Just removed our Harman TL300 after 12 years and replaced it with a Jutol F500 V3. All these years burning wood and doing it all wrong. I have 3+ years stacked and seasoned. Then I read the instructions from Jutol anyone want some over seasoned wood.
Yup, many modern wood stoves/furnaces are that way...and since there are no O2 sensors and automatic air/fuel ratio controls, they have to be made to burn best in an optimal range that most people can actually hit...which since so many people end up more toward the wet end, they can't really make them optimized to our 3 year (+) dried wood...they'll still burn it, but sometimes the burn gets hotter and goes faster than would be otherwise due to the extra air to allow for the higher end moisture content. Now there are some wood boilers that do utilize an O2 sensor and air/fuel mixture controls though...pretty neat stuff!
Better send that stove back and buy something that can handle firewood. Especially with all that dead standing oak you've got.
Since you offered free delivery…I will take all of your overseasoned firewood off of your hands. You really need to be taking advantage of the peak efficiency of your stove. I would offer to trade straight across for some less seasoned firewood, but I would hate for it to get too dry in transport for your stove to utilize it in an optimal fashion. I really am doing you a favor…
Yes but then they go on to say wood seasoned 2 years or more is to dry. In that case I have three years of over dry wood in my stacks.
Unless you store your wood in a sub 12% humidity area, it will normalize to ambient humidity which is generally in that range right? I have this challenge wood working, as the wood with time, will mirror the environment it’s in. Just a thought
Correct as I burn 90% oak even my 3 year stacks are around 16-20% on the moister meter. I don’t think another year or two would get it much lower if at all do to being near the ocean and high humidity.
They only let things close down so far though...and if you have super dry wood, it's going to burn faster than optimal in that stove. Probably more of an issue in tube stoves than cat stoves...
The F500 V3 is a cat and my first. So far I am getting good burn times even with my ( over seasoned) wood.
I'll take my chances on the over seasoned wood. Burning a little more is far better than the alternative.
Wood seasoned more than 2 years might be too dry... if you live in Las Vegas. My firewood is 15-20% moisture after one year. After 2 years, it's 15-17% moisture.
I run a Drolet HT3000 tube stove and I've been burning what I was told was "a couple year old" mulberry. I bought almost 4 cords for around $300 last year, turned out to be very punky, extremely dry wood 5-7%. I struggle getting long burn times even with the stove packed full, if I close down the intake too much it'll start burning dirty and I'll be cleaning glass the next day. Its hard to beat that price for wood but it's definitely had its challenges, packed her full last year with a bunch of this punky stuff and the stove took off on me. Had it running @ 750 degrees in nothing flat, 4 degrees outside 3 windows and front door open, house was at 87 degrees; didn't think I was going to get out shut down for awhile. Higher moisture content wood 15-20% burns competently different as mentioned above; longer and more steady, almost like comparing a sports car to a semi.
750* is within the normal operating range on that stove...even 800* would be ok, but the upper end of "ok" for sure...
Earlier this year (April-May) I cut some very green elm; as in water was pouring out of the trunk after I dropped it. I cut it into rounds then started splitting a couple weeks later. I ended up with a little less than a face cord split and stacked by mid June. I moisture tested these splits just out of curiosity a couple weeks ago and they're already at 12% in the center. I'm located in Central KS and we have hot summers and lots of wind; its also been a very very dry year. Tested multiple pieces too, never thought it would dry anywhere near that fast.
I think someone on FHC contacted Drolet and they said an HT300 can run an hour at 900 or 950F before damage would occur, but not recommended to run that hot continually. Definitely past the point of giving me the warm and fuzzies! The fact that I couldn't shut her down was the part that worried me, first big hot fire in a stove I installed entirely on my own. I really appreciate all the posts on installations here, helped me a lot on figuring out the right way to do things.
Over 900* would make the pucker factor go up a notch for me...steel will start to glow a low dull red at ~875* in low light...~975* in average room lighting...~1075* in sunlight. Not that dull red is the end of the world, but certainly not the best way to make your stove last for 20+ years! If that ever happens it makes you glad that you paid attention to the manufacturers recommended clearance to combustibles, and didn't cut corners on the chimney!
