ESCAPE 2100 little to no heat output

[Lowtech84]

Short story:

I have a 2100 Escape located in my basement of a 2 story 1500 sq./ft home.
The basement is uninsulated.
The stove vents into about 5 feet of single wall stove pipe w/a 90 degree bend to go into a masonry chimney.
The chimney is about 25 ft. w/a 6 inch insulated liner.

For the life of me I cannot get any real heat out of this thing.
The only thing i seem to be good at is making big mounds of charcoal.

I don't have any buildup on the glass. So I assume the fire is plenty hot.
I have a magnet thermometer on the flue about 12-18" away from the stove. I get that up to about 500-600 degrees Fahrenheit and start to close off the air supply to the stove.
But no matter if I leave the stove wide open or close it all the way down I don't feel any heat.

As far as wood goes I don't think that's the issue. This gets into the longer story.

Long story:

Bought this house in October of 2021.
The came with an oil furnace and a double door huntsman woodstove both vented to the same 25' chimney. Everyone advised not to run the woodstove vented to the same flue as the oil furnace. So I never ran the woodstove and relied on the oil furnace for the 1st winter.

Jan 2023- I had the oil furnace inspected and it was in bad shape and needed to be replaced. I replaced the oil furnace w/a direct vent propane furnace. This opened up the chimney flue so I could run the huntsman woodstove. Ran that for the rest of the winter.

Fall 2023 - Had the chimney flue swept. Found that the flue had collapsed and needed to be repaired. I had the clay flue removed and a 6" insulated flex pipe installed in the chimney. It was at this time the escape 2100 was installed.
I tried for maybe a month while winter had not settled in yet but I was able to really get any heat out of the stove. At this time I chalked it up to my wood not being properly seasoned.
From then until recently I have been using the hunstman woodstove. Running it about 1/2 capacity it did a decent job of keeping my house warm while the temps were above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I could get the main living area about 70 without issue. I could push it to 75 by the end of the day.

Jan 2025- I have been testing my wood for moisture and it is well below 20%. Even reviewed my technique for testing the wood. Started doing a fresh split and testing from there. I no longer see any hissing or moisture evaporating when burning.
Running the huntsman w/the smaller flue ended up being more than I could handle. Running at 1/2 load id need to refill about every other hour. Every few weeks id sweep the chimney (have access from the basement). Had a couple bad back puffing incidents.

So I reinstalled the Escape 2100 a few days ago. Even with the drier wood I cant really seam to get any heat good heat out of the stove. I am burning a hardwood mix of maple, cherry, ash, oak.

I contacted SBI/Drolet about installing a flue damper and they said never install a flue damper.

 

[kborndale]

You need to insulate the basement, right now you are trying to heat the earth around your home. If the stovetop is getting to 600 degrees you are producing plenty of heat, just not enough to heat the earth. Insulate. A flue damper is for when your stove is running too hot, I don't see how it would be useful for you now.

 

[Lowtech84]

You need to insulate the basement, right now you are trying to heat the earth around your home. If the stovetop is getting to 600 degrees you are producing plenty of heat, just not enough to heat the earth. Insulate. A flue damper is for when your stove is running too hot, I don't see how it would be useful for you now.

I agree the basement not being insulated is one of the problems.

The thermomotor is on the flue not the stove top. To your point I have on occasion put it on the stove top and do get a similar reading.

But even w/the temps the way they are i don't feel anywhere near the heat output from the huntsman.

Am i not closing the air down fast enough? Am I closing it down to fast? Am I closing the air to much?

Why is there such a large amount of charcoal? Is that expected. I would think I would have little to none.

thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

[Gearhead660]

The external temp of stove pipe is 500-600? That sounds like too hot internal flue temp. Try closing off primary air sooner. Agree with others about the need for insulating. Lots of heat lost to the concrete walls.

 

[Lowtech84]

The external temp of stove pipe is 500-600? That sounds like too hot internal flue temp. Try closing off primary air sooner. Agree with others about the need for insulating. Lots of heat lost to the concrete walls.

Thanks for the reply.
Ill give it a shot for sure. I thought i needed to get the fire ripping before i closed down the air.

 

[kborndale]

Don't close it down all at once. Do it slowly in increments.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Huge hunks of charcoal is often the result of too much moisture in the wood. How exactly are you measuring the moisture content? The new stove will be much pickier about its wood than the old stove.

Some species of wood make a lot of coals, but it’s normally a sign of wet wood.

 

[Lowtech84]

Huge hunks of charcoal is often the result of too much moisture in the wood. How exactly are you measuring the moisture content? The new stove will be much pickier about its wood than the old stove.

Some species of wood make a lot of coals, but it’s normally a sign of wet wood.

Ash/maple/cherry/oak.

Been split since about fall 2023.
To test I believe I am supposed to spilt the piece of wood i am testing again and take a reading from the side that was split. Not sure if that makes sense. Just a cheap moisture meter from home depot or lowes.

Tested a piece and sometimes it reads 0-5% other spots its about 15-16%. Not sure im going to be able to do any better than that. Its certainly not over 20%.

thanks!

 

[Lowtech84]

Thanks for the reply.
Ill give it a shot for sure. I thought i needed to get the fire ripping before i closed down the air.

Added more wood to hot coals when the flue thermometer was reading 200.

Tried cutting the air down when the flue thermometer hit about 400. About 1/4 increments at a time. Flue reached just past 500 when i closed the air completely.

Its probably been 1/2 an hour and moved the thermometer to the stove top and that was at 600 degrees.

thanks!

 

[moresnow]

I had the clay flue removed and a 6" insulated flex pipe installed in the chimney.

Is the bottom of this liner capped?

 

[Lowtech84]

Is the bottom of this liner capped?

Can you be more specific?

The bottom of the liner runs to a clean we put in during the installation of the liner. That is capped off yes.

The single wall stove pipe is connected to a t section in the liner through the existing masonry thimble.

thanks!

 

[moresnow]

The flex section running down below the "T" to the masonry clean out access needs to be capped at the bottom. Is it?

I am not referring to the masonry cleanout access.

It's been an issue with a few folks.

 

[Lowtech84]

The flex section running down below the "T" to the masonry clean out access needs to be capped at the bottom. Is it?

I am not referring to the masonry cleanout access.

It's been an issue with a few folks.

Yes there is a cast iron door for the clean out. Behind that is the bottom end of the 6" flex pipe that is capped off.

thanks !

 

[Lowtech84]

Maybe you guys can help me on the operation of the stove.

Today I had a lot of coals 2-3 inch worth at least when i checked on the stove around 6:30AM . I took a pale full out and put it into my outside ash bucket away from my house.

There was still at least another full pale worth of coals/charcoal in the stove. I raked everything to the front and added one log at a time to burn down the remaining coal bed. This was approx. 6 hours of burn time. The whole time I kept the 1 air control all the way open.

At noon I had a very small amount of coals, maybe a few handfuls. I almost thought it wouldn't be enough to restart the fire (I was wrong). The magnetic flue thermometer was at about 100 degrees.
At this time I completely filled the stove as much as I could. In about 1/2 a hour The fire was going good. By the time the flue temp got to around 300 I started to close off the air supply. By the time the flue reached 500 I closed it off completely but this killed the fire. So I played around for another 20-30 mins and the flue temp never reached over 500 but I was getting the fire more and more active.
So about an hour into the process now I was able to have the air 80-90 percent closed. I moved the thermometer to the stove top. The stove was only around 400 degrees. I left everything unattended.
I would check in periodically and the stove top temp eventually reached the 600 degree mark and closed the air completely.
An hour or so go by and now there is no flame in the firebox. Everything just seems to be smoldering. I open the air supply up and it seems like everything is going good. The flue temp stayed in the 300-500 range during this time.
Now around 4pm and there is very little flame and I have a large bed of coal. I thought opening the air would burn down the coal pile and i would be left with nothing eventually later in the night to reload things. So I decided to rake the coals toward the front. To my surprise I had unburnt wood deeper under the coals towards the back of the fire box. Am I doing something to cause this?

So from my assessment I think i have the first couple hours down, but past that I'm at a loss as to how to properly run the stove.

1. Id like to get as much heat as possible out of the stove to see if its worth it to insulate the basement or figure out another option.
2. Id like to be able to leave the stove unattended for at least 4 hours. Hopefully closer to 8. The way things are going I have to constantly adjust the air and rake coals to get things to burn down all the way.

 

[stoveliker]

These are symptoms that are consistent with wood that's too wet. Much coal build up, dying fire when closing the air.

 

[Lowtech84]

These are symptoms that are consistent with wood that's too wet. Much coal build up, dying fire when closing the air.

Thanks for the reply.

I hope the wood isn't to wet. Not sure I can get it any drier. It's been outside covered for about 2 years. The splits are small. I tested with a moisture meter the other day and the highest moisture content was 15%. Id probably give up if this wood is to wet. I'll see if I can grab a bundle of wood from the gas station I think that's my best bet to test this.

 

[stoveliker]

Oak for sure isn't good if it's been stacked since the fall of 2023.
Maple would be marginal I think.

Get some store wood (often also on the wet side of good...) and add a 2*4 offcut or two to test

Is your flue still unobstructed? Cap not clogged?
Burning "at the edge" can result in deposits, which can restrict draft, leading to insufficient air for the marginal wood.

Maybe your wood is good, but all I know is that the symptoms are consistent with it not being. It could also be due to something else.

I would not yet give up.

 

[stoveliker]

Are you pins all the way into the wood when you measure?

 

[Lowtech84]

Oak for sure isn't good if it's been stacked since the fall of 2023.
Maple would be marginal I think.

Get some store wood (often also on the wet side of good...) and add a 2*4 offcut or two to test

Is your flue still unobstructed? Cap not clogged?
Burning "at the edge" can result in deposits, which can restrict draft, leading to insufficient air for the marginal wood.

Maybe your wood is good, but all I know is that the symptoms are consistent with it not being. It could also be due to something else.

I would not yet give up.

Not familiar with the term Burning "at the edge". Can you explain more about that?

Cap looks clear from the ground. Metal roof so I dont think I'll be on the roof anytime soon.

I have kept up sweeping the chimney from the clean out. I could schedule a clean out w/camera inspection but wouldn't I see other signs of poor draft?

Yeah I was thinking along the same lines of store wood.

 

[Lowtech84]

Are you pins all the way into the wood when you measure?

I do question myself if I'm getting accurate readings from the meter. I'll press them in as far as they go and see if it makes a difference.

 

[stoveliker]

Not familiar with the term Burning "at the edge". Can you explain more about that?

Cap looks clear from the ground. Metal roof so I dont think I'll be on the roof anytime soon.

I have kept up sweeping the chimney from the clean out. I could schedule a clean out w/camera inspection but wouldn't I see other signs of poor draft?

Yeah I was thinking along the same lines of store wood.

At the edge of what is the range of good (dry enough,) wood.
We all started at some point, and that involved burning with wood that had not yet dried long enough. You can get by with that, sometimes. But it's skirting the edge of what one can do and keep the system working long term.

If you have a soot eater (kind of weed Wacker head on flexible rods that you can run in your flue with a drill) you can clean it from the bottom up yourself.
Good to do especially if the wood is questionable.

 

[Lowtech84]

These are symptoms that are consistent with wood that's too wet. Much coal build up, dying fire when closing the air.

So I'm not sure if my wood identification is the best but I think it's cherry that comes in at the lowest moisture, maybe the maple or beech in the middle, and the highest is the oak.

Can't argue with the facts there are in dead pieces of oak of the recommended 20% moisture content.

Would not stacking the wood so tight give me and advantage? Perhaps stacking e/w on n/s or something would allow more air down at the bottom of the stack to get a more complete burn?

Long term think I'm looking for a less efficient stove.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Top pic is maple, middle looks like oak. Can’t see enough to id the last pic.

 

[stoveliker]

Best measurements is with the current path between the pins not crossing fiber strands. I.e. parallel to the grain.

Your wood has seen one summer, and I find the numbers to be unexpectedly low for that.

I think long term would work best if you stack your wood a year earlier. That means getting a lot now but later only replace what you use in a season. Most folks burn their wood after it's been stacked (off the ground, top covered) for two or three summers

 

[EbS-P]

I recommend an IR thermometer. Measuring flue gas temps will prevent turning air down to low. Symptoms suggest wet wood. I have never had to empty hot coals. Ever…. Dry wood on a hot coal bed needs tuned down in 5-10 minutes. 20-30 minutes wide open would get things way way too hot.

I don’t suspect low draft. You need to close air below 25%.
Hard wood needs minimum 2 summers to split stacked and top cover. This is with partial sun and good air. 3 summers is better.

One thing at a time. First get another thermometer. I like the Auber at200. Basement stove they make a wireless version. Love it for mine.

Get a few packs of sawdust bricks/logs see how those burn. And I’d sweep ASAP to check for build up. You will get it all dialed in!!