Is any one with a new hearthstone Equinox or mainsfeild thinking they may need a damper in there flue ? My chimney is around 32' and it seems like when its in the 20s the stove is really drawing and burning hot with the air turned down . What do you think ? John
New Equinox?
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Do put a dampener in. Anything over a 25' chimney it is most likely needed. Mine is just over 25' and it helped greatly. It also is a huge help to have a probe thermometer above the dampener as well to actually see what temps you are running inside the pipe.
It is on the radar screen. My chimney is anout 28 ft exterior. I have been able to modulate stove temps fine, if anything they seem lower than many others - but even when air is turned down nearly all the way (7/8) goes through a load of birch/cherry/maple pretty fast, if I keep the pipe temps over 400 while cruising. Burning great, no black on glass etc. But flames for 3-4 hours tops. Coals for a,long time. However I am thinking that I need to learn the rhthym of the stove a little better and experiemnt with different woods etc. I ahve also notice that the amount of coal on the bottom effects the burn. My set-up is not very easy to move anything and fussing with a damper everytime the chimney gets cleaned is something I would like to do only if it will really make a difference.
If anyone reading this thread is considering an install of a unit this is yet another reason that a freestanding stove might be the way to go. I have an insert and 32' of liner hooked to it. Where can I put a damper? All the way damped down with its controls in this colder weather I have a VERY active burn. I'm sure that with a damper I could extend my burns greatly and go through less wood.
MarkG
MarkG
I thought the damper mite help . It 18o out today and I'm burning really hot . Last night i had the stove half full of splits with lots of coals and this morning the stove was almost out. I'm having a hard time filling the stove with wood ? The box seems to low to me . I have my wood cut for my old dutch west 25" long 6" around . I mite try north and south loading . The problem is i would need twice the wood space on the floor in side the house . I don't think the EQ is putting out twice as much heat as my DW 125000 vs 55000btus I will have to keep working with it . John
Well i can see my breath in the bathroom this morning so i guess my stove is out again . It about 18o out . Last night i stuffed about 9 4" 6" splits 24" long in the stove ,Let it burn for a wile then closed the air and went to bed , at 630 this morning i was down to 2" of coals but it doesnt seem it be very hot. A 6 hr burn is short for a hole rack of wood that would last almost a day in my DW. I'M not seeing smoke coming from the chimney and the stove is cooking hot. I'm not seeing the small flames coming from the burner tubes on the top ether ? If i add a damper to the flue how hi should i place it .I was thinking it should make it so my wife can reach it 5'6" off the floor. I have not found a thermometer yet but i will get one to day .
I too am seeing my stove acting somewhat more active with the colder temps. I too gave up the DW XL cat stove for the Equinox and understand the simple fact that one cannot compare the two apples to apples. This weekend was cold and I let the beast do it's thing, and I'm impressed. If I had asked my DW to run at max output I would have been on edge as getting all 55000 of those btu's out of it made me nervous plus I would have been loading it every 4 hours with that heat setting.
Here is what I have learned, for a regualr (say in the 20's to 30's) night burn start by shaking ashes into pan and rake coals up front. Make sure front air supply passages are not blocked by ashes. Load with big heavy hardwood splits at the back tight against the back, fit them carefully using your welding gloves. Load more wood moving forward and then piece in various sizes anywhere they will fit. Open the air and let her rip for 10 minutes then start backing off. Hit the hey with the damper just open a hair. My stove will be at 300 in the morning with big chunks of coals.
For really cold nights do the same thing but start earlier in the evening with the same full load but this time let the temp go higher to get your whole house warmed up. Burn a full load in 4 hours, get those stones hot. Now hit more wood to it, charring it some and shut her down to low before bed.
I have a Rutland thermometer and at first I thought I didn't need it, I was wrong. Saturday night I let the stove top go into the over fire range on my thermometer, it read just above 650, the stove was making a lot of heat and it was working beautifully, no drama just a good amount of rolling flame that was very controllable with the air supply. I was running at 1/2 throttle for at least a couple of hours. I was comfortable with the temps I was getting as I think as do others my thermometer reads high. When you get this stove this hot it really starts to move air around your house as I noticed on the thermostat in my back room farthest from the stove. A cold draft ran down my back hall towards the now 77 degree main space and temps back there which usually hover around 60 got up to 68!
My advise to you is go get a thermometer and use larger pieces of wood for heating on cold nights. Set aside big chunks of oak and maple for nights like this past weekend. Even if you have big pieces of semi seasoned wood, throw in one per load buried in the back to give you a time delayed release at 4 am. As you have been running without a thermometer I'll guess you have not yet run the stove up near her maximum heating capacity for fear of overfire.
Here is what I have learned, for a regualr (say in the 20's to 30's) night burn start by shaking ashes into pan and rake coals up front. Make sure front air supply passages are not blocked by ashes. Load with big heavy hardwood splits at the back tight against the back, fit them carefully using your welding gloves. Load more wood moving forward and then piece in various sizes anywhere they will fit. Open the air and let her rip for 10 minutes then start backing off. Hit the hey with the damper just open a hair. My stove will be at 300 in the morning with big chunks of coals.
For really cold nights do the same thing but start earlier in the evening with the same full load but this time let the temp go higher to get your whole house warmed up. Burn a full load in 4 hours, get those stones hot. Now hit more wood to it, charring it some and shut her down to low before bed.
I have a Rutland thermometer and at first I thought I didn't need it, I was wrong. Saturday night I let the stove top go into the over fire range on my thermometer, it read just above 650, the stove was making a lot of heat and it was working beautifully, no drama just a good amount of rolling flame that was very controllable with the air supply. I was running at 1/2 throttle for at least a couple of hours. I was comfortable with the temps I was getting as I think as do others my thermometer reads high. When you get this stove this hot it really starts to move air around your house as I noticed on the thermostat in my back room farthest from the stove. A cold draft ran down my back hall towards the now 77 degree main space and temps back there which usually hover around 60 got up to 68!
My advise to you is go get a thermometer and use larger pieces of wood for heating on cold nights. Set aside big chunks of oak and maple for nights like this past weekend. Even if you have big pieces of semi seasoned wood, throw in one per load buried in the back to give you a time delayed release at 4 am. As you have been running without a thermometer I'll guess you have not yet run the stove up near her maximum heating capacity for fear of overfire.
I put in a damper in , but have not used it yet.
If stove top is not over 400 when I fully close air supply the glass starts to blacken.
If stove is hotter 450 + I get a cleaner burn.
Tons of coals after 8 /10 hours later.
If I keep repeating full load burns in this manner the coals over take the fire box.
I agree the fire box fall short in height when the coals pile up..
Im trying 10 % air supply winh less wood to manage the coals
Temps were 16 to 25 range.
I may try the damper running a full load att 10% air when temps fall below 20 again.
Outside masonary with 8" liner 25 feet
With outside air kit
If stove top is not over 400 when I fully close air supply the glass starts to blacken.
If stove is hotter 450 + I get a cleaner burn.
Tons of coals after 8 /10 hours later.
If I keep repeating full load burns in this manner the coals over take the fire box.
I agree the fire box fall short in height when the coals pile up..
Im trying 10 % air supply winh less wood to manage the coals
Temps were 16 to 25 range.
I may try the damper running a full load att 10% air when temps fall below 20 again.
Outside masonary with 8" liner 25 feet
With outside air kit
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