Theb temperature of the mstoves surface is a function of how much heat you are adding to the inside from the fire and how much heat is being lost through conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction should be near zero since you don't want to heat anything that is in direct contact with the stove, unless it is a cook stove. That leaves convection and radiation to get rid of the heat being generated or the temperature of the surface will change. Radiation heats objects only. The air in the room is almost completely independent of any radiation from the fire box. The air is heated by convection and the warm air circulating heats other things in the room. Radiation will be felt as heat on your skin but its effect on room temperature is almost non-existent since each object that is heated does very little to transfer that heat back into the air. That is that 4th power of temperature difference sneaking in. Say the radiation manages to heat the floor up by 2 degrees. Compared to the heat coming off in the form of convection currents from the stove, that adds almost nothing to the air temperature. Convection in a well designed heat exchanger, like an air passage can be, transfers heat in a linear fashion compared to the temperature difference involved so a 600 degree stove transfers a lot of heat into 70 degree room air. That linear relationship means that even a 10 degree difference can make a measurable difference in the air temperature back at the stove surface.
I get everything posted above this post. But having ran my 30NC for a couple years without the Convection deck (which I was the first here or anywhere to my knowledge), and now running it for a few years with the deck? I would say it helps considerably. But that's my house, layout, etc. As for side shields? I wouldn't be a fan unless air could be passed by them.
I’ve been experimenting with adding baffles under the deck to force blower air to wrap around the flue and blow across the center of the stove. Results are promising, had to lower the trigger temperature of my fan since the whole deck is now cooler and even in temperature across the top. Also had to relocate the stove top meter to the side since there is no place on the stove top that doesn’t get a strong flow of blower air.
Upgrade to the convection deck! Always bugged me that the hottest part of the stove top received no air flow from the blowers since it’s blocked by the dang flue. Also the center of the convection deck was way hotter than the sides where the air whipped through. The photos should be pretty self explanatory. Adjustable baffles! Brewing beer this weekend and need the shop to be 65-70 for proper fermentation.
Nice modification... But onto bigger and better subjects... Whats on the Brewing list? I'm getting ready to make another round too. I've got a pair of porters lined up. I'll post on the homebrew thread later. Looking for to see you what got...
An oatmeal pale. Partial mash. Turned out great! So I’ve had people ask for a detail shot of the rear cutout for the sleeper where it tucks under the rear heat shield. Just 4” grinder to make clearance.
How have the adjustable baffles worked out for you Highbeam? Does it seem to make a difference? Does the center of the convection deck stay cooler, or more similar to the sides? I am loving my first year of the NC30, and have the AC30 fan. I am planning several wood stove related projects for the spring and summer, and a convection deck is high on my list.
You'll be glad once it's done and installed. I've had the blower on a higher setting this year than usual and it's made a difference. Once I can shut things down (and the weather warms), I need to pull the blower and give it a REALLY good cleaning.
My AC30 blower is running near 100% for nearly 24 hour a day. My NC30 is able to almost entirely heat my 2200sq ft 1884 multi-level home with basically no insulation. This polar vortex is causing me to supplement with gas a bit, especially early in the morning to get the house back up to temp. The wood I have I super moist hard-wood. I'm talking 30-35+%. But it's all I could get so late in the season. Next year, I'll be cutting and stacking in early spring to let it dry till next fall/winter. Even with the moist wood I am able to mostly heat the house which is quite impressive to me. But in order to do so, I have to keep the damper fully open and burn as hot as I can 100% of the time. I couldn't get my STT in the red if I wanted with this wood. I have been using some compressed/dried hardwood bricks that I found cheap at Rural King. I throw 2 of those in the morning to get the stove good and hot to get the wet wood going strong, and then I generally don't need to use them again till the next morning. I am thinking with dry seasoned wood next year and a convection deck, I will be able to heat almost, if not entirely without gas next year. And hopefully I won't burn through wood as quickly. I have burned through a little over a cord in the last 40 or so days since I basically have it running wide open all the time. The alcove setting my stove is in does a really good job pushing heat through the house (see avatar picture). I lined the alcove with Micore on the sides, back and above the stove, so very little heat escapes into the alcove. It just sorta hangs over and on the stove top, and the AC30 running on high most of the time just pushes all that heat into room. Our old house has a very open layout, and the heat quickly moves into the other rooms, and we have an open staircase one room away from the stove, and the heat goes right up there. In fact the upstairs where all of the bedrooms are is warmer than the downstairs (with the exception of the room the stove is in). I am hoping that adding a convection deck just adds a little more oomph to my NC30. Although, I kinda wonder if I will get less benefit than others, since my alcove install with Micore lining already forces the hot air to leave the alcove when the blower is going.
The baffles are perfect, very worthwhile. The airflow across the stove top is now much more uniform so I know the hottest part of the stove top is being cooled. Also, the rising plume of heat from the door glass is swept forward by the even airflow. Anytime you blow cool air on a hot surface you will be stripping heat faster than if you weren’t blowing. The convection deck holds that air against the hot stove much longer for maximum heat stripping.
I never appreciated my blower on the Lopi until today. I usually either don’t use it or keep it at its lowest setting. It’s cold enough now that I cranked it up and found out how much of a difference it really makes. You did good by making that rig for yours, Dave.
I used a pieces of angle iron to accomplish the same thing on my previous 30. the dynamics of the current home are much different the previous one, much easier to heat with the stove.
