New Caddy getting installed tomorrow

[NaturalCauses]

I'm getting a new Caddy installed tomorrow to replace the old Woodchuck that was in the house when I moved in. Does anyone have any secrets to getting the most out of the stove, or anything I should keep an eye out for once I fire it up?

 

[DoubleB]

Make your first couple fires pretty small. That can bake moisture out of the firebrick. At a minimum, if you discover something isn't working quite right, you have less potential for serious problems if your fire is small.

Probably not a big deal even if you started with a full firebox. Have fun!

 

[brenndatomu]

Congrats!
Do you have dry wood? They love dry wood...and hate wood that is not dry.

 

[NaturalCauses]

Make your first couple fires pretty small. That can bake moisture out of the firebrick. At a minimum, if you discover something isn't working quite right, you have less potential for serious problems if your fire is small.

Probably not a big deal even if you started with a full firebox. Have fun!

I'll keep that in mind!

Congrats!
Do you have dry wood? They love dry wood...and hate wood that is not dry.

Thanks! I've got enough dry ash to get me through the rest of the season, and already have next season's wood stacked.

I've read the entire Tundra mega thread and plan on adding a few of the enhancements you guys came up with, as well as a few ideas of my own [emoji5]️

 

[DoubleB]

I've read the entire Tundra mega thread and plan on adding a few of the enhancements you guys came up with, as well as a few ideas of my own [emoji5]️

You have a lot of patience! Feel free to share your ideas, we like getting new ones. Have fun with your Caddy.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

Hello NaturalC,

We just built a new home last summer and installed a Caddy in-line with our LP gas furnace. We have heated pretty much exclusively with the Caddy furnace this winter. I am very pleased with it. There has been a bit of a learning curve with it but in general, not to tough.

So far the only enhancements I have made was the addition of an adjustment to the damper so that I can add some control over the air that it gets, I posted it right around #2100 of the tundra mega-thread.

I think the hardest part for me was to buy into & convert to the top down method of building a fire. Every stove I have worked with in the past supplied air through the grates. With these new style burners that get air form above the fire the top down method of building a fire works SO much better. Be sure to fire it the first time with the windows open in your house. It will smoke, a lot I learned that one the hard way!

I really love the furnace. I have burned way less wood than I was prepared for, granted it has been a very mild winter so far but I still have over 1/2 of my wood supply unburned. Mostly nice dry ash, birch, cherry and some elm have been my fuel. I enjoy watching the fire and seeing how nicely the secondary burn system works to extract all of that heat from my firewood.

Good luck!

 

[NaturalCauses]

Thanks for the info! I've done the initial fire, and yeah, lots of smoke! Luckily it was almost 60 outside so I could open the windows and not worry. I'm thinking of trying the turnbuckle mod you did, since it looks like my wood might not be quite as dry as I thought. It's burning good right now, but I have an old key under the damper flap to prop it open just a little. If it's fully closed it's not sustaining the secondary burn very long. It might partially be a draft issue, it's still fairly warm out. It's supposed to cool back of this weekend, so I'll see how it does then.

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