Stack temp

[chester5731]

My rutland magnetic thermometer says the normal range is 300-550. Does that mean the surface temp is in that range and the flue gas temp is twice that? Also, twice a day I burn it between 400 and 450 for about a half hour and then back it off to get a longer burn time. My wood is dry, I checked it with a moisture meter and it has not been more than ten percent. Should this be ok or will I still have trouble with creosote? I have a Daka furnace in the basement with single wall pipe going to a 24 foot masonary chimney.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Pagey]

Yes, that magnetic thermometer will give you the surface temp of the pipe. Is your masonry chimney interior or exterior? It sounds like you are burning good wood, but even if that's the case I think you'll find that checking the system two or three times during the burning season is prudent, especially if your system is external.

 

[chester5731]

It is an external chimney.

 

[Pagey]

Well, any time you have an external chimney you can increase the chances for creosote simply because you have all that hot flue gas coming into contact with a (relatively) colder flue system. Of course you can burn wet wood with the best internal chimney and collect a ton of creosote, too, so that's not to say that internal is the end all, be all. I would check the system 2 or 3 times a year at least, personally. But I'm a paranoid kinda guy, so I'd probably be up there monthly to be honest.

 

[ikessky]

I have the same furnace and the same thermometer and burn about the same as you are doing. A hot fire a few times a day that gets the needle to around 400-450. After that I take it down to about 200-250 on the thermometer. That should equal ~400 degree interal temps.

 

[Todd]

My wood is dry, I checked it with a moisture meter and it has not been more than ten percent. Thanks for any help.

Very hard to get wood this dry unless it was kiln dry. Did you take your reading from inside a fresh split piece?

 

[chester5731]

No it was just on the outside of ash and dead elm.

 

[ikessky]

You need to measure a freshly split piece to see where your wood is really at.