How has the Summit worked out during the less cold days? What kind of burn times? Does the stove regulate well when burning at lower temperatures. Or do you burn smaller fires for short periods of time?
Pacific Summit on low burn
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Willhound
Feeling the Heat
BeGreen said:
I guess "less cold" is all relative, but at around 32F I usually damper right down and the Summit Insert does just fine. Insert and stand-alone stove have the exact same firebox and damper set-up, etc. Just no ash drawer on the insert. I've seen the debates on this, but don't know if the ash drawer affects burn times or not. With a full load of white birch (only hardwood available here) I can get a good 7 - 8 hours and still have a good hot, deep coal bed, and after 10 hours or so, still get good re-ignition by just raking the ashes/coals and firing some wood in and opening the damper up.
I find this easier than smaller, hotter fires because it keeps a more constant temperature in the room, and also because I am basically lazy and don't have to babysit the stove so much.
Willhound
I wish we had birch to burn. Not that common out here. But if I can get 6 hrs on a low burn of charred softwood, I would be happy.
Willhound
Feeling the Heat
BeGreen said:
Yeah, it's all relative, isn't it? I cry because I don't have the oaks and cherry's and maples that areas to the south of me have, but I hadn't considered the NW where I guess it's mostly pines?
I do burn some jackpine, along with some yellow poplar (known as trembling aspen out west?) and don't have any problems. I did burn a lot of pine over the Christmas holiday's only because I hit a portion of the woodpile that had a lot of pine in it, and also because I was home more, so reloading wasn't an issue.
You are correct though, that even with the pine I could still get a good 5 - 6 hour burn if I was careful.
Willhound
West of the Cascades we have soft maple, alder, douglas fir and hemock in abundance. You'll also see some wild cherry, holly and maybe tamarack (larch) and some spruces. In our yard, we have a few oddballs like an 80? yr old redwood and an elm. Eastern WA is much drier and has mostly pines (lodgepole?). Locally we also have some madrona which is a true hardwood. But they are fussy about soil and so beautiful that their groves are generally left alone if possible. Still, we usually try to have about a cord of madrona to mix in with the other wood.
Willhound
Feeling the Heat
BTW, BeGreen, I meant to ask, why the questions about the Pacific Summit ?
I see from your signature that you currently burn a Jotul 3CB and Quadrafire 1200i
Not thinking of converting are you?? %-P
I see from your signature that you currently burn a Jotul 3CB and Quadrafire 1200i
Not thinking of converting are you?? %-P
Just information gathering at this time Will. We are going to be making some extensive renovations soon. Getting a real foundation, real crawlspace, replacing some windows, adding insulation, etc. When done, we are considering a reconfiguration of how we heat. All ideas are on the table right now. Currently the insert is in the livingroom. Regradless of quality, a pellet stove is essentially a wood furnace. It's flame is not as pretty as a wood stove and it makes blower noises. One thought is to swap locations of the pellet and wood stoves. The Jotul is in the kitchen entry way. The Quad is in the center of the house and has been a faithful friend, but does make blower noises that mean turning up the tv or stereo to compensate. If we did this, it would mean moving the wood burner to the central fireplace and possibly a pellet stove in the annex. The woodstove might remain the Jotul, but we like the built-in look of the insert and long burn times would be much appreciated.
We are looking at all options. As noted in other threads, I'm not keen on using the existing propane hot air system any more. It's 20 yrs old and has long duct runs in an uninsulated space. I will insulate the crawlspace, but am looking into replacing the system with a heatpump. Our ambient temps work well for the latest generation of heat pumps and our primary source of electricity is hydropower. I'm not sure what type yet. We have enough land to go geothermal, so I am getting info and quotes on that as well. If I go forward with a heat pump, we would likely run with it for a few months. It is possible that the pellet stove would make less economic sense in this scenario, in which case we would be migrating the wood stove to the living room. I'm also looking at a central pellet boiler. All ideas are on the table at this point. Once costs and installation feasibilities are laid out, we'll decide on a game plan.
We are looking at all options. As noted in other threads, I'm not keen on using the existing propane hot air system any more. It's 20 yrs old and has long duct runs in an uninsulated space. I will insulate the crawlspace, but am looking into replacing the system with a heatpump. Our ambient temps work well for the latest generation of heat pumps and our primary source of electricity is hydropower. I'm not sure what type yet. We have enough land to go geothermal, so I am getting info and quotes on that as well. If I go forward with a heat pump, we would likely run with it for a few months. It is possible that the pellet stove would make less economic sense in this scenario, in which case we would be migrating the wood stove to the living room. I'm also looking at a central pellet boiler. All ideas are on the table at this point. Once costs and installation feasibilities are laid out, we'll decide on a game plan.
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