Heat output question

[Linesider]

I just finished my first burning season at my new home with a Jotul 3cb, which I moved from my old home. At my new place, the stove pipe runs through the interior of the house, straight up and out, for a length of about 28 feet. I had a serious draft and the stove glass never got black throughout the entire burn season even though some of the wood had (what I would guess to be) a high moister content. This leads me to believe I had a little too much draft and my burn times were shorter than in my previous home.

I was considering adding flue damper to slow down the draft. My question is, do you think this would increase the heat output of the stove? Am I losing too much heat straight up the chimney? I constantly monitor my stove top temps and keep them between 400-550, but I feel I wasn't feeling the heat like I used to. I know that based on the placement of the stove, a lot of heat is running upstairs, but this was the only feasible location for the stove. Do stovetop temps directly reflect the heat output that you feel from the stove?

Any opinions are appreciated, thanks John.

 

[begreen]

We had a draft damper on the 3CB with a much shorter flue. We used the draft damper regularly to extend the burn time. With a 28 ft. flue I would definitely have one on the pipe. I think you will find the stove more controllable.

However, dry wood is the way to get more heat output. 400-550 would have been a low temp for us. That was where we would run it for fall/spring burning. Normal winter stovetop temps were about 600-700 degrees. It ate a lot of wood and was undersized for the role, but it was a respectable heater as long as it had a continuous steady feed of fuel.

 

[Linesider]

BeGreen

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Jags]

I think you about got it 100% figured out, with the exception of the wood. Better wood...better heat. Sounds like you have a good handle on the rest of it. And I sure wouldn't be afraid of of using a damper in your config.

 

[edthedawg]

If you do put in a damper, which I endorse as well, keep in mind you DO still need to run it wide open for a brief time every day. We ran ours wide open every re-load for a good 10-15m after it reached "inferno" mode. Keeps the pipe clean - you'll condense a lot more creo if you just run it damped down all the time.

 

[begreen]

That's a really good point. If you don't open the stack damper first, you're also likely to get a snoot full of smoke whenever you open the door to adjust logs, add wood, etc.. Especially if the stove is connected rear-exit. My wife will tell you this lesson is quickly learned, even by neophytes. Not opening the damper during re-feed was not an option for our rear-exit 3CB.