Wood Stove - what temp do you burn?

[IXLR8]

I have a Vermont Casting Defiant Encore w/cat, I bought new in the early 80's. I run it with the temp meter on the center of the griddle top, not on the flue pipe. This is per the instructions that came with the stove. From cold start, or reloading, I run the temp up to at least 600dF, then flip the lever back to send exhaust thru the cat. Wait 10 minutes to ensure the cat is properly "lit off" then flip the temp control fully back. Stove top temp will settle in between 350-400 and give me 8-10 hrs of burn if I load it fully.

 

[easygo]

Just this year we bought a Defiant that was made in the 70's. I have yet to try it as I wanted to refinish it before installing. In our current stove (patented in 1880's) I always burn a hot fire. Stove top temp around 400-600 and the stove pipe around 400 gives a good burn and leaves a clean chimney.

To the Defiant owners. How many pieces of wood do you put in there when you want to stoke it for the night? Let's say if each log was 5x5x20".

 

[clemsonfor]

I have a High Valley Cat model. I purchased it used last year and its probly around 6 yrs old is my guess.

To get the bet burn times and according to what you see about loading a Cat stove on the net you load it till full and stuff the pieces in there as tight as can be to limit air flow to the wood. My stove has a 3.4 cu ft fire box and my guess is that i could hold 7-8 pieces? Not really sure though, with smaller pieces you can fill all the voids better and i think it will burn just as slow as with fewer larger pieces. If i have Little ash in the bottom i can load about one big arm full of wood and then about a half arm load to fill it. I can burn it and get heat for 12 hours loaded up and set for a slow burn. Sometimes i have got heat out of it for 20 hours+ with just one charge.

 

[WayneB]

We have a VC defiant and have used VC's for the past thirty some years. Right now we heat our entire home with this one stove and it is our only source of heat. Normally during the cold months we are running the stove at between 400 and 500 degrees reading the temp right at the griddle on top.

We are here during the day so add wood throughout the day (never fully load the stove during the day time) then at night before going off to bed we will load it up nearly full and it will maintain a fire throughout the night. Someone is normally up around 5AM (me) and I will take out the ashes add wood at that time.

Over the years I have set up a program where I run a brush down the chimney once a month, pain in the butt, but we have not had a chimney fire since I started doing that. We also cut our own fire wood off from our land and burn oak, maple, ash and a little birch now and then. I try to keep two to three years ahead of the game so most wood has been cut for over two years.

In past years one could drive up to Vermont and Bill at the hardware store would have or could send you off to the factory to get any part you needed for your stove. Bill worked at VC for nearly thirty years and knew everything about all the stoves. He sold off the hardware store business and the people that bought VC do not permit selling parts out of the shipping area of the factory and everything has to go through distribution these days, so I have been told. The Hardware store on Randolph has a good supply of small VC parts left around from the old inventory, but I am not sure about getting and of the major expensive parts?

We still like our Vermont Castings stoves although there might be better ones on the market, guess it is just one of those New Englander things?

Wayne

 

[DAY]

"We still like our Vermont Castings stoves"
At one time the parts were actually CAST in Boyertown, PA!

 

[Pirate]

I have a High Valley Cat model. I purchased it used last year and its probly around 6 yrs old is my guess.

To get the bet burn times and according to what you see about loading a Cat stove on the net you load it till full and stuff the pieces in there as tight as can be to limit air flow to the wood. My stove has a 3.4 cu ft fire box and my guess is that i could hold 7-8 pieces? Not really sure though, with smaller pieces you can fill all the voids better and i think it will burn just as slow as with fewer larger pieces. If i have Little ash in the bottom i can load about one big arm full of wood and then about a half arm load to fill it. I can burn it and get heat for 12 hours loaded up and set for a slow burn. Sometimes i have got heat out of it for 20 hours+ with just one charge.

That's who made my Xtec model. Do you have a temp probe in yours? If so, what do your temps get to? My stove will heat my entire house as long as I have power to the blower. I have found that if I don't have the blower running, my stove gets air starved real quick.

 

[Red Horse]

We have a VC defiant and have used VC's for the past thirty some years. Right now we heat our entire home with this one stove and it is our only source of heat. Normally during the cold months we are running the stove at between 400 and 500 degrees reading the temp right at the griddle on top.

We are here during the day so add wood throughout the day (never fully load the stove during the day time) then at night before going off to bed we will load it up nearly full and it will maintain a fire throughout the night. Someone is normally up around 5AM (me) and I will take out the ashes add wood at that time.

Over the years I have set up a program where I run a brush down the chimney once a month, pain in the butt, but we have not had a chimney fire since I started doing that. We also cut our own fire wood off from our land and burn oak, maple, ash and a little birch now and then. I try to keep two to three years ahead of the game so most wood has been cut for over two years.

In past years one could drive up to Vermont and Bill at the hardware store would have or could send you off to the factory to get any part you needed for your stove. Bill worked at VC for nearly thirty years and knew everything about all the stoves. He sold off the hardware store business and the people that bought VC do not permit selling parts out of the shipping area of the factory and everything has to go through distribution these days, so I have been told. The Hardware store on Randolph has a good supply of small VC parts left around from the old inventory, but I am not sure about getting and of the major expensive parts?

We still like our Vermont Castings stoves although there might be better ones on the market, guess it is just one of those New Englander things?

Wayne

Wayne- I assume the thermometer you refer to is clipped on to the front of the stove? You also have another one in the pipe? I don't have one on my Defiant-probably should get one Point of info and a lesson for everyone-my Defiant is piped in a similar fashion to yours- I have about a 3' rise of 8" pipe, then a 90 that goes into flue. When the house was built 21 years ago, the mason did not put a clay thimble in-what I have is an 8" x 8" hole in the cinder block and then the block is tight to the flue liner-that I think is an 8 x 10. the flue by the way is full length to the base of the chimney and there is a clean out door in the base.

So what I have done is I run a length of 8" stove pipe into the flue up tight against the far side of the flue. I also cut a piece of stove pipe that forms a baffle at the end of the pipe so as the exhaust comes in, the flue gas hits the baffle rather than the clay flue. I also pack fiberglass insulation around the 8" pipe where it penetrates the block so it is relatively tight. My house by the way is two story typical New England "early American" look with 10/12 pitch roof and a center chimney- thus that flue is close to 45' from the basement floor to the top of the chimney-that's a lot of flue that can cool down.

My routine every year before the chimney sweep comes is to pull this pipe assembly out and give it a cleaning. This year, my sweep didn't come until Nov 30th and I started burning about three weeks ago and the stove would not draw and was smoking whenever I would load it-regardless of draft control.

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words-this is the end of the pipe that rests in the flue. the sweep took 6 five gallon pails of creosote out. shame on me- I guess I burned more than a little damp wood last season. I'm also guilty of not cutting my wood ahead of time and getting it under cover-rather I go "hand to mouth" all winter-its my winter recreation program. So I've got plenty of log length wood that is not green, but its not cut or split yet either.

I've learned my lesson though and will be burning a lot hotter this year. By the way, my chimney guy is a good guy and a pro. he usually cleans it from the basement and this time, this thing was so packed, his quick coupling came apart and he had about two lengths of rod and his brush jammed in not far from the top. Long story short he had to get the ladders out and go up on the roof and push the jammed brush and rod assembly down. Cost me twice the usual fee.

 

[clemsonfor]

That's who made my Xtec model. Do you have a temp probe in yours? If so, what do your temps get to? My stove will heat my entire house as long as I have power to the blower. I have found that if I don't have the blower running, my stove gets air starved real quick.

Yep Carolina wood stoves made Xtec stoves when Bucannon sill owned them. Highvalley was bought or they bought them and thats when High Valley came about after the larger company. Now Stoll bought them this summer. They are located in Abbeville SC which is less than 20 miles from my house.

No on the probe. I have a plug popped out but i bought it used and do not have one. I am looking now on ebay to get one for just one side, really need 2 as its a dual cat model, but no i dont have one.

 

[Scooby074]

in my non-cat stove i try to run at 350-400. i use one of these

 

[kbriggs]

I have a United States Stove Company Country Hearth Model 3000 wood stove . I got a lot of creosote my first year burning hard woods oak and maple had a chimney fire my first year luckily I was around at the time .I bought a Rutland chimney temp Guage and still was having problems so I bought another rutland guage and the readings were 125 degrees different setting them side by side on the stove I wasn't getting good accuracy on the temperature reading so I spent about 40 bucks at napa for a infared thermometer if you hold it a 6" to a foot from the surface it gives a very accurate reading and now I know where my rutland gauges need to be when burning I have 2 one on the flue about a foot up from stove top and one on the front face above the door its good to make sure the gauges are accurate. hope this helps