than 500 or so seems to make more smoke in my insert with 500-600 seeming to be more 'efficient', but I guess I just don't have enough space to store all the heat. Admittedly, my insert is a little big, but the fire usually goes out overnight, my wife and I get up and leave, and the house is unheated all day. So it is good to put out a lot of heat in the evening with the bigger insert. On the weekends, though, we just can't run it under full fire all day long or we would have the windows open.
Corey
Burning lower than 500 or so seems to make more smoke in my insert with 500-600 seeming to be more 'efficient', but I guess I just don't have enough space to store all the heat. Admittedly, my insert is a little big, but the fire usually goes out overnight, my wife and I get up and leave, and the house is unheated all day. So it is good to put out a lot of heat in the evening with the bigger insert. On the weekends, though, we just can't run it under full fire all day long or we would have the windows open.
Corey
Thanks all for the replies. Im new to the wood stove (had a wood furnace at the old house). It hasn't been cold enough to run constantly yet so I got the break in fires done during our up and down temps. It will be a learning curve but want to know that what Im "learning" is the correct thing.
D
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I ended up with the VC Defiant NC. I had it ordered before I read so many of the negatives about it on here. My thoughts were that with all that VC must sell, I was only hearing from the negative ones and not from the many possible positive experiences out there which is usually the case, the negative are more vocal.....
My main concern here was holding too high a temp to damage the unit. I think the book says something like hanging around 750 will cause damage. Looks like most here are in the 5-600 or 650 range. I wont be able to truly test and learn until I can burn 24/7 to see if it does the job warming the "living floor" of the house and burns properly.
D
My main concern here was holding too high a temp to damage the unit. I think the book says something like hanging around 750 will cause damage. Looks like most here are in the 5-600 or 650 range. I wont be able to truly test and learn until I can burn 24/7 to see if it does the job warming the "living floor" of the house and burns properly.
D
This should be a nice stove. The everburn issues I have read about are stoves that have very strong draft. Typically they are connected to long flues.
You're probably fine with stove top temps around 550-650. If you want to know more about how the stove is burning, add a stack thermometer to see what temperature the gases are heading up the chimney. If they are high, a draft damper may be added to better regulate the stove. But if you don't have a tall stack, I wouldn't worry too much.
You're probably fine with stove top temps around 550-650. If you want to know more about how the stove is burning, add a stack thermometer to see what temperature the gases are heading up the chimney. If they are high, a draft damper may be added to better regulate the stove. But if you don't have a tall stack, I wouldn't worry too much.
I keep my Jotul anywhere from 500 - 650, with the occasional excursion to 700 or so after a new load goes in. I need to keep it above 450 to get secondary burning.
-- Mike
-- Mike
dtabor said:
If that stove has a griddle like other VC's, it may be tough to keep the temps ALWAYS below 750. I assume they are saying that for their own protection (and yours)..... when you have some good "iron wood" like standing dead oak, those surface temps tend to soar - on just about any single wall surface.
I would say that an enamel model should be run a bit lower, if possible, than a black one...
But, all in all, the range of 500-700 should do the job. On that day with the 20 degree below zero chill factor, you might be closer to 700-800.
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