Fireview burning well but.....

[sailor61]

Ok so the Fireview was hooked up on Monday of this week and seasoned by Wednesday. Had my first secondary burn late Wednesday. I really like the stove but am not getting the heat out of it that I expected.

The stove is in a room that is approximately 380 sq ft. Walls are 2 by 4 construction with fibreglas bats, windows were all replaced last year. Ceiling is plaster but the insulation above it should be beefed up at some point. Floor is a slab and about a foot above grade.

The chimney was originally a mid 60s vintage exterior and then in the late 70s a greenhouse (kept at about 55) was added that covers about 3/4 s of the exterior mass of the brickwork. As such it's not really an interior or an exterior flue - somewhere in the middle. To set up the stove I put a 6 inch liner full height of the flue and I am getting good draft. The liner is not insulated at this point - the wrap would not work in the tile size and the thoughts of mixing the cement based product and pouring it down the flue in mid January did not hold a lot of appeal, so there is just the stainless cap on the top.

Stovetop thermometer shows a pretty consistent 350/400 which seems to be in the recommended range. This stove was originally purchased for a different house but that's a long story, it sat for several years before I decided to take the plunge and install it in this one. A major reason I dawdled so long was fear it would blast me out of this room it is in.That is not happening.

The only problem I can see with the install is that I do not have a blocker plate at the old damper or a filled/insulated flue. The stove sits very close to the firebox of the old fireplace so my thought is that I am losing a tremendous amount of heat up the flue. The only solution I can see at this point is to do something to stop the flow of air up the chimney. Rather than permanently filling it with the lightweight concrete mix made for that purpose I'm wondering about putting some Roxul into the space above the old damper and then working some into the top below the exterior cap? I've read that Roxul is rated for 2100 degrees .. is this a good solution to the problem I'm having? Adding a blocker plate at the damper would likely do something to solve this but the insulation seems a better approach to me.

Beyond the current issue of dealing wiht the cement fill in the flue in the dead of winter I'm also hesitant to go that route because I'm not certain if I will be staying in this house that many years. If I sell, the Woodstock would be coming with me and filling the flue sort of eliminates the use/selling point of it as a fireplace.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

 

[ddddddden]

Ok so the Fireview was hooked up on Monday of this week and seasoned by Wednesday. Had my first secondary burn late Wednesday. . .

Congrats!

I really like the stove but am not getting the heat out of it that I expected. . .feared it would blast me out of this room it is in. That is not happening. . .

The stove is in a room that is approximately 380 sq ft. . .

Stovetop thermometer shows a pretty consistent 350/400 which seems to be in the recommended range.

For me, a successful burn does spend a lot of time around 400° during the coaling stage(second half), but it peaks well above 500° during the first part of the burn cycle.
You might need drier wood. . .might just need to refine your burn technique.

. . .I'm wondering about putting some Roxul into the space above the old damper and then working some into the top below the exterior cap. . .is this a good solution to the problem I'm having?

That's what I did.

Adding a blocker plate at the damper would likely do something to solve this but the insulation seems a better approach to me.

Some do both. Some think that blocking air flow with the plate is the most important part. I think that insulation material will block air flow fairly well, if you cram it into a space very tightly, which is what I did, around the liner at the top and the bottom of the terracotta flue tiles in the masonry chimney. Also filled the smoke shelf and damper area. I'd like to fill the whole fireplace with insulation and seal it off from the room with a big plate over the mouth of the fireplace, but the irregular stonework of my hearth makes this job a bit of a PITA, so I haven't done it yet.

The Fv has no problem keeping my stove room toasty, but I have to load it 3x /day when it's really cold out, like now (maybe 2 weeks out of the year here). 1-2x /day is good for most of the season. Stove room is about the same size as yours, with a big stone hearth conducting heat out to the exterior masonry, 2 small windows, an open doorway to the kitchen in one far corner from the hearth, front door and staircase in the other far corner. Insulation and windows ca 1980, nothing fancy, just storm windows and door. The BR doors at the top of the stairs stay closed, and the landing up there gets really toasty. Kitchen isn't cold, but not toasty like the stove room (not interested in moving the heat.) During a cold snap isn't the best time to judge (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/10-degrees-and-cant-keep-up.104297/ ), but I'd say that while the Fv might not have the output to make every corner of your home toasty, and it's designed specifically to not blast you out of the room, something isn't right if your stove room isn't warm.

The chimney was originally a mid 60s vintage exterior and then in the late 70s a greenhouse (kept at about 55) was added that covers about 3/4 s of the exterior mass of the brickwork. As such it's not really an interior or an exterior flue - somewhere in the middle.

Sounds like a nice place to store firewood.
I'd like to do something like this with my exterior chimney.

 

[Todd]

350-400 stove top temps won't get it done. If you have good dry wood and fill the stove full it should easily reach temps above 500 which will give you tons more heat. I suspect your wood isn't dry enough or you are only loading a couple splits at a time.

Stuffing roxul in the old damper area should also help.

 

[charly]

I agree with Todd,,, stove temps need to come up..@ 500 it starts to throw some nice heat...350/400 she's just idling. On the up side your not telling us that @ 600 the stove's not heating your place

 

[sailor61]

Thanks guys...I know my wood supply is iffy. Some being dryer than other - I need to get through this winter with whatever but also build a stockpile for long term seasoning.

I'm heading to Lowes etc today to look for the Roxul...hoping that will help the situation. Luckily I didn't seal the top plate in place when I put in the liner - that is likely adding to the heat loss but I knew I would be doing something to insulate the flue eventually so that can be taken care of at the same time.

 

[brogsie]

Do you have a rear heat shield? I had a fireplace install and found the heat off the rear was being absorbed
by the fireplace brick. A heat shield will reflect the heat forward.

 

[sailor61]

I have the heat shield ...it was bought to use in the install at the other house. Not sure it will fit since I went as close to the existing fireplace as I could but I'll dig it out and give it a try.
Bought a bale of Roxul. Letting the FV burn out/cool so that I can deal with the insulation this afternoon.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sailor, before you attach that heat shield, you need to check to make sure the slider did not come off the track for the draft. If you look in the manual at the diagram it will show you what it looks like and where it is. You can also just look at the draft control and follow that arm down and you'll see the hole for the draft.

It is entirely possible when moving that stove a couple times that that has happened. If so, you won't get the stove to operate good at all. Otherwise, the Fireview should shoot well over 500. We take ours well over 600 all the time. That is where you get some really good heat.

 

[sailor61]

thanks for the tip ...checked the draft and it's fine. packed the smokebox with Roxul this afternoon when I had stove cooled down to clean etc. went in with minimal drama except for the mess. Not much ash in the FV considering it's into the 6th day of burning. I'm holding off on the heatshield until I see what sort of difference the insulation in the flue makes. Like to do things a step at a time so I understand the response/change at each step. Still need to go up on the roof and do around the top of the liner with roxul and silicon the top shield in place but that can wait until temps moderate a bit more.

 

[mattjm1017]

Sailor im also in my first season of burning with my fireview and let me tell you its been a struggle. Mostly because my wood isn't seasoned properly I've been moving back and forth between not getting enough heat to getting to much just depends on the wood. I think the roxul should help a lot but also definitely check your wood and if its not right try to find some thats better seasoned or try pallets.

 

[sailor61]

Got the FV rekindled about an hour ago after cleaning and putting in the roxul.....wow, what a difference. The heat is much more apparent now. Unfortunate that the roxul doesn't come in smaller packs...ended up with enough to pack every flue on the street. Next step is to do something about the wood supply...