Anyone else use them. I have one but Im as of recently not putting much stock into its usefulness. Any thoughts, opinions,
I use one just to get a visual check on the stove. I can generally tell the 'sweet spot' without it. A quick check with the IR thermometer is the final word
I used one regularly when I burned in the wood stove. I now have it on my exhaust pipe for the gasification boiler. Remember that the temperature on the inside of your chimney pipe is probably almost double what you read on your magnetic thermometer which is showing the temp on the outside of the pipe. A thermometer placed into a small drilled hole and then sealed around it so that the probe would be in the center of pipe would be more accurate. But I like mine and it helps to know where you are at either way. No sense burning hotter than necessary in a stove.
I use one on my stovepipe. It gives me a general idea of the temp, which is all that I really want. I'm pretty good now at telling the approximate temp without it, but I was thankful for it earlier this week because the fire got way too hot. I guess I had other things going on and didn't realize it. Luckily I was able to bring it down pretty quick after seeing the thermometer.
Sure do use them ,stove top and pipe thermometers, wouldn't be without them. That's why my chimney stays so clean
After buying the IR, the two magnetics I have are showing how poorly they react to stove temp changes. I do still use them to get a general sense of how hot the stove is, then I grab the IR. The mags were showing about 500 a couple nights ago, but when I hit the hot spot on the stove with the IR, it read about 800. I closed the air completely, and it came back down to 650 or so within a few minutes, but that's an indicator of how good they aren't. YMMV
I am having real good luck with the ones I have now, being accurate, but if I am running the blower the stove-top thermometer will lie to me
I've always used one on my flu pipe, kinda' like a moisture meter, which I don't use,,it's there to give me a "general" idea of what's going on..a quick visual check.
One of mine is a Rutland, the other is a Condar. They're both wrong, but they're both wrong.......differently.
I use 2 magnetic thermos and one probe thermo. One on the stovetop halfway between the front and the flue exit and the second one is on the flue pipe and the probe is a cat probe. I refer to the flue temps more than the other two, this helps dictate when I engage the cat. I know the temp readings aren't super accurate but they are a good guide. After awhile just looking through the glass you can tell what the temps are without looking, it's a routine you get used to.
We use a thermometer on the stove top and also on the flue. They are very useful and I highly advise having them. If you have double wall flue, then you need a probe. Otherwise, with single wall I really do not see a need for a probe. Realize that all thermometers are not created equal. Case in point. When we bought our Woodstock Soapstone stove it came with a stove thermometer. Very soon we bought another one to put on the flue. Come Christmas time, we were given 2 others. Wow! What a difference. Then we bought an IR gun and that was a real eye opener. The two we were given were both Rutland. They were so far off we simply trashed them. The other two we got from Woodstock are actually condar thermometers. This is our 8th year using them and they are both within 20 degrees of the IR gun. In addition, with the IR gun we can check all areas of the stove and it is amazing how much difference there can be from sides to front to back and even the door. One more thing with an IR gun is that you can use it in other areas of the house. The big one is checking for air leaks. It will show where you need to tighten up the house to better retain the heat. You can even check your cooking stove's oven. And if you want to have some fun, take it outdoors in the summer on a hot sunny day and it will amaze you just how hot a sidewalk can be or beach sand, etc. I recall checking our porch railing which is just pressure treated wood. We got 138 degrees one day.
That's a great idea! I've never thought of that, it gives me a reason to purchase one, along with checking the stove.
Got one 16'' up on the pipe and will always have one 16'' up on the pipe. Nice quick visual whats going on and when I threw in some ironwood fillers a few weeks ago it told me along with a lot of noise in the pipe that I was in big trouble fast.
