Hey there, my wife and I just recently purchased a jotul 350 winterport insert for existing masonry fireplace. I did all the proper things for the Breakin process. Drafting nicely and the stove even cranks when we getting going for a while. For some reason if our thermometer reads 58 when we start, I can't get the room past 60 degrees no matter how long we have been burning on a cold night. My installer said it was installed properly as well as a second opinion chimney service came and said nothing is wrong. I have wood that roughly 8 -10 monts old as well. What am I doing wrong any ideas or advice to help me heat my home with this insert? The stove heats up to 1300 sqft and my living space is only 1248. I'm stumped.
Insert not heating room or house
- Thread starter Bulldogmoose
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Did they install a block off plate when they installed the insert? And 8-10 months old is wet wood if its oak. Just depends on the type of wood as to if it is seasoned that fast or not.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Those sqft ratings have to be taken with a grain of salt. The upper limit is usually a well-insulated home in a climate that rarely goes below freezing. Nevertheless, your 350 should do better and at least heat the room. Has the wood been split and stacked with lots of wind and sun for those 8 months? What kind of species is it? Do you have a thermometer to measure the temps of the stove? For an insert we usually recommend an IR thermometer. Is that an interior fireplace or does the back go to the outside? How tall is the chimney? Is it lined? How do you burn? Number of splits loaded, setting of the air control, do you see secondaries in the top of the firebox? The block-off plate is a good suggestion, too.
They did not install a damper block off plate. My installer said because I have a full stainless steel chimney liner I did not need one because at the top of the chimney it is capped off . As for the wood, their is some seasoned stuff but for the most part I definitely do not have seasoned enough wood. I have a coworker that burns and he gave me some really good seasoned wood and we burned it the day the chimney guy came. Was able to get house at a good 72 degrees but it was like 50 degrees outside.
Grisu...unfortunately my house is not dry well insulated but like you said my room should at least be getting heated. I onl have one zone for my thermostat and it's in the same room as the insert so if it reaches around 60 my heat will not turn on in rest of house and my upstairs is freezing. My house is a small cape with the chimney being an exterior chimney. The wood we restacked to get better ventilation but now I don't think that wood will be ready until next season I'm still trying to play around with air controls as I'm kinda new to this as well as when to set the blower higher or. Lower etc what are secondaries.. I do have a thermometer on front of stove above glass I try to keep it at around 4 450 but it takes time to get to that point and maintain it
I prefer a block-off place at the base of the chimney, if at all possible. It's just that much less volume of air to heat and helps keep heat trapped in the house.
I would suggest getting a package of compressed sawdust bricks or logs and add a couple to your existing wood. You should be able to maintain 500+F stovetop temps with decent wood. Does the insert have a blower? If not, it's not going to throw much heat unfortunately. You could try a fan to see if it helps.
I would suggest getting a package of compressed sawdust bricks or logs and add a couple to your existing wood. You should be able to maintain 500+F stovetop temps with decent wood. Does the insert have a blower? If not, it's not going to throw much heat unfortunately. You could try a fan to see if it helps.
Okay - a couple of points that can have big affects on overall heating.
1. - no lower block off plate. You can go by your installers opinion (and you see how well that is working) or you can do the recommended insulated block off plate and see how that works for you. It will only IMPROVE the performance. There is no down side, other than the time/effort to do it.
2. You have not mentioned a fan. Does the insert have a fan and do you use it?
3. Less than stellar wood. This is adding to the frustration of hitting and maintaining a good operational temp. Low burn temps equals low heat output.
There really isn't a solution to the thermostat issue other than relocating it.
1. - no lower block off plate. You can go by your installers opinion (and you see how well that is working) or you can do the recommended insulated block off plate and see how that works for you. It will only IMPROVE the performance. There is no down side, other than the time/effort to do it.
2. You have not mentioned a fan. Does the insert have a fan and do you use it?
3. Less than stellar wood. This is adding to the frustration of hitting and maintaining a good operational temp. Low burn temps equals low heat output.
There really isn't a solution to the thermostat issue other than relocating it.
The insert does have a blower.i leave it on automatic so that it will automatically come on after a certain time and temp has been reached. I have been able toget the stove to 500+ degrees but the thermometer is showing that that's too hot for stove so I try not to get it that high. Will burning at 500 be ok? Also should I split wood up more or leave them how they are already split. Won't that make ten burn faster? How would. I go about an insulated damper block off plate? Why couldn't you just throw some insulation up the chimney? Anything at this point will help
I was just lookin at that thanks it's getting super frustrating at least your room is getting warm.. My house is small
Grisu...unfortunately my house is not dry well insulated but like you said my room should at least be getting heated. I onl have one zone for my thermostat and it's in the same room as the insert so if it reaches around 60 my heat will not turn on in rest of house and my upstairs is freezing. My house is a small cape with the chimney being an exterior chimney. The wood we restacked to get better ventilation but now I don't think that wood will be ready until next season I'm still trying to play around with air controls as I'm kinda new to this as well as when to set the blower higher or. Lower etc what are secondaries.. I do have a thermometer on front of stove above glass I try to keep it at around 4 450 but it takes time to get to that point and maintain it
The insert does have a blower.i leave it on automatic so that it will automatically come on after a certain time and temp has been reached. I have been able toget the stove to 500+ degrees but the thermometer is showing that that's too hot for stove so I try not to get it that high. Will burning at 500 be ok? Also should I split wood up more or leave them how they are already split. Won't that make ten burn faster? How would. I go about an insulated damper block off plate? Why couldn't you just throw some insulation up the chimney? Anything at this point will help
Seasoned Oak
Minister of Fire
Try a little seasoned pine. 500 deg sounds low when your pushing for heat ,after the house is warm 500 is OK .
That thermo is technically a stove pipe thermo. The burn "indicator" is for the stovepipe, not a surface temp of the stove. A 500F stove temp is in no way a high reading but we must also keep in mind that you are running an insert and 500F on the door is different than a stand alone stove top of 500F.
Point being - go by degrees, not the "indicator" when using that thermo.
Your insert will need to be pulled to properly insulate and fabricate a block off plate. There are folks that get away with simply stuffing the insulation in, but a plate makes it a lifetime permanent install (in my opinion). Have you ever seen 20 year old insulation that has not been covered by something. Nasty.
Point being - go by degrees, not the "indicator" when using that thermo.
Your insert will need to be pulled to properly insulate and fabricate a block off plate. There are folks that get away with simply stuffing the insulation in, but a plate makes it a lifetime permanent install (in my opinion). Have you ever seen 20 year old insulation that has not been covered by something. Nasty.
Seasoned Oak
Minister of Fire
You would probably need to ask a member who has a lot of experience with inserts. I have several different free standing stove and the stovetops get up top 600-750 ish when im pushing them but cruise at about 500. Inserts are different animal though so i must refer you to those with that type stove. Im assuming you can only measure the front door temps.
Hopefully another Jotul insert owner will speak up here. I am not an insert owner and do not want to give you bad info.
If I were a betting man, I would bet that the blockoff plate alone would noticeably improve the performance - even if you continue with the 500F reading.
Yeah the thermometer is on the front door .. So that's really the only reading I'm getting.. But if that's the case wouldn't the stove be generally hotter anyway then the front door?
It sounds like you have a flue thermometer and not a stove top thermometer. If this is the case, ignore the ranges and pay attention to the actual temperature only. This is a small insert. You are asking the stove to run at its upper limit. That is going to require that other conditions be optimal, including insulation in the house. Here is what I would try.
- Put in an insulated block off plate and a layer of Roxul R15 insulation behind the insert if there is room. https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/why-damper-seal-is-needed/
- Run the insert at 600F stove top temp
- Mix in a couple quality compressed wood products like BioBricks in with the wood load
- Work on sealing up leaks and consider getting an energy audit to understand the cost benefit and options for tightening up the house
I hope so too.. What does the damper block off plate consist of? How do I go about getting hotter temps ? More smaller logs? How would you recommend burning? If it were ur stove lets say
I would suspect so, but I don't know the correlation. 500F on the door means xxxF for the rest of the stove? That would be an interesting test on my own stand alone stove. Hmmm....
I currently have fiberglass insulation surrounding stove now except for on top. I was told that regular fiberglass insulation was ok to do so with. I believe it is r30 where would I get a stove top temp therm And where would I put it. I understand it is a small insert but my house is not very big and it's not even heating my room that much
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/why-damper-seal-is-needed/
Drier wood is often the key to hotter fires. Try resplitting a couple loads of wood and set them aside in a box for a week in the house. This will help them dry out faster. After a week or so try burning this wood. If you have a much hotter fire the solution will be to get the wood drier quicker or to buy some kiln dried wood or a quality compressed fuel product.
PS: Regular fiberglass is not ok, particularly if it is in contact with the flue pipe. If so, get it out and replace it with a mineral wool insulation like Roxul.
Drier wood is often the key to hotter fires. Try resplitting a couple loads of wood and set them aside in a box for a week in the house. This will help them dry out faster. After a week or so try burning this wood. If you have a much hotter fire the solution will be to get the wood drier quicker or to buy some kiln dried wood or a quality compressed fuel product.
PS: Regular fiberglass is not ok, particularly if it is in contact with the flue pipe. If so, get it out and replace it with a mineral wool insulation like Roxul.
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