Does anyone know where the "Room Air Cover" is located on the Alderlea T5 LE?

[Jei]

Hi Folks!

We're in a 200 year old farmhouse owned by my parents. Last year they had to replace the old Vermont Castings stove in the farmhouse and they went with the Pacific Coast Alderlea T5 LE. We've since moved into the farmhouse to be closer to them as they age, and we've been having some trouble getting enough air in it to get the heat output to it's expected levels and to keep the ember-levels down. Often it looks as though it is suffering from lack of draft even though the primary air is set to wide open.

When I look through the manual, on page 22 it recommends we check that the "Room Air Cover" has been removed. Since I wasn't here for the install, I can't verify that happened. When I crawl behind the stove there's a small rectangular metal plate with two screws holding it in place. Is this the air room cover? May I remove it in order to provide more air supply? It's not the same as the "outdoor air supply" with is to the right of this plate.

We burn 24 hours here, as wood heat is our primary heat source all winter. Never before has anyone had any trouble keeping the farmhouse at 20 degrees celsius with other stoves, but the Alderlea is really struggling when the temp goes below 5 degrees celsius. Many pros have told us the Alderlea T5 LE should be more than equipped to heat this space. Any advice would be much appreciated, as I can't seem to find the part on their exploded-view diagram.

Thanks all!

 

[begreen]

The odds are that this is not air supply. It sounds like a symptom of higher wood moisture content. The new stove is going to be more particular about the firewood being fully seasoned. You could check this by testing the wood moisture after splitting with a moisture meter. Or, get some known dry wood from the store or burn some construction scrap, 2x4 cutoffs.

The other possibility is that there is a partial obstruction in the flue system. This could be a bird or bee nest in the chimney or a partially clogged cap screen or a large amount of creosote build up. Can you describe the whole flue system setup starting with the stove connection and up to the chimney cap? How tall is the system? Is it 6" all the way?

 

[Jei]

The odds are that this is not air supply. It sounds like a symptom of higher wood moisture content. The new stove is going to be more particular about the firewood being fully seasoned. You could check this by testing the wood moisture after splitting with a moisture meter. Or, get some known dry wood from the store or burn some construction scrap, 2x4 cutoffs.

The other possibility is that there is a partial obstruction in the flue system. This could be a bird or bee nest in the chimney or a partially clogged cap screen or a large amount of creosote build up. Can you describe the whole flue system setup starting with the stove connection and up to the chimney cap? How tall is the system? Is it 6" all the way?

I'll have to grab a moisture content tester to check our wood-- we've been getting it from the same gentleman for decades now, it would surprise me if it wasn't cured properly. That being said, you never know!

I don't believe we have any obstructions in the flue system, as we just had it all thoroughly cleaned and inspected less than a month ago, and it behaved this way both before and after the cleaning. It's a top-vent, up through a massive stone and brick chimney (which used to be a large stone fireplace) all the way through the second floor and up out the top of the roof. I'm not certain the finished height of the chimney, I'm not the best at estimating height so I'll double check with my father tonight.

At first I thought I was smothering the fire and embers with wood that was too large (but great for all our other wood stoves on the property and every woodstove I've ever used before) because the air supply comes from above instead of below. through the embers. I split a number of smaller pieces and though they're burning better, it's still not great.

We'll still be tinkering for a bit now!

Does improperly cured wood or wet wood leave masses of embers? There are always seemingly too many embers, and not enough heat output, from the setup we currently have.

 

[bholler]

I'll have to grab a moisture content tester to check our wood-- we've been getting it from the same gentleman for decades now, it would surprise me if it wasn't cured properly. That being said, you never know!

I don't believe we have any obstructions in the flue system, as we just had it all thoroughly cleaned and inspected less than a month ago, and it behaved this way both before and after the cleaning. It's a top-vent, up through a massive stone and brick chimney (which used to be a large stone fireplace) all the way through the second floor and up out the top of the roof. I'm not certain the finished height of the chimney, I'm not the best at estimating height so I'll double check with my father tonight.

At first I thought I was smothering the fire and embers with wood that was too large (but great for all our other wood stoves on the property and every woodstove I've ever used before) because the air supply comes from above instead of below. through the embers. I split a number of smaller pieces and though they're burning better, it's still not great.

We'll still be tinkering for a bit now!

Does improperly cured wood or wet wood leave masses of embers? There are always seemingly too many embers, and not enough heat output, from the setup we currently have.

Yes wet wood will leave lots of coals. Does the chimney have a 6" insulated liner in it?

 

[begreen]

Does improperly cured wood or wet wood leave masses of embers? There are always seemingly too many embers, and not enough heat output, from the setup we currently have.

Yes, partially seasoned wood will have a lot of coals. Test the moisture by resplitting the room temp wood in half, then testing on the freshly exposed face of wood. It should read less than 20%. What species wood are you burning?

Jei is there a blockoff plate in the damper area of the fireplace? Is the liner 6"?

Are you able to get a full-blaze fire going? If so, try turning down the air once the fire is burning well. Closing off the air does not reduce heat output. Instead it creates a vacuum in the firebox that pulls more air through the secondary combustion port. That increases the firebox temperature and reduces heat wasted up the flue. Close down the air in increments, like 50% at a time until the flames get lazy, then wait until they regain strength and repeat.