Stove Top Thermometer or Stovepipe Type – Helpful or Not?
I just read a post where the writer said that because the fire has cycles the stove top thermometer or stovepipe thermometer may be a hindrance. I agree somewhat in the case if you are an experienced operator and are attentive and really know your equipment…
Having said that, as a chimney sweep I find that type of operator few and far between and see many mistakes from even the most seasoned of operators.
So I believe a Wood stove thermometer can be helpful in most cases, especially to the inexperienced stove user and is especially helpful for older stoves without glass doors.
As an all round chimney maintenance guy, I get to see a lot of peoples burning habits when I clean their chimneys.
One of the most common errors I see is a stove that is too large for the area it is in. This type of situation results in the stove air being shut down and the fire smouldered because it’s just too hot in the room. Smouldering the stove always creates an accumulation of oily creosote in the chimney liner.
This creosote coats the pipe rather evenly all the way up. Then when a hot fire is burned, let’s say Christmas wrap or cardboard the chimney is filled up with flames and either melts the creosote which drips back down and plugs the liner or ignites the creosote and results in a chimney fire.
While a wood stove thermometer will not cure this oversize problem it will bring the idea to not smoulder the fire to the forefront as the readings point out when the fire is too cold and consequently making accumulated creosote.
Stovepipe thermometers come in several types, magnetic stove pipe type or stove top ones (some have a separate range reading for both) these are effective on single wall stove pipe.
If you have double wall pipe there is a drill in type that reads the flue gases.
Digital Wood Stove Thermometer for Fireplace Inserts
There are also good thermometers with digital read outs that are really good to prevent over firing into the liners of fireplace inserts where the stove exhaust is not seen. They come with an over fire alarm.
I have a few of these remote digital ones. The cost is $199. plus shipping and taxes.
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Here is a link to some great wood burning tips.
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Dean Brandhagen
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