Also planning to rock that fire place and clean up the firebox but not much point in all that until that stainless liner is in. I'm really amazed at the amount of heat this thing throws at such a low burn...AMAZING!
Which brand/size stove??
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jetsam
Minister of Fire
I would try to insulate that old fireplace as much as possible if it is on an exterior wall. Maybe you could get Roxul and cement board on the back wall.... not sure what you can do about the sides, but even a sheet of sheet metal might help a little with heat reflection.
If it's an interior chimney, let it be... it's all good in that case.
If it's an interior chimney, let it be... it's all good in that case.
You know, the thought of sliding a couple sheets of stainless in there did cross my mind! It is on an exterior wall so i'm sure anything would help out. I'll give that some more thought when it warms up enough.
You know, i'm positive a liner would only add to this great stove. I do have just a small bit of smoke spillage when i open the door to add wood...so, i'd imagine the draft could be better. It's hard to tell at this point because we have had a steady 20 mph wind with heavy gusts since i lit the stove Friday night. On top of that, i checked the moisture of my wood (we have used up everything dry we had for this year...i'm now on stuff i cut about 9 months ago and split 4 weeks back) and the meter showed 20-25% minimum on the inside of my splits. I think this coming fall, with dry wood and a liner, it will be top notch all the way around!
I actually didn't install the fan that came with it due to rear clearance issues. I had two larger blowers that i had on the old Buck insert, those are mounted in two small wooden boxes and can be pointed down the sides of the stove to blow air behind and over the top. Works great and makes servicing the blowers super easy. We also set a box fan just to the side of the stove and about level with the top. The box fan seems to be used most unless we need a lot of heat.
On the burn times...i'm amazed to say the least! My wood really isn't cut or split to suit this stove ideally so getting a full load in there isn't really possible. I'd say 3/4 full would be max til i get everything in order. So at 3/4 full i wouldn't hesitate to say 7-8 hours burn time with the draft barely opened. With the draft wide open, i'd say 3-4 hrs. Keep in mind, that is a mix of pine, poplar, oak, hickory and bass wood. I put 3 decent size splits of poplar on a good bed of coals last night around 10:30 and with the draft shut, i got up around 7 to a good bed of coals and 250 stove top temps. The house was warm (62 which is good sleeping weather), it was 30 and windy outside. Today around 6 pm, i loaded about a 1/2 load, set the draft about 1/2 way and went to a local Church service. I got in around 9:45 and she was still cooking!
It's gonna be a learning curve as many have stated before but i think i'm gonna love this stove! All in all, i have burned a wagon (small red one like the kids play with) load in 24 hrs with relatively cold temps and heavy winds (winds kill us on heat because it's such an old house). The other stove (though it served us well) would have taken at least another half wagon load or possibly a full load to do the same job.
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On another note...what do you guys run on stove top temps for the 30 NC? I know its discussed here and there but just curious on input. I ask because it seems super easy to slide right up to the 650-750 range if the wood is right. I almost goofed when i got in tonight...i added a fresh load of apparently really good wood, left the door cracked for about 5 minutes, closed the door and left the draft wide open. I sat down and forgot about it for 15 minutes and when i came back...Holy Cow, we were at 850! I threw the draft shut, turned on every fan i had and now, 30 minutes later i'm at 600 and holding! My thermometer is mid ways left to right and where the top transitions on the angle. This thing could run away quickly with the right wood and left unattended. I know its all probably just a matter of learning how to run it but wow...that kinda scared me. We will make it a point to keep things in check from now on. Any input is appreciated.
Also, is there a way to shut down the secondaries...basically, i have glowing coals under my wood with secondaries up top. So even with the draft fully closed the stove top is still producing lots of heat. The fans are keeping things in check and i will let her simmer down before i dose off, but it would be nice to know i could choke it out if the need ever arose.
Also, is there a way to shut down the secondaries...basically, i have glowing coals under my wood with secondaries up top. So even with the draft fully closed the stove top is still producing lots of heat. The fans are keeping things in check and i will let her simmer down before i dose off, but it would be nice to know i could choke it out if the need ever arose.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Definitely a summer project. I am unsure if side reflectors will help, but if you can cover the back wall with roxul and cement board, you'll lose less heat to the outside.
Bear in mind that the more you compress roxul (or fiberglass wool for that matter) the worse the insulation is.
A fun way to see why it matters: Take your IR gun outside and check your chimney brick and some other piece of exterior masonry to see what the difference is.
Trying a long slow burn. As you can see, the stove top is cool. I loaded up a few pieces earlier today to warm up the house. We left around 11:30 and went to town..at that point i had a huge bed of hot coals. I set the draft at about half way hoping to get rid of the coals and it worked great. Left a box fan blowing just for safeties sake. We came home and had a few things to do so i didn't get to see about the stove til about 6. I took the time to split out some smaller stuff just to be sure i could get her full to the brim.
I raked a trough down the middle toward the back and loaded everything i could get in there. That was around 6:30. I left the door cracked (you might notice the small scraper i had in there to hold a small gap..lol) till about 6:50. Closed the door and over a few different steps, closed the draft down almost shut. Basically, just trying to get a baseline slow burn to see how it goes. Keep in mind, this is a mix of hard and soft woods...leaning more toward soft. Plus, it's not completely dry wood..probably 25-28% on the inside of the splits.
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This is where i'm at currently with the draft mostly closed (front of the spring even with the ash tray lip). We will time this and post the results.
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What was the stove temp at the time of the second picture? A low fire with semi-seasoned wood can end up being a creosote maker. It might be better to have a fire with half that amount of wood, stacked lincoln log style and let it burn hotter.
I'd say 450-500 at the second picture...i didn't look at the time but about 30 minutes after that pic i was at 425. Question, if my glass is staying mostly clear at these burn rates, is that any indication at all that i'm getting a decent burn?
Yes, a clear glass is a good sign. It could be that the average wood moisture reading is lower than 25-28%.
This is where I am at...its 11:30. So from a full load at 6:30 we are looking at 5 hrs burn and probably a a few hrs left. Stove top was 350 with a fan on it running at low speed. U I did open the draft up a bit from the original setting. Its 35 outside and a slight breeze, 69 inside and plenty warm. I see no problem getting an 8 hr burn on this setup, at my location, on most winter days!
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That's true...i didn't check every piece. I did find a piece or two in the 15-18% range but they were so rare i just started checking every third or fourth piece. I think with good, dry hardwood...i'll be impressed more than i had hoped!
The owner of this property has given me leave to cut anything dead. I have looked around a bit but plan to really walk everything over tomorrow evening. Best i can tell, there will be a lot of red/white oak, and a fair amount of hickory and locust, and then a good bit of poplar and hemlock...so i'm really excited about feeding my stove this fall. I'm hoping that i can get an early start (in the next week or two) getting this dead stuff split and stacked. I believe it should dry well by fall if i can get some air to it...especially since its dead already!!
I added three small pieces (3" by 3") last night around 12 just to be sure we made it through the night. Got up around 7 and had 300 degrees stove top. That was with a box fan on low all night. Outside temp was 28 and house temp was 63. AWESOME, just unbelievably awesome! If i had loaded this same wood, in the same manner, in the old stove at 12, i would be lucky to have enough coals to restart at 7. With a full load of this type wood (old stove held close to the same amount of wood...just had to load E/W) it would make it 6-7 hours to minimal coals. Solid oak, i could do 7-8...again, to the minimum amount of coals to restart. This Englander will serve me WELL! It could only get better from here on!
Going on a walk after lunch to see what kind of stove fodder i can spy. I'll slide back in tonight and give a report on what i find! The owner mentioned there should be some Beech and Ashe as well...are those good woods to burn? I'm hoping to find plenty of medium sized stuff that splits well...but then i guess that would be what everybody is looking for..lol!
Going on a walk after lunch to see what kind of stove fodder i can spy. I'll slide back in tonight and give a report on what i find! The owner mentioned there should be some Beech and Ashe as well...are those good woods to burn? I'm hoping to find plenty of medium sized stuff that splits well...but then i guess that would be what everybody is looking for..lol!
Oh Man, there's some beech and locust here that have been down a few years. Solid as a rock and if they were split and stacked, would be dry in a hurry. Man, i'm drooling a little bit! I did see quite a few Hemlocks...whats the thought on those??
I've burned hemlock in the past. Not the greatest for heat, but ok for shoulder season burning. Just be sure it gets fully seasoned first.
Hemlock here in the NW depends on how fast it grew. Most dries out really light, like alder or pine & burns fast. On the other hand, when it grows in the understory it can be rock hard as hard wood due to its slow growth & very tight growth rings. Similar to the true firs (white, noble, grand, etc.) A rock hard hemlock chunk/log will hold a fire all night as well as old-growth fir = good stuff.
We took out a large hemlock on the property. About 40" at the base. It burned pretty nicely and was our only fuel for a season, but I'll still take doug fir over it.
Well, i thought i'd report back. The last couple weeks have been perfect weather here...cool enough for a light jacket in the morning but warm enough in the house to avoid a fire. Today and tomorrow are in the mid 40's to mid 50's so i built up a small fire after Church and will probably keep it going till Tuesday A.M.
Stove is still working AWESOME! I'm burning poplar today since it isn't extremely cold. Stove top is cruising around 450-500 on a low draft setting. I have looked into several 6" flue liners for this fall season. Seems like there's a single wall and a double wall, with the double wall being the more expensive of the two. There's also several who suggest wrapping insulation around the liner. I understand the reasoning behind the double wall and insulation but am wondering how necessary it really is. Any input??
I also spent a good bit of time spying out wood for the fall/winter season, I have several oaks, locust and maple ready to get going on. I was able to source several pallets also for keeping the wood off the ground and plan to buy a few good tarps for covering. The owner here asked if i could do most of the cutting/splitting/stacking of the wood in the woods. Basically, work it up and leave it stacked there until fall gets here. Seems like that may be a really good idea. That way i could bring down a half cord or so as needed and stack it on the porch for use. Anybody else doing it that way?
On another note, i managed to find a double bit ax head and a new hickory handle...i have always wanted a double bit, may even do a little felling with it some day just for kicks!
Stove is still working AWESOME! I'm burning poplar today since it isn't extremely cold. Stove top is cruising around 450-500 on a low draft setting. I have looked into several 6" flue liners for this fall season. Seems like there's a single wall and a double wall, with the double wall being the more expensive of the two. There's also several who suggest wrapping insulation around the liner. I understand the reasoning behind the double wall and insulation but am wondering how necessary it really is. Any input??
I also spent a good bit of time spying out wood for the fall/winter season, I have several oaks, locust and maple ready to get going on. I was able to source several pallets also for keeping the wood off the ground and plan to buy a few good tarps for covering. The owner here asked if i could do most of the cutting/splitting/stacking of the wood in the woods. Basically, work it up and leave it stacked there until fall gets here. Seems like that may be a really good idea. That way i could bring down a half cord or so as needed and stack it on the porch for use. Anybody else doing it that way?
On another note, i managed to find a double bit ax head and a new hickory handle...i have always wanted a double bit, may even do a little felling with it some day just for kicks!
Well, almost 6 months later and we are firing the old girl up for the winter season. We had a low of 32 last night and supposed to be 34 tonight. I did add a 6" stainless liner a few weeks back. I used single wall and non-insulated. I can not begin to explain how much better this 30-NC burns on a 6" flue! There's absolutely no issue with smoke spillage if you want to add wood during the burn. Starting a new fire is so much easier. You can even hear the stove "sucking" air if you have the primary air over half open. And it seems to burn as long or maybe longer than it did without the liner. I would strongly recommend to anyone with this type stove...get the 6" liner!
My wood is in much better shape than it was this spring as i was able to secure several loads of already dry wood for this winter. About half of this years supply came from a neighbor who sells wood. He gave me 2-3 cords (checked at 12-15% moisture) for helping him split several cords to sell. I also got 1.5-2 cords of dry (checked at 18-24% moisture, but will air dry quickly) poplar from a friend who "just wanted to be a blessing to me". Everything is split, stacked and covered....bring on the cold and snow!!
Once again, thanks for all the great advice i found here...everything was spot on! These stoves are VERY different from the stoves of my childhood. In this case, different is good once you learn how to install, run, and feed these beasts! Thank ya'll so much! May the stove gods grant everyone long, efficient burns that provide much warmth and no creosote...lol!
My wood is in much better shape than it was this spring as i was able to secure several loads of already dry wood for this winter. About half of this years supply came from a neighbor who sells wood. He gave me 2-3 cords (checked at 12-15% moisture) for helping him split several cords to sell. I also got 1.5-2 cords of dry (checked at 18-24% moisture, but will air dry quickly) poplar from a friend who "just wanted to be a blessing to me". Everything is split, stacked and covered....bring on the cold and snow!!
Once again, thanks for all the great advice i found here...everything was spot on! These stoves are VERY different from the stoves of my childhood. In this case, different is good once you learn how to install, run, and feed these beasts! Thank ya'll so much! May the stove gods grant everyone long, efficient burns that provide much warmth and no creosote...lol!
I know this is a long shot but i need a repo serial plate for my 30nc. Can those be purchased from Englander? When i installed the stove the first time, i had to remove the rear heat shield in order to get the stove deep enough into the existing brick fireplace so i could hook up the stainless liner. We are moving to a new house and my insurance company is coming to take pictures of the stove once i have it installed there. I have a feeling they will be wanting to see a UL sticker on there. Any help is appreciated!
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