taking out rockwool mat above the top baffle any one else?

[rasp21]

O.K. last year when I did my stove clean and prep for the coming winter, I took out the rockwool mat that sits on top of the ceramic bricks above the secondary burn tubes. I know what the function of this is for, but it is a pain to do a good clean with that thing, and I never really liked it in there. Maybe I didn't trust it for some reason. Any way, I left it out. I have a small Country Comfort, about 2 cu. ft., so I burn hot fires in it. I burned 24/7 this winter, real good wood, still had good secondary burn going, without the woolmat in the stove at all, all winter long. I noticed no difference in the secondaries, no more smoke, and no difference in wood consumption. In other words, no difference at all. Question? Any one else done away with the rockwool mat above their burn shelf??? Notice any difference?? 13/14 split and in the shed.. 14/15 in rounds and being worked on now.. 15/16 on the grounds in rounds.

 

[begreen]

The blanket keeps the firebox hotter for a cleaner burn. Unfortunately visual observation is sometimes not the most accurate metric. The stove would have to be instrumented to show the difference. It could be small, let's say only 10%, but that will add up in wood consumed and pollutants emitted over a season. If 3 cords of wood are burned that would be 38 cu ft of wood.

 

[rasp21]

begreen, I have a IR therm, but to be honest, I cant remember exactually the temps I ran with the mat in. I know that these stoves are engineered to operate within certain specs, and I will put the mat back in for the next winter, I was more looking for some feed back from others that have tried this. May be that the secondaries would kick in sooner, but I never have tried to time trial it. This stove is on the smallish side and I burn it fairly hot, I saw no change in the chimney discharge, but particulate matter is not always visual. I am in central Wa. and I burn mostly fir and pine, fruit wood when I can get it, 4 years css. I have no close neighbors, but I can not tolerate a smoke belcher. I believe in being a good neighbor, and burn responsibly. I have a feeling that taking this mat out of a larger stove would have a much more dramatic affect on the performance of that stove over a small app. like I have. This was a one off experiment, and I will put the mat back in for next seasons burn. Maybe someone with a large stove will chime in too. I see you are also from the Evergreen State, Thanks very much for the response, and I will watch this thresd.

 

[webby3650]

I doubt that very many people on here have removed their blankets. Stoves are very expensive and most people strive to maintain and run their stoves in "like new" condition, and as efficiently as possible. Ceramic wool isn't cheap, the manufacturer wouldn't put it in there if it didn't have some positive effect.

 

[xman23]

My guess, where it the insulation blanket does something is at the beginning and end of a burn. Getting the fire box hotter quicker and holding the heat at the end of a burn. Probably burns just a bit hotter and cleaner. Yes, the ceramic blanket is expansive from the stove manufacturers. I bought a roll of of the same material. It's posted here somwhere.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Since it would seem that the top of a woodstove is probably the hottest spot on a stove I wonder if the ceramic blanket might also serve to protect the top from over heating?