The Summit may just work out after all!

[oldspark]

Most of you know my concerns about the new stove and I think I have found one of the issues.
After reading a ton of posts about how people were running their wood burners and asking questions I am convinced I am running the Summit correctly but still not happy with the results.
It has been a little colder here lately and I noticed it did not make a difference whether I loaded the stove up heavy or used a small amount (4 or 5 med splits) of wood I had the same results for heat in the house. I felt something just was not right.
In one of my infamous rants about the way the house was heating last night I figured out what had changed, last summer I reversed the ceiling fan above the dining room table (so the food would not cool so fast) and left it that way. It was disrupting the natural flow of air in the house. The Summit is idling now keeping the house warm in much the same way as the Nashua did hopefuly with way less wood. I still have to go through a south wind with below zero temps but I feel better about that now than before.
Big storm moving through and 30 below wind chill tonight and tomorrow.
Mark me down as a happy (for now) camper!

 

[wyosioux]

Glad to see you getting the Summit tuned in.

I can't say enough good things about using my Summit. We had below zero temps. the entire week of Thanksgiving, and ended up the company staying with us thought it was too hot... upstairs that is, and the stove is in the basement. For me, compared to the last home with a woodburner, Earth Stove, the most amazing thing about this new burner is how much heat I get from so much less wood.

PE Summit!! Very happy with it!

 

[pen]

hehe, glad I'm not alone. We run 2 ceiling fans during the winter and I forgot to switch the dining room one to pull air up for winter. The wife has been whining about it being "drafty" and I didn't think anything about it until I turned the fan off, and stopped it with my hand for cleaning. Then I had that "doh" moment.

All is much more comfortable now here as well.

pen

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Oldspark, funny how things work out, huh. You may recall I too had issues with the BKK at first. I've been changing placement of a floor fan for the past few weeks, as well as fan speed on the stove blowers. It's working. I'm keeping very even temps. in the front room now, but it's subtle. I'll install a ceiling fan next year, see what that does after a full season heating like this. I will say this( I know everyone is kinda sick of this comment, but..) the burn times are impressive. I can load it at 6am, come home from work 12 hrs. later, and still have half a box of full of wood with inside temp. of 70 °F . I don't care who you are, that's impressive. i'm glad your stove is finally coming around.

 

[Renovation]

Most of you know my concerns about the new stove and I think I have found one of the issues.
After reading a ton of posts about how people were running their wood burners and asking questions I am convinced I am running the Summit correctly but still not happy with the results.
It has been a little colder here lately and I noticed it did not make a difference whether I loaded the stove up heavy or used a small amount (4 or 5 med splits) of wood I had the same results for heat in the house. I felt something just was not right.
In one of my infamous rants about the way the house was heating last night I figured out what had changed, last summer I reversed the ceiling fan above the dining room table (so the food would not cool so fast) and left it that way. It was disrupting the natural flow of air in the house. The Summit is idling now keeping the house warm in much the same way as the Nashua did hopefuly with way less wood. I still have to go through a south wind with below zero temps but I feel better about that now than before.
Big storm moving through and 30 below wind chill tonight and tomorrow.
Mark me down as a happy (for now) camper!

Hey Sparkster,

Glad you're feeling comfortable posting!

Now, it sounds to me like you had the fan sucking up for summer, and now you have it blowing down. Correct, or is it the other way around? And where is the fan relative to your stove?

Congrats on being a Happy Camper!

 

[DanCorcoran]

I've always read (and done): suck it up in winter and blow it down in summer.

 

[Renovation]

I've always read (and done): suck it up in winter and blow it down in summer.

Agreed--I think the reasoning is that in the winter it's less comfortable to have the downward draft blowing directly on people, best to have the indirect circulation of upward suction.

But when it comes to a stove, I'm wondering if it might not depend on the particular installation--what works best with the particular geometry and circulation patterns.

I suppose the take-away is to try both!

 

[oldspark]

Most of you know my concerns about the new stove and I think I have found one of the issues.
After reading a ton of posts about how people were running their wood burners and asking questions I am convinced I am running the Summit correctly but still not happy with the results.
It has been a little colder here lately and I noticed it did not make a difference whether I loaded the stove up heavy or used a small amount (4 or 5 med splits) of wood I had the same results for heat in the house. I felt something just was not right.
In one of my infamous rants about the way the house was heating last night I figured out what had changed, last summer I reversed the ceiling fan above the dining room table (so the food would not cool so fast) and left it that way. It was disrupting the natural flow of air in the house. The Summit is idling now keeping the house warm in much the same way as the Nashua did hopefuly with way less wood. I still have to go through a south wind with below zero temps but I feel better about that now than before.
Big storm moving through and 30 below wind chill tonight and tomorrow.
Mark me down as a happy (for now) camper!

Hey Sparkster,

Glad you're feeling comfortable posting!

Now, it sounds to me like you had the fan sucking up for summer, and now you have it blowing down. Correct, or is it the other way around? And where is the fan relative to your stove?

Congrats on being a Happy Camper!

Yep blowing down now, it depends on the house I guess, it was fighting the other two fans in the house, now they are working together, its like a different stove, I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it my self. Where the hell was all the heat going before, should have been a hot spot some where.

 

[Renovation]

Yep blowing down now, it depends on the house I guess, it was fighting the other two fans in the house, now they are working together, its like a different stove, I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it my self. Where the hell was all the heat going before, should have been a hot spot some where.

Maybe it was going nowhere, and the hot spot was your stove? Regardless, glad it's working now.

 

[precaud]

Congrats spark, I bet you're relieved. It's nice when things finally make sense, or something like that...

 

[SKIN052]

LOL, I had a great big grin on my face after seeing this post! Good stuff Oldspark. And you blamed the stove, shame on you! Stay warm pal.

 

[oldspark]

Thanks guys, all the help was much appreciated.
Precaud, I am very relieved, just in time for the Iowa winter.
SKIN052, I am very sorry for ever doubting the mighty Summit.

 

[begreen]

Good news sparks. We like to see you smiling.

 

[corey21]

Congrats. so the fans need to be pushing air to the floor?

 

[pen]

Congrats. so the fans need to be pushing air to the floor?

The instructions with any fan will tell you to suck up for winter and push down for summer. However, as oldspark has proven, every situation is different. I say to hell with the book, do what keeps you the warmest. For us, if the fan pushes down it feels cold and drafty. When pulling up, it distributes the warm air better throughout our living / dining / kitchen.

pen

 

[begreen]

Every house + stove location presents a unique challenge. We can suggest common solutions, but many situations are unique and need to be evaluated on their own. Ole sparky went from a radiant stove to a convective stove, which has changed the heating pattern. The best thing to do is experiment and empirically observe the results.

 

[pen]

Every house + stove location presents a unique challenge. We can suggest common solutions, but many situations are unique and need to be evaluated on their own. Ole sparky went from a radiant stove to a convective stove, which has changed the heating pattern. The best thing to do is experiment and empirically observe the results.

This was your 20,000 post and you were able to use the word empirically in it! What a great day!

pen

 

[begreen]

LOL, I'll light up a SuperCedar to celebrate. Now where's the champagne?

 

[Renovation]

LOL, I'll light up a SuperCedar to celebrate. Now where's the champagne?

(Pop! Glug, glug, glug...)

Me, I'm just Jonesing to be a Master of Fire. A man needs his dreams.

 

[oldspark]

I have three ceiling fans, one pulls air up the stairway and one pushes cool air back down to the lower level, by having the one in the middle pulling up is was keeping the cool air from getting back to the stove, Its funny I have had that fan for about 30 years and never knew it played such a big part in the air flow in the house. I guess the air was just setting there not allowing the heat to move through the house very well.