Hi All! I've recently upgraded my open fireplace with an Avalon Rainer insert I bought used. Chimney was checked and cleaned, I installed a 6" stainless liner to the top, and, worried about the "tightness" of my house, built a 1" square steel pedistal, with a fresh air duct from outside coming up through the old ash dump to the bottom of the stove. I can get a pretty decent fire started, but when I close the door, it seems to choke down quite a bit (not "out", but not really "going"). With that said, my only real comparison is an Avalon Pendleton stove my mom has at her camp in Maine, which seems to get a good roaring fire with the air control fully out. I do know this; once the fire is going, with full air, it seems to cut down quite a bit once the door is closed, yet opening the door only an inch gets it going nice and toasty again (which is why I'm thinking it has to be starving for air)!
I had the stove sitting in my garage for a season, as I didn't have the time to get to it last year, and I'm wondering if mice could have built a nest in there. Has anyone ever had this happen? Or does this sound like normal stove operation due to the intake size? Also, could someone please help me to understand how the air flows around the stove? I see the two tubes up top, which I think help transfer heat out to the room, and what seems to be another grate along the upper front of the door, which I assume is intake air (but it could all be reversed for all I know!)? There is also a small welded "box" inside near the center front botom (just behind and below the door) with a hole in it, if anyone could add what THAT is! If I need to figure a way to get a possible nest out, I just want to know I'm looking down the right passages, as it is a bear to see much of anything through the air intake opening!
I'll answer anything I may have missed, and thanks for all the help in advance!
I had the stove sitting in my garage for a season, as I didn't have the time to get to it last year, and I'm wondering if mice could have built a nest in there. Has anyone ever had this happen? Or does this sound like normal stove operation due to the intake size? Also, could someone please help me to understand how the air flows around the stove? I see the two tubes up top, which I think help transfer heat out to the room, and what seems to be another grate along the upper front of the door, which I assume is intake air (but it could all be reversed for all I know!)? There is also a small welded "box" inside near the center front botom (just behind and below the door) with a hole in it, if anyone could add what THAT is! If I need to figure a way to get a possible nest out, I just want to know I'm looking down the right passages, as it is a bear to see much of anything through the air intake opening!
I'll answer anything I may have missed, and thanks for all the help in advance!