I agree. Try and find some dry wood and test your stove. I think you will be surprised at the difference. Then start reading and asking questions here. A lot of very knowledgeable and helpful people.
A new EPA stove and the three year plan is a match made in ... well right in your own back yard usually. It just works.
Not what I wanted to hear, but that is why I joined. Get some expert opinions. We will see what the stove shop says come Mon. If they say it is the wood then the old stove will go back in next weekend when the temps. are suppose to moderate some. I will be able to finish 2017 season supply and 2018 supply this year. My wood is what it is. Will have to run the old stove for the 2017/2018 season and put the new stove back in for 2018/2019. Using more wood with less cold than in the past. Tired of sitting around with my hoodie on.I use to strip off my T-Shirt with the old stove. I will try and get an arm load of well seasoned wood from some place to try before I put the old stove back in. I believe you are telling me to split a piece of my wood and then take a reading. That would make sense to give me a truer reading. Correct or not?
I believe my expectations are not to high. I am trying to heat about 750 sq ft divided into 3 rooms. The new stove was rated 800 to 1600 sq ft. It struggles to heat the 180 sq ft room it is in.
I don't think you'll have any problem when you have known low moisture content wood. Try the meter as Canadian border vt says and report back.
What kind of temps are you seeing in the stove room, and the other rooms while the fire is going? How cold is the outside weather while this is happening? Are you getting your secondaries to fire? Stove temps and flue temps? Here's an example of dodgy wood in my stove. I can try as hard as I can, and I might (big might) see 475-500 F on the flue probe, and 400-430 F on the face of the stove. I'll have the air throttled back only about 20 or 25 % at most, otherwise the fire dies.
It's simple, wood or chimney. I think the wood should be "useable" if it was all split and stacked in the spring. What is the chimney make up and where are you heating from? It's not uncommon for someone going from an old stove to a modern stove to have this complaint.
Where you at in Ohio Marshel54 ? Plenty of us Buckeyes here, maybe someone would be willing to swap you a load of your green wood for some top shelf 3 YO fuel...
Temp in the stove room. I don't know. My thermometer is in the adjacent room. Today we started at 50 degrees. After burning since 1:00 it is up to 56. Outside temp. in the teens. The old stove would of had that room over 70 with this outside temperature. Very rarely getting secondary burn. When it kicks in I can feel a difference. Flue temp, I can not answer. Pipe was changed to double wall this year, so my magnetic thermometer would not give me an true reading. I can hold my hand on the pipe for 8 secs or so. You bring up some very interesting questions. Before I retired, I worked in a steel mill and did a lot of the programing for the furnace and machine controls. I have a few PLC that I got when they upgraded. I can see myself programing an automated system as a challenge. There will be many future technical questions if I pursue the project. Just saw. It has a variable speed blower and I am using it. Playing around with speeds.
I can't imagine 9 month oak or walnut being dry unless it was stored in Arizona or a in a kiln. Pine maybe depending on conditions. You might want to lay in a supply of pine now for next year and let the heavier stuff dry for a couple more years.
Ahh, programmer? Field tech? We want to know. What kind of PLC's? A simple data logger will suffice with some TC's. That's unless you put a linear actuator on the choocher valve. 9 months isn't a lot for most wood to dry. Pine, box elder, basswood, or some dead standing wood might be good by then. Not any oak though, that's for certain. There's just a lot of variables to know, but the wood sounds like it needs more seasoning time.
Gotta be not quite there wood if I made a wager. It'll be like going from a tractor to a sports car with nice dry wood. You must be quite tough to hold your hand on the pipe, you make about 7 seconds longer than I can! I bounce anywhere from 450-700 F internal flue temp depending on the load. The outside is still 180-260 F depending where I point the IR gun.
Just to answer your questions. I am well versed in several A&B platforms , GE Logic Master and Toolbox, and Automation Direct PLC programing. If I do the project it will more than likely be Automation Direct. I have several processor, cards and the software is free.
Marshel54 a little known fact, for every percentage point in moisture you lose a percentage percent in efficiency... try getting some economic bricks and mixing with your wood, if it gets a little better you know your on the right track...
Try the new bigger eco bricks on the bottom with your wood on top, bet it burns hotter. Second thing to look for would be the length of your flue but try the wood thing first.
