Englander VL-17 Heat Shield

[Enginerd]

Hi, all.

I'm new here but have been browsing for a while for guidance in installing my new VL-17 while I work on upgrading my heatilator in the living room.

I've just completed the break in fires on this little stove and am starting to use it nightly to keep the first floor warm as a secondary heater to a traditional home furnace. I bought the unit as a refurbished resale from the manufacturer and have had some issues feeding the fire with air. It was so bad that I took the stove apart to check to make sure the OAK wasn't blocked. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong as this is a fussy stove. My draft is excellent and even cold, I can open the door and see the smoke rushing upwards. I'll try opening a window nearby. Again, it's me, not the stove!

Anyway... Because of where I located the stove, I wanted to keep some of the American thermal units from radiating out of the glass windows. To do that, I built a small heat shield that convects warm air. I'm not a fan of the tri-fold standing units that are available. Also I should mention that all of my clearances have been met plus a few inches or more in places.

The shield is fabricated of 1/16" cold rolled steel and angle, a small bar across the top and two magnets on threaded studs just to keep the sides from splaying. The angle hooks on the front and back of the stove. I welded it all together but it's easy to replicate using pop rivets or screws.

Thanks for all the great info out there! Stay warm, folks.

 

[moresnow]

Wild stab in the dark here. Take a split from your indoor pile thats at room temp and re-split it. Grab your moisture meter and probe the middle of the freshly exposed face. If you don't have a moisture meter. Purchase one. Run the test on several more room temp re-split pieces. Reply with the info. Should be reading percent of moisture content.

Testing any other area on a split is wasting your time. Eg. the end or existing outside surface.
Sounds like potentially wet fuel if you are experiencing air delivery trouble and have established that you have good draft.

On another note. Are side shields available from the factory for that model? Only asking because I've had magnets fall off a stove. Not good. And it may not be "engineered" for the extra retained heat. Not sure if this is a concern. But?
Welcome to Hearth. Really nice looking place!

edit: just noticed the limb wood under the stove. Any chance you are having problems when stoking the fire with those?

 

[Enginerd]

Good suggestions!

I have a cheapo moisture meter for my chordwood. I split a few pieces of red oak chordwood and it registered somewhere between 15 and 20% for the stuff closer to gravel ground (It's also raining here). This is the outside pile. Inside pile is around 18% for various species...mixed bag this early in the season. I use salvaged SYP kiln dried framing material for kindling only.

So I did notice a statement in the manual about keeping ash at least one inch below the front edge of the fire box. Is that where the air is fed? How is that possible if the bricks are almost flush with the edge?

Re magnets: I see your point. They don't actually hold anything in place but keep the sides from pulling outwards. The angle iron keeps the shield from sliding front to back and pivoting on the top bar. I tried to use the biggest magnets I could find.

I exhausted my search looking for side heat shields. I found them the for next size up stove but wanted something subtle without the need for drilling holes in the stove. I saw a lovely trifold copper free standing shield on this site a while ago..cat tails IIRC...and may pursue that design later.

Thanks again!