first wood stove drolet blackcomb

[thedriver]

hello all, new to forum. lots of good info. got my first wood stove, a drolet blackcomb 1.9 box. I've got about 10+ cords of silver maple from 3 trees we had to drop last spring to prevent possible issues with three good neighbors & friends. I split about 5 cords sold 1 and thought why not burn it to heat our home. I know silver maple is not great but I got a lot of it and it's paid for. our home is 1000 sf with 650 sf basement where the stove is. we have an inside, brick, clay lined, chimney, 5.5 smooth liner 23' long with 1/4" insulation, to a T, out a 45* to a 36" straight pipe to a 45* ( all double wall pipe ) to the top of the stove. great draft. the stove is very nice well built functions good. however I think the 1.9 is too small to heat the entire house I've got an inferno stove top thermo. keep it about 550* ish . we have several open returns for heat to rise up. learning as I go , I did not get the blower with this unit because it seems from reviews it's junk. I also realize I should have got one of the 3.1 box stoves. the house is pretty tight. any thoughts or comments would be welcome.

 

[weatherguy]

Are you looking for specific stove recommendations or confirmation that you need a bigger stove? I would go with a bigger stove especially heating from the basement. That's how I'm set up and it took some experimenting to get the heat upstairs, I think you need a little extra juice when you're trying to heat two levels. The Drolet's are decent stoves with a lot of good reviews here.

 

[thedriver]

Are you looking for specific stove recommendations or confirmation that you need a bigger stove? I would go with a bigger stove especially heating from the basement. That's how I'm set up and it took some experimenting to get the heat upstairs, I think you need a little extra juice when you're trying to heat two levels. The Drolet's are decent stoves with a lot of good reviews here.

thanks for the reply. I was after confirmation of need for a bigger stove as well as any general thoughts on my set up good or bad ( done properly ? ) including all the silver maple I've got to burn. want more heat with longer burn time. I got a lot of info from this forum that was very helpful. will the drolet 3.1 legend, Baltic, austral, or myraid be big enough? if so which one would be best? I think I just got the size wrong

 

[Jags]

Is it a finished basement or unfinished/uninsulated?

 

[thedriver]

Is it a finished basement or unfinished/uninsulated?

it is unfinished now, but 1/2 , 350 sf living space will be finished and insulated soon utility side not. there is also approx. 200 sf crawl space next to the finished side that has spay foam block walls.

 

[Jags]

The important part of that question is if you have uninsulated - to earth - walls. They are notorious heat sinks that will consume much of the heat pumped into the basement. It is just really hard to fight mother nature.

 

[blades]

2nd answer is that that Silver Maple is likely not dry enough. If you resplit a piece after letting warm up to room temp ( like over night) and the inside surfaces feel slightly damp , your fuel is likely at more than 20% moisture content which severely hampers the out put of the stove. You have read that more than a mega dozen times , it is harped on continually here as well as basic time it takes for fuel to properly dry out, Yet new burners always seem to ignore our advice garnnerd collectively over many years.
Put a fan at the top or bottom of the basement stairs to help move cold air down to the basement that will help the circulation of the heated air. It is a lot easier to move cold air than hot air.

 

[thedriver]

2nd answer is that that Silver Maple is likely not dry enough. If you resplit a piece after letting warm up to room temp ( like over night) and the inside surfaces feel slightly damp , your fuel is likely at more than 20% moisture content which severely hampers the out put of the stove. You have read that more than a mega dozen times , it is harped on continually here as well as basic time it takes for fuel to properly dry out, Yet new burners always seem to ignore our advice garnnerd collectively over many years.
Put a fan at the top or bottom of the basement stairs to help move cold air down to the basement that will help the circulation of the heated air. It is a lot easier to move cold air than hot air.

I have no way to check the % of moisture other than to resplit as you said, ( I will try that thanks ) however the wood that is stacked outside has been covered and seems dry. and I stack a lot downstairs I thought if there was any moisture it would dry out sitting inside for up to a week from the warmth from the stove. not sure also I can get the stove up to temp very easy it almost runs away sometime if I'm not watching. is output of the stove and temp of stove not exactly the same thing ? are there any thoughts on a 1.9 being just to small for the task if fuel and all else is well? thanks for any follow up info. I want to get it right

 

[Charles1981]

You may or may not experience better results heating from an unfinished basement. I would hope it would be better especially with a much larger stove, but again you are dealing with quite the heat sink. You will on the plus side not have to refill as often with a larger stove though. If you can finish the basement and get a bigger stove this would probably be ideal. Do you need to heat the basement? If not the really ideal situation would be to have the stove on the main floor, but that may not be feasible.

I heat 2000 sq feet from the basement (1000 upstairs, 1000 downstairs). Basement is finished and insulated, but the floor is concrete (at some point will be installing floating membrane and laminate flooring). My stove is 2.3 cu ft and it heats the upstairs sufficiently. Stove room stays around 85-90, upstairs is very variable depending on the cold. Right now it is 73 upstairs (~27-30 outside). At 15 outside upstairs stays around 68 degrees. At ~-5 to -10 degrees outside it starts to become inadequate but bearable (64-65 upstairs). The basement stays pretty constant at 85 though...but after an overnight burn in -15 degree temps the basement is around 70 and the upstairs in ~57-58 before reloading first thing in the morning. Not the best, but still within reason considering the amount of space we are trying to heat with a stove that is rated for 1800sq feet and placed in the basement..but again a mostly finished basement with insulated walls...but the concrete floor/slab is a heat sink I need to work on.

 

[Jags]

Yes. Heating from a basement takes fire power in most instances. It is not uncommon for the basement to be uncomfortably hot in order for the main floor to be comfortable.

 

[thedriver]

You may or may not experience better results heating from an unfinished basement. I would hope it would be better especially with a much larger stove, but again you are dealing with quite the heat sink. You will on the plus side not have to refill as often with a larger stove though. If you can finish the basement and get a bigger stove this would probably be ideal. Do you need to heat the basement? If not the really ideal situation would be to have the stove on the main floor, but that may not be feasible.

I heat 2000 sq feet from the basement (1000 upstairs, 1000 downstairs). Basement is finished and insulated, but the floor is concrete (at some point will be installing floating membrane and laminate flooring). My stove is 2.3 cu ft and it heats the upstairs sufficiently. Stove room stays around 85-90, upstairs is very variable depending on the cold. Right now it is 73 upstairs (~27-30 outside). At 15 outside upstairs stays around 68 degrees. At ~-5 to -10 degrees outside it starts to become inadequate but bearable (64-65 upstairs). The basement stays pretty constant at 85 though...but after an overnight burn in -15 degree temps the basement is around 70 and the upstairs in ~57-58 before reloading first thing in the morning. Not the best, but still within reason considering the amount of space we are trying to heat with a stove that is rated for 1800sq feet and placed in the basement..but again a mostly finished basement with insulated walls...but the concrete floor/slab is a heat sink I need to work on.

the basement will soon be finished and walls insulated as well as pad and carpeting, and glass block windows. I'm sure that will help considerably. it's still pretty tight as is, but still a heat sink. maybe I will just wait till all is finished and see how well the 1.9 stove does then. however I do like the idea of more heat and longer burn times with a 3.1 . the basement seems to be wild card. thanks for the help.

 

[thedriver]

2nd answer is that that Silver Maple is likely not dry enough. If you resplit a piece after letting warm up to room temp ( like over night) and the inside surfaces feel slightly damp , your fuel is likely at more than 20% moisture content which severely hampers the out put of the stove. You have read that more than a mega dozen times , it is harped on continually here as well as basic time it takes for fuel to properly dry out, Yet new burners always seem to ignore our advice garnnerd collectively over many years.
Put a fan at the top or bottom of the basement stairs to help move cold air down to the basement that will help the circulation of the heated air. It is a lot easier to move cold air than hot air.

 

[thedriver]

well, I did resplit a few pieces as you suggested and, they all seem very dry. thanks for the helpful tip. the fuel buns fine , stove gets up to temp ( 500* to 600* stovetop thermo ) no problem. it may be as others have said heating from an unfinished basement does take some fire power. the soon to be finished insulated basement will probably make a noticeable difference I'm sure. I'll see how that does first and maybe a bigger stove only if necessary.

 

[Charles1981]

There is no insulation in the floors between the basement and main floor is there? You don't want insulation in the floor if it is there, or if you were thinking about installing it.

 

[thedriver]

There is no insulation in the floors between the basement and main floor is there? You don't want insulation in the floor if it is there, or if you were thinking about installing it.

no insulation in floors . block walls, concrete floor, wood floors above. a big heat sink. I'm slowly creeping up on it, getting better with the stove, and air direction.