heatnglo northstar

[worm]

New home, New HeatnGlo NorthStar. So far I am extremely disappointed with its heat output. It is in a 600 square foot family room with cathedral ceilings. Figured it would keep this room nice and toasty. It's not. Starts right up and has a nice fire in no time. Fan does not move much air into room even at high setting. Radiant heat seems to be minimal. Have a couch maybe ten-twelve feet away and do not notice any real warmth.

I really wanted a wood burning insert but the salesperson talked me into this unit. Said it could provide some warmth into a 2300sq ft area. Said it would radiate good heat. I followed all the guidelines in the owner's manual. It's really bumming me out.

Was I expecting too much?

 

[jtp10181]

How many logs do you put in it? You need to pack that baby full, trust me it puts out some massive heat.

It is the same thing as an insert except you don't need an existing fireplace to put it in, and it has a bigger firebox which means longer burns.

 

[worm]

I have been starting slow as far as loads of wood. My masonry guy told me to do that.
But I have had some good size, good seasoned hardwood fires. I have had some roaring fires.
I let it burn on high, get good and hot, then scale back the Air control to slow the burn and cook the wood into charcoal. Just seems like it is not radiating heat like I expected. The fan moves air, but I guess I just expected it to move more air than it does. I understand that the fans operate to push air and not move it too fast due to not wanting to cool the air.

The unit is accomplishing some great fires, just expected more I guess.

 

[jtp10181]

I have customers heating their entire house with this unit. I can't believe you would have a hard time heating the equivalent of a 6x10 room. How tall are these ceilings? Do you have a ceiling fan?

I was at a customers house and we got his ripping good. I was sitting on the couch maybe 8 ft away and I was gonna start sweating.

 

[worm]

10 feet ceiling that cathedrals up to about 14 feet. Large ceiling fan in center of room. I guess the room is more like 800 square feet, or more, but not by much. The room opens up into a kithcen nook area and then into the kitchen. Very open space floor plan. Was hoping the heat would waft through the areas and provide some 'chill kill'.

Had the celing fan on slow to push the air back down. Did not notice much difference. Actually felt a chill of moving air.

The unit is in a chaise located on the outside wall of my great room. Straight line chimney. Pretty sure it is set up right. I had the install guy out as the house was being built to make sure the clearance guidelines and chimney height, for good draw, were met. We ended up raising the chimney height two feet to make sure.

Burned a couple of small loads the first two days. Got a lot of burning paint smell in the house. Owners manual advised this was common.....curing of the paint. The third day started a fire at 0900hrs and kept it going all day. No more paint smell.

Seemed like when I opened the doors and let it burn with the doors open for a while, I got more heat radiation in the room.

The thermostat raised one degree when I did that. Closed the doors and let her rip, the temp would lower a degree and hold there. Temp was set at 67 F. House is extremely well insulated. Don't understand why I am not getting the heat I expected. The only good thing was the furnace never kicked on but maybe twice during the whole day. Just figured it would heat the room more.

 

[jtp10181]

Are you positive the chase behind the fireplace is insulated correctly? Do you get a cold draft coming out from under the fireplace at all?

Also, you should reverse your fan direction to the winter setting which blows the air up. It circulates the warm air a lot better and you wont get the chilling effect.

Not sure what else could be going wrong but I know the unit puts out good heat.

Get a good bed of coals in there and then pack that thing full. Put the logs in front to back so you can get the max in there. We use smaller splits and I Think like 6 or 8 fit across and you can double or triple stack it right up to the baffle. Let it start just a little with the door cracked and engage the startup air then close it down to like 1/4 open. Close the doors and let it go. After the startup air closes in about 60 minutes it should slow down and give a nice secondary combustion show.

You might also want to get a magnetic thermometer. You can put it on the cast frame for the doors. This would give us an idea of how hot you are burning it.

 

[worm]

Chase is insulated good. No cold air seepage. Will reverse the ceiling fan. Have not yet really packed the firebox.

Thank you for your assistance in the matter.

 

[jtp10181]

Well if you havn't loaded it full how can you say its not putting out enough heat! :long:

 

[worm]

I have had several large split logs in it, but I haven't packed it where u couldnt even fit a toothpick in it.

Guess I am still learning.

 

[jtp10181]

Watch it your first couple of times and make sure the start-up air closes down. You will notice because it will stop blazing and slow the fire down quite a bit. If it is left open for a long time you could over-fire the thing and warp stuff. If you shine a light under the bottom grill you can see the pie shaped thing that controls the startup air, if you watch it as you slide the air control to the right all the way you will see how it works. You should be able to get a good 6-8 hour burn like this with good hardwoods. Now you wont actually see fire for that long but the unit should stay hot and sustain the rooms temperature that long anyway.

 

[ALLTHEGROSS]

I own this unit and run it in a room with a 38 ft ceiling. the room is open to a 700sf kitchen which has a ten ft ceiling and i can keep bolth these rooms at 85f if i want but usually keep it around 80...and yes i do sit there in my underwear

 

[Chad S.]

I own this unit and run it in a room with a 38 ft ceiling. the room is open to a 700sf kitchen which has a ten ft ceiling and i can keep bolth these rooms at 85f if i want but usually keep it around 80...and yes i do sit there in my underwear

Boxer or Whitey Tighty?

 

[jtp10181]

I own this unit and run it in a room with a 38 ft ceiling. the room is open to a 700sf kitchen which has a ten ft ceiling and i can keep bolth these rooms at 85f if i want but usually keep it around 80...and yes i do sit there in my underwear

If your logs are short enough try putting them in the other way (front to back lengthwise) you will fit more in that way.

 

[ALLTHEGROSS]

I own this unit and run it in a room with a 38 ft ceiling. the room is open to a 700sf kitchen which has a ten ft ceiling and i can keep bolth these rooms at 85f if i want but usually keep it around 80...and yes i do sit there in my underwear

If your logs are short enough try putting them in the other way (front to back lengthwise) you will fit more in that way.

i often do put it in front to back. i picked up about 2 cord of white oak already cut to lengh for 50 bucks. most was cut pretty short but i would say 1 cord was 18 to 20 inch. i find you are right though you can really pack a lot in if you go front to back. if i pack it with white oak at 9 pm i still have enough coals to get it burning again at 7 am. thats 10 hours couldn't ask for much better than that

 

[jtp10181]

That's awesome to hear. Customers are often wondering what to expect in the real world and without feedback all we can go off is the brochures.