PE Summit insert installed and running. How to overfire it? And other questions...

[BlueMule]

Just got the Summit installed yesterday and it has been heating our 2200sf home better than expected. I am surprised with the better-than-expected results and the wife who was supportive but had no idea what to expect is very pleased. I was thinking we were going to possibly need fans in doorways and definitely floor vent/fans to get the heat up to the master bedroom, but not the case. Last night the family room where the insert is located and we watch TV was toasty warm (t-shirt and jeans and fell asleep on the couch from the comfort, which I rarely do), the thermostat on the dining room wall which is at the opposite end and diagonal from the family room read 71*. The wife said the bedroom felt warmer than ever to her. Before the install we used the 24yr old heat pump which I was afraid to crank over 67*. Speaking of the heat pump, I shut that off at 4pm yesterday. It's 25* out and snowing and we're perfectly comfortable!

So anyways, as it's my first time heating a home with wood I'm learning as I go. One thing I'm concerned about is overfiring the stove. Obviously stuffing too much wood and running with the air wide open would overfire the stove. But at what point is this reached? Where is that desired mid-point? I had some discoloration on the glass late last night that I wiped off this morning. The manual says buildup on the glass is from not burning hot enough. So what's hot enough? I have a Kintrex IRT0421 thermometer and my readings off the glass are 550-650 with where I'm comfortable burning at. Corner stove temps are 180-300 depending on the corner. Today I experimented and put a 20" half log of oak on top of two almost burnt down hardwood splits and by the time I shut the air down from the reload the glass temp reading was 700.

And speaking of not burning hot enough, even though I put two splits on last night at 11-11:30pm and opened up the air to light them up nicely than shut the air down gradually, at 7am this morning the fire was out and the coals were dead. Dining room thermostat read 61*. I recognize the fact that the fire is going to burn down through the night and the temp is going to drop, but it would be nice to have coals in the morning to start off of. Anyone got direction on how to achieve this? Is this a result of not putting enough splits on for a through the night burn?

Attached is a rough schematic of the 1st floor of the house for curiosity's sake. Master bedroom is directly above the family room on the 2nd floor, with the bed located almost directly above the hearth. The two guest bedrooms are at the opposite end of the 2nd floor but we are not concerned with heating them as we have no children and I can throw a space heater in whichever room we have visitors stay in.

Chimney (outside masonry chimey, 6" insulated flue liner. NO block-off plate. Top of chimney supposedly has insulation packed in around liner underneath of top plate. That part of the install I wasn't there for. Every chimney sweep and stove retailer I asked about the block off plate said it was unnecessary and they did not do it.

Wood: full chord of "seasoned" (I learned about craigslist seasoned wood from hearth.com) hardwood delivered and stacked last fall, plus a 1/4 chord of 3yr old oak stacked in the garage.

 

[weatherguy]

You have to put much more wood before bed to get an over night burn, load it up. Not sure what the top end is for that stove, someone with a summit will chime in.

 

[begreen]

Congratulations, that's a great insert. It sounds like with the blower on you are getting nice convection through the house. How about a picture of this beauty?

To avoid overfiring, don't run the stove with too much air open and don't fill it up with lot of wimpy 2-3" splits. Don't load it up with construction scraps either. Keep the stove temp below 700F if possible. Take your temp reading from the stove body just above and to the left or right of the door corners.

 

[Hogwildz]

Load that thing up for overnight burns. Large and medium sized splits.
If the glass is black all over, your not burning hot enough. If it is one or two corners, check the door gasket with the dollar bill test(while stove is cold).
You may be able to run it at with the air intake lever all the way low, if you have a good draft and good wood. But only cut the air back all the way after the fire is established.
These inserts kinda run themselves. Your going to peak at 700-750 as the secondaries fire off for a while. She will settle down on her own after some time.

Don't take the temp reading of the glass, take it off the insert body front upper just above the door corners.

 

[BlueMule]

So it sounds like I'm not loading it up enough then. I put a large and a medium oak split in on top of the single half burnt split (out shoveling so I had the wife do a training run and a single split was a good starting point for her) and opened the air all the way up. She flamed up immediately. Temps at the upper right and left stove corners with the IR at the time of loading were 290 right 310 left. After 3-5 minutes I dropped it to half way on the air and then to almost completely off after another 5 minutes. IR readings were 396 both corners 3-5 minutes after shutting the air down. 15 minutes after running at this rate, the haze had mostly disappeared. The attached pic that has the finger smear circled is where I wiped the inside of the glass with a finger this morning when it was hazing up again and I wanted to see if the haze was permanent or would come off (don't do this, my finger hurts so bad). After burning at this rate and reading what you guys are saying, I think I also need to experiment with opening up the air intake just a little more along with sticking with an increased load.

1st pic shows the insert installed, minus the upper surround that was damaged in shipping. The sweep will be back to install that once it comes in. 2nd pic shows the finger smear. BTW, I was kidding about wiping the glass with my bare finger, I had gloves on.

On another note, my 5yr old hyperactive Boxer Sam loves the heat. When he's not running around the house scouting window views for intruders in his territory or playing with Boris our 5mo old Boxer pup, he lays in front of the insert almost constantly

 

[Hogwildz]

Be careful adding splits to an already established fire &/or mid to hi stove temps, it can take off more than you would like sometimes.
One split should not be a big deal, but if you load it up while still say around 400+, your going to get one hell of a light show, and some scare.

Seems you have the fever we all had when just starting out. In time, you will find loading it up with a decent coal bed, get it up to temp, cut the air back, and leave it alone.
I don't touch mine till usually 12 hours later. Once in a while on really cold nights, I will add a few splits of soft wood to bridge some more heat between the 12 hours loads.

 

[BlueMule]

12 hours later!! That's awesome. I need to do some more experimenting as well as time my loading before I can comment about how long I'm making it between loads. We are opening doors to the let the pup out every two hours or so, I'm in and out of the house on a 25* day today, etc etc. House does have 2x6 interior walls and R-19 insulation though...

 

[weatherguy]

Sounds like you have good wood, you're ahead of most first time burners. You have a good stove, once you master it you'll get plenty of heat out of it for a long time.

 

[setitonfire]

I've been so concerned with overfire I think I cheated myself out of some good heat and burn time. I was taking temps in the middle of the unit with the fan on. After looking at this post in reading others again, I realize I should stick to the corners to get a more appropriate temp.