hearthstone homestead

We have homestead stove and never seem to be able to get temp over 350. We have tried many types of firewood including well seasoned dry oak. We did notice a hole in the baffle, could this be the problem? I insisted on a Hearthstone and my husband has not been convinced it was a good investment

The hole in the baffle can't be helping. You're sending heat up the chimney that could be warming all that stone.
Fix the baffle and have a look at BrowningBar's thread on getting his Heritage up to 600. Worked for me!

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/getting-a-hearthstone-up-to-600°.76166/

We don,t have a pipe damper. The installer felt it was not needed. The stove also cools very quickly . Would you recommend installing the pipe damper I had watched the video before butourstove has never gone beyond 425 after following his directions. Thanks for your advce

Is this a new stove that has a hole in the baffle?

no the stove is about 7 yrs ol don,t knowwhen the hole happened. Stove has never heated or held temp well. Never had it burn overnight,t

It's been said here a thousand times, but it's always worth repeating. How dry is your wood? Grab a split or three, resplit and check the fresh cut faces with a moisture meter. It's got to be around 20% or less to get a good hot burn going.

I did read that so we bought a moisture tester and we check before loading. Have not used any greater then 18%. Also purchased an ecofan to help move the air. There is obviously more to using a woodstove then just getting a fire going. We it seems we have alot to learn. Every year we struggle thru and blame it on the stove....finally accepting it is probably it is our technique. I called the Chimney man and he will stop by next week to see if he has any suggestions. The Baltimore area does not have the avid wood burning community that some of you experience. Now tomorrow around 6pm things will heat up in this town Go Ravens!,!

It is at least 20 ft. 2 story house. was installed in the chase from the prefab fireplace w insert. Is the idea to fully load the firebox as I have seen in the pics. How long should that last before needing more to be added.

Can we install the baffle ourselves ?

I have a hearthstone Phoenix. I have never been able to get it above 400 and that was only for a short while. Yesterday I loaded it with eco bricks to give them a try. 400 max then it began to cool. I like you have used all types of wood and havent been happy its ability to keep us warm on the coldest days. In the end, I have realized that soapstone stoves are made for slow and low heat, not the red hot heat from a metal stove. The low, slow even heat is only good when burned long term. I have thought to replace it many times. But like right now, its a perfect, beautiful addition to our house. When its 20 deg its fine. 20 deg and blowing 25, not so much.

Watch this video from Jotul on how to get a good starting fire going:



Then watch this one on reloading:




When you pack a load of dry oak in over the coals as shown, and then carefully dial the air back over the next 30 minutes or so, you WILL get a fantastic secondary burn. With the air cut down you're limiting the amount of heat flushed up the chimney and you'll can easily get temps up into the 450 range. The Hearthsones seem to have a bit of a reputation for putting a little too much heat up the flue, and your holy baffle isn't helping any. The baffle replacement seems simple enough to do on your own in just a few minutes with ordinary household tools.

Phoenix owner here, this season I am able to get the stove to 450f. This is an achievement for us, it's a 24/7 heater and it was giving off enough heat this morning to turn the ecofans slowly after 7 hours. I make sure I rake the ashes away from the air inlet just inside the door and give the coals draft from this inlet. After about 10 minutes the wood is going well so I cut back the draft 1/4 way, then another 5 minutes I move it to the lowest setting. I tried various steps in air reduction and find this to work the best for this stove. In about 4 hours they're will be a huge pile of red coals ready to go again.

Thanks to all for advice. We loaded per suggestions last night and got the stove to 425 for a couple of hrs. Will order a new bsffle this week and post the results.

I think you will see positive results. I am sure that chimney man will have some good ideas. I have owned the Homestead for the past 4 year. I am quite happy with it and our average temp is 550-600. Good luck!

I'm not familiar with the Homestead...looks like it does not have a damper. Are your secondary burn tubes intact, not burned through or warped? Usually a baffle with a hole in it means a ton of use or overfiring, either can damage other components. These are very important for a consistent burn & heat output. Have you done a thorough cleaning when the stove was cold...I mean attach a small tube to you vacuum cleaner and suck out all the ash that can block the air passages? Look at the IPL here and get in there with a flashlight to make sure all the parts are there, in good shape and functioning:

http://www.hearthstoneparts.com/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=8570

The Hearthstone baffle is ceramic. I don't know if it's possible to burn through it by overfiring, but hitting it with a split or a wayward poker will knock a hole in it with surprising ease.

I think the baffle was damaged with a piece of firewood. The tubes look Ok,but I'm not sure what I'm looking for in terms of damage. I will take a picture and post, welcome any advice.