Insert not heating room or house

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I think you should try some dry pine in that stove. If THAT dont put out the heat nothin will.
 
Have you been running this stove with the air control/damper all the way open all the time?? *I'm asking again*

Read your owners manual for what the air controls are, it should be in there.

If you are not controlling the air with a decent fire, you are losing mega heat up the chimney. I betcha that's where it's going.

Going to hardware store to get stuff to make damper block off plate ... Just found out that my liner is 5.5 inches.. Manual calls for a 6 installer said that that's not an issue and he does 5.5's all the time after work I'm going to run the stove with the surround panel off. Would the 5.5 make me be losing that much heat? My installer says no
 
Isn't the heat Lways going to escape anyway since the liner is open .. Meaning that like a regular fireplace you can open and close the damper shutting off the chimney.. The chimney liner is a straight shot up the chimney never being closed off I'm assuming that's how it's supposed to be but wouldn't that make you lose heat?
 
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Going to hardware store to get stuff to make damper block off plate ... Just found out that my liner is 5.5 inches.. Manual calls for a 6 installer said that that's not an issue and he does 5.5's all the time after work I'm going to run the stove with the surround panel off. Would the 5.5 make me be losing that much heat? My installer says no

A 5.5 liner reduces the draft which may make it harder to get a fire going and the stove up to temp. It is also possible that you cannot close the air control fully. How tall is your chimney? Good draft also depends on chimney length.

Nevertheless, I am not sure if that is your problem; I have the feeling you have not really tried to run your stove properly. See my post above; try it that way and post the results here.
 
Isn't the heat Lways going to escape anyway since the liner is open .. Meaning that like a regular fireplace you can open and close the damper shutting off the chimney.. The chimney liner is a straight shot up the chimney never being closed off I'm assuming that's how it's supposed to be but wouldn't that make you lose heat?

A chimney damper reduces the flow of the exhaust gases going OUT of the stove. The air control (unfortunately also sometimes called damper) reduces the air going INTO the stove. A modern stove like your Jotul has an air control, not a chimney damper.

At the beginning of the burn with the air fully open you should see a lot of air rushing in above the door, going down the glass and fan the fire at the bottom-front of the firebox. Since the airflow is really high a lot of heat will also go up your chimney. Thus, once the fire is established you want to reduce the amount of air coming in by stepwise closing down the air control. The air coming in over the door (primary air) will be reduced. On the other hand, air will come in through a secondary port feeding the burn tubes (baffle) that are in the top of your firebox. The heat in the firebox will force the wood to release its combustible material as gases that rise to the top, there those gases will mix with oxygen supplied by the burn tubes and you should see flames coming out of the holes there. Due to the restricted airflow 70% to 80% of the heat generated by these "secondaries" will be retained in the stove. Only a small part will go up the flue and take the exhaust gases with it.

When you start closing down the air take a look at the top of the firebox and see if you can see flames there. They may seem to come out of the burn tubes.
 
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Block off plate and Roxul not standard fiber glass insulation (roxul is way more fire resistant). I bet a good quantity of you hot air is going up your flue to heat your chimney, it needs to be kept around the stove. As I understand inserts need very good insulation around them to work properly and give good heat output.
 
Block off plate and Roxul not standard fiber glass insulation (roxul is way more fire resistant). I bet a good quantity of you hot air is going up your flue to heat your chimney, it needs to be kept around the stove. As I understand inserts need very good insulation around them to work properly and give good heat output.
That's what I think as well.. So you think the damper blocking plate with the roxul insulation will make a difference anywhere else I should place the insulation
 
That's what I think as well.. So you think the damper blocking plate with the roxul insulation will make a difference anywhere else I should place the insulation


Well it sure wont hurt anything.....

Also these stoves almost work backwards from what you would think. The more you turn them down the hotter they actually get. When you close the main air the draft causes more secondary air to come in the burn tubes. That secondary burn is what really gets the unit heated up.
 
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That's what I think as well.. So you think the damper blocking plate with the roxul insulation will make a difference anywhere else I should place the insulation
I think that this is a good start, I have read of people stuffing the top of the chimney as well but I cannot comment on that. Can you post a picture of the stove with this thermometer on the door? I would pick up a magnetic therm from lowes or hd for a second opinion also.

Well it sure wont hurt anything.....

Also these stoves almost work backwards from what you would think. The more you turn them down the hotter they actually get. When you close the main air the draft causes more secondary air to come in the burn tubes. That secondary burn is what really gets the unit heated up.
I agree with this also.
 
I think that this is a good start, I have read of people stuffing the top of the chimney as well but I cannot comment on that. Can you post a picture of the stove with this thermometer on the door? I would pick up a magnetic therm from lowes or hd for a second opinion also.


I agree with this also.
I am at work right now I had posted a picture last night with the stove going and the thermometer placed on the top of the door..
 
On the burn times thing:

I had a fire going all night Wednesday night, My wife was home yesterday so kept the fire going all day. Our home is 1776 ft/sq and we had temperatures ranging from 77 in the stove room to 68 in the furthest bedroom while outdoor temps were 40s during the day. About 9 pm last night I decided not to load up overnight as we were not expected to get much colder outside and the house was plenty warm, especially for sleeping. I did rake the coals forward and get them closer together for a more complete and final burn in front of the air inlet. This morning although the fire was out, stove room 72 degrees, main floor 70 degrees and leaving for work. This is because everything in the house had time to warm up and takes time to cool. No sense burning more wood if its comfortable. I will have a cooler house this evening when it's time for a new fire.
 
On the burn times thing:

I had a fire going all night Wednesday night, My wife was home yesterday so kept the fire going all day. Our home is 1776 ft/sq and we had temperatures ranging from 77 in the stove room to 68 in the furthest bedroom while outdoor temps were 40s during the day. About 9 pm last night I decided not to load up overnight as we were not expected to get much colder outside and the house was plenty warm, especially for sleeping. I did rake the coals forward and get them closer together for a more complete and final burn in front of the air inlet. This morning although the fire was out, stove room 72 degrees, main floor 70 degrees and leaving for work. This is because everything in the house had time to warm up and takes time to cool. No sense burning more wood if its comfortable. I will have a cooler house this evening when it's time for a new fire.
I would be happy with 70 in stove room and 68 everywhere else.. I can't seem to get my stove room to a 70 degree temperature .. Stays at around 62
 
I would be happy with 70 in stove room and 68 everywhere else.. I can't seem to get my stove room to a 70 degree temperature .. Stays at around 62
If your stove cannot even heat the room its in, it will never heat your entire house. Either your wood is not dry,or your stove is malfunctioning. No matter how small the stove ,it is certainly rated for more Sf than the room its in.
 
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If you stove cannot even heat the room its in, it will never heat your entire house. Either your wood is not dry,or your stove is malfunctioning. No matter how small the stove ,it is certainly rated for more Sf than the room its in.
Exactly... How would you tell if the stove would be malfunctioning.. Wouldn't I be getting smoke In the room ?
 
I would get an IR thermometer. We just had another user who could not get his house warm and we were looking at all kind of reasons. It turned out to be a faulty stove thermometer; the user was just not running his stove at the temps he was thinking. An IR thermometer will allow you to check different spots on your insert. Btw. The location of your current one on the door frame is less than ideal. You want to put it at least on the stove body.
 
I would be happy with 70 in stove room and 68 everywhere else.. I can't seem to get my stove room to a 70 degree temperature .. Stays at around 62


That's my point, I achieved that after running the stove for about 36 hours straight. It's not exactly your setup as I have a freestander. It takes time for the heat to radiate. If ,as others have suggested, you're not getting as warm as the thermometer says, then it's going to take even longer. And if you're losing heat up the chimney it may never warm up. Note by chimney we are refereing to the air space between your liner and the masonry. If it's not blocked off with insulation as described that's where a lot of room heat is going.
 
The air adjustment is a tricky thing. To get the fire started and going, you need as much air as possible, and usually that means having the door open to keep it from dying out. But once the fire's established and you can see that cutting back the air has no effect on the fire (i.e. turning down the air does not cut back the flames) it's good to do that, since you then are keeping more air in the stove and room versus sending it up the flue.

But beginners (especially) need to be careful not to cut back the air too much or too soon, it's very easy to smother out a fire, so until you're sure what you're doing, it may be safer to err on the side of a little too much air, rather than not enough, especially if you want to get your stove as hot as possible (safely).

Still, it is important to realize that you are burning most efficiently (getting the max heat out of the wood into your room) when the air is cut back to closed (or almost closed -- depending on your draft situation -- you don't want to be seeing black smoke coming out of the flue, which is the best indicator that you need more air). So it may help when you are learning, to make a few checks on the chimney outside after the air adjustments.
 
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The roxul and block off plate should make a difference, I think my room was 3 degrees hotter after I installed mine so you definitely lose some going up through the opening.
Have we determined that your wood is dry enough? How long seasoned, what species, sorry if answered already I'm losing track of these threads.
 
The roxul and block off plate should make a difference, I think my room was 3 degrees hotter after I installed mine so you definitely lose some going up through the opening.
Have we determined that your wood is dry enough? How long seasoned, what species, sorry if answered already I'm losing track of these threads.
I have not determined is wood is dry enough yet... It's mostly oak at least 9 or 10 months old
 
I have not determined is wood is dry enough yet... It's mostly oak at least 9 or 10 months old
OK, we just discovered 90% of your problem, can you get some drier wood somewhere else? How about some envi blocks to mix in. I've tested oak after 2 full years of drying and still be in the mid 20's, I usually wont burn oak for 3 years.
 
Well it sure wont hurt anything.....

Also these stoves almost work backwards from what you would think. The more you turn them down the hotter they actually get. When you close the main air the draft causes more secondary air to come in the burn tubes. That secondary burn is what really gets the unit heated up.
I'm trying to find some
Buy some kiln dried firewood bags from a local gas station or grocery store and see if that makes a difference. 9-10 month old oak C\S\S is still 14-24 months away from being ready.
 
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