burn temp

[sloth9669]

well just cleaned out the chimney for the up coming season and there was way more junk then i had thought. At the end of the season you could see the draft difference from the pipe being smaller from the build up. i know for a fact some was not as dry as it should be and some was uncovered and got snow on it. but ive fixed that and iam entering my second season burning full time. i have singled wall pipe from stove to chimney and a temp gauge. iam thinking i also was chocking off the air to much trying to extend burn time. my question is what is the best burning temp to aim for and maintain if possible. and what is 2 hot ?

 

[Haywire Haywood]

The magnetic thermometer I have on top of my stove has 275-475 marked as the "efficient operation" range but the manual for my stove has 400-600 as the ideal operation range. I marked the face of the thermometer to remind me. I know if I ever got my stove to 600 I better have the windows open cause I'd have flesh falling off the bone in no time. 400ish is where I kept it this spring.

Ian

 

[wobdee]

Most of those magnetic thermometers are designed to be read on the stove pipe. Your stove temp will get much higher than your stove pipe if you burn a EPA stove. I like to monitor both stove temp and pipe temps, it gives you a better idea what's going on.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Most of those magnetic thermometers are designed to be read on the stove pipe.

Yep... I think it said on the pipe 12" above the stove. Won't work there if you have double wall on the inside like I do.

Here is where the stove manual says put it.

 

[woodguy105]

Use the stove pipe thermometer and keep an eye on the burn. If you have ceramic glass, you can see a fire that is burning clean. What I do if unsure is take a peek out side to see how much if any smoke is coming out of the chimney.

Dry wood is good.

Rob

 

[Beefie]

thermometer

Get the thermometer that looks like one you wood use for checking how hot a chunk of meat is. They make them just for wood burners. I had a magnetic on my double wall pipe always read to low .Once I got the one with the stem in it I found I was over firing , stem sits right in the exhaust flow. I reduced my wood consumption . They are a bit more in price but worth every penny.

Beefie

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I had a magnetic on my double wall pipe always read to low.

Yea, they're made for single wall pipe and the double wall stuff is insulated, so it would read low on the outside of that.

Ian

 

[sloth9669]

thank you all for the tips. i have a single wall pipe and was trying to keep it in the 300 range but from what is said here i could up that to 350-400 and feel ok. i just dont want to burn anything up and hurt the stove. just when cleaning the chim. there was alot of build up and ill be doing a mid season clean in the winter. but burning hotter should improve my heat as well as keep it clean.

 

[IndyIan]

thank you all for the tips. i have a single wall pipe and was trying to keep it in the 300 range but from what is said here i could up that to 350-400 and feel ok. i just dont want to burn anything up and hurt the stove. just when cleaning the chim. there was alot of build up and ill be doing a mid season clean in the winter. but burning hotter should improve my heat as well as keep it clean.

Maybe we run our stove way to hot but in our manual it only warns of not getting anything glowing, anything under that seems to be fine. http://www.regency-fire.com/TechDocuments/Manuals/918-154.pdf
Measured on the stove top we like 600-700F for cranking out the heat and a very clean burn. I'd warn that you should start with a clean chimney for temps like this and if you always burn hot the chimney should stay clean.

We do sometimes damp it right down to save coals for overnight but that's only after there are mostly coals left, so we burning only the carbon content of the wood and not the volatile compounds which create creosote.

 

[CrappieKeith]

Get the thermometer that looks like one you wood use for checking how hot a chunk of meat is. They make them just for wood burners. I had a magnetic on my double wall pipe always read to low .Once I got the one with the stem in it I found I was over firing , stem sits right in the exhaust flow. I reduced my wood consumption . They are a bit more in price but worth every penny.

Beefie

Most folks do do understand that the temp on the wall of the flue does not tell you what your actual flue gas temp is.
For example....I took a lazer reader and inside the flue the temp read 400 degrees while I was setting a barometric draft regulator.
The outside of the pipe read 86 degrees until I checked a 30 degree angle which read 112 degrees.

So if your magnetic thermometer reads 400 your stack temp is most likely up around 800-100 degrees.
A probe stye thermometer is the way to actually read your stack temp.
Smoke will not condense over 250 degrees,so any flue temp over 400 is really waisted heat.
Barometric draft regulators help to allivate the drafts which we use with all of our furnaces.

 

[MJR]

Keith – won’t a thermal couple in the pipe just get dirty and give a false reading?

 

[Gordon101]

Keith – won’t a thermal couple in the pipe just get dirty and give a false reading?

I used a type K thermocouple in my stovepipe all last season and it gave accurate readings for three months between stovepipe cleanings. It would get a coating of soot on it during that time, but after cleaning there was no dramatic difference in the readings. I hooked it to a transmitter that converted the signal for a digital readout in the bedroom. It was an easy way to keep an eye on flue temps during the night. I always try to keep it between 300 and 400 degrees 12" up from the stove.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I don't like the idea of drilling holes in my pipes. Seems like a sure way to get a leak into the living area. In Keith's OWBs, the whole unit is outside so if it leaks, no biggie.

Ian

 

[Gordon101]

I don't like the idea of drilling holes in my pipes. Seems like a sure way to get a leak into the living area. In Keith's OWBs, the whole unit is outside so if it leaks, no biggie.

Ian

I would be a little nervous about just cutting a hole in the stovepipe for the thermocouple. For a permanent installation I went through the welded 16ga. adapter I have between the stove and the pipe. I bolted on a threaded plate and screwed the thermocouple into it.

 

[husky455rancher]

thats a nice setup. how much for the parts for something like that? i had a real nice pyrometer that i used last year but it crapped out at the end of the year. so now i need to find somethign different.

 

[Gordon101]

thats a nice setup. how much for the parts for something like that? i had a real nice pyrometer that i used last year but it crapped out at the end of the year. so now i need to find somethign different.

I scrounged up some surplus parts used for industrial processes. Most temperature indicators with remote readouts were designed for barbecues and don't have a high enough range. The K thermocouple has a range of several thousand degrees, but it's output is a tiny voltage signal that only travels a few feet. You need to convert that with a powered transmitter to a 4 - 20 mA signal that goes through the wire (50+ft.) to the readout (panel meter). The trick is to find components that match each other in the ranges you're using (powered by 110 AC or 24v DC, thermocouple input, output signals available, and temp. range.). Then it all has to be calibrated to work together using a known temperature source.
Gee, I sound like a lunatic.....

 

[sloth9669]

hhaha way over my head ill just deal with my magnet temp on my single wall pipe and hope for the best....that is unless you feel like driving to mass and hooking a brother up opcorn: