General questions about new set up (new ownership to wood stove)

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coffeecup86

Member
Jan 8, 2022
58
Maine
Hey all, I'm hopping over here from the pellet department. We just bought a house 2 months ago that came with a pellet stove, that was so terribly vented and unmaintained. We got the stove in working order, sold it and moved on. We decided to go with a wood burning stove, as that is what both husband and I grew up with.

We got the US Stove Forester from our local tractor supply store. Sadly we got "seasoned" wood from a fella down the road. It is what I would consider partially seasoned. 90% of it sizzles when you put it in the stove. We are getting more from my aunts father in law in a couple days, but it too has been exposed to snow.

The set up we are workin with is 6 inch piping. We installed a damper due to a pretty crap down draft. Our chimney will need a liner come spring, but we moved in when it was already poor weather and getting a sweeper to do this work now is almost impossible. We did have one come out to investigate this chimney and our boilers chimney though. Just to make sure everything was kosher. When the pellet stove was hooked up he said it was way to big of a chimney for a pellet hook up, which I agreed with. Hence why we switched the set up. But it even seems to be far to big for the stove. The pipe coming out of the bricks is 8in. We had to buy a 8 to 6in reducer. I don't believe there is a liner in the actual chimney. Hubs said it is just the clay liner. It frosts over when it sits for awhile, which causes awful smoking when we first light a fire. So we try not to let it go out...but that causes a lot of low temp burns through the night....

I'm looking for advice because I've also noticed after just 8 days of having this stove and burning almost around the clock, when sitting on the couch which isn't far form the stove, you can smell this weird smokey smell. Only on the couch. I'm almost positive its from the down draft. Or is it a leaky pipe? The piping we used is the Imperial brand pipe also from tractor supply. This was all a pretty quick switch once we sold the pellet stove. Oil heating is SO expensive, and when it gets to be 20 below up here in Maine, it is raw and very drafty in the house. So when we can use the wood stove it is a blessing.

Do you think its a liner issue? Our chimney is at the right hight in comparison to the tallest peak on our roof.
Could it be the wood? We bring it inside and let it sit for a couple days next to the stove before burning to dry it out.

I know one thing is that my husband has to redo the pipe connecting to the wall. He didn't install it at a slight angle downward. It comes strait outwards and connects to the elbow and has another 11in pipe that goes to the stove. I read the instructions and it said to have the pipe connecting to the wall be angled down. He plans to fix it tomorrow. Not sure if that could cause any of this?

Ill also mention that a few days ago we were at the store. My 5 year old was in need of a hug, due to an issue. I went to give her a hug and could actually smell smoke in her hair....gross. Not cool. I mentioned it to husband...he said he can't smell anything at home. But I can? 5 year old was also complaining of a headache for 2 hours tonight. Her and I are home all day almost everyday. So I think something is def up. I appreciate any help! I can snap pics tomorrow if need be.
 
I would invest in a carbon monoxide/ smoke detectors like yesterday.
 
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We'll need to see some pictures of the installation. One common issue with single-wall pipe is that folks install it upside down. The crimped end of the stovepipe should point down toward the stove.

What is the inner dimension of the clay liner in the chimney? How tall is the chimney? Is it on an outside wall?
 
You should not be smelling smoke inside your home with a good install.

I have run four of this AQ monitor:

Amazon product ASIN B07DL1M46J
side by side with two of the much more expensive Dylos DC1100 Pro, and the cheapie is more than adequate for baseline monitoring. The linked product uses a Plantower sensor - P5100 IIRC that is pretty good sensor - but the algorhythm on the chip is from the China EPA instead of the US EPA. Running a wood stove my controlling variable to calculate indoor air quality is consistently PM2.5. Once my controlling variable for indoor AQ was PM10, but there was food on fire in the kitchen at that moment. Conversion tables from raw PM2.5 counts to US EPA AQ index are readily available online. There is another user here with the same inexpensive monitor, he and I both consistently see 0-6 PM 2.5 particles raw count with our wood stoves running and something like 10-15 PM2.5 particles raw count while cooking. PM2.5 raw count is NOT THE SAME as air quality index.

Even when your stove is is dialed in an running good, you should run smoke/CO detectors in your home. The last one I bought for whichever bedroom also has a LED light in it, so when it alarms the backup light comes on too. Ten year battery, home store, blah blah.

Wood that sizzles when you toss it on a bed of hot coals is not yet dried to FSP (fiber saturation point) and will need at least one more summer of seasoning (split, stacked off the ground and top covered) before it is ready to burn. Oak east of the Mississippi will probably need two more summers from reading about it here, it is not a local wood for me.

Drafty house is a bother. It doesn't matter if you are burning oil, burning wood, buying electricity or burning propane, a leaky house costs more to heat - but a house sealed up too tightly is at risk for growing mold. Do you have a county extension agent? They may not do a home visit, but they will know who you can call.

This winter you have several problems. What you need is a plan that addresses all of chimney draft, wet wood, drafty home and indoor AQ that you can get solved in the next seven months or so, for next winter to not be a problem.

One thing to consider is how many sqft are you heating and how big a liner can you fit in your existing chimney? If you got a bunch of sqft and can fit an 8" insulated liner, you might could step up to a much bigger stove. Also, ask everybody you can find how many cords they are burning every year local to you. Average for americans on this website is about 4 cords per household per year. I burn closer to 8 cords annually and I suspect you and your family are "my people."

Short term, bring in some pallets, maybe some cinderblocks and pine. Pine is the new burners best friend. Pine will consistently season to under 20%MC in one summer. It needs to be split, stacked off the ground (pallets raised up) and covered on top. You can cover with tarps, old shower curtains, plastic sheeting from the home store, metal roofing scraps, doesn't matter. Get it split, stacked off the ground and covered on top before say Easter or so and it will be ready to burn in Sep 2022. At least four cords, you won't mind having eight cords of dry pine later.

Process it at 16". Smile at the nice people when they tell you old wive's tales about pine causing chimney fires and let them give you pine for free. I burn spruce only up here, and just about everyone who lives west of the Mississippi is burning one or another pine. The lucky folks in the desert SW get to mix some mesquite in with their pinon (pine), and live oak grows in Texas. However, as a nation we figured out how to burn spruce-pine-fir safely about 200 years ago even if that wisdom is not accepted in New England.

One thing I did when the wife and I moved into our current house was I went around all the windows barehanded in wintertime. And the receptacles on the exterior walls, and the light switches on the exterior walls. With some blue chalk in my hand to mark one dot or two dots. I did all the two dot leaks the next summer, it took probably three more years to get to all the one dot leaks. You want the special more expensive spray foam for gaps between window frame and house framing, the kind that doesn't cause your glass to break. It isn't that much more expensive, and it is cheaper than new windows. Someone in your household should learn to remove and replace or refabricate interior window frames.

Makeup air, combustion air, is going to enter your home from the outdoors "somewhere" on the way to the firebox in your stove. This one can be tricky. I have an accepted leak on the lower level of my two story home. It is under the front entry door, and I can pretty much tell you how cold it is outdoors from the air coming in on the floor at the lower level there. My upstairs, where the wood stove is, is sealed up drum tight, I got plenty of insulation up there and I keep it toasty. What works on your floor plan is going to be unique to your situation.

You might consider an OAK (outside air kit) but my own home is sealed tightly enough I want air turnover to minimize mold growth and put up with the controlled leak.
 
My guess is with a potentially oversized flue and marginal wood is that you have a chimney fire coming soon from creosote build up. Call your local fire department and see if they can recommend anyone to clean the chimney. They usually would rather prevent a fire than put it out, so many keep a list of sweeps. If the wood you will be getting is truly seasoned, even if it is covered with snow the snow will melt off pretty quickly once it is under cover.
 
The off smell you are smelling is creosote. The risk of chimney fire is real. You have all the ingredients, unlined cold masonry chimney, 6in stove on 8” pipe (until it get to the cold unlined chimney), and wet wood.

This all could cause result in enough creosote to fuel a child fire in very short amount of time (think days not weeks). Get a look at the chimney ASAP. Even with your own eyes. An old phone on a stick or rope and a flashlight could do it. You need to understand the magnitude of the problem. Last thing you want is a chimney fire during during some of the coldest weather of the year.

Indoor air quality would not be be primary concern right now.
 
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We'll need to see some pictures of the installation. One common issue with single-wall pipe is that folks install it upside down. The crimped end of the stovepipe should point down toward the stove.

What is the inner dimension of the clay liner in the chimney? How tall is the chimney? Is it on an outside wall?
We made sure to put the crimped end down towards the stove. It really only goes one way. But I made sure to research lots of stuff prior. I'll get photos for you soon. I have no clue how tall the chimney is outside, all I know is that its the proper hight for the roof as per our home inspector. As far as the clay liner, it is square and hubby said he thinks its 8x8. So what is that 11in? I'm not so great with math lol

Its terrible weather outside so I pulled the image from our homes listing lol. I hope this works for you. I hope this works.
Also wanted to add that my husband just investigated the stove and found out that we have a air leak coming from the stove to the first pipe. We didn't have this before, or at least not noticeable until now. When the stove isn't running (forcing air and smoke out) it smells AWFUL. I think we will see if we can get someone out and look at the chimney again.

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Move the key damper down to just above the stove top. The horiz. run is already slowing down the flue gases. It should be unrestricted there. And move the thermometer up to just below the elbow or to the side of the horiz. run where the key damper currently is located.

Adding a 6" stainless liner inside the chimney will also help. Right now it is venting into a much larger flue that is further slowing down the flue gases and cooling them too. Clean this chimney frequently. If the flue gases drop below 250º they will start condensing in the chimney and will become creosote deposits.
 
I would invest in a carbon monoxide/ smoke detectors like yesterday.
Even adding one new small section of pipe it can smell for a couple weeks...especially if you didn't run the stove high enough....each time it gets hot at startup you will smell it until it's all gone. Or if you burn flue too hot it will smell too. But it will go away.

It's tough to troubleshoot a stove sometimes without good wood so start now and buy extra. Stay away from oak until you can season it enough.

The precious recommendations about liners is good info...
 
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