Thermometers for an Insert

[Ralphie Boy]

As I said in an earlier post, I will be having a new Buck 80 cat insert installed around the 17th of this month. I know it comes with a cat probe and I understand how the probe works and why. What I haven't thought to ask the dealer yet is what other thermometer(s) do I need to make sure I'm running the insert as safely, efficiantly and warmly as possible?

Sorry for the elementary questions, but this is my first trip into insert/stove land and I expect a very fast and steep learning curve.

 

[HomeBruin]

Got my insert running about a month (non cat). You just get a feel for it. No thermometer needed. When you get that good secondary burn going, you'll know it. As you adjust the damper down, you'll actually feel the air coming out of the blower get warmer. Goal is to make it put out as much heat as possible while drawing in the least amount of air. You'll get a feel for it. As long as the stove is not glowing, you are burning safely.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Got my insert running about a month (non cat). You just get a feel for it. No thermometer needed. When you get that good secondary burn going, you'll know it. As you adjust the damper down, you'll actually feel the air coming out of the blower get warmer. Goal is to make it put out as much heat as possible while drawing in the least amount of air. You'll get a feel for it. As long as the stove is not glowing, you are burning safely.

Great! You make it sound soooo easy!

 

[HomeBruin]

That's the easy part! Hard part is dragging all the wood in all the time! I have a 2300sq ft colonial and have managed to keep the house at about 66 for nearly a month now using the insert alone. I think I've turned on the oil burner 2x since then, for a quick shot of heat in the morning when it got down to about 15 degrees outside and I hadn't loaded the stove for 8+ hours while sleeping.

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm experimenting with this, but judging by the burnt odor, I don't think the experiment will be long lived; some other thermocouple would be needed.
I don't think it's necessary either.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/cheap-useless-experiment.102805/#post-1324999

 

[Hogwildz]

Being in my 6th season with this Summit, I can tell you, a month or even a year in, and you are not going to have a "feel" for any stove.
With differences in moisture content, species, air pressure, wind, etc. etc etc., you cannot judge one fire and it's stage against another days or time.
I am not attempting to give you grief, and by no means say that a thermo is a be all tell all, but it is a reference point that will help you achieve a feel for the stove in time.
After six years, I still use a timer each load, with the exception of one here and there, which I always nearly regret not setting the timer for.
My advice is to use what tools and means you have available to make learning your stove, burning habits, burn characteristics, easier to learn and become familiar with.
Sure you can look at a load on fire and think, it is ready or not, but ten minutes later it may be actually be ready, or past that point.
Wood burning is much much more than burning the hell out of a load of wood and simply trying not to see anything turn cherry red on the stove.
This is where a few years down the road, and the experience and experimentation that goes with it, truly pays off. I guarantee, several years from now, you will be burning that stove much differently, and using less wood in the process.