Vermiculite? CF700M

[NFN]

Hello,
I recently purchased a Clayton CF700M which is also sold as an Ashley AF700.

Love the stove (3 fires so far), but I'm new to wood burning so I have a question that is not answered in the owners manual: there are two slabs of material (vermiculite??) sitting on top of the tubes at the top of the Firebox. The slabs can slide fore and aft, but not side to side. The range of movement is about 3 inches. My question is this: should these two slabs be slid to the front or to the back or 50/50 or does it matter? Thanks for any help.

 

[moresnow]

Tube stoves typically need them pushed all the way to the rear. Forcing exhaust under the tubes towards the front before exit. Without researching your stove this is my guess!

 

[brenndatomu]

yep, rear.

 

[NFN]

Thanks for your help, Ministers of Fire. I thought I would give an update after almost 4 weeks of heavy use . One of the two slabs (baffle boards) was damaged in shipment so I registered my furnace and US Stove shipped me a replacement no charge (thank you Darlene!). They call it "ceramic fiber board".

As for the Clayton CF700M, I'm very happy with it after ducting the intake and exhaust upstairs (photo attached) and installing a damper in the flue pipe.

I'm only using 1 of the two blowers and 1 of the two 8" outlets, but it heats our 2100 square foot home to 70 on cool days and 65 on cold days (a cold day for us is 25 degrees--try not to laugh!). I use about 15 pieces of wood on a typical day (letting the fire die off at night--we prefer it cool in the house at night).

I've measured maximum 125 degree air coming out of the duct upstairs. That's a rise of at least 60 degrees.

The blower is quiet--enclosed in an aluminum box I fabricated from aluminum angles, riveted, and galvanized steel sheet metal. I think 2 blowers would be a bit much unless you kept the fire roaring. With 1 blower, it runs continuous until the stove is cool, then it shuts off. No cycling of the blower.

I like the glass window in the stove so I can see the fire. A lot of heat radiates through the glass, but it heats the basement and eventually heats the house.

Before adding the flue damper, I had so much draft the stove burned wood like crazy. The chimney is ~28' tall, 6" diameter and completely straight up. With the flue damper at 45 degrees (half closed), I see about 350 degree flue pipe temps (using a Galafire magnetic gauge) when a fire is going good. After all the work of cutting, splitting, stacking and hauling wood, it's good to know the stove is efficient.

I've learned to shut off the dehumidifier in our basement before I add more wood. If I ease the door open, essentially no smoke escapes. Before I figured this out I would get smoke in the basement. It seems that still air around the furnace is necessary before you open the door.

I also experimented with fresh air into the basement (open a window) but I determined that it just messes with the draft, and causes smoke smell in the basement. It seems the natural leakage of air into the basement is plenty (and the correct amount).

So overall I'm impressed with how effective the stove is for such a reasonable price (if you don't count my man-hours of setting it up, ducting it, and feeding it wood!) With our electricity at almost 14 cents/kw hr, and our heat pump burning 3500-4000 watts, I figure the stove will save us $150-200/month for 3-4 months a year. 3-4 year payback, which is pretty good. And it's fun to burn wood, so the effort is worth it!

 

[maple1]

You need a dehumidifier during the winter? Most have low humidity during heating season, not high.

 

[Gbawol42]

You need a dehumidifier during the winter? Most have low humidity during heating season, not high.

This is what I was going to say. My basement hovers around 30-35% humidity with the wood furnace running.