Englander 30 no hotter then 400 degrees

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Sounds to me like the stove is doing ok. A proper stove top temp will determine this. If it is running at normal temp then it's the location that needs a lot of tightening up or the stove need to be moved upstairs if that is where the heat is desired most.
 
Eric, I am the poster boy for heating a house from the basement. Only chance you'll have at best is keeping stove going hot 24/7. Any lapse and its an uphill battle. Drafty house will only make it way worse. Most basements are big uninsulated concrete spaces that soak up most of your heat. If you spend alot of time there then it good but like others point out if 1st or 2nd floor is most used space then stove is better off there.
 
My first step would be like other said get a proper wood stove thermometer.

A couple of questions on your basement:
Is it a block or poured concrete?
How much outside exposure does your basement have?
Is the basement insulated from the outside?
I had from 3-6 block exposure on mine and lost most of my heat through the walls.
What I had done is:
1) they dug down to the foundation and attached fiberglass insulation board
2) to that they attached tin
3) then they decreased the amount of exposure to around 1-2 bricks, but since they are covered with insulation and tin I lose less heat.

This greatly helped in the heating of the house.
 
My basement is a walkout so one whole wall is exposed. The other walls have 3 block exposed. Below ground the walls are covered with 2" block foam. The basement block is 12" split face all totally filled with concrete. That exposed wall has to be a real heat sink plus it has a huge window and a double opening french door.
 
wkpoor said:
My basement is a walkout so one whole wall is exposed. The other walls have 3 block exposed. Below ground the walls are covered with 2" block foam. The basement block is 12" split face all totally filled with concrete. That exposed wall has to be a real heat sink plus it has a huge window and a double opening french door.

Yes, the exposed wall is like having no wall at all.
The 3 block exposed blocks are also letting out allot of heat.
I think the rule of thumb is if you have 2 block exposure it is like having no wall at all.
So when you look at it you only have 2 walls in your basement.

For me the first year I lived there I paid over $1K a month in propain costs.
The temps got below zero and didn't move that much above that for 4 months and the heat ran continuously to keep the house even at 70.
When I got the stove I was able to heat the house but the propain still ran but not as often around $200 a month.
After I got it fixed I am now down to around $300 for heating from Nov-April and now it only kicks during the morning temp drop.

If I were you I would definitely insulate your basement and reduce the exposure.
 
Well the funny thing is before wood burner we could go 3 yrs on a 500 gallon propane tank with heat pump doing the bulk.The upstairs is real well insulated. But we practically live in the basement and I just like the warmth of wood heat. Its nice after working outdoors all day to come in to a wood stove. Didn't realize the basement was such a problem until several yrs afterwards. I imagine if the Elm was upstairs it could run as out and burn times would be twice as long.
 
Pagey said:
It very well could be the fact that you're heating from a basement. Take a minute to read this http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/BasementInstall.pdf

It's a real eye opener when it comes to just how many BTUs you can lose.
Thats an excellent article! My basement has 0 insulation and the walls weep after heavy rains so first ill take care of the water problem ,then on to adding insulation.
 
Here is the deal with your thermometer.......................... You have to cut the little pedestal off and let the thermo LAY directly on the surface of your stove to get a accurate reading. The pedestal keeps the thermometer element away from the surface. You have to remember that this particular thermometer was made to be INSIDE an oven being SURROUNDED by hot air.


I have your exact thermometer and have used it for years, I have checked mine's accuracy with an IR thermo and it is actually pretty accurate.
 
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