Vermont Castings Aspen C3 2022

[30WCF]

No - I should get a meter. They've been in the garage since last winter though. But they are chonky logs; I think I need a load of smaller splits.

I’m still trying to find the balance there with log size myself. But either yours isn’t breathing righ, you have wet wood or don’t have enough coals to sustain a fire when you close the door. My bet would be wet wood or not enough coals, regardless of a reload or fresh top down cold start.

 

[Danbro5000]

@30WCF
I see that blacked-out glass… that's been making me the saddest, and I've given up on cleaning it until I get the hang of this stove.

Are you having to keep the door cracked open to start the fire? I'm finding it pretty much kills the fire if I close the door in the first hour or so - still calibrating on that.

Also yours has way more brick than mine - is that how you originally got it?

View attachment 303905

Have you checked for a layer of bricks below? The bricks should extend up the sides. mine appeared like that but if you unload the bricks, there's another layer of bricks below. They pack it that way for shipping. you may need to remove all the bricks to reveal the bricks below and then you can put the bricks in properly.

 

[skitten]

Have you checked for a layer of bricks below? The bricks should extend up the sides. mine appeared like that but if you unload the bricks, there's another layer of bricks below. They pack it that way for shipping. you may need to remove all the bricks to reveal the bricks below and then you can put the bricks in properly.

Got back to the house today and checked, and lol yes there's another layer of bricks underneath. So I've put them all back where the manual says they should go and started a fire, which got going a bit better than it was before so I guess that might have also been messing with the airflow.

Going to call the dealer on Monday morning to yell at them; for what they charged for installation they could have at least read the manual.

 

[30WCF]

I’m sure you were partially blocking the air from the front, especially once you had some ash built up.

 

[30WCF]

Just ordered an Auber with a probe.
What changes if I mount the probe inches from the flue so the lead can hang down to the floor and be run to the side without just dangling about in the air? I suspect it’s a few degrees hotter, but not that much changes from 3” to 18”?
I can mount it at 18”, but would rather keep a clean appearance if it’s all the same.
I intend to keep the magnetic probe in the front of the stove pipe for outages and comparison, and was going to run the Auber out of the rear of the flue with a new penetration.

 

[30WCF]

Got my Auber. Sitting on the couch with it reading the manual and trying to figure it out.

What should one expect the difference to be in locating the probe? I was thinking of mounting it lower to the flue, just based on keeping the cords tidy and managed. Will this throw off readings by much, or do I just mount it low and get my own base line measurements based off location?

 

[30WCF]

It’s been a few weeks since I updated burn results.

11:20pm
I let the stove burn down more than normal because I had a high pile of coals. STT got down to 275 and house is 65. Outside temp is

I loaded two nice size oak splits in and closed the door.
( maybe I could have gotten one more in???)



I could have reloaded earlier and kept the house temps up, but I wanted to burn the coals down a bit, and prolong the overnight burn. Let’s see what happened in the A.M.

 

[30WCF]

4:30 am
House 59
STT 200
Reloaded two large splits

 

[30WCF]

Secondaries are rolling and seems to have peaked around 650-700 STT.
Just started the fan in the hallway to move some heat down the hall. ( had to find it, seems one of the munchkins moved it into their room )
The stove room is about 68-70*F now.

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[EatenByLimestone]

If you have smaller splits you can use them to burn the coals down, yet still get heat out of the stove. But as long as your wood fits into the stove, the coal bed isn't bad to have. There really isn't a reason to burn it down any more.

 

[30WCF]

If you have smaller splits you can use them to burn the coals down, yet still get heat out of the stove. But as long as your wood fits into the stove, the coal bed isn't bad to have. There really isn't a reason to burn it down any more.

I’m into the hickory now. The oak was split larger, and seems to quit pushing heat at single digit temps before the coals break down.



In warmer weather, the larger oak heats nice when you actually are looking for the coaling stage to maintain comfort. In warmer weather, the ash usually gets sucked out with the draft or burned off and I don’t need to shovel out the stove. ( I’m having to clean out 6” of hot coals every other day to keep enough room in the stove, and be able to get wood in to generate some heat.
With this cold, I may actually need to move to hot fast soft wood like pine to keep the flames rolling and heat output up with frequent feedings, during the day, and then put in an overnighter oak load in to relight off of in the morning. Seems that’s backwards from what cat stoves would do?

I’m still getting large pile of coals, but trying to burn them off with single and double small splits while it’s 34* out.

( this load pictured ran up to about 750 flue temps for a little while and then dropped down )

 

[30WCF]

Also got the Auber 18” up the pipe and was able to dial in the imperial pretty close to match it. The imperial is slower, but seems to be tracking given the lag time. If the Auber stalls somewhere, the imperial seems to catch up to it. I haven’t made an adjustment in two days.
It took a few times to tweak the imperial to get it set right.

 

[30WCF]

Just went out and busted up some of the bigger oak splits for a trial run, and some small stuff for coal burners.

 

[30WCF]

266 flue, 360 STT, 6” of hot coals. Cracked the door, I’ll see what can burn down and scoop it out when the house starts to get noticeably cooler.

 

[30WCF]

All fresh splits…
Red Oak


White Oak



Hickory

 

[30WCF]

@30WCF
I see that blacked-out glass… that's been making me the saddest, and I've given up on cleaning it until I get the hang of this stove.

Are you having to keep the door cracked open to start the fire? I'm finding it pretty much kills the fire if I close the door in the first hour or so - still calibrating on that.

Also yours has way more brick than mine - is that how you originally got it?

View attachment 303905

Burning hotter these last few days have kept my glass cleaner. Has yours improved with the bricks turned upright, or colder temps/hotter fires?

 

[EbS-P]

I recommend getting some yellow pine to rotate in. And if it’s anything like my pine you may actually like it better for everything but overnight burns. It’s fast burning faster coaling and low ash. There are a few members here that will agree if you need to push a stove hard pine will give you more btus per day that good hardwoods. It’s just a 4-5 hour reload cycle.

 

[30WCF]

Loaded up this morning at 4:15.
House was 59, outside temp 17, STT was 150-200, Flue was 120, and the damper in the back of the stove was 1/2 way open.

A thing I’ve been trying to track is, is the coil opening back up enough as it cools to allow it to stay hot? Most hot reloads, at around 350 STT, the damper is still fully closed with a large coal bed. I wonder if opening back up earlier would burn the coals down some? Overall, it seems to close appropriately in this cold weather, sometimes in the warmer weather I wish it would close more quickly, but I guess you can’t have both. I’m sure there is a sweet spot that each stove works ideally with a combination of draft, wood, living space and outside temps, but outside of those parameters, the automatic draft stoves are going to struggle on one end or the other.

It cruised to 750 flue and 800 STT for about an hour, and is now settling back down. Secondary combustion is going nicely.

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[moresnow]

Pine will solve the excessive hardwood coaling issue. As mentioned, you may be pleasantly surprised as to the benefits of running softwood loads.

The huge coal pile is possibly affecting the damper/intake control as well.

 

[30WCF]

I recommend getting some yellow pine to rotate in. And if it’s anything like my pine you may actually like it better for everything but overnight burns. It’s fast burning faster coaling and low ash. There are a few members here that will agree if you need to push a stove hard pine will give you more btus per day that good hardwoods. It’s just a 4-5 hour reload cycle.

Pine will solve the excessive hardwood coaling issue. As mentioned, you may be pleasantly surprised as to the benefits of running softwood loads.

The huge coal pile is possibly affecting the damper/intake control as well.

Do you guys mean run straight pine, or a mixed load? I was thinking of trying all pine during the day when I can get some, but a lot of folks in the main forum seem to load up 75/25 hard/soft or thereabouts.

 

[EbS-P]

Do you guys mean run straight pine, or a mixed load? I was thinking of trying all pine during the day when I can get some, but a lot of folks in the main forum seem to load up 75/25 hard/soft or thereabouts.

I run straight pine. If I’m around to load the stove. Lots of heat not a lot of coals. I think I can get more heat this way. Overnight hardwoods. You will just have to see what works best in your stove. The air control staying closed on a load of coals won’t help you at all.

 

[moresnow]

Do you guys mean run straight pine, or a mixed load? I was thinking of trying all pine during the day when I can get some, but a lot of folks in the main forum seem to load up 75/25 hard/soft or thereabouts.

Run a split or two of straight Pine on top of your coal pile to reduce it down for room. Works great.
I am burning mostly Red Oak this year. CSS in '16. Very seasoned. Makes great coals when pushing the stove. I run a single Pine split on the residual coal pile to get it burned up. Takes a little time and planning but well worth the effort to schedule this.
Coals be gone while providing good heat. Win win situation.
Other softwood varieties (seasoned) will do the job as well. Give it a try and let us know if its effective in your stove setup.

Some years I gladly burn much of the winter on Pine only. Great stuff in my opinion.

 

[30WCF]

I’ll work on getting some pine cut this winter.

Meanwhile, mid 20s for the lows and the house is back up to 70 with a slow burn of a single or double split. Single digits and sub zero wind chills may just be a bit much for this stove. That’s definitely not the norm here. I’d say gennerallybwinter is 30L-55H with a couple weeks scattered a few days here and there in the teens for the L and 30s for the H.
My wife and I both agreed that 65 in the house with a long sleeve wasn’t offensive. It was just the cold starts in the morning that was a little painful.

 

[EbS-P]

I’ll work on getting some pine cut this winter.

Meanwhile, mid 20s for the lows and the house is back up to 70 with a slow burn of a single or double split. Single digits and sub zero wind chills may just be a bit much for this stove. That’s definitely not the norm here. I’d say gennerallybwinter is 30L-55H with a couple weeks scattered a few days here and there in the teens for the L and 30s for the H.
My wife and I both agreed that 65 in the house with a long sleeve wasn’t offensive. It was just the cold starts in the morning that was a little painful.

Those low temps maybe too much but it’s silly to size any heating appliances for record or near record cold weather. Give it some time time you find the best way to maximize performance. Shoveling coals out is an option make an extra safe plan. We probably won’t see cold again like the past week for another 3-5 years. But you will be ready when it comes back.

The air control not opening back up on just a coal bed is interesting. Long burn times at low heat. But it makes sense. From a marketing perspective and a use perspective. I’d rather have long burns all season a loose some top end heat output during the 5 coldest days a year.

Air sealing is amazing. Just two cans of foam and a half tube of caulk I can already tell a difference (I had big holes).

 

[30WCF]

You had to seal the house?