chimney draft question

do i have enough draft? when the chimney was put up we went through the wall and u 2-24" sections. so my chimney consists of the black pipe, 2 sections rise, 1 elbow, through the thimble, T on the other side of the wall, and then 2 24" sections of chimney pipe, then a chimney cap. do i need more draft? when i was starting the stove it wasnt easy to get a good stable fire going. every time i thought i was starting to get a decent fire and i closed the door the fire would die down. i finally got a good stable fire and was able to keep the temp gauge on the black pipe in the 450 degree range. this was with the damper full open. im thinking of adding 1 more section of class a chimney pipe. the chimney is a selkirk class A, i believe its the ultra-temp series.

its in my barn and im going out the back of the building not the side of the building. the sections are 36" and not 24". i still think i might need to add one more section. the pipe extends 1 full section above the lowest point of the roof. i know that if i was going out the side of the building i would have to go all the way to the peak, yikes thats allot of pipe

i had my neighbor look at it, he has been burning wood for years and also does construction for a living. he told me that it looks good but one additional section might help draft. he did say that it was working and that i could try some drier wood. he gave me two large bags of scraps from work that he said would help it burn a little hotter. he did say that what i did was heck of allot safer then what the previous owner did, stick a black pipe through the wall. he basically gave me nod of approval but said that an additional section wouldnt hurt performance.

the people that owned the house before me did all kinds of unsafe things. they heated the house with wood and had repeated chimney fires. fire department actually had to come here and put a chimney fire out on the house wood stove. the very next day he was burning wood again with no inspection done to the chimney. i have heard all of the idiotic stories of the previous owners and the stupid things they did, lol

stove is us stove country hearth 2000. i could take pictures tomorrow perhaps, but i dont have time right now.

i added that additional section today. cost me another $100 but i think the stove operates allot better. was easily able to maintain 450-500 degrees on the black pipe thermometer i bought. i like the stove for the money i dont think it's too shabby. i also tend to think that my firewood is too green still. think i might limit my usage of it this winter and save the bulk of it for next winter. i noticed that the outside of the log fires up pretty quick but the inside of the log doesnt produce a whole lot of fire. what i would like to do is save it for next year and then next fall buy another 2 cords, put that away for the following year and use my current stash next year. i just dont know what to do with 2 additional cords of firewood. there is bio-bicks but i dont know if they are economical, do people here consider them to be economical? are they cheaper then equivalent pellets? i would love to burn what i bought but i just dont think its going to have the heat output i expect from it.

my nieghbor brought me 2 large sacs of lumber scraps, its mostly pine; he told me i could mix it with my logs and it would help them burn better and increase the BTU content. what are the thoughts about burning some pine, i thought pine was considered dangerous in a wood stove? if you are burning lumber scraps hasnt that just about had all of its sap removed, its not like its pine logs. that stuff puts out a ton of BTU's i noticed.

anyways i think you guys were right the EPA stove need good draft, i am now at total of 9 feet of class A plus the black pipe going from the thimble to the stove.

also could you guys explain burn tubes, i know what they are and that the burn off the smoke also creating more heat but how does this work? how do they do their job, do they wear out and have to be replaced or do they last the life of the stove?