I have questions. I have a Quadra Fire insert and it does not heat my house at all. The living room is around 300 square feet and the fire is not heating the room let alone my 700 square foot house. I am using dry wood at all times and have even resorted to the bone dry stuff from the store. I lay the fire correctly, get a blaze going, coals red and in a thick bed and the fire still does not heat the house. After the fire has been burning for hours, blazing away with a full load of logs, you can still hold your hand 6 inches in front of the doors for over 15 seconds. I am using the dampers correctly and have a proper liner. I notice that when the front 2/3 of the firebox is filled with glowing coals, the back is filled with charcoal (?) which ignites only when the door is open fully. Is this a clue? A friend who has always had wood burning insert and used to sell wood inserts, has confirmed that I am doing the set up and burn correctly: he has a similar sized unit that heats his 2000 square foot house perfectly. We've pulled it out and checked it over completely, even removing the firebricks and everything seems to be in perfect working order. I have been measuring the heat gain for a few days and with the fire burning beautifully for 3 hours, it raises the temperature in the living room by less than 3 degrees. At this point the only way to get heat out of the insert is to open the doors and put up a firescreen. Obviously I am doing something really wrong. Please help!
My Quadra Fire wood insert is not heating the house.
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HisTreeNut
Minister of Fire
Standard questions to start...and welcome to the Forum!!
1) What is the specific make, model, & year of your stove?
2) How long have you had the stove?
3) How old is your house & how well insulated is it?
4) Where is your stove located in your house [diagram if possible]?
5) Moisture content on your wood & what kind of wood are you burning?
6) How high is your chimney?
7) What are your outside temps right now?
8) Does your stove have an OAK [outside air kit]?
These questions will help the folks here help you figure out what is up with your stove.
1) What is the specific make, model, & year of your stove?
2) How long have you had the stove?
3) How old is your house & how well insulated is it?
4) Where is your stove located in your house [diagram if possible]?
5) Moisture content on your wood & what kind of wood are you burning?
6) How high is your chimney?
7) What are your outside temps right now?
8) Does your stove have an OAK [outside air kit]?
These questions will help the folks here help you figure out what is up with your stove.
brad wilton
Feeling the Heat
Just write problems heating with quadrafire insert in thread search you will find it and goodluck , welcome to forum
What model? Fire blazing away and you can hold your hand 6" from the door doesn't seem to coincide.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Glowing coals in the front with unlit (charcoal) in that back that wont light off unless the door is open. That suggests your wood supply is not as dry as you think, also store bought stuff isn't that dry either.
I looked you up on google maps (my sister lives about an hour north from you) Your area has seen some unprecedented rain lately, I would lean towards your wood supply no being ready yet, thanks to mother nature. Try burning some 2x4 cut offs (non pressure treated)
I looked you up on google maps (my sister lives about an hour north from you) Your area has seen some unprecedented rain lately, I would lean towards your wood supply no being ready yet, thanks to mother nature. Try burning some 2x4 cut offs (non pressure treated)
Sconnie Burner
Feeling the Heat
More questions that will be common:
-Is this in an old masonry fireplace?
-Have you put roxul or an equivalent behind and around the insert to prevent the masonry from absorbing it
-Was there a block-off plate installed above the stove to keep the heat from going up the chimney through the smoke shelf and around the liner?
-Any blower? Only effective way for an insert to get its heat out into the home.
-Is there a baffle board w/ ceramic like blanket on top sitting on the secondary tubes? If not ALL the heat will go straight up and out the chimney!! Many times these get damaged/broken by chimney sweeps and get removed, rendering the stove useless other than for a pretty fire.
You won't get a lot of heat from the coaling stage, most of your heat will be early to mid burn and taper from there. Sort of a peak and glide.
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blacktail
Minister of Fire
It is a Quadra Fire 2100i: not sure of the year.
Just started using it this winter.
House is from the 70's so average insulation, I imagine.
House is a basic one-story rectangle: front half/ living & dining room is about 300 square feet and the fireplace is located right in the middle of the back wall.
Wood is dry, cut down a couple of years ago and stacked to dry.
House is is one story so maybe 12-15 feet, I estimate.
Outside temps are 40-60 during the day, 30-40 at night as it is unseasonably warm this year.
No outside air kit.
No blowers.
Thank you so much for your help!
This is the first time I have had a wood burning insert: just moved in last year.
Old masonry fireplace.
Nothing behind or around the insert.
No block off plate.
Blowers pending.
Not sure about the baffle board. There is a steel shelf above the tubes that looks like it is an integral part of the structure, I think, but nothing on top of it as far as I can see or feel..
1. It amazes me that Quad made the blower optional on the 2100i. But they did.
2. Not much chance of an insert doing a proper job of heating the house without a blower. Something needs to get that heat from the stove body out into the living space.
Pull the surround off of that thing and burn a couple of fires and feel the difference.
2. Not much chance of an insert doing a proper job of heating the house without a blower. Something needs to get that heat from the stove body out into the living space.
Pull the surround off of that thing and burn a couple of fires and feel the difference.
Thank you so much! I am new to heating with an insert! I appreciate all the good advice. I will be getting blowers this week.
It is still going to require good dry wood and the right burning technique. This place can help with how to get the most heat out of running the stove.
I have to disagree with this, I have this "problem" as well, wood is tested at 12-15% MC.
My charcoals in the back do eventually burn, only some small charcoal remains under the ashes in the morning, for the most part they remain black while the front half is glowing red, let more air in they glow a little brighter.
Sconnie Burner
Feeling the Heat
You will want to pull the surround off and get some roxul or similar fire proof insulation around and behind that thing. And definitely get a block of plate of some fasion in there with roxul on top. Even stuff some of the roxul good and tight around your flue area as a temp solution. All your heat from the insert is going up the chimney and being absorbed by the bricks rather than out into the home. You should see a drastic difference by doing that and adding a blower!! Good luck and stay warm!
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