I have been told that I need to get some thermometers, one for the top of the stove and one for the flue pipe. I have no idea what I should get. I know some have said that some are better than others. I am thinking I will have single wall stove pipe because the double wall pipe is just too expensive for my budget. I would like to know what would be good thermometers to buy at a good price; although I understand that you get what you pay for.
Condar is a good brand you should be fine with 2 magnet style for your set up. Unless you want to get the probe for your single wall that's what I use
I have an Imperial brand magnetic on my single wall pipe. The are notoriously inaccurate but I guess I got lucky, mine reads true with the infrared. Condar on the stove top, good brand, good reputation. Its accurate also.
I have 3............2 stove top and one probe thermometer. The stove top are Condar and Meeco............................They are pretty close to each other with an even flame. However; one ramps up faster than the other, and the other cools slower than the other. My probe thermometer in the double wall stove pipe is made by SBI.
I used a magnetic coil type thermometer on the single wall pipe and the stove top until I switched to a thermocouple probe type for the pipe. I find that I don't even look at the stove top temp any longer. The probe gives an instant reading of what the burn is doing. I use this one, it has the added feature of an alarm. Universal Thermometer [AT100] - $41.50 : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry You can read more about it here. High Temperature Alarm? | Firewood Hoarders Club
https://www.lehmans.com/p-3086-magnetic-stovepipe-thermometer.aspx Here's the one I have and it has worked well.
I went the cheap Lowes route- 2 Imperial magnetic types ......one at 18" up the pipe from the stove, the other on the 90* into the thimble, so I can see it from the living room, looking down thru our floor vent(large vent!).... I have an oven dial type laying flat on the stove top(bent the stand up tab flat). The 2 Imperials are within a few degrees of each other, depending on what point in the burn I'm at..... At start up they're about equal, but with some coals and a reload/settling back in, the 18" up Imperial is the barely a little higher than the uppermost one that I monitor from the LR. Works fine for us, and my wife is getting gooder at reading the output and adjusting/reloading as necessary.
K, you will be fine. You are analytical and will learn quickly to be aware of danger signs, No Way you'd let a fire that could destroy your house happen, right? I did not have a thermometer for almost a decade, relied on sound and heat and smell, (no glass on my previous stove as well as the two that came with the new house here). Since my wood was tinder dry, I listened to the wind too incase it took the fire to overfire so I could shut down the air intakes, though I am not sure you get the high sustained winds out east like I do? Either way keep an ear out. Use the thermometers to help you learn the stove's optimal performance per your needs. At some point in time it will be second nature to you: the heat, sound, and weather, will all be second nature to you, like shifting gears in a car without thinking, the same will happen on how to adjust the stove...... Thermometers are inexpensive insurance to help you learn/adjust the stove faster than my learning You will still smell paint curing at every bigger fire you burn, check the gauges and adjust.
Opinions on thermometers vary quite a bit. I forget, have you been running a stove before? Some are plenty content with no thermometer and just adjusting the stove based on the fire and warmth they need. Some are happy with just a cheapie Rutland magnetic, then some want a few ones so they can monitor what is going on better, probe type ones that actually penetrate into the flue pipe or stove insides to measure the actual gas temp, infared non-contact guns, and multi channel thermocouple devices some of which can even log data and be viewed on the computer. I'm not familiar with the NC13 and where good spots to measure temps are. If you can simply place it on the stovetop without needed a magnet I like my 'grill surface thermometer' I got of amazon for less than $10 and it is marked every 5F. But the ultimate in flexibility is an infrared unit, I have this one which is quite good with dual lazer, tight spot ratio, and adjustable emissivity: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JCH2YJC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage plus there are some cheaper Nubee IR ones that don't quite have all those features. When I bought it, it was only $25 in 2014 so thought it was an absolute steal! IR allows you to check [surface] temperatures anywhere instantly, but realize you have to actually pick it up and use it, unlike a regular thermometer you can just glance at any time.
When the needle drops below the "Burn Zone" it's either time for a reload or a tweak on the air, i.e. opening it up a bit- just depends on time of day/night, if I'm leaving the house for a while... Mind you, we have an oooold stove and it's very sensitive and prone to run hot if left open too long after start up/reload(which is any stove for that matter), but the thermo's help me to dial things in quickly. wildwest put up a great point about wind- that situation (especially gusty winds) can take a proper burn to Nuclear fast. But you're not there yet, so let's not overload you.
We never even thought about using a thermometer on our stoves until we bought the Fireview (in our 9th season with the Fireview). The stove came with on thermometer which was recommended to use on the stove top. It was a good idea because the stove has a catalyst and the stove top needs to be 200-250 before engaging the cat. Then we bought another for the flue (like yours will be; single wall). We quickly learned how to best use these to our advantage and feel we can run the stove much better with them. Our thermometers (condar) came, of course, from Woodstock. www.woodstove.com or Stove... We did buy one Rutland and were given a couple of them. Wow. Very inaccurate. We threw them in the trash.
