That will burn up the coals but I may have to do it several times. I figured after 10-12 hrs that would be burned up on its own. It’s kind of a pain to have to take coals several times a day and just put one piece in at a time
Pacific energy summit
- Thread starter Coastalboat
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
In 12 yrs of burning in the same firebox as the Summit, I have never taken out hot coals. However, I am heating on the same floor with the stove in the living room and not from a basement. Those coals are fuel and heat. Just put a couple skinny splits on the coal bed and open up the air a bit. That will raise the stove temp 100+ºF.
Or, as an experiment, after 8 hrs, open up the air to about half way and see if that allows a better reload at 10 hrs.
sorry I didn’t mean take them out that was supposed to be rake them up in a pile and add a single piece of wood then open the draft all the way. This helps but I just assumed that after that length of time I would have minimal coals.
With the coal bed shown at 10 hrs I wouldn't rake them. Just toss on the 2x4s and adjust the air a little.
Mike M.
Feeling the Heat
I have the same fire box in a FP30. Never had a coaling problem. Did you remove and check the front air entry cover plate? Are the holes free of ash? Is the plate in the right place for the holes to align? Have you removed the upper baffle? Is something blocking air flow to the baffle? My stove runs 600-650F with me shutting it down 100%, and no coals after 9 hrs but the house is usually 78 by then unless it is sub zero outside.
Good suggestion about the boost manifold cover plate. Sometimes it gets installed incorrectly. The FP30 and the insert have outside air plate option, not the freestanding stove. The wood species also affects coaling.
I have removed the plate in front of the stove, the holes face towards the back, I’m guessing this is the it should go. I believe there is only one hole that allows air into the stove in front, and then like 4 holes in that plate. I have not removed the baffle yet to check anything there but the baffle seams to be in place. I would never see that high of a temp with the stove closed right down , currently I’m running mine with air control 50% open and stove top temps around 400-500
That's the correct orientation for the boost manifold cover. Although the assumption is that the wood is well-seasoned, the peak stovetop temp is low. It should willingly go up to around 650ºF with the air almost all the way closed. With good dry hardwood our stove will go over 700º if the air is left open too long. Either the wood is a bit on the high side for moisture or the draft is weak.
If a nearby window is cracked open an inch, does the fire perk up and stovetop temp rise?
If a nearby window is cracked open an inch, does the fire perk up and stovetop temp rise?
FWIW, I helped put in a new, 2020 Alderlea T6 last fall. It has the same firebox. This is a first floor install with a straight-up 18' flue. Their stove has been heating the house all winter. The stovetop regularly goes up to 650º with each full reload.
bcarp
Member
Coastalboat,
I've got a similar setup to you with a 2020 Summit LE. When burning soft wood (pine/spruce) I have some coals in the morning (10-11 hrs) after lighting but I am still getting heat from the stove and STT about 250-300F. I do struggle with the balance of overfiring/running hot enough to burn clean overnight. Ideally I'd open the air to 50% about 4-5 hours in - this is what I do when burning in the day. I have run some paper birch in stove when it got real cold out and definitely experienced more coals in the morning, about 1/3 full, but also a higher STT (300-400f) and stove still pumping decent heat from those coals. I'd either burn them down with some small pine splits if I wanted to reload right away or let them burn down on their own if I was not in a rush to reload.
I can also get much higher STT than what you are experiencing, I am more often worried about over-firing than about running it too cold during the first 4-6 hrs of the burn. I'm routinely seeing 600-700f on the stove top and that's after a full reload and dropping the air to about 80-90% closed and with secondary burn. I definitely notice lower STT when the secondary burn is NOT happening...are you seeing secondaries? Sometimes i will have 400f STT, flames in the box but no secondaries, if I open it wide open for a few minutes bring it up to 600-700f then shut down agian I can usually get the secondaries to fire and the temps come back to the 450-500f range. Not sure why this happens?
Attached video of what mine looks like when its running at its best, this was a cool morning (-12-15C) a few hours after a reload, air 95% closed as you can see at the start.
I'm no expert but have been trying lots and definitely getting some great tips from those on this site, hope it helps.
I've got a similar setup to you with a 2020 Summit LE. When burning soft wood (pine/spruce) I have some coals in the morning (10-11 hrs) after lighting but I am still getting heat from the stove and STT about 250-300F. I do struggle with the balance of overfiring/running hot enough to burn clean overnight. Ideally I'd open the air to 50% about 4-5 hours in - this is what I do when burning in the day. I have run some paper birch in stove when it got real cold out and definitely experienced more coals in the morning, about 1/3 full, but also a higher STT (300-400f) and stove still pumping decent heat from those coals. I'd either burn them down with some small pine splits if I wanted to reload right away or let them burn down on their own if I was not in a rush to reload.
I can also get much higher STT than what you are experiencing, I am more often worried about over-firing than about running it too cold during the first 4-6 hrs of the burn. I'm routinely seeing 600-700f on the stove top and that's after a full reload and dropping the air to about 80-90% closed and with secondary burn. I definitely notice lower STT when the secondary burn is NOT happening...are you seeing secondaries? Sometimes i will have 400f STT, flames in the box but no secondaries, if I open it wide open for a few minutes bring it up to 600-700f then shut down agian I can usually get the secondaries to fire and the temps come back to the 450-500f range. Not sure why this happens?
Attached video of what mine looks like when its running at its best, this was a cool morning (-12-15C) a few hours after a reload, air 95% closed as you can see at the start.
I'm no expert but have been trying lots and definitely getting some great tips from those on this site, hope it helps.
Yes, these stoves breathe easily and are willing puppies. It looks like you are doing well with large splits and a good hot fire. I get the same effect with the secondaries and no longer pay much attention to them unless I am sitting watching the fire. The secondaries can drop off if the wood has not heated up enough to outgas a lot. Adding a bit more and raising the temp heats up the wood and more wood gases are produced, then secondary burning is more apparent.
Our stove is in the living room. Usually once the stove has the house heated up, less btus are needed so I let the STT drop down to around 400º in the later stages of the burn and leave the air control alone. If it is a sunny day then the house will need a lot less heat during the day. The evening, with dropping temps can be the opposite and then I might open up the air a skosh at the 4-5 hr. point as you are doing. This is with burning doug fir.
Our stove is in the living room. Usually once the stove has the house heated up, less btus are needed so I let the STT drop down to around 400º in the later stages of the burn and leave the air control alone. If it is a sunny day then the house will need a lot less heat during the day. The evening, with dropping temps can be the opposite and then I might open up the air a skosh at the 4-5 hr. point as you are doing. This is with burning doug fir.
bcarp
Member
One thing I didn't mention is that mine will take longer to come up to temp in warmer weather. We've had some +8-0C temps and higher humidity the past week and the stove is much more laggy on startup using the top-down lighting method, but once its rolling I can achieve the same temps as I quoted above. Its actually less stressful for me as I don't worry about it taking off to 900f+(flue temp) territory on me and don't sit there watching it during startup as I had to when we in the -30c range! Wife also questions my sanity less often as a result. Hah.
So the first picture I posted was the stove top temp during a reload of spruce,larch and yellow birch, I open the air control 100% for approximately 15-20 mins untill the wood is good and charred with stt of about 350-400. I then adjust air control to about 70-80% closed and after 1 hr into the burn I see stt of 500. I don’t think with the air control set to this setting I will ever see stt of 600 , I would need to be around the 50-60% mark. In the video I posted secondaries seam to be firing well. I suspect after 10 hrsI will have a high coal bed in the stove .
Attachments
With a nice proper load like that you should be easily seeing 600+. Something is not adding up here at all. Cool pic by the way! Maybe those large rounds need re-split and checked inside for moisture content. I'd guess they are wet. Not to beat a dead horse but it would really make sense. Rounds are tough to dry.
bcarp
Member
The video didn't work for me but good to hear you have the secondaries firing.
FWIW - I let the wood get entirely blackened, ends and all with the fire raging prior to turning the air down, weather, wood size and existing coal presence as variables here, this may take anywhere from 10-40 minutes- not unusual to see the STT hit 700 for a brief stint before the air is cut. I was apprehensive at first, concerned about over-fire and losing burn time but I still manage to get 10+ hours with soft woods which is more than enough for my lifestyle.
Have you tried leaving the air wide open for a bit longer just to see if you can start hotter, like 600+ishSTT instead of the 350-400? might help reduce the coal load in the am?
FWIW - I let the wood get entirely blackened, ends and all with the fire raging prior to turning the air down, weather, wood size and existing coal presence as variables here, this may take anywhere from 10-40 minutes- not unusual to see the STT hit 700 for a brief stint before the air is cut. I was apprehensive at first, concerned about over-fire and losing burn time but I still manage to get 10+ hours with soft woods which is more than enough for my lifestyle.
Have you tried leaving the air wide open for a bit longer just to see if you can start hotter, like 600+ishSTT instead of the 350-400? might help reduce the coal load in the am?
I will give it a try next time let the fire get hotter before closing the air down.
After 9 hrs of burning with the load in shown above , coals weren’t to bad this morning just some in the back so opened up the air to 50% For an hour and by that time wasent many coals left at all. So that’s not bad at all can live with that. Just if I could get a little higher stt would be great may have to leave the air open a bit more on the cold nights to achieve this.
Agreed about the rounds possibly being still above 20% moisture in the core. There is also a possibility is that the old thermometer is shot and not reading correctly. It's not untypical for them to be off by more than 100º.
Does anyone happen to know if there suppose to be a blanket of that wool stuff on top of the baffle ? Mine only has it on the sides wondering if it was missed?
It depends on the version. There is no blanket on top of the older A version. I think the newer versions have an insulation board clipped on top.
www.hearth.com
Summit B body baffle close up
So, I purchased a new baffle with insulation & pin off an online vendor for a decent price VS from dealer and other online outlets. I've been explaining to many over the years about the make up of these baffles, including the secondary burn holes at the rear under the angle pc on the bottom...
www.hearth.com
Coastalboat I would not put much faith in those thermometers. I bought a couple of those off of ebay, they didnt last long. First the orange paint changed colors, then the springs got weak one read high the other low, then they lost magnetism in less than half a season.
Mine is only a year old , I believe there is a foam piece like you said clipped to the top, just wasent sure if there was suppose to be another piece of that wool on top
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
The A body does in fact have an inuslation blanket on top, which is coverd with a heat shield. The B & C models have an insulation board on top of the baffle, no plate on top of the insulation board.It depends on the version. There is no blanket on top of the older A version. I think the newer versions have an insulation board clipped on top.
Summit B body baffle close up
So, I purchased a new baffle with insulation & pin off an online vendor for a decent price VS from dealer and other online outlets. I've been explaining to many over the years about the make up of these baffles, including the secondary burn holes at the rear under the angle pc on the bottom...
OK, I should have been more explicit, the A version has no 'exposed' insulation blanket on top. Picky picky.
