Hearthstone Heritage - a clue!

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rudysmallfry

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Nov 29, 2005
617
Milford, CT
I'm getting a little better with keeping my stove up to temp. I tried a pack of well seasoned wood and it did not make a difference with my glass or burn time. The stove is still eating a ton of wood. I lit it up at 4:00 today, and have gone through 12 good size splits approaching 9:00pm. Granted it is only 5 degrees outside which probably factors in quite a bit tonight.

I really don't think I have a draft problem. I lit the thing up from cold with just one fat stick and some kindling. I had the stove at 300 within the hour. I just put a whole log of Maple about 6" round onto the coals, and it ignited instantly.

There may be some extra air getting in after all and contributing to my short burn times. I am still getting some dirty spots around the edges of my front glass door, but as of today, I can't get the door to open, so I'm thinking there's something wrong there. The dealer is sending someone out to look at it in a few days. Lucky I've got a side door so I can still use the stove.

The clue pertains to the following. I have two thermometers. One I put where the manual suggests, on the middle soapstone, and the other I put on the stack. Tonight the two temps vary by almost 200 degrees. The soapstone has been holding steady near 500 in true soapstone style, while the stack is barely above 300. Tonight is by far the coldest night, but I've seen direct correlation between the outside temp and how much I have to work to keep the stack reading up to a safe level. My guess is that my non-enclosed chimney pipe is playing a much bigger factor than I originally thought. I'm thinking all this extra wood I am using is just keeping the chimney warm.
 
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