Stove is 1 season old and is losing heat

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DNat

New Member
Feb 16, 2015
5
Boston ma
I bought a new Hampton H200 wood stove last season and it worked great.

This year (October) I fired it up and i noticed it was drafting waaaay too much it was not throwing any heat. I had all the gaskets checked by the dealer. They tightened the door checked the pipe connection and the drafting lever at the bottom. I then put a thermometer on the top to monitor the temp and it still does not get out of the "too cool" zone even after an 8 hour burn. I have been back to the dealer multiple times and they are telling me the manufacturer needs to now inspect it. Could I have over burned it during season one and done damage that they cannot detect ?
PLEASE HELP .....
Freezing in Boston
 
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How tall is your chimney? How long has your wood been split, stacked and drying? But the fact that you noticed it drafting more than it was initially points to some other issue besides those...
 
What is the difference between surface temps this year and last? Unless something structural has changed drastically, it would almost have to be the fuel. Did the dealer start and observe the fire? Perhaps with some of their "own use" firewood from their stock?
 
My chimney is standard size chimney. The house was built in 1991. I'm using a mix of wood that's been seasoned for 18 months -2 years.....Oak, birch and maple. When I first bought the unit I did not have a thermometer on the top. It wasn't until this season that I got one because we were trying to trouble shoot and needed a temp check. I have to admit that it was burning pretty hot at first ...but I can't say the actual temperature. I was not aware of over firing until researching a bit. Even then, this is a new stove by a reputable company and dealer. I had it cleaned for the first time in the fall and then the issues started. I thought that the chimney sweepers may have damaged the liner or something but after inspection from the installer I'm told "no damage to the unit or the liner. " Everyone is scratching their heads and can't figure it out...I've been waiting for the manufacturer to contact me (through the dealer). I'm going to go for a warranty replacement. Very frustrating.
Thanks for feedback.
 
You would think the dealer would want to burn it themselves. So on a good bed of coals, loaded with seasoned splits, air open halfway for an hour or so, what temps are you hitting?
 
Are you turning the air down after getting the load in an established burn?
 
'....seasoned for 18 months-2 years' means different stuff to different people. Did you split and stack it yourself? Did a seller tell you that's how long it was seasoned? And that ain't long enough for oak, at least not in my almost-perfect-for-the-Midwest drying location.

'Dry' is something that can be defined, generally ~20% or less on a moisture meter, on the face of a freshly re-split split.

For 99% of the complaints here about not enough heat, it's the wood.
 
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Fsappo....the dealer did start a fire ..with my wood. But this was to check the seal on the door ( that he tightened) and the drafting unit ( which still does not appear to be working as efficiently as last season) the only structural change is that the chimney sweeps put an additional cap on the chimney top..next to the liner top. So now I have two caps side by side.
 
'....seasoned for 18 months-2 years' means different stuff to different people. Did you split and stack it yourself? Did a seller tell you that's how long it was seasoned? And that ain't long enough for oak, at least not in my almost-perfect-for-the-Midwest drying location.

'Dry' is something that can be defined, generally ~20% or less on a moisture meter, on the face of a freshly re-split split.

For 99% of the complaints here about not enough heat, it's the wood.

The seller said the wood was seasoned 18 months.... In addition I had wood stacked that was over two years old and used that as well. Where can I get a moisture meter?
 
The seller said the wood was seasoned 18 months.... In addition I had wood stacked that was over two years old and used that as well. Where can I get a moisture meter?

Not many wood dealers you can trust when they say seasoned, most count it sitting in log form as being seasoned. You can get one at Lowes or at a Harbor Freight store locally.
 
Drafting way too much should cause a really hot fire but significantly impact burn times. You can visibly see a raging fire even with the air turned down all the way?

I had an H300, and my excessive draft issue was the ash plug not sealing fully due to some debris and a bad gasket. But i was getting plenty of heat because it was giving way too much air to the firebox, though it cut my burn times in half.
 
did they clean out all the crud from the chimney cleaning that dropped down to the stove? I would take the top off, then take the inside cover plate off and check to make sure both the flue collar and connecting pipe/chimney, and the burn tube/baffle area is all clean and clear of debris. If there is some kind of obstruction in these areas it could cause issues as well.
 
The seller said the wood was seasoned 18 months.... In addition I had wood stacked that was over two years old and used that as well. Where can I get a moisture meter?
A moisture meter is easy. I got mine in the tool section of my local Lowes for about $20. I am sure that the Home Despot also carries them.
 
Buy some 2x4's cut them to size and burn them. See what happens.
 
There's not much to go wrong with a stove. If it burned good new it should burn that way always. The only thing that can really change is clean chimney or poor fuel.
 
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