Englander NC30 lazy flames at 15° and colder

[jeb_woodman]

I have a 26 ft SS lined chimney. Issue is around 15° on down the flames get lazy. I need to open the door a Crack to get any heat. If I clean the firebox out it's slightly better with heat. I have older drafty house. Stove is in the basement in a ranch style house. It's our primary source of heat. 1800sq ft. Would insulating the chimney make the difference. Is chimney temp dropping onto cause this issue. We had a Alaskan Kodiac stove never had issues
I miss that stove. Worked excellent. Any Info greatly appreciated!!

 

[brenndatomu]

The new stoves are much more efficient, so less heat wasted up the flue...so yes, insulating the liner would probably help a lot...help make for a cleaner flue too.
Fixing the "draftiness" of the house would help too...since the stove is in the basement it is competing with the house for makeup air...that is, the house is leaking warm air out the top so fast that it is competing with the stove for fresh air coming into the house

 

[NickW]

The NC30 is a secondary combustion stove and real heat beast. The goal is lazy flames on the wood and floating secondary flames & jet flames at the air tubes. Cracking the door just sends more of the heat up the chimney. How do you monitor temperature?

I have less height than you (insulated) with my NC30 and needed to install a damper to keep it controllable. I can easily get 8 hour burn cycles and often have plenty of coals to reload on after 12 hours. My ideal fire for max heat is cruising at 700+/- flue temperature and stt (stove top temperature) of 600+/-.

 

[begreen]

Yes, we need a clearer picture of what lazy flames means. What are the stovetop and flue temperatures? Is the wood fully seasoned?

When it gets below 15º is a boiler or furnace running? If so, the issue may be competition for combustion air.

Was this the first season burning? Was the flue system checked for possible buildup causing restriction?