According to my manual, I should be able to load the stove from the griddle opening. Somehow, that goes against my common sense. Just wondering if anyone else does so successfully.
VC Encore Owners--Anyone have success at top loading?
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My Isle Royale has a top loading door, which I've only used handful of times, and only for the gimmick of it. Never found it to be all that useful.
What is it that goes against your common sense? I would imagine if it's non-cat then you have a bypass for top loading that gives the fumes/smoke a direct path to the flue exit.
What is it that goes against your common sense? I would imagine if it's non-cat then you have a bypass for top loading that gives the fumes/smoke a direct path to the flue exit.
I got it, but don't use it. Big double doors in front for me.
(this post could be taken out of context, I suppose)
(this post could be taken out of context, I suppose)
dougand3
Minister of Fire
I tried using my griddle top load, really just to test. With the bypass open, no back puffing out of it when opened - so, it works. But to use it - 1. Open bypass 2. Remove Kettle, Trivet, Thermometer. Too many steps when I can just open front door.
CTBurner, when you load from the top with a fire going, does the smoke continue its journey up the flue? Guess my thinking is that smoke goes up; open top, smoke enters room.
karriOn, not sure what this is: "a bypass for top loading that gives the fumes/smoke a direct path to the flue exit." The stove has a regular damper.
dougand3: 2. Remove Kettle, Trivet, Thermometer -- yup, yup, those are the same steps I have also. Hardly seems worth the effort.
But, I'm going to try it just for the fun of it!
karriOn, not sure what this is: "a bypass for top loading that gives the fumes/smoke a direct path to the flue exit." The stove has a regular damper.
dougand3: 2. Remove Kettle, Trivet, Thermometer -- yup, yup, those are the same steps I have also. Hardly seems worth the effort.
But, I'm going to try it just for the fun of it!
Slow1
Minister of Fire
I generally like to rearrange the coals when I reload - for this I open the doors since I can't seriously imagine how anyone would want to do a decent job through the top. (I like to 'level' them a bit and make a nice slope from front to back of the stove and leave any leftover wood pieces flat down and pushed to back ready to engage the everburn right after reload). Anyway - since I have the doors open already, I load up from the front.
I do go ahead and move my pot of water and open the top to load up the 'rest of the way' when doing a particularly full load for overnight or whatever. I have not had any smoke problems as long as the flue is good and hot - naturally I recommend against this approach if the flue is cold as the house can make a much lower path of resistance for the smoke to exit the stove in that case, but I also don't think one should be fully loading this stove with a cold flue either.
On the "gee that's interesting" points though - I have had a case where I had the flue temp down quite a bit, but the coals were hot enough to ignite the wood very quickly (or perhaps I was just too slow to pick out my wood for the top?). At any rate, the fire was rather vigorous by time I opened the top and started topping off the stack - the flue wasn't sucking the air hard enough to pull the flames up the proper path. I ended up with a few flames shooting out the griddle opening around my gloved hands as I loaded the wood... it rather amused my kids, but not my wife. At least it was burning clean at the time so no smoke filled the house.
I do go ahead and move my pot of water and open the top to load up the 'rest of the way' when doing a particularly full load for overnight or whatever. I have not had any smoke problems as long as the flue is good and hot - naturally I recommend against this approach if the flue is cold as the house can make a much lower path of resistance for the smoke to exit the stove in that case, but I also don't think one should be fully loading this stove with a cold flue either.
On the "gee that's interesting" points though - I have had a case where I had the flue temp down quite a bit, but the coals were hot enough to ignite the wood very quickly (or perhaps I was just too slow to pick out my wood for the top?). At any rate, the fire was rather vigorous by time I opened the top and started topping off the stack - the flue wasn't sucking the air hard enough to pull the flames up the proper path. I ended up with a few flames shooting out the griddle opening around my gloved hands as I loaded the wood... it rather amused my kids, but not my wife. At least it was burning clean at the time so no smoke filled the house.
I always load through the top. I don't want ash spilling out and the mess associated with loading through the doors. Why have a top loader and not use it?
Diabel
Minister of Fire
The front doors on my stove haven't been opened since I lit the last fire sometime before Xmas. We always load from the top. It's easier just to lift open and dump wood in. As far as fiddling with the coal goes - we just run the poker through them every now and again. Never had smoke in the house as a result of opening the griddle.
semipro
Minister of Fire
Our Jotul is a top loader. Here's the re-loading sequence: grab a load of wood on one arm (usually from outside), disengage the catalyst with the other hand, use the foot pedal to open the griddle, place the wood inside, release the foot pedal, re-engage the catalyst. i never even have to bend over and no ash falls out the front door.
We loaded an Encore in a rental house through the top for a year wth no problems. You can usually get more wood in when you load from the top. Its hard for me to imagine why anyone would load thorough the front or side if they had the option of top loading but to each their own.
We loaded an Encore in a rental house through the top for a year wth no problems. You can usually get more wood in when you load from the top. Its hard for me to imagine why anyone would load thorough the front or side if they had the option of top loading but to each their own.
Northern NH Mike
Feeling the Heat
Oops! Of course one must forget to open the bypass door. It was only a second and I realized the error immediately. Anyway, I've loaded through the top a couple of times now. Seems to work better than I expected.
For those who do this all the time, how do you get the ashes to sift down through the grate? Do you poke it around from the top? Or let it build up and if falls down naturally?
Living in California, we don't keep the fire going 24/7. It will die out this afternoon for a good cleaning.
For those who do this all the time, how do you get the ashes to sift down through the grate? Do you poke it around from the top? Or let it build up and if falls down naturally?
Living in California, we don't keep the fire going 24/7. It will die out this afternoon for a good cleaning.
semipro
Minister of Fire
I use a poker to stir the coals a bit before tossing the wood in but not on every load. Under certain conditions and with the right wood, the ash bed may get too deep and slow combustion. This can actually be an advantage if you want coals for a restart in the morning. That is, you may not want to stir before place the last load before going to bed.
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