New Guy with Us Stoves Clayton 1600M

gblass1 said:

Hi All,

I just joined the forum to re-learn wood stoves. The last wood stove I had was a 1970 something airtight and that was 30 years ago, now I have a Us Stoves Clayton 1600M furnace I got at Tractor Supply. So far I like the furnace a lot but I am having a hard time throttling it back so it's not 80 deg in the house when it's 25 deg outside. I have the fire box air barely open and am only putting 2-3 logs on at a time to try and keep the heat down. My house is 2400 sf and the stove is rated at up to 3000 sf so I'm not way oversize with this unit.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

George
Us Stoves Clayton 1600M
Western Connecticut

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do you have a damper on the stove pipe?

Just wondering how much wood you are burning per day/week, etc. Also, how many times a day do you tend it.

Thanks for the info.

Scott

gblass1 said:

No I don't have a damper in the pipe but I have been wondering if I should have one. The manual does not say you need one but back in 70's when I had my last wood stove I had a damper in the pipe and if I recall I kept it closed most of the time.

George

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if your running to hot in the house this will let you throttle down more

gblass1 said:

I've only been running it for a couple of weeks now so I'm still learning it. I use a small (20" x 30" x 6") yard wagon I got at Tractor Supply to go out and get wood. It holds about 2-3 arm fulls of wood, I go out and fill it twice a day and this keeps me going 20-24 hours a day.

George
Us Stoves Clayton 1600M
Western Connecticut

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put a damper in it and you will use less wood and if thats not enough there is more you can do but thats the best place to start!

A damper in the flue will slow draft,allowing the unit to keep more heat in the home.

laynes69 said:

A damper in the flue will slow draft,allowing the unit to keep more heat in the home.

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will also slow the fire down! so its not so hot in inside the home

gblass1 said:

Hi All,

I just joined the forum to re-learn wood stoves. The last wood stove I had was a 1970 something airtight and that was 30 years ago, now I have a Us Stoves Clayton 1600M furnace I got at Tractor Supply. So far I like the furnace a lot but I am having a hard time throttling it back so it's not 80 deg in the house when it's 25 deg outside. I have the fire box air barely open and am only putting 2-3 logs on at a time to try and keep the heat down. My house is 2400 sf and the stove is rated at up to 3000 sf so I'm not way oversize with this unit.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

George
Us Stoves Clayton 1600M
Western Connecticut

Click to expand...

Sounds like you are doing about all you can other than "turning on the double hung Air Conditioner". Unfortunately there's not a lot else you can do but build smaller fires and use as little air as possible to slow the burn. You want to be very careful when doing that because you can make a heap of creosote in a hurry with wood that's not bone dry under those conditions.

On another train of thought but still entirely related to your problem..........You are experiencing first hand why a water based system with storage is so superior to a forced air type set up. Air is very poor at "storing" heat therefore you don't have any opportunity to let the fire burn when the heating demand is satisfied. Wood, being what it is, is virtually impossible to shut down after being lit without suffering the consequences of a smoldering fire. A wood fire is not like a gas or oil fired piece of equipment where the fuel supply can be instantly turned off. Water on the other hand is an almost perfect storage medium for BTU's and allows much more flexibility in how the fire is controlled and the frequency with which it has to be shut down.

Be careful to monitor your flue pipe and chimney if you install a damper and throttle the fire down. I've been on our local fire dept for almost 30 years and have seen plenty of chimney fires due to idling wood burning equipment.