Can't get stove temps up

[DTrain]

So I've been enjoying my stove running up to 500-600 degrees fairly regularly. We've had 20-30 degree overnight temps lately and the stove has been doing a really good job keeping our home warm. Now we've had some colder weather. 5-15 degrees overnight. The stove is not able to get past 425. I've been shutting the air down normally, seems like stove is climbing in temp ok, then when I get to 1/4 or less just seems to stall everything out. I have a 25 foot masonry chimney. 8x11 or there abouts. It's on the west end of the house and exposed starting at about 1/2 it's height. And sheltered by an un heated sun room on the bottom half. We have a good breeze but not gusty. I know a cold day is supposed to be good for draft, but I'm not seeing that.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Do you have a liner in the flue? It sounds like you are dealing with one that is wildly oversized for your stove.

 

[DTrain]

No liner. But no liner has been doing ok til now.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

My manual says it may need to be run with the air open, in more extreme winter weather, try it without shutting it down so much, see if you see a difference....

 

[begreen]

It sounds like there is marginal draft due to the large increase in flue area. Add to this an ice cold flue and flue gases are not hot enough to keep the draft strong. An insulated liner would help fix this if weak draft is the cause. When was the last time the flue was checked for buildup?

 

[mellow]

Have you pulled from a different batch of wood that might not be as seasoned as you think?

 

[DTrain]

Summer. All good.

 

[begreen]

Was it split this summer?

 

[DTrain]

Was it split this summer?

No, it's about twenty month oak. Some older than that. I did move a few ricks worth of wood, into the sun room to keep from running outside for wood. It's possible there are some less seasoned ones. I've been using some good size splits too, perhaps using some smaller splits could help?

 

[mellow]

Yea, big splits of OAK are going to take 3+ years to season. Stick to the smallest splits if your using almost 2 year old split stuff.

If you have a moisture meter or pick one up at Lowes that would help alot in figuring out if its the wood.

 

[Hogwildz]

Check for cloggage up top.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No liner. But no liner has been doing ok til now.

But it hasn't been as cold before now. The cold on that oversized chimney will ruin the draft.

No, it's about twenty month oak. Some older than that. I did move a few ricks worth of wood, into the sun room to keep from running outside for wood. It's possible there are some less seasoned ones. I've been using some good size splits too, perhaps using some smaller splits could help?

No way would we consider burning 20 month oak. In our house, it is 3 years in the stack before burning any oak. The bigger the split, the longer it takes to dry.

 

[DTrain]

But it hasn't been as cold before now. The cold on that oversized chimney will ruin the draft.
No way would we consider burning 20 month oak. In our house, it is 3 years in the stack before burning any oak. The bigger the split, the longer it takes to dry.

Well I gotta burn what I got. Year two By the way. My stock is improving though. Anyway. Smaller splits, waiting for higher than normal stove top temps to turn down and I hit 550. Thanks fellas!

 

[DTrain]

575 and climbing with air shut down. I'm so happy. Yesterday at this time of night, my wife will tell you I was swearing a blue streak. It was 8 degrees out too.

 

[BrotherBart]

Have a warm night.

 

[Valhalla]

My Oslo 500 requires well seasoned splits of all species. Longer seasoning is always SOP. I'll use smaller splits as a boost to stovetop temp.