Hello all, I recently had a heatilator ws22 installed in my home and have a couple question about how its performing. I have done a large amount of reading and searching through old threads but was hoping I could get some thoughts on my specific setup. I am having an issue with excessive coaling and maybe drafting. When my stove burn control lever is set on high it seems to be more equivalent to a medium low setting. Even when loading wood on to a lively coal bed I am still have to crack the door for 3-10 mins to really get the wood to take off. And if I am loading it for an overnight burn with hardwood I usually have to run it for a full hour on high before I can start to reduce the air control lever.
THE WOOD
First things first the wood I am burning is well seasoned. Everything I have is 2+ years and much of it is 4+ years. Everything is reading below 18% mc with the majority reading in the 12 to 15% range. I even have some juniper and lodge pole that reads down to the the single digits. I wanted to get this question out of the way first because I know moisture content can cause the symptoms I am describing.
THE STOVE
I bought the stove used for $800 and it came with a piece of extendable duravent double wall pipe and two 36" pieces of duravent of triple wall pipe. Everything was in good condition and the stove only had two seasons of use. I did replace the baffle boards and ceramic blanket. I used the factory baffle boards which are shared with a quadrafire stove because heatilator is owned by home and heart tech. The dealer sold me a generic blanket that was 1" thick instead of 1/2" thick and said it wouldn't make a difference. Everything else on the stove appears to be in excellent condition.
THE SETUP (SEE PICTURES)
From the base of the appliance (which is the measurement the manual recommends) my total chimney system is right about 14 feet. The recommended chimney is 14-16 feet. However the installer had to do a 45 degree offset in order to fit between the trusses. All the manual says is to not use offsets over 4000 ft elevation and chimney length should be increases 3% per 1000 feet in elevation. My home is at 3600 ft so I barely make the no offset request. From the base of the appliance to the ceiling it is 8 feet, the attic space is only about 18" and then I have 5 feet of chimney located above the roof and exceed any requirements of the 10-2-3 rule. I am wondering if I am left a little short on the chimney because of the offsets and elevation. I have an outside air kit installed with 6-8' feet of flexi hose running to the exterior wall.
THE GOOD
I am loving heating with wood it is so much better than the forced air furnace in my home. I seem to be getting pretty clean burns. My glass is staying fairly clear with only a little light grey build up, I am not having an issue with smoke spilling into the room when the door is open. Also I've been amazed by how little smoke come out the chimney once the fire is going, I burned an old smoke dragon craft stove insert last year and its night and day.
THE BAD
Excessive coaling, I have been using small kindling size splits to try and help reduce the pile of coals but it takes hours of continually raking the coal to the front/adding small splits and I am regularly cracking the door to liven up the coal pile.
It takes a long time for a full load to take off and I am again left cracking the door more than I wished (3-10 minutes depending on load and soft or hardwood).
High setting does not seem to be burning as hot as I would hope. Flames are pretty lazy.
Open to any thought, suggestion or things I should be checking. Could it really be as simple as adding another 3 foot piece of triple wall? I already have the extended roof brace so that would be pretty easy fix overall (though i would have 8 feet of chimney above the rood which seems like a lot ). But I was wondering what else I should be checking before spending the money. I know there was an individual from north pole Alaska who used to own this stove and post on the forum. Thank you so much for your time.
THE WOOD
First things first the wood I am burning is well seasoned. Everything I have is 2+ years and much of it is 4+ years. Everything is reading below 18% mc with the majority reading in the 12 to 15% range. I even have some juniper and lodge pole that reads down to the the single digits. I wanted to get this question out of the way first because I know moisture content can cause the symptoms I am describing.
THE STOVE
I bought the stove used for $800 and it came with a piece of extendable duravent double wall pipe and two 36" pieces of duravent of triple wall pipe. Everything was in good condition and the stove only had two seasons of use. I did replace the baffle boards and ceramic blanket. I used the factory baffle boards which are shared with a quadrafire stove because heatilator is owned by home and heart tech. The dealer sold me a generic blanket that was 1" thick instead of 1/2" thick and said it wouldn't make a difference. Everything else on the stove appears to be in excellent condition.
THE SETUP (SEE PICTURES)
From the base of the appliance (which is the measurement the manual recommends) my total chimney system is right about 14 feet. The recommended chimney is 14-16 feet. However the installer had to do a 45 degree offset in order to fit between the trusses. All the manual says is to not use offsets over 4000 ft elevation and chimney length should be increases 3% per 1000 feet in elevation. My home is at 3600 ft so I barely make the no offset request. From the base of the appliance to the ceiling it is 8 feet, the attic space is only about 18" and then I have 5 feet of chimney located above the roof and exceed any requirements of the 10-2-3 rule. I am wondering if I am left a little short on the chimney because of the offsets and elevation. I have an outside air kit installed with 6-8' feet of flexi hose running to the exterior wall.
THE GOOD
I am loving heating with wood it is so much better than the forced air furnace in my home. I seem to be getting pretty clean burns. My glass is staying fairly clear with only a little light grey build up, I am not having an issue with smoke spilling into the room when the door is open. Also I've been amazed by how little smoke come out the chimney once the fire is going, I burned an old smoke dragon craft stove insert last year and its night and day.
THE BAD
Excessive coaling, I have been using small kindling size splits to try and help reduce the pile of coals but it takes hours of continually raking the coal to the front/adding small splits and I am regularly cracking the door to liven up the coal pile.
It takes a long time for a full load to take off and I am again left cracking the door more than I wished (3-10 minutes depending on load and soft or hardwood).
High setting does not seem to be burning as hot as I would hope. Flames are pretty lazy.
Open to any thought, suggestion or things I should be checking. Could it really be as simple as adding another 3 foot piece of triple wall? I already have the extended roof brace so that would be pretty easy fix overall (though i would have 8 feet of chimney above the rood which seems like a lot ). But I was wondering what else I should be checking before spending the money. I know there was an individual from north pole Alaska who used to own this stove and post on the forum. Thank you so much for your time.
