Anyone else own an Astria firelplace ?

[Chippy Chaser]

First time wood burner here, I recently purchased an Astria Ladera fireplace at the advice from the local fireplace shop being that it was the only model that would fit into my existing hearth.
I wish I had done more research and possibly purchased a much larger free standing stove.

The stove only has a 2 sq ft burn box & is rated for 1500 sq ft. My ranch home is closer to 1900 sq ft.
I'm experimenting with box fan placement trying to move the warm air around, but I fear come Jan-Feb when we're in the teens this little Astria isn't going to keep up.

I don't see much mention of the Astria name on the forums, so I was curious if I fell for a sales pitch or did I actually purchase a decent unit.

I may have to add a second stove to heat the other half of the house, possibly a pellet stove.

Thanks,
.

 

[jetsam]

The square foot ratings numbers are made up by various marketing departments and don't mean much of anything. Will a stove claimed to heat 1500sf do the same job in an uninsulated 1500sf cabin with leaky single pane windows and a 1500sf super insulated new house? Ridiculous.

That said, 2cf is not a big stove and that is a flush unit, which is another handicap.

I would see how the smaller unit does before tossing it. Don't overfire it trying to get more heat or you'll have even more headaches trying to resell it.

If air circulation in the house is good, it will be cheaper and easier to expand existing hearth and add a larger freestander than it will be to add a new flue and a new stove. If there is not good airflow from the stove room to the cold side, a second stove looks a little better. Two stoves in 1500sf would be somewhat unusual though.

Two stoves is double the chimney sweeping and may be (depending on the stove) almost double the wood-lugging and mess as well. Putting in a new flue and a new hearth is not cheap.

No feedback on the fireplace itself, sorry.

 

[begreen]

The Ladera is made by BIS and sold by Astria. The Astria name and product line came into being a few years ago as a result of the sale of Lennox fireplace division to IHP. Lennox had sold BIS fireplaces under their label. FWIW BIS has been around for a long time, since the mid-80s.

2 cu ft is a medium sized firebox. Our next door neighbor heats his 1600 sq ft home with a 2 cu ft PE stove. Works great. Run properly and burning dry wood it should heat the place well most of the time. If the central heat has to supplement during the coldest weather, don't sweat it. The Ladera is a good looking fireplace. Enjoy the cozy warmth and nice fireview and keep us posted on how the fireplace works out for you. It's interesting to see a cat design in a medium fireplace. I am wondering if BIS took the Ultima and catified it to meet EPA phase II requirements?

 

[kswaterfowler]

Havent been around for 3 years or so but stumbled across this post looking for one of my old posts. We have the ladera in our living room. Upstairs we are 1586 sq ft with vaulted ceiling. The ladera will have the living area so warm I am opening windows whwn its zero outside.

 

[Jasondab]

I own an Astria Ladera. Not getting sufficient air into the box (even with the combustion air control and cat wide open).
The fan kicks in one the unit gets hot, but only seems to operate at low speeds. we do have a dimmer switch that controls the speed of the fan, but we can't feel any air flow coming out of the unit even at the highest setting. Does anyone have any advice?
Much appreciated.
Jason

 

[begreen]

I own an Astria Ladera. Not getting sufficient air into the box (even with the combustion air control and cat wide open).
The fan kicks in one the unit gets hot, but only seems to operate at low speeds. we do have a dimmer switch that controls the speed of the fan, but we can't feel any air flow coming out of the unit even at the highest setting. Does anyone have any advice?
Much appreciated.
Jason

If you can hear the speed change in the motor, one possibility is that the squirrel cage is slipping on the motor shaft. If that is the issue it is remedied by tightening the set screws on the fan collar.

 

[Bettuzzo]

I own an Astria Ladera. Not getting sufficient air into the box (even with the combustion air control and cat wide open).
The fan kicks in one the unit gets hot, but only seems to operate at low speeds. we do have a dimmer switch that controls the speed of the fan, but we can't feel any air flow coming out of the unit even at the highest setting. Does anyone have any advice?
Much appreciated.
Jason

Hi Jason,

Did you find a fix for your fireplace? I have installed a Superior WRT3920 (it's called Superior on the box but on the glass I see Astria so it's like yours).
Same issue, not enough air entering the firebox. Vent is working fine. It's quite a pain to light it, flame stays on with door partially opened but as soon as I close it die. Only when flue temperature is above 700F I can see decent flames .
It didn't pass the inspection. Inspector said chimney and vent are properly installed. Contacted Superior but they didn't help much.

Thank you
Alberto

 

[john26]

It's quite a pain to light it, flame stays on with door partially opened but as soon as I close it die. Only when flue temperature is above 700F I can see decent flames .

sounds like wet wood

It didn't pass the inspection. Inspector said chimney and vent are properly installed. Contacted Superior but they didn't help much.

Why didn't it pass inspection?

 

[begreen]

It didn't pass the inspection.

Typo? Did or didn't pass?

 

[Bettuzzo]

Wood was dry, measured few pieces all between 15-18%.
It didn't pass inspection because flame didn't stay on when inspector closed door. "No combustion air".
I have 18 feet of class A chimney pipe (straight, no offsets) and 6 feet of air intake duct (4"). Even with window open and vent disconnected (so no negative pressure inside room) there is not lot of air entering firebox. Flame doesn't stay on unless door is at least 1/2" open. I can close door after 15 minutes or so, flame is very low but stays on.
Intake air open and catalyst bypassed.
Used several high efficiency fireplaces in the last 15 years and never had problems like with this one. This model is EPA 2020.

 

[begreen]

Gather some dry construction cutoffs or cut up an untreated palette or two and see how that burns. Also, is it possible to visually see the air intake port on the fireplace and make sure it is properly connected and the incoming vent is not pinched or crimped? Does the intake vent cover have a flap that might be stuck?

 

[Bettuzzo]

Tried other pieces of wood (including construction ) and still the same. Air port is properly connected. I see a 1 1/2" flex duct going to top of firebox and then into a channel on top of door. Flex duct doesn't seem pinched . Channel has around #50 3/16 holes toward g\door glass. Removed baffle , I can blow air with vacuum from 4" vent port to hole behind baffle. Also checked secondary air ports, they are ok.
I see a small hole (around 3/16") in a sort of small box right behind door. Hole is pointing back of firebox. According to Superior guy I talked to that is the only air port inside firebox (????). Tomorrow i'll remove it to see what it does.

 

[begreen]

Is this happening with the cat bypass open and the air control fully open? If so, it sounds like something is obstructed either on the air intake or in the flue or chimney cap.
Note that according to the manual the outside air enters the fireplace down low, near the bottom right, via a 4" duct.

 

[Bettuzzo]

Yes cat bypass open and air control fully open. As I wrote before there are no obstructions in the 4" duct and in the 1 1/2" duct inside firebox.
Yes I know where the duct enters, it's on bottom left, not right.
Chimney is clean, I fired it for the first time 4 days ago. I can see the cat if I pull the chimney cap on the roof.

 

[begreen]

That's bizarre. With the cat bypass open, this is essentially a conventional stove. It's as if the left side OAK needs an internal reconfiguration.

 

[Bettuzzo]

That's bizarre. With the cat bypass open, this is essentially a conventional stove. It's as if the left side OAK needs an internal reconfiguration.

"It's as if the left side OAK needs an internal reconfiguration." ??

 

[begreen]

Never mind, it is left sided from the factory. I was looking at another ZC on another thread and had two manuals open.

 

[Bettuzzo]

Here 2 pictures from this morning after about 15 minutes with door slightly open (1/2") .
You can see the difference, flame went out after I closed the door.
When flue temperature is high (around 500-600F) it's better, but I still have to leave intake air open to see flames.

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the cat is not even able to get hot enough to fire off. Although the chimney height is good, sometimes local terrain or chimney location can affect draft. Is the dealer working to remedy this situation for you? I'd be tempted to add 4' temporarily just as a test to see if it remedied the situation.

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[Bettuzzo]

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a reply from the dealer. I can add 4' but temporary? I have to buy another pipe and install it. And maybe I will need additional brackets because pipe is already around 7' from roof.
See picture below. Furnace chimney is about 5' from fireplace chimney.

 

[bholler]

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a reply from the dealer. I can add 4' but temporary? I have to buy another pipe and install it. And maybe I will need additional brackets because pipe is already around 7' from roof.
See picture below. Furnace chimney is about 5' from fireplace chimney.

View attachment 283880

What procedure did you use to test the moisture content of your wood? Have you tried some scrap lumber (2x4s) ?

 

[Bettuzzo]

I used a moisture meter, measured different pieces in different points. Wood is at least 3 years old. Tested 2x4 as well , same.
Below picture after about 3 hours with fire on. Flue temperature is around 600F. Catalyst is on , intake air fully open.

 

[kennyp2339]

With the moisture meter your measuring the moisture a fresh split face? ie: take a split, re-split and then measure and make sure the pins go into the wood some.

 

[stoveliker]

Indeed; I'd try a few ecologs or something. Not mixed in with wood, but only that. Or only 4-6 pieces of 2*4.

 

[begreen]

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a reply from the dealer. I can add 4' but temporary? I have to buy another pipe and install it. And maybe I will need additional brackets because pipe is already around 7' from roof.
See picture below. Furnace chimney is about 5' from fireplace chimney.

Temporary as in - dealer comes out with a length and tests. This could be two 2' lengths and they could try 2ft first. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Flue temperature is around 600F

How and where is this being measured? Do you mean the catalyst thermometer temperature?