Firing up EPA woodstove for the first time tonight, any suggestions

[USMC0802]

I would be at least 450. I agree they need higher temperatures. Even though the stoves temps are higher, it doesn't mean the wood will burn faster. The EPA stoves can burn hot and burn for hours. If you can't get the stove up to temperature then your wood is too wet or you have possible draft issues. Get that baby roaring and damper back in a couple stages and let it ride. You shouldn't have any smoke fromt the chimney. If your seeing alot of steam, then maybe the wood isn't quite ready.

I haven't had a big load of wood in the stove yet, just some small chunks to season the stove. I don't think I'll have any issue getting to 450-550*, but it will definitely take a bigger fuel source than the little pile I used to warm the stove up for the first few firings.

What stove are you running?

Hearthstone Mansfield.

 

[Highbeam]

I haven't had a big load of wood in the stove yet, just some small chunks to season the stove. I don't think I'll have any issue getting to 450-550*, but it will definitely take a bigger fuel source than the little pile I used to warm the stove up for the first few firings.



Hearthstone Mansfield.

This is a big deal. Burning a stone stove is defferent than the plate steel stove that most folks have experience with. I burn a Hearthstone Heritage.

Your stove has a maximum stove top temp limit of either 550 or 600. Mine is 600. Compare that to 800 on a steel stove. Very important to not overtemp your stone stove or it will crack.

The stone stoves take much longer to heat up to oeprating temp, and require more kindling and smaller bits since the stone absorbs so much heat right out of the fire. With experience you will learn how much kindling to use and how small the splits should be, it is much more important than you might think.

I run my stone stove in the 300-450 surface temp range whenever it burns. These stoves are meant to be run low and slow. The surface temp isn't what's important for creosote, it's the flue gas temp. So I installed a probe meter into the flue and the temps there are usually double the surface temp and way way above creo formation temps. This is not true with a steel stove, it is a fundamental difference in burning a stone stove.

 

[logbutcher]

Everything I read about soapstone is that 350-550 surface temp is ideal and that you don't want to go over 600. I had next to no smoke coming out of the chimney when that stove was at 375.

Sorry, I should have been clear: the higher temp is for a reload or startup. Give the non-cat tubes a chance to heat enough to combust the wood gases, and the wood hot enough to coal.....then turn the air down to where you want. It's the same for any stove: cat, non-cat, cast, steel.

The routine will all come together.

 

[Highbeam]

Sorry, I should have been clear: the higher temp is for a reload or startup. Give the non-cat tubes a chance to heat enough to combust the wood gases, and the wood hot enough to coal.....then turn the air down to where you want. It's the same for any stove: cat, non-cat, cast, steel.

The routine will all come together.

This is good info. The trouble is that the stove surface temp won't come up much at all during this time so you have to look at the fire. Stone stoves are not the same as iron in this regard.

 

[USMC0802]

This is good info. The trouble is that the stove surface temp won't come up much at all during this time so you have to look at the fire. Stone stoves are not the same as iron in this regard.

That's probably why I've been reading about a lot of people with soapstone stoves using probe thermometers in the flue.

 

[logbutcher]

This is good info. The trouble is that the stove surface temp won't come up much at all during this time so you have to look at the fire. Stone stoves are not the same as iron in this regard.

Many soapstone stoves use cast iron fireboxes. Anyone know how Woodstock or Hearthstone "soapstone" stoves are constructed?

In any case the principles of burning are the same: get the splits to combust as coals THEN lower the air.

JMNSHO

 

[Marc]

Many soapstone stoves use cast iron fireboxes. Anyone know how Woodstock or Hearthstone "soapstone" stoves are constructed?

In any case the principles of burning are the same: get the splits to combust as coals THEN lower the air.

JMNSHO

Hearthstones use a cast frame to keep the stones in place, but the stones are directly exposed in the firebox. I've run a Heritage for three years now.

 

[wendell]

Same with Woodstock.

 

[Highbeam]

I will go the other way. No soapstone stove uses an iron firebox. None at all. That is false.

Hearthstones use single wall stone construction about 1.25" thick. No firebricks in most models. The bottoms are cast iron with stones laid on top. There is some cast iron framework to hold the stones togetther on the corners as well.

Woodstocks are the only other major stone stove maker and they use double wall stone construction. Again, no iron fireboxes but the corners and base are cast to support the stones.

Have you ever seen a stone stove with a metal firebox? Stone stove makers believe that the stone is superior so they actually build a stove out of stone. It's not just a pretty outside decoration.

 

[wendell]

Have you ever seen a stone stove with a metal firebox?

Morso 3450, Scan Anderson 10

But, it of course could be debated quite successfully that they aren't really stone stoves but rather a metal firebox with stone attached.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, those are iron stoves with a touch/accent panel of stone scabbed onto two sides for looks. It's like saying I have a glass stove because there is a window on one side.

 

[USMC0802]

Enjoying the hot stove tonight. This thing should be killer when filled with splits. I'm burning chunks and this thing is at 400* surface temp. Flue temps have been ranging from 600-800 once the firebox settles down. I'm going to throw a few more chunks in and back the air down a bit and see how it burns overnight. I'll get up around 6:30 at that will be a little less than 9 hours until I touch it again. We'll see. It's warming the house quite well tonight.

Just filled it up after pulling all the coals to the front and left the air control open for a few minutes to get the new wood charred and warmed up. It's backed down a bit now after the flue temp almost hit 1000*.

I'm going to head up to bed shortly and I'm interested to see what's left in the morning and what the temp is in the house. I think I'd actually be alright if I woke up sweating.

 

[USMC0802]

Just came down to check on it before turning the lights off for the night. Flue temp is about 825* and surface temp is just under 500*. Pretty pleased right now. Even the master bedroom upstairs and down at the end of the hall is up 3 degrees.

 

[Snowchief]

Enjoying the hot stove tonight. This thing should be killer when filled with splits. I'm burning chunks and this thing is at 400* surface temp...

...Just came down to check on it before turning the lights off for the night. Flue temp is about 825* and surface temp is just under 500*. Pretty pleased right now. Even the master bedroom upstairs and down at the end of the hall is up 3 degrees.

It never gets old, does it.

"Hey, don't you get tired of tinkering with that stove all of the time?"
"NOPE!"

 

[USMC0802]

It never gets old, does it.

"Hey, don't you get tired of tinkering with that stove all of the time?"
"NOPE!"

I enjoy heating the house this way, but it's even more enjoyable now that I don't HAVE to reload the stove in the middle of the night to still have heat in the morning.

I came down around 6:45 or so this morning and there were some coals left, not a lot, but enough I could have rekindled a fire, but the best part is the house is still 71 throughout the upstairs.

I happened to wake up around 2:15 and figured I'd check on it and I could tell there wasn't going to be a lot of coals left, but it was still nice and hot, 74 in the hall upstairs.

I'm very content that burning some ugly chunks, basically pieces that were cut off the ends of splits/rounds that were too long for the stove to be left alone fueled this stove this well. The stove was last loaded around 9:30 and not touched again.

I imagine a load of splits will either still be burning or have a couple inches of coals left in the stove. Such a different experience compared to the old stove.

 

[Highbeam]

Sounds great. Those temps are about what I get when running the stove for heat. I purposely run the flue temp up past 1000 every time I start a new fire to keep the nasty stuff burnt out and warm the flue thoroughly. Same exact 600-800 flue temps during the fire too. You must have some good wood and technique since it took me a few years to get the stove to burn this way, the way you figured out in the first week.

500 is good n hot for a stone stove. I am worried that if you need a 500 degree stove in early October, what happens when it gets cold this winter? You don't have much horsepower left.

 

[USMC0802]

Sounds great. Those temps are about what I get when running the stove for heat. I purposely run the flue temp up past 1000 every time I start a new fire to keep the nasty stuff burnt out and warm the flue thoroughly. Same exact 600-800 flue temps during the fire too. You must have some good wood and technique since it took me a few years to get the stove to burn this way, the way you figured out in the first week.

500 is good n hot for a stone stove. I am worried that if you need a 500 degree stove in early October, what happens when it gets cold this winter? You don't have much horsepower left.

I used the top down to get it started and then once I had a bed of coals going, I just added some chunks and let it go. Again, I was burning small pieces of wood and really not filling the stove at all. I kept pulling all the coals to the front and put new pieces in behind and on top of the coals.

The stove didn't hit 500* on the surface temp until after I loaded it up around 9:30 and then game back down about an hour later to check on it, so say 10:30 or so and we were heading to bed at that point. Prior to that, it hadn't even hit 400*.

It was 65 in the house when I came home yesterday evening, so it wasn't like I needed a blaring fire. I just new with the temps going into the 40s over night and it was a damp, rainy day, evening, and night, I wanted some heat over night. I really didn't want the stove to get all that hot until we were going to bed just to heat over night and not have the house in the mid- or low- 60s in the morning.

I think consistently burning at 500-600* will heat the house just fine, even in the coldest part of the winter we get in SE/SC Pa. I woke up around 2:15, and it was 74 in the hall way. Had the stove been given a full load of wood, splits that is, not little chunks that burn fast, I expect it would have continued to get significantly warmer in the house.

I'm burning a Hearthstone Mansfield and it's rated for 2500 sq ft. My house is around 2100. I'm more than confident this stove can heat my entire house.

I don't know when I'll get a chance to burn a load of splits as the lows are only in the 40s right now.

 

[blades]

yep 30nc here, have not pushed it yet, 500 on the door glass 450-500 on top, infrared unit. 40ish temps at night ( frost last night) 77-79 in the hall way to the bedrooms. Gas company must have figured there was something wrong with the meter as they were out last week fiddling with it, left a note on the door. ( likely adjusted it to read higher)

 

[logbutcher]

Guys, it's a WOOD STOVE, not ordinance, or a liver transplant.

Just do it, play around with loads, try out different sizes of splits and species, fool with the controls, keep an eye on the temp so it doesn't over heat ( dangerous), get hot fires BEFORE the air is shut down. That is it.

You want to cuddle the beast, fondle it, obsess over it....fine.
It's an appliance. You'll figure it all out after a season burning.
Enjoy the ride. We do.

 

[USMC0802]

Guys, it's a WOOD STOVE, not ordinance, or a liver transplant.

Just do it, play around with loads, try out different sizes of splits and species, fool with the controls, keep an eye on the temp so it doesn't over heat ( dangerous), get hot fires BEFORE the air is shut down. That is it.

You want to cuddle the beast, fondle it, obsess over it....fine.
It's an appliance. You'll figure it all out after a season burning.
Enjoy the ride. We do.

Repped for this.