new to stoves with a vogelzang ponderosa, have a popping question

[txvenom]

hello everyone,
I'm new to wood stoves, always had open fireplaces growing up .
We built a rather unique home in west Texas in that its a concrete dome 50' across and 25' high.
Actually 2 of them connected by a 25x25 concrete building but currently only 1 dome and the connector are living space.
Bedrooms are located in an open loft style 2nd floor
Translation = lots of cubic feet

When I chose a stove, the Ponderosa was about the biggest I could find.

So far so good, it will take a little bit of edge off on cold nights.

I have 2 questions though:

1 it makes a LOT of coals.Like burn 18-24 hours and theres not much room left for wood - suggestions?
Burning seasoned oak mostly with some mesquite and pecan.

2 its noisy. loud popping all the time.

I have an idea on #2- it has panels bolted to the sides, I'm assuming as heat shields. They would expand and contract at a different rate than the box, yes?
I'm guessing that is where a lot of the popping is coming from .
So do you think loosening the mounting bolts a bit would quieten some of the noise ?
I would just try it but they're really big screws and super tight, so they'll take some effort and I don't want to mess up he finish if I'm way off base in my thinking.

thanks y'all !

 

[pen]

Popping is pretty normal as temp changes for a stove, or any metal. Think about the engine and exhaust of a car after being parked.

Building coals up that quickly generally means the wood isn't seasoned well enough and/or the operator is trying to heat too large a space with not enough stove, and therefore is feeding it bigger loads or more often than it can handle.

 

[Rearscreen]

We built a rather unique home in west Texas in that its a concrete dome 50' across and 25' high.

Love to see a pic or 2!

 

[KimiBwoah]

Love to see a pic or 2!

Seconded! Love unique homes!

 

[txvenom]

Thanks for the info
I totally understand the popping from temp changes, that's why I'm thinking loosening the mounting screws to allow the thin heat shield to expand and contract separately from the main steel box. This thing pops nonstop, and loud.

I do keep it pretty heavily loaded with wood because it cools down pretty quickly as soon as the fire starts dropping.

Here are a few pics and some history
The place was originally a Christmas theme park with a driving trail featuring millions of Christmas lights and the domes were used for a laser light show in one and sit on Santa's lap and drink hot chocolate in the other with bathrooms etc in the connector building.

Anyway, I kept a Facebook page on the place during construction and so on. It took forever since my wife and I did everything ourselves on top of full time jobs on a shoestring budget and curved concrete walls are a cruel mistress.
Fb page is https://www.facebook.com/SnakehavenRanch/

The name comes from my previous 25+ year career as a herpetologist.

I'll also add a,pic of the 17 degree night with 30mph sustained winds when we found out our chimney was too short...

 

[begreen]

Looks very smoky inside. What is that from?

 

[txvenom]

Finding out the hard way that our chimney was too short to cope with 30+ MPH winds on a 17 degree night.

 

[kennyp2339]

Sorry to say this but your construction is robbing your heat which is causing the excessive coals in your fire box, you lose about 1/3 of heat into masonry.
Some will argue about coals only forming when you burn less than desirable unseasoned wood, but ask a few people that have large areas to heat with a stove like a garage or pole barn, they all say the same thing..the stove turns into a coal factory. The best I can tell you is to get rid of the current stove and look for a convective stove (one that has a full jacket around it) and with a good blower, the blower will push the air out between the stove and jacket and you will feel warmer than a radiant stove. BTW - nice place.

 

[UrbanBrnr]

Love to see a pic or 2!

Is your home, a Monolithic Dome Home? https://www.monolithic.org/domes

 

[BigJ273]

Finding out the hard way that our chimney was too short to cope with 30+ MPH winds on a 17 degree night.

Wow. Better get a carbon monoxide detector before you kill someone. And rectify that situation before you burn again. That’s very dangerous whatever is going on there

 

[Rickb]

That is a super neat house!