New guy with 5 simple questions

[act700h1]

First off I like to say hi and thank you to everyone. I have been reading from postings for a few months now while in the process of buying a new stove and really burning wood (have a old Crown cook stove with wood and Lp that I was using).

I've had my stove few 2 weeks now and I think I have it burning good with the advice from here and http://woodheat.org Afraid to get a good fire at first, now she's throwing heat thought. I have 4 cords of hickory from this fall stacked for next year and am burning not perfect, but an ok mix of hardwoods from last summer that I cut and split after a storm.

First & second questions: I want to get a moisture meter anyone use this one? Or have suggestions?
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools...ower-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1387804494&sr=1-2

My stove is a steel fire box with a cast jacket and there is a space on top between the steel and cast, when burning good I have 300-350 stack, 375-425 cast top, and 500-550 steel top. Right now I am letting the stove radiate and have ceiling fan and furnace move air. My local shop who I bought the stove from told me to try it for a few months with no fan, he doesn't use a fan and people I know are split fan and no fan, but they don't have a stove like mine, jacketed.

Third, fourth, & fifth questions: Should I get a fan? With or without thermostat control? Anyone try an Ecofan?

Thank You

 

[Chettt]

No need for a fan or moisture meter. Just start building a wood supply large enough so that you'll always be burning splits that have been stacked for 2 to 3 years. Seasoned wood & cold external temperatures are the answers to almost all the questions on this forum.

 

[jatoxico]

First off I like to say hi and thank you to everyone. I have been reading from postings for a few months now while in the process of buying a new stove and really burning wood (have a old Crown cook stove with wood and Lp that I was using).

I've had my stove few 2 weeks now and I think I have it burning good with the advice from here and http://woodheat.org Afraid to get a good fire at first, now she's throwing heat thought. I have 4 cords of hickory from this fall stacked for next year and am burning not perfect, but an ok mix of hardwoods from last summer that I cut and split after a storm.

First & second questions: I want to get a moisture meter anyone use this one? Or have suggestions?
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools...ower-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1387804494&sr=1-2

My stove is a steel fire box with a cast jacket and there is a space on top between the steel and cast, when burning good I have 300-350 stack, 375-425 cast top, and 500-550 steel top. Right now I am letting the stove radiate and have ceiling fan and furnace move air. My local shop who I bought the stove from told me to try it for a few months with no fan, he doesn't use a fan and people I know are split fan and no fan, but they don't have a stove like mine, jacketed.

Third, fourth, & fifth questions: Should I get a fan? With or without thermostat control? Anyone try an Ecofan?

Thank You

No experience w/ your stove type so I will leave that alone. As far as a moisture meter I got mine from Harbor Freight but the one you referenced looks like it would work fine (think the Harbor Freight was cheaper).

Meters are useful when you are starting out getting a good wood supply since you're dealing with wood that has not been seasoning as long as you like. The meter will tell you what species and splits are ready and what isn't. Once you get 3 yrs ahead (which you should ) you won't need it but that takes a few years.

 

[madison]

We went the first yr without a fan on our free standing wood stove, and added it after the first yr. In our home it made a big difference and typically now the fan is on 24/7. I do not use the thermostat on the fan anymore, as the cycling on/off when the stove cooled was annoying, and I thought not too good for the fan motor.

IMHO the fan adds a lot of flexibility in controlling heat output. Your home, and room that the stove is located etc will affect your decision.

Regarding temps, don't bother with measuring the cast iron, unless you are curious. Stove top direct on the steel is very helpful.

Regarding moisture meters, IMHO, they are a waste of time. You should visit the "wood shed" forums, and learn about proper seasoning. ie "get ahead" and properly position and stack your wood off the ground in the sun and wind.

 

[red oak]

I'll leave the moisture meter question to others, many swear by them on here and many don't even own one.

As for the fan, I would ask how does the stove heat the house without it? If it heats ok without then why use one? If some rooms are cold while others have you opening the windows, then yes one would probably help.

I should add: welcome and Merry Christmas to you!

 

[act700h1]

Thank you for all the rapid replies!

Madison,
The PE T5/T6 was in the top on my list and is built somewhat like my stove. But wife wanted a double door and a fire screen like her uncles VC so I wanted a second loading option for when the screen is in, so went with a Quad, happy wife happy life. I think a fan would greatly help pull added heat from the stove, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't pulling too much heat or cooling stack temps. I will check out the wood shed forum, thank you!

Wood stove is in a partially finished walkout basement (in the slow process of finishing it I do everything myself and hate paying someone to do something for me). Pellet stove down there burning a bag a day cut my fuel cost only filled up a 330 gallon tank once instead of 3-4 times, so the heat I get out of wood should be better. And we are in the basement most of the time, big play area for daughter and dog, and me too with bar and fooseball table.

I've get the whole 3 years ahead thing (see it in almost every thread) have to make a point of it this summer and find a good location to let season. Right now the 4 cords of hickory I have are loose stacked under a double row of 25' white pines trimmed up pile facing south. I can probably fit 4-6 more cords there and I fit 3-4 under my deck by the basement walkout for that winter.

The Quad fan is rather pricy in my view doing commercial and industrial service HVAC! Any good universal options recommended, I found a few online and at Grainger.

Also any Ecofan users?

 

[Ashful]

Moisture meter: While Chett is right, in the end, it does help to have a moisture meter when you're getting started. It can help you sort the good from the bad, prior to getting to that 2 - 3 year mark on your splitting and stacking. Many of us own the General, which can be had at Lowes for $30.

On fans, most here will recommend putting a small desktop fan on the floor, blowing cold air toward the stove. Cold air can be moved more efficiently along the floor, than warm air above, your goal being the creation of a convection loop. Pushing cold air from a far-off room toward the stove will push the warm out out of the stove room, and force circulation. I was skeptical about this when I started here, and like many I had to try all the wrong stuff before I came around on this, but it really is the best way to circulate heat thru the house.

Using your furnace air handler to distribute air from the stove to the rest of the house only works in cases where all ductwork and the air handler are within the insulated / heated space. If your air handler is in a cold attic or basement, the heat losses will be too great, for a little space heater (your stove) to keep up. Keep in mind, your furnace can likely kick out more BTU's per hour, than your stove can with a full 8-hour load. When heating with a stove, you must focus on minimizing your heat losses.

 

[madison]

With the unit in the basement, I would think you would want some sort of fan as outlined by Joful

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I'm a fan of fans. (pun intended) The idea of moving air past the hot surface of the stove to warm the surrounding air is called convective heating. It happens naturally to some extent, but can greatly improved by the use of fans. The more air you move past the stove, the more heat you'll be able to transfer into the surrounding air, and into the rest of the house. Of course if your wood stove is keeping the house too hot, you wouldn't want use a fan. I don't think those Ecofans move enough volume of air to warrant their expense, but as a novelty thing they are kind of "cool?" since they don't need electricity, and they do help to some small degree, and would help even if the power goes out. I use a little $14 electric fan to blow air over the surface of my stove, it actually works better than the $300 blower that came with the stove.

 

[HotCoals]

To add to what Lumber-Jack said factory fans can move a lot of the heat off the steel/cast stove so more heat can transfer faster from the fire inside the box to the steel/cast on the outside. Thermodynamic thing. See my sig.
That said I enjoy the peace and quite.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

I have that meter, only because I'm a carpenter and had it for work long before I had my stove. It works fine, just gently work the probes in to at least 2/3 of their total length for an accurate read.
Like others said, it's not really needed once you're up n running but I still like having one. First year burning so I'm not 2-3 years ahead so it helped me see where I was starting out at, also a nice reference point to see how quick stuff dried once inside or standing near the stove.
I used it 20 times in the first three weeks and probably not once since then.
Good luck!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thank you for all the rapid replies!

Madison,
The PE T5/T6 was in the top on my list and is built somewhat like my stove. But wife wanted a double door and a fire screen like her uncles VC so I wanted a second loading option for when the screen is in, so went with a Quad, happy wife happy life. I think a fan would greatly help pull added heat from the stove, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't pulling too much heat or cooling stack temps. I will check out the wood shed forum, thank you!

Wood stove is in a partially finished walkout basement (in the slow process of finishing it I do everything myself and hate paying someone to do something for me). Pellet stove down there burning a bag a day cut my fuel cost only filled up a 330 gallon tank once instead of 3-4 times, so the heat I get out of wood should be better. And we are in the basement most of the time, big play area for daughter and dog, and me too with bar and fooseball table.

I've get the whole 3 years ahead thing (see it in almost every thread) have to make a point of it this summer and find a good location to let season. Right now the 4 cords of hickory I have are loose stacked under a double row of 25' white pines trimmed up pile facing south. I can probably fit 4-6 more cords there and I fit 3-4 under my deck by the basement walkout for that winter.

The Quad fan is rather pricy in my view doing commercial and industrial service HVAC! Any good universal options recommended, I found a few online and at Grainger.

Also any Ecofan users?

I'll chip in on the Ecofan. If you want a toy, get it. If you want something that will move heat good, get something else.

On fans in general, most find that placing a desktop fan on the floor in a hallway or other room aiming it at the stove room works great. The fan needs to be only on low speed. Don't use a pedestal fan as you want it on the floor to move the cold. In basements, some have had good luck sitting the fan upstairs in the doorway and aimed down the stairs. What happens is that cool air moves easier than warm air so if you move the cool air into the warmer room, then the warmer air has to move out to make way for the cool. You can set up a nice circular motion this way. Still, that partially finished basement would scare me as those basement walls can suck up a lot of heat.