My Newmac wood furnace doesn't seem like its getting as hot as it used to and the temps in the house are certainly cooler. I have cleaned my fan (it was dirty), I have repaired some suspect pipe heading into the chimney and am using some one and two year old ash (I have burned ash previously). I am beginning to suspect my chimney being somewhat restricted. Does anyone have any ideas?
My Wood Furnace is not performing like it has for the previous 10 years
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Smoke Signals
Burning Hunk
maple1
Minister of Fire
BoilerMan
Minister of Fire
Really? Wow, this should be done at least annually!
BTW: Welcome to the wood burning treasure trove...Hearth.com!
TS
Oops! Didn't know. I imagine I have a little less of a chimney at this point.
Thanks.
maple1
Minister of Fire
Hot air furnaces don't seem to build the creosote like boilers or some stoves can. I've got friends who never sweep. I swept 3 or 4 times a year with my old boiler.
Better get that checked & swept.
Better get that checked & swept.
Chicken Farmer
Burning Hunk
USMC80
Minister of Fire
I check mine several times during the heating season with a mirror. I have a boiler with storage, so little to no idling. I burn dry oak, and have never had to brush out my 7"x9" masonary flue. Only very light crumbly stuff ever builds up on the flue liner. I do remove and clean my 8" stove pipe from boiler to flue each year, but it has never had more than 1/4 inch +/- of dry crumbly stuff on it. Maybe the type of wood is a big factor?
KindredSpiritzz
Minister of Fire
Not disagreeing with what's already been said about cleaning your chimney - obviously something that should be done regularly. But OTOH, I'm wondering if perhaps you have something else going on. Do you have a flue thermometer to give you actual temp values? That would be very helpful in evaluating how the unit is performing compared to previous years. Also, are you getting significantly more smoke coming from the unit when you open the door to load? Seems like that should also be happening if the chimney has become too restricted. If so, then it is probably just the chimney. causing your problem.
But if not, then what about other possibilities? The first and best suspect (wood) doesn't sound likely, because ash seasons so well and so quickly. So how about your envelope? With the level of abnormal temps that most of the country is having, it would only take one small infiltration to cause what you're seeing. For instance, one moderately worn door sweep can let in an unbelievable amount of cold air. Have you slowly walked the perimeter of your entire house on a windy day while holding a candle? Doing that will flush out anything ugly coming in, and simply blocking it off can instantly fix the problem.
But if not, then what about other possibilities? The first and best suspect (wood) doesn't sound likely, because ash seasons so well and so quickly. So how about your envelope? With the level of abnormal temps that most of the country is having, it would only take one small infiltration to cause what you're seeing. For instance, one moderately worn door sweep can let in an unbelievable amount of cold air. Have you slowly walked the perimeter of your entire house on a windy day while holding a candle? Doing that will flush out anything ugly coming in, and simply blocking it off can instantly fix the problem.
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