Hitzer 254 Owners, Where Do You Put Your Thermometer at?

Hi all. I bought two magnetic thermometers the other day. One for the pipe and one for the stove. I put the one on the stove at the top and it was reading 225. I then put it above the door by the pullout damper and it was 450. Then I put it on the side near the top and it was 300.

In order to get an answer I first called the store where I bought the stove. The guy said to put it on the top. Okay so I put it on the top, but something didn't seem right. I then said if anyone knows it would be the people at Hitzer. Wrong. The guy there told me and I quote "Why would you need to put a thermometer on the stove? I haven't heard anyone put one on a coal stove." I was like are you serious. I want to know if I am under firing or over firing as I want to get the best performance out of the stove as I can. As we talked I found out the top is not good because it is double walled. He also said that above the door is probably not a good place either. He told me to put it on the side.

With these different temp readings at various locations, I was wondering:

Where do you place your thermometer(s)?

Thanks,

Johnny

I have the Hitzer 30-95. Per advice at this forum I put my thermometer above the grate shaking handle by about 4 or 5 inches. My pipe thermometer is about 16 inches above the top of the outlet of the stove. When I have a steady stable fire and it is not too windy out (that would be when the wind is not so strong that the barometric damper can no longer keep the draft at or below .04 inches of water columb), the pipe reads half the temp of the stove side.

Make sure your pipe thermometer is between the stove outlet and the baro. damper. Best of luck. Hitzer makes a great stove.

Thanks grizzly2.

I don't have a baro on mine yet. The sales rep said to try it without it, most of the people he knows that comes in said they do not use one. I think when we get the "January thaw" that I am going to install one.

I put my thermometer on the opposite side of the stove about the same height as the pullout handle on the front. I figured the double wall top would not interfere with it there.

I do have a question about draft. Are you getting a strong draft if you have large blue flames dancing around. For example, when I open up the stove to get ready to shake it, I get a few sections of the firebed that have large blue flames. But once I open the door, those few large blue flames pan out across the entire bed of coal and are only an inch high. I would love it to be an inch high all of the time! My wife is really afraid of the large blue flames, but likes the low blue flames.

If it is a strong draft would the baro help with that?

Having a baro. damper will Definitely help maintain the correct draft in the stove. As far as the large blue flame goes, that is gas burning off the coal as the coal is heated. I believe the tall flames occur when there is less air turbulance inside the firebox of the stove. When you open the main door of the stove cool room air rushes in and dilutes the concentration of gas that is burning, thereby putting the flame out. The remaining flame just above the coal remains because the gas is burning off just as it comes off the coal, and before it is diluted with room air. Please assure your wife that the flame is not an indication of overheating and it is not going to get out of the firebox. Compared to the heat of the glowing coals, the blue flame is relatively cool.

With all that said, my fire usually burns with a minimal amount of blue flame. I think that is because the hopper feeds fresh coal into the fire at a slow rate, and it is the fresh coal that is "outgassing" and providing fuel for the blue flame. When I shake the ashes down and a bunch of fresh coal drops down from the hopper, that is when I get the majority of my blue flames.

Remember- having some flame present acts as a pilot light in that it lights the gasses given off from the coal as it heats. Without a flame the gasses will build up and ignite with a big poof that can be scarry. (See "Minor explosions in a coal stove" at the top of the forum threads. ) If I can be of any assistance to you you can always leave a PM for me so I don't miss your question.

Thanks for the help grizzly2. I made my wife read it. Don't know if it helped or not.