Ok, you guys have been really helpful but I have one more question. how do I know if my blower is putting out enough air? its cold on long island right now, but is it possible to be only 60 degrees in the same room as a Merrimack when it is on full blast? I can barely feel air coming out of this thing. I held a tissue up to the vent and it does get pushed by the air, but barely. I have tried more seasoned wood,and didn't see but a little bit of difference. I don't understand how it could be cold in the same room as a 3500 dollar stove with a roaring inferno inside of it. im not even trying to heat my whole house, just tring to keep a living room warm. Please help.
Im Freezing
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Another thing, there is much more heat emanating from the glass than there is from the top blower. Is this normal?
Was your insert installed with a full liner and block off plate?
Unseasoned wood not only makes creosote, but it doesn't let you cut the primary air back so you can take advantage of secondary combustion. Having to burn with the air open farther sends heat up the pipe, instead of into your home.
Not familiar with the Merrimack, it's secondary combustion system, or operation.
Unseasoned wood not only makes creosote, but it doesn't let you cut the primary air back so you can take advantage of secondary combustion. Having to burn with the air open farther sends heat up the pipe, instead of into your home.
Not familiar with the Merrimack, it's secondary combustion system, or operation.
Lima54 this is a VC Merrimack? I'm not familiar with it, but looking at the specs it's a max 55,000btu. How big is the room it's in & how many windows(pic's help) Sounds like all your heat is going up the chimney, & reading the manual it looks like there are a few controls that need to be set in the correct position at the proper time during the burn. That fan should blow pretty good, it has a variable speed setting. What kind of wood are you burning and how long has it seasoned? Do you have a probe flue thermometer & a magnetic one on the face of the insert??
Full liner yes, but no block off plate. When I cut back the air, the wood still burns red hot, it just seems that the heat isn't getting into
the house. I got the whole family camped out in the living room with the stove, and I just had to turn on the oil heat to keep warm. It doesn't seem to make sense. I feel like I got just as much heat from an open fireplace.
the house. I got the whole family camped out in the living room with the stove, and I just had to turn on the oil heat to keep warm. It doesn't seem to make sense. I feel like I got just as much heat from an open fireplace.
There are lots of windows, right now I am trying to heat roughly 1000 square feet, but Im sleeping 12 feet away from the stove and Its still chilly. my main wood supply sucks, but even the wood I got at the store still didn't make much diference. I keep the fan on high at all times, but like I said, it barely pushes out any air.
I would get a stick lighter and slowly go all the way around stove where the insert sides meet the brick. If you see the flame getting pulled towards the brick, you have an air leak which is pulling your warm air out of the room and back up the chimney. Without a block off plate you could be losing a lot, but I really suspect wood quality and/or improper settings. But I have never run one so a VC owner will have to chime in here.
Bagelboy
Feeling the Heat
Without a moisture meter, it's hard to know what you're dealing with. Store bought wood species can also be suspect. Re-split a piece and look/feel closely for moisture.
Are you following the control settings on page 10? The Primary Air and Air Circulation have to work together.
Are you following the control settings on page 10? The Primary Air and Air Circulation have to work together.
I will check this out, also I just did the thing with the lighter and the flame is being sucked in where the stove meets the metal surround that came with the stove.
Also,where do I put a magnetic thermometer on here/ on the top of the stove?
I wonder how much heat is getting lost since you don't have one? I'd pick up some Roxul insulation and stuff it around that liner where it heads up the flue to seal things off going up into the chimney.
what controls? I keep the damper open and the door cracked until the fire is roaring, and shut the door and almost close the damper and keep the blower on high at all times. I don't know of any other controls.
You shouldn't have to leave the door open for long. With a lazy draft, if loading on coals, just keep it cracked long enough to get some flames then close the door and leave the air control on high until there are really good flames and the unit's temp is starting to come up (wood is charred) then over the next 20 minutes or so, close the air down in stages. If done with good fuel, the fire should become lazy but not stall and the stove top temp should climb.
Sounds like you are still needing to run with the air control wide open, doing that is sending the vast majority of the wood's BTU's up the chimney. You need to play around and figure out what it takes to get that thing to run on a lower air setting
Well I pretty much shut the air about 5-10 minutes after I load the stove with more wood, and leave it like that until next load. Should I be completely shutting it? is there any way to figure out if this is the right amount of air coming from the blower? I put my fingers in front of the blower, and the air is hot, where I cant keep them there for more than 25 seconds, but like I said its just not pushing out much.
Also the stove gives off more heat into the room with the doors fully open, than with them closed and the fire roaring. This doesn't make sense to me.
cableman
Minister of Fire
Who did the install? Im installing an insert for a buddy, everyone around here doesn't wanna run an insulated liner or block off plate! Everyone just wants to get in and out and cut every corner doing it!
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
I have a different insert, and for the heck of it, checked for air movement......I can feel the air blowing in the room from around the stove, and when I hold a 1 foot long piece of toilet paper in that stream of air (3 inches away), it will blow the toilet paper straight out....totally horizontal, so as you mentioned, the lack of air movement just doesn't seem to be up to snuff.....as some have said....it may be going up the chimney
Beer Belly
Minister of Fire
and of course...stove temps need to be up there in these cold temps we are getting in the Northeast
ok. so not enough air is blowing out of my stove obviously. A little tissue barely moves. wouldn't this be a problem with the fan though? And thanks for testing that for me. I can barely feel anything coming from the vent, let alone feel it around the stove.
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