Hello. I am a long time lurker, first time poster… I just installed a brand new Quadra Fire Explorer II woodstove to use as my main source of heat in my single story home in Maryland. It is replacing an older Vermont Castings. I did a ton of research in deciding what to replace my older stove with, and landed on the Explorer II, while recognizing it was gonna be a BIG change and I have to allow for a learning curve to get used to the many differences. The first major question I am running into is: where to place my stove thermometer? I have a magnetic Rutland thermometer.
On my old VC I would place the magnetic thermometer on the top of the stove and I felt I got an accurate enough read to be able to manage my stove. I utilize the temperature of the stove to know when to cut down on the air intake to “tamp down” the stove for the long burn. (Usually once it got up to about 400 degrees I would cut the air off/back and get a good clean hot burn). On this new Explorer II stove, I do not feel I am getting anywhere near an accurate temperature read from having the thermometer on the top. I don’t know if that has to do with the fire box being steel and then wrapped in cast iron, or what, but I have done about 6 full burns in the new stove and I don’t think the thermometer has register over 250 degrees yet, even though I heated the whole house (the room with the stove in it was about 85 degrees). So where should I be placing the thermometer? Also, my stove pipe is double walled, so I can’t get a read off of a magnetic thermometer on the pipe. Where to do others place their magnetic thermometer on a QuadraFire Explorer II?
Also, anyone have any good ideas on how to manage the ashes on this model? The ash system is WAY different than my old VC, and I haven’t yet figured out how to deal with the ash when I keep the stove running 24/7. Any ideas/tips are welcome.
Much thanks, Adina
On my old VC I would place the magnetic thermometer on the top of the stove and I felt I got an accurate enough read to be able to manage my stove. I utilize the temperature of the stove to know when to cut down on the air intake to “tamp down” the stove for the long burn. (Usually once it got up to about 400 degrees I would cut the air off/back and get a good clean hot burn). On this new Explorer II stove, I do not feel I am getting anywhere near an accurate temperature read from having the thermometer on the top. I don’t know if that has to do with the fire box being steel and then wrapped in cast iron, or what, but I have done about 6 full burns in the new stove and I don’t think the thermometer has register over 250 degrees yet, even though I heated the whole house (the room with the stove in it was about 85 degrees). So where should I be placing the thermometer? Also, my stove pipe is double walled, so I can’t get a read off of a magnetic thermometer on the pipe. Where to do others place their magnetic thermometer on a QuadraFire Explorer II?
Also, anyone have any good ideas on how to manage the ashes on this model? The ash system is WAY different than my old VC, and I haven’t yet figured out how to deal with the ash when I keep the stove running 24/7. Any ideas/tips are welcome.
Much thanks, Adina
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