Got a $30 wood stove thermometer and stopped burning through firewood so fast

I was going through about 3 cords of wood each winter in my cabin up near Conway. A neighbor suggested I get a stove top thermometer for $30 on Amazon. Turns out I was running my stove way too hot most of the time, wasting heat up the chimney. Now I keep it in the 400-500 degree range and my wood usage dropped to just over 2 cords last season. Anyone else tried one of these and seen a big difference in fuel use?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar14d ago

Actually 400-500 is on the high side for most stoves, you want to be more in that 300-400 sweet spot for max efficiency. Running it that hot is still wasting some heat up the flue.

juliahall14d ago

My 1980s Fisher stove wants to run at 500-600 to burn clean, that's just how those old box stoves were built. You mentioned the 300-400 sweet spot, but isn't that dependent on the stove design and what kind of wood you're burning? My dad always said the secondary burn on newer stoves changes everything, but my old one doesn't really have that. So are you talking mostly about modern EPA stoves in that 300-400 range, or does that apply to all stoves no matter what? I feel like my stove smokes like crazy if I try to keep it under 400, and I'm trying to understand if that's user error or just a different era of stove technology.