It's too hot in here
!
Most of you guys don't make it in to the Boiler Room, so I thought I'd make a quick post here also since I'm so grateful for the info and answers from this site. My install can be seen here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/27829/
I finished my duct work last night and started a fire. It is currently about 28 outside (17 with the wind chill) and it's 73 degrees in the house. It's a little too warm for my taste, but I still have a duct run to make into the garage which will help bleed off the heat (and make the pets happy in the process).
Due to the fact that forced air furnaces are not EPA certified, I do not have a cat or secondary burn. Therefore, I've been trying to maintain a temp of ~200 on the magnetic temp gauge which is located on the single wall stove pipe. From what I've read, this should equate to an internal flue temp of ~400. My chimney goes through the center of the house. It is a standard masonary chimney with a clay liner. Since I don't know the history of the house, I decided to put a 6" 316ti liner inside of it though, just to be safe. From the looks of it, the previous owners did burn wood at one point in time. Due to the design of my system/stove, I realize that there will be some smoke, but I feel that I am minimizing it by watching my temp gauge like I have been. I climbed up on the room this morning and while I do see some smoke, the liner doesn't look any worse than after one of my first fires where I smoldered it and ended up with some tarry creosote. I can see that the cap is what I will have to watch more than anything. I'm going to sweep the liner in a few weeks and see what it looks like, but I don't expect an enormous amount of anything.
One of the biggest things that I've had to learn is patience. It has an automatic damper so I've had to play around with settings so that I could maintain my stove pipe temp and not smolder the fire. I now get my kindling going and then start to add smaller splits and then turn to a setting that will allow for a constant stove pipe temp of ~200-250. Large splits are only going in once a decent coal bed has been established. Even then, I've been opening the damper all the way for a few minutes to allow the larger stuff to catch fire and char up before I return it to my original setting (temp gauge gets up to ~300-350 which should also help keep the liner clean).
All things said, I feel like I'm doing things right and am taking the proper steps to provide a safe, clean burn. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. A big thanks to all those who have answered my many questions.
!Most of you guys don't make it in to the Boiler Room, so I thought I'd make a quick post here also since I'm so grateful for the info and answers from this site. My install can be seen here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/27829/
I finished my duct work last night and started a fire. It is currently about 28 outside (17 with the wind chill) and it's 73 degrees in the house. It's a little too warm for my taste, but I still have a duct run to make into the garage which will help bleed off the heat (and make the pets happy in the process).
Due to the fact that forced air furnaces are not EPA certified, I do not have a cat or secondary burn. Therefore, I've been trying to maintain a temp of ~200 on the magnetic temp gauge which is located on the single wall stove pipe. From what I've read, this should equate to an internal flue temp of ~400. My chimney goes through the center of the house. It is a standard masonary chimney with a clay liner. Since I don't know the history of the house, I decided to put a 6" 316ti liner inside of it though, just to be safe. From the looks of it, the previous owners did burn wood at one point in time. Due to the design of my system/stove, I realize that there will be some smoke, but I feel that I am minimizing it by watching my temp gauge like I have been. I climbed up on the room this morning and while I do see some smoke, the liner doesn't look any worse than after one of my first fires where I smoldered it and ended up with some tarry creosote. I can see that the cap is what I will have to watch more than anything. I'm going to sweep the liner in a few weeks and see what it looks like, but I don't expect an enormous amount of anything.
One of the biggest things that I've had to learn is patience. It has an automatic damper so I've had to play around with settings so that I could maintain my stove pipe temp and not smolder the fire. I now get my kindling going and then start to add smaller splits and then turn to a setting that will allow for a constant stove pipe temp of ~200-250. Large splits are only going in once a decent coal bed has been established. Even then, I've been opening the damper all the way for a few minutes to allow the larger stuff to catch fire and char up before I return it to my original setting (temp gauge gets up to ~300-350 which should also help keep the liner clean).
All things said, I feel like I'm doing things right and am taking the proper steps to provide a safe, clean burn. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. A big thanks to all those who have answered my many questions.
