Well tonight I might fire up the stove here in Indiana tonight. I made some improvements to the stove and want to see how it does.
I put 1/4" 2300 deg ceramic insulation under the bottom fire brick and behind sides and back firebricks. I added another row of fire brick to get firebrick all the way up to the stainless steel baffle plate. There was about an inch space left so I stuffed ceramic insulation in that space. I cut the new upper row back firebricks down so as not to interfere with the bypass damper in the back when it opens. I am sure this all will cut down on the nice radiating heat monster it was but will make it a cleaner burning stove. I am hoping the extra heat of the more clean burn will help compensate for the more insulated firebox and I will still get plenty of heat out of the stove. Its an experiment for sure. I may revert back.
Built a fire this morning when temperature was 35 at 5:00 am. Added a couple splits before leaving for the big city around 10:00. Got home about an hour ago and it was sure nice to walk into a warm house. Will be adding more wood before hitting the sack. And fyi, the radar was showing both rain and snow not far from us this afternoon and even now. This picture was from about a minute ago.
