Question on measuring stovetop temps

[mtnhome]

I've been burning my Scan now for 3 weeks and love having a box of fire in my house! I have two magnetic thermometers, one on the single wall pipe 18" above the stove, the other I have had right in front of the flue collar, pretty much in the center of the stove top. It occurred to me that by watching the flame pattern and path, that the hottest gasses were going around the upper of two baffles and more directly hitting the top right behind the flue collar. Moving the thermometer to the back showed up to a 200 degree difference in stove top temps, up to 600 degrees when the fire is going pretty good. My manual gives no clue as to best operating temps other than if the paint is changing color, it is being over fired. Should I look for a spot to get an "average" temp or measure at the hottest spot I can find? On a cast iron stove, is there an optimal stove top temp? At what temp should I get worried? My pipe temps generally run much cooler than my top temps. To keep my pipe temps up I really have to have this thing burning. On a side note, I have been checking the moisture content of my wood(pine) and it is running between 10-20%. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[savageactor7]

Not familiar with your stove mtmhome but we were told to place the thermometer centered stove top over the door...and we'll burn anywhere from 400 and up.

Check you manual about flue pipe recommendations...the closer clearances of these newer stoves require double wall pipe. I don't want to worry you but that is very important that you look into that.

 

[mtnhome]

Thanks Savage, The manual doesn't reccomend one type of pipe over another, if you look at my post about my install(https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/35152/) I was very careful with clearances and wall and ceiling temps. No concerns there and in fact it seems I achieved overkill. My stove hasn't changed color yet so I must be ok.

 

[Todd]

I'd keep the stove top thermometer as dead center as possible. Sometimes a fire may burn more on one side or the other and your stove temps will vary with every fire. A centrally located thermometer will give you a good average reading.

 

[begreen]

Front and center of the stove pipe looks ok to me (if it's top-vented). Each stove design and model will have it's own average temp. And this can vary with the flue connected to the stove. Try to keep the stovetop below 800 peak temperature and you should be fine.