Well I did some work to my Myriad. New door Gasket and Adjusted the Latch for the new Gasket. Took out all my firebrick and put 1/4"Ceramic insulation behind them and under them. Should have hotter fire box for improved efficiency. I noticed the firebrick in the Drolet is the Pumice type which are softer type but have a higher insulating properties.
I have a bunch of these except 13x13x3, http://refwest.com/korundalxd9strts90aluminabrick.aspx. When my OEM refractory burns out I plan to try these.
The gasket alone will probably make a big difference. I've replaced two of them in my stove (Achilles heel maybe?) and noticed an immediate difference.
To explain a little further the 1/4"ceramic insulation behind the firebrick improves on the one important aspect of these stoves that you have to build heat in the firebox. Maintaining that heat is another aspect as you try and set your input primary air to its lowest setting and still have secondary flame firing in the top of the stove . Most of the heat in these stoves radiate from the top of the stove and the front of the stove so insulating behind the firebrick isnt a big issue.
I havent measured the flue temps but I did this on one of my other stoves and the result was easier operation and it seemed that I could turn the input air down a little further and still maintain my secondary flames. So your question is a good one that if the stove isnt radiating heat out into the room as well then more heat goes up the flue. Things to think about is the input air is now able to be turned down lower, which could mean less air flow thru the stove so question is with less air flow is there more residual time of the heat in the stove. For example we all know it hard to build heat in a stove with the door open as the stove has too much air flow. I am thinking that this stove with its size has excess heat capability for my application being my house isnt too big for my stove, I like the better operational control not worried so much about every ounce of heat. I am getting more heat out of my wood with the better insulated firebox ( maybe a little loss of radiated heat into the room) plus maybe getting more burn time by allowing me to turn the input air down further and still maintain my secondary flames which is the flames burning smoke before it goes up the Flue. So I should get a cleaner burning stove that can be burned at a slower rate with lower input air settings. If you think about it you can accomplish the same things by using super dry wood. Stove heats up easier , stove can more easy keep secondaries burning at lower input air settings and by having lower input air settings there is lower air flow thru the stove and lower air flow thru the stove means more residual time of the heat in the stove allowing it more time to radiate into the room. Lower air flow means less heat flushed up the flue. Then using super dry wood allows for fast startups meaning less time trying to get the temps up in the box , which I think the longer you take to get the temps up in the box and the input air shut back down, then the more of your main wood load is used during the start up thus less of your main wood load is left to get a long burn time. Thats why using kindlin is important as the faster start ups help get longer burn time as the smaller stuff gets the heat built up in the fire box faster getting you to the point faster of shutting the stove back down to its lowest setting.
Well said, man. Let us know how it works out for ya this fall. I've always appreciated your stove threads.
