Updates on my First Month Burning Wood in a Englander 30-nc

[slickschoppers]

for anyone that hasn't seen my posts.. a little over a month ago I decided to install a wood burning stove in my 2300 square foot game / bar room in my house. I found this forum, and initially was looking at some US stoves, but after talking to the users here changed my mind and saved some money by picking up a Englander 30-nc from Home Depot.

I installed a New 6" chimney, single wall up to the ceiling then 9 feet of double wall from that point.

so........ here are my observations so far.

1. I have to say,,, HUGE thank you to everyone that recommended the Englander, they have great support, and the stove is a tank, it puts out some serious heat. it does take a while to warm up 2300 square feet, but that should be expected. on the weekends when I don't have to go to work and I can maintain the fire better, the room doesn't get as cold in between loading and heats up faster.

The last few weeks we have had a lot of well below zero days. like -10 to -20 degrees. so it's been a good test and it will warm the room up to 70 in time and easily kept there. I'm sure it could go hotter if I wanted, but 70 really feels nice.

2. DRY WOOD MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!! I started out with some "seasoned" wood bought locally, that I found was not really seasoned at all, it was a mix of ash and soft maple. it's not green or wet, but it is closer to 24 to 28% moisture. Not having ever ran a wood stove, I could get it burning, I could get the stove hot, and the chimney hot, but just didn't realize the difference DRY WOOD would make... I cut down the Red Elm that had been dead standing in my yard for over 3 years, and cut and split the top 25 feet. holy heck,, what a difference, it tests out at 18 to 21 % moisture. the stove gets hotter faster, and burns a lot longer. Then I got some pine and Aust tree that was seasoned. it burns great too....

I've read up on pine both for and against, and have to say, with the EPA stove, it seems to really burn the pine well, regulating the air flow it doesn't get out of control, it burns clean, just more frequent reloads.

3. initially I thought the air adjustment lever didn't do much. But I have discovered this too is greatly affected by the quality (dryness) of the wood. with wet wood, the lever had to be moved a lot to make a difference, but with dry wood, you can get noticeable burn changes with smaller adjustments.

4. getting the stove to coast at a temperature range is AGAIN,, much easier with dry wood. the wetter wood needed more air to keep the flames going and hot, dry wood on the other hand, I can start, get the stove up to temp, then move the lever in half way and it coasts.

5. wood types don't seem to affect lever adjustment as much as burn time. if the wood is dry Elm, Maple, Ash, Hickory or even Pine. They all seem to prefer the lever be all the way out to get the fire established. once the fire is established I can put the lever in until the end of the lever is even with the ash tray lip and it will coast. Pine will burn up quicker than the Red Elm, it also does not keep the stove as hot for as long as the red elm, but the air lever position for both seem to be the same.

6. I'm picking up more "gear" as I go, so far i've been super lucky, with friends donating stuff because they don't burn wood but had gotten splitters or saws from others and didn't need them.

7. as odd as it sounds. I actually REALLY REALLY enjoy running the wood stove. much more than I ever thought. I like going out and cutting up the trees, splitting the wood, getting the fire started, and when I finally grab my book (right now dragons of winter knight) and sit by the wood stove it seems even better knowing I did the work to make the heat.... also, the wood stove heat is just amazing to sit in front of


SO.. thanks again, and I'm sure I'll be back posting pictures of my wood stacks as they start to be piled this winter into spring.

 

[chance04]

I always swore growing up there were two things I would never have when I moved out. A garden and a wood stove......what on earth was I thinking back then. I now look forward to late October and I've found myself annoyed if the cold weather holds off until mid November. Welcome to the club

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Highbeam]

I too cruise with the tip of the spring right under the edge of the ash tray. It’s my safe cruise setting for not too hot but not too cold. If I’m right there with the stove I can optimize by fiddling with it all the time but otherwise I set it there and leave.

The stove burns much better with a couple inches of ash. Bigger difference on this stove than others for some reason.

 

[jotul8e2]

The stove burns much better with a couple inches of ash. Bigger difference on this stove than others for some reason.

I do not think it makes any difference in my set up during the actual burn. I cannot be certain because I do so few burns with the stove shoveled clean. It may get going faster from cold with a bed of ashes, but it is not a huge difference if any at all.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like the 30NC might benefit from switching the firebox floor firebricks to pumice firebricks.

 

[edyit]

I've read up on pine both for and against, and have to say, with the EPA stove, it seems to really burn the pine well

anyone that tells you burning pine is bad has no clue what they are talking about. any wood is ok to burn as long as it is dry. glad to hear you're enjoying the heat, welcome to wood burning

 

[Highbeam]

I do not think it makes any difference in my set up during the actual burn. I cannot be certain because I do so few burns with the stove shoveled clean. It may get going faster from cold with a bed of ashes, but it is not a huge difference if any at all.

I cleaned both of my stoves completely of ash just after Xmas for the first time this year. Doug fir makes very little ash. The princess has two layers of base firebrick and the lack of ash had no negative effect but I could fit in a lot more fuel. The nc30 was very slow to warm up and get ripping. The cold steel of the stove seemed to really suck the energy from the young fire.

Just a nuance. The stoves work great.

 

[jwfirebird]

firebrick is doing the same thing probably

I never burned pine before but mine seems good with it, I had some cut and split for camp wood but I thought id try it. its good for heating up the stove from cold. then I throw some of my other stuff on it because it doesn't last very long. the stove ends up liking all the way closed pretty quick with the pine. I too find it takes a while normally to get warmed, especially when I leave the ashes. kinda depends how cold it is, if its less than 30 only leave it open for an hour or so if its warmer maybe 2.