Need more heat!

[Dustin92]

We are heating our house with the Englander insert, Model 28-jc, and all has worked out until now... We have been burning.24/7 to keep the furnace off, I am trying to keep the stove as hot as possible, and have been reloading several times a day. I pack the stove about midnight before I go to bed, get it rolling and then close it down. It burns all night, but I leave the blower off because it rattles really loud. When I get up, I load it about 3/4 and crank up the blower, then by noon at the latest I am reloading again. I have loaded it four times today, and while it is about 75 downstairs, It has taken all day to get to 69 upstairs. The stove is cranking out heat, it is currently 24 outside and no wind. We have a vent about 6 feet from the stove going upstairs, and a fan laying on the vent to pull heat up. I have the stairway door open, with a fan at the bottom of the stairs blowing toward the stove. I dont know what else I can do, but I am currently waiting for a load of coals to burn down so I can reload it.

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

Blow the heat down the stairs into the stove room, trust me!

But a little more about situation, (un)finished basement, stairs are central?, stove temp, etc

 

[madison]

Replace/repair the noisy blower. Inserts must have a blower if you expect to have decent heat exchange.

 

[Dustin92]

The basement is finished, I have a fan at the bottom of the stairs, blowing into the stove room. The stairs are about 12 feet from the stove, they lead into the kitchen upstairs. The stove is nearly in the center of the house, and the stairs are on the north end. We have ceiling fans in the stove room, utility room downstairs, kitchen and living room upstairs. We are running the blower all day, but turning it off at night. We like the house cool at night anyway, so as long as the gas furnace doesnt come on, we are all set. I dont know if there are any other blowers available for our insert, but the one it has is horrible. I checked with Englander and a new one is like $175. Even if the blower didnt rattle it would be noisy, it runs with a very high pitched howl, and the bearings have been oiled.

 

[PLAYS WITH FIRE]

In my house the stairs are centrally located and the stove is one end of the house in the finished basement. With no fans I would walk to the top of the stairs and it was warm as hell till I got to the top step. Then there was a cold font! I was trying to pull/push the warm air from the doorway at the top of the stairs and it work ooooookkkkkkk. Then I read here about blowing the cold to the stove, NIGHT AND DAY! I actually have the fan on the same angle as the stairs blowing down. To show the wife I am not nuts, I use a piece of toilet paper on the top of the door way to show her how the heat now moves freely up the stairs. It will move a 3' piece of paper about 45 to 55 degrees..
It sounds as if you have the fan in the basement blowing cold air in the basement at the stove. It will work but I think slower......The fan in the doorway is a pain but it works!

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Replace/repair the noisy blower. Inserts must have a blower if you expect to have decent heat exchange.

+1
I can't stand noisy vibrating blowers either.
I use to service the blower on my wood stove yearly at least, which meant taking it apart and blowing all the dust bunnies out of the blower squirrel cage fan and putting a little silicon caulking on the metal parts that attach together and to the stove. The dust build up in the fan can cause it to get unbalanced and vibrate and the silicon stops the metal parts from rubbing together and making noise. The bearings in these things are usually sealed, so putting oil on them won't necessarily do anything except attract dust. Usually there are bearings in the motor and on the ends of the squirrel cages, if they wear out then they need to be replaced. This is what finally happened to mine, I tracked down the part # and intended to buy new bearings, but in the meantime I hooked up a little fan that blows over the back of my stove and found that it worked much better than the factory blower, so I never bothered to order the bearings (maybe one day).
With an insert you really need that blower if you aren't getting enough heat out of it, so your only options are; fix the one you have, or get a new one, or learn to live with the fact that you are losing a lot of heat going up the chimney.

 

[clemsonfor]

do you sleep in the stove room? I ask cause how can a ratteling blower keep you up rooms away? Your not getting much heat with the blower off on that insert. How old is this insert what size is it and what size area are you expecting it to heat?

 

[Dustin92]

No, I do not sleep in the stove room, my room is 2 rooms away, I suppose I could try running the blower overnight. It doesnt hqve sewled bearings, and does not attach to the stove, it sits in front of it on the hearth. The air is blown under the stove, behind it, and out the top.

 

[Dustin92]

Ahhhhh.... Peace and quiet! Today the blower had gotten to the point that it was near deafening to be in the room with it running anywhere above the minimum speed, and could be heard throughout the house. I decided to tear into it and find out where the horrible rattling was coming from. (I collect antique fans, so theres a starting point) I had to drill out the 4 rivets that held the blower assembly into the housing, and found the bearing on the end of the squirrel cage was loose in the housing. I tightened the bearing in the housing, and while it was in pieces, washed the squirrel cage and housing with grime away, and wiped everything else down. I watched as 20 years of dust, dirt, and smoke residue ran down the drain. I then reassembled everything, and replaced the rivets with bolts and nuts, so when the time comes to clean/ lube it again, it is much simpler. It is now running with no rattle, is much quieter, and I plan on running it overnight. It is also moving much more air.

 

[madison]

We had a master bath remodel, and interior painting. The squirrel cage was totally caked with sheetrock dust, ash etc. Was a pain to access and brush and vac the cage, but it made a world of difference. probably prolonged the life of the motor as well.

Glad you got it working.