City kid in Vermont with his first real woodpile, and the stove monitoring system I built

Welcome neil_s. There is a lot of good resources here for you to work thru. We would love to see any of your inventions you have come up with in your wood hoarding journey.

 

it belongs to my neighbor. it's a northstar?

 

thank you! I actually did shut the air down fully today, now I know better.

 

Depends on the stove and chimney...most modern stoves you cannot shut the air off enough to cause to fire to struggle...unless burning 30% + wet wood maybe.
My little Drolet 1400i stove in the LR will still burn almost too hot on a cold day with the air totally shut down (well, its not totally shut, just shut as far as the lever will go...the EPA has "idiot proofed" them)

 

Nothing wrong with Husky saws or Stihl but don't overlook Echo either.
Make sure you feel comfortable holding it and don't skimp on the model as with decent care you'll have it for a long, long time.

 

Nifty device, if you have a model to monitor a wife's mood sign me up!

 

I bought Ms. buZZsaw a mood ring.

When she is happy it turns green.

When she is mad it leaves a big red mark on my forehead.

 

My Pacific Energy Super 27 is designed the same way, that is, it won’t fully shut off all combustion air. Leaves it open enough to keep a few lazy flames going even when shut all the way down.

 

What year is yours? My PE Summit insert was from 2001. What percentage efficiency is yours? IIRC the guy at the time told me was 72%

 

The stove was purchased in 1998 and the 72% efficiency sounds spot on from what I remember. It’s been a good stove.

 

whoever makes that device is going to do well.