New Stove

[SNOWDAWG]

Been lurking for sometime and decided to post with new wood stove purchase
Have been heating the house with 2 stoves for the last 20 years. Cast Iron downstairs and a steel stove up.
Decided it was time to replace the upstairs stove after 15 years. With the stove having some size restraints,
hearth mounted in from of a stone fire place. Purchased a Hearthstone Homestead.
Basically the same size as the old stove, which has served us well, keeping us warm even in subzero temps. Chimney is lined with an insulated liner and the cap sits on top of the chimney above the peak. Had this for quite sometime and has worked awesome.
The dealer is 10 minutes from the house and has been taking care of all our stove needs since we moved in.
After install and chimney clean they did a draft test, everything looked good

Heating with pine and oak blocks from untreated railroad ties.
This is going to be quite the learning curve. Have done 2 break in fires, first with Fat wood.
Second added kindling and a small split. This thing is hard to keep going. My learning curve.
Any hints and or tips for the last break in and then the first official fire?

 

[pen]

A couple small fires where you slowly increase the temp of the unit will help drive out moisture. Once you are confident you've done that (after 2 or 3 fires, ranging from 250, to 350 -400 range), then load her up and play!

It can be frustrating learning new units, but you'll get there. That is one good stove. I'm betting that once you load a good amount of fuel in there you'll find things a bit easier.

If not, let us know and we an help if things do not seem to be acting right.

Any pictures?

 

[shoot-straight]

my manual for my hearthstone said get it warm to the touch then let it cool. do that a few times, then get her hot and let her cool down.... then you should be ready for the fun.

as with all modern stoves, i didnt realize its full potenital till i put truly dry wood in it. when you do so you have to think backward. less air=better burn.

as others have said- get a good fire going before lowering the air.

if from a cold start it will take maybe 2 hours to get the stove up to operating temps. it will eat alot of wood in that time, but once its up, you wil be good to go.

 

[SNOWDAWG]

Thanks, my manual states the same. Just burned till warm to touch and shut down. Going to do 2 more just to be on the safe side.
I am sure once this is loaded things will be better.

 

[shoot-straight]

youve done 2, i would load her up and let her go! (but then let her cool down slowly)

the main thing i was concerned about was inital expansion of the cast and metal pieces and driving moisture out of the stones.

 

[Woody Stover]

I considered the Homestead when I was looking for a new stove. Nice-looking stove! We wouldn't mind a pic or two...

from a cold start it will take maybe 2 hours to get the stove up to operating temps

Really?? I can get the Buck 91 up to temp and ready to load in about 45 min. from a dead stop, then a little more time to burn in the load a bit. You need a pretty big fire to heat all that steel very quickly. But I can light off the combustor in the cold Keystone, in about 20, 25 min. without firing it too hard....

 

[shoot-straight]

its a soapstone stove. cant compare it to a buck. mine took about 2 hours to get it really hot. i know your keystone is soapstone as well, but getting the whole stove vs just the cat are 2 different things. at least in my experience.

 

[SNOWDAWG]

Pictures attached 4th Break in Ready to go.

 

[HotCoals]

That setup looks very nice Snowdawg! Beautiful!

 

[begreen]

That a great stone stage you have the stove on. It looks great. So does the house.

 

[SNOWDAWG]

Thanks for the compliments. The house has been a labor of love for both my wife and I for sometime.
Will keep everyone updated when I can.

 

[daleeper]

How long has that wood been cut split and drying? If the wood isn't real dry, it will make that new stove a bit more finicky to drive than the old one.

 

[SNOWDAWG]

Wood has been split for sometime and is dry. Moisture Meter shows 9-10%.
After initial break in fires, loaded up the stove for the real test drive and worked better than I could have expected.
Within 1 hour or s,stove and house was warm as can be.
This Stove with a Normal Operation Temp of 450 degrees per manual, burned for 5-6 hours before needing to be reloaded.
Thank you for the reply