The reason you're getting a different reading off the solo stove is because it's reflective stainless steel, there's an adjustment I believe to calibrate that tool for a reflective surface as opposed to a black surface, that's why the temperature readings are so different.
Great review and very well done! I also enjoyed your tabletop comparison video and decided on the East Oak myself. I would, however, recommend you look into emissivity ratings with regard to your IR thermometer. Stainless steel has a 0.59 rating, while black paint is generally 0.90+. 100 would be considered a perfect emitter of heat energy, while 0 is basically an IR mirror. Some IR thermometers have an adjustment for this. One possible solution may be to paint each stove with a small area of high-temp black BBQ paint and make sure the IR measurement circle is covering that area. Once again, awesome video! Please keep them coming.
The 19 inch pan warps but otherwise a nice fire pit for the price. The 15 inch rocks! I can load about 30 pounds of pellets and get a 3 hour burn before it goes to coals. It takes almost 2 days to cool down.
Black bodies will radiate more heat than lighter or reflective objects. If they all had the same finish it would be a better comparison. However, I'm not surprised the black finish radiates more heat. The comment on the IR being affected by the surface is on point as well...thermocouples would be better, as IR cameras/meters are affected by emissivity. I suspect the two SS finish pits are actually hotter than what you're measuring. You at one point got 110°F for the surface temperature of the solo stove, which means you should be able to comfortably rest your hand on that surface for an indefinite period of time; I would not suggest doing that. I suspect if you put a hot dog on that surface, you'd hear it sizzle. So, the two SS finishes are probably hotter than you measured, and the black object is probably reading more accurately (depending on what your IR gun's emissivity setting is at). Thanks for this video! I've been looking at smokeless pits for a while now and East Oak wasn't even on the radar until today. Glad to see we have options! Do you have any additional thoughts now that you've had them for longer?
I’ve done about three burns on them so far not much new to say. But I did buy some high temp flat paint. I am going to paint the solo stove and do a retest video on the out side surface temp so stay tuned.
@@Homedadgriff Nice! Science in action; I love it. I've seen kapton tape used for similar purposes, but I don't know what the peak temp is for that material (we used it on a mars rover power supply mockup, and that doesn't get as hot). If you wanted to get artsy with it, you could make a stencil and etch the pattern with an acid to oxidize the surface and remove the reflective surface. If you have paint that can withstand that temp, it should definitely get you apples to apples. Or, if you do have kapton tape, slap a target on each unit and before it gets too hot see if they're comparable until they melt off your pits. FWIW, I just ordered the 21" East Oak and their small table top unit. Thanks again for the video and I'm curious to see what you discover with the new set up!
I am confused by your question but the outside of the fire pit got extremely hot on the East Oak. over 400 degrees. The next day I did another burn just the East Oak and the solo stove and tested them again. Same results. I wanted to double check it was not a fluke.
