One week with my new stove sanity check

[Mike821]

All,

I have had my stove for a little over a week. (Lopi 1750i) I am happy as I have not turned the heat on since I first started my stove. I wanted to check with you all to see if I am utilizing my stove to its best ability and if I need to correct any actions I am taking.

Here we go......

-Hot coals are raked to the front of the stove.
-If I am home I burn not premo wood. Shorter burn times, but that is OK... after all I get to tinker with my stove and fire.
-Wood.... Sycamore, black locust, oak, cherry, and some misc wood. The wood is below 20% but some black locust is around 22-23% and is only added when a hot coal base is presant. I tend to also put a piece of doug fir in with the black locust to give it a kick start. (one...not many doug fir pieces. I am careful not to over-fire the stove)
-Loading...If the temp is up outside grater than 40 deg. I tend to make small fires. Less than 30 I will bump up the volume of wood to produce more heat.
-After loading I crack the door, open the damper (not the bypass) and let the stove worm up to 350-400 before starting to choke back the air. If the fire does not light the secondary's I kick it up again to get that temp up some more.
-Burn time vary with the kind of wood I use. Night time is a load of hardwoods..Locust...Maple...Ash...etc. I tend to utilize rounds as they burn longer and fill in the gaps with splits. I have been getting burn times of 6hrs-7hrs. The stove runs at 350-400, but more toward the 350 side. It heats my 1700 ft home like a champ at 350-400 at 30 deg.


Questions I have:

When I prep for overnight burns or long daytime burns I make sure the wood is charred and the secondaries are firing. The front of the stove reaches 400 and I choke it down. I then look at the way the fire is acting for 5 min's. When I come downstairs some times I don't see the secondaries burning, but a real hot fire with major coals. Is this a problem?

Loading the stove....I am loading for a long burn N/S as much as I can. I am not getting the burn times of 8hrs or better...are my expectations high? If not, what suggestions can you give me to experiment and try. I know a great deal of this is trial and error for a new-B, but since I have joined this forum I have gained some major knowledge thanks to you guys/girls.

Wet wood...I try to use wood that is 20% or less. I did manage to pick up a great deal of black locust that has a moisture reading of 18-24%. Some folks have said that if my fire box is hot enough, burning the wood that is 23-24% should not be an issue. I am concerned as I don't want to create excessive creosote. Will I do so by burning the black locust higher than 20% but not exceeding 24%? I understand that I am not going to get the BTU's as if the wood was under 20%, but it still burns long and throws major heat.

What would be the max MC you would burn on a constant basis? (this is a loaded question..sorry folks but I had to ask)

Sweeping the SS liner. How often should this be done burning 24/7?

Stove pipe thermometer....is it worth the investment. I just have one magnetic therm on the front of the stove.

OK...so I wrote a book...sorry for the long winded post, but needed to ask the, "Seasoned Pro's" (ha..I like that) if I am heading in the right direction.

Thanks all!

Mike

 

[Renovation]

Hey Mike,

Congratulations!

I have no comments yet, but wonder if you could put your stove (and anything else you like) in your sig? (Just go to "your control panel" up top.) It makes it easier to know what's going on.

Thanks, it sounds like you are learning fast!

 

[begreen]

Initially it would be good to check the flue at least once a month until you get to know the stove and the wood better. That will tell you a lot about how you're burning and the wood. If you are getting 6-7 hrs of meaningful heat, that isn't bad. And mixing the wood, is a good idea so that you can keep a hotter fire with the locust.

Don't be afraid of burning the doug fir. That is all that many folks out here burn. I have 6 cords of it stacked up and another cord in rounds. Our stove gets big bellyfuls of it regularly. We split is a bit on the large size to slow it down, so there haven't been any overfires.

 

[raybonz]

Welcome aboard Mike! Only will comment on what you've accomplished and say congrats and I can see you have read a bit here.. You seem to have a pretty good handle on woodburning so far..

Good Luck,
Ray

 

[PapaDave]

Hi Mike, welcome aboard. Good post.
Sounds like you've got a real good handle on how your stove and wood burn, and that should only continue to get better as you gain more experience.
You were obviously paying attention when class was in session. :lol:
I would only question one thing in your post. You said "The stove runs at 350-400, but more toward the 350 side.", and that seems just a little on the cool side.
I would like to suggest a check of your flue sometime in the next couple weeks, to make sure you're not getting too much buildup.
As BG said, this will aid in the learning curve.
The flue therm. is another learning tool.
Let us know how things are going.

 

[Intheswamp]

Stove pipe thermometer....is it worth the investment. I just have one magnetic therm on the front of the stove.

I'm a newb, so I really can't comment much. One thing I'm curious about, though, is your placement of your stove thermometer. I was thinking that the magnetic stove thermometers were supposed to go on the top of the stove. Your 350-400 degree temps seem somewhat low to what I've gleaned from reading through the forum...if indeed your thermometer is on the *side* of your stove this might be accounting for the seemingly low readings.

...or by "the front" did you mean the front of the top???

Just a thought.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Mike821]

The thermometer is on the front of the stove right above the door. It is not on the top of the stove. I plan on checking the stack in a few weeks to see how I am burning. I do see temps ranging from 350 to 600 on the high side. It appears that the stove will initially run at 400-500 and when I ratchet her down she hovers 350-400. I shoot for the fast temp jump when I load the stove on hot coals. This is achieved by some 2x4's...very small amount to get things heated up and char the wood. I am concerned as my night burn I am not tending to the stove as much as I do during the day. The fire after a few hours seems to not smolder, but burn hot without any or little flame. I do get spurts of secondary burn, but the temp drop's to 350. This is with a full choke on the air. Is this proper or should I have a secondary burn until the coal stage.

Also...the stove pipe thermometer. I have a surround and the stove pipe is behind about 9". What application should I use and can someone suggest a place for me to purchase a stack thermometer please.

I have to say this is a learning experience that I enjoy. My wife is going to kill me as I am always on the lookout for wood. LOL

Thanks guys!

 

[Intheswamp]

Mike, you might want to experiement with placing your thermometer on the top of the insert, I think you have something like 10" extending onto the hearth, right? (I seriously considered the Republic model) You may realize a significant difference in temps on top...maybe try a couple of difference spots on top.

Again, I'm a rank newbie... It seems that your burn is correct....secondary burns are from burning off-gassing from the wood. It happens mostly during an active/hot burn. Hot coals burning, no smoke, few to no flames....seems about right to me from *what I've read*.

Ed

edit to add: I understand your situation with your stack...I will be venting my F3 into the chimney through the firebox opening...horizontal pipe and then a 90*....18" away from the stove and I'll be into the tee and the dial will be very hard to see. A probe type thermometer leading to a remote readout would be nice but......???

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm a big fan of thermometers -- both on the flue and on the stove. You do not need them to run your stove, but much like the gas gauge and speedometer on a car (which you also do not need to drive a car) they give you some valuable feedback and allow you to run your stove safer and more efficiently.

 

[Mike821]

I did move my thermomitor to the top of the firery beast. It reads 100 deg higher than the the front. With this said I am probably burning at more like 400-500 when the secondaries are fired up. Once the fire has deminished to coals the secondaries are not fired up hence the lower heat levels like 350-400 and declining as the coals burn down.