New Installation of Old Stove in Cabin- Not warm enough!

[doodledawn]

Found this forum a few months ago, first time posting.

I have been rebuilding my uncle's old off-grid cabin with a new taller gambrel roof, loft and a few other upgrades. I live at a latitude around 55.5 so doing work in the winter has been quite the challenge. To keep things a bit warmer, my Dad and I jerry-rigged the old stove through a hole in the wall where a window used to be and just right-angled a few feet of stove-pipe out for a temporary setup while we worked.

Last weekend we finally had a warm enough day that we were able to install and silicone in the chimney through the ceiling. 6 ft of Class A chimney pipe on the leeward side of the roof in a sheltered area with not much wind, using a cathedral kit, and 13-14" of single-wall stovepipe straight down to the stove, which is now in the corner of the building ( 18'x14' with 10' walls and 10' loft, 4' in main space and 6' above exterior porch). Also patched up the hole in the wall, haha.

The problem I am having is that even with a roaring fire (mixture of paper birch and poplar, as we don't have much for hardwood up here), the fire doesn't warm up the space nearly as much as before. The stove is an older model- I inherited it from my grandpa. According to the back, it's a Warnock- Hersey S127 made in Ontario, tested April 1994, with a Century Heating logo at the bottom. It just seems odd that the stove heated up more with the crappy temporary setup and literal holes in the wall. I don't have a stove thermometer, so this is just a qualitative observation, but I thought I would ask here before I spend any money.

One suggestion I already got was for a flue damper as I might have too much draft.

 

[Hogwildz]

If it's a pre- EPA stove, and there is no cat or secondary in it, it is merely free flowing the heat up the stack. When it was through the wall, the elbows were slowing the draft down and allowing more heat to radiate from the piping. A damper may help, but if it is an older stove, you won't get as much heat to the place from a load of wood, as you would with a newer EPA stove.

Warnock- Hersey is the safety testing lab, Century is the stove manufacturer.

You may want to post some photos of the set up, stove, a photo of the info plate and photos of the inside, especially top inside so we can tell if it has a baffle or should have a cat etc.

 

[john26]

Sounds like you have a Century Hearth S127. Warnock Hersey is the testing agency . here is a little information on it.

 

[Hogwildz]

Pre-EPA Late 80's
Should have a basic baffle plate and that's it.
You will be loading it often, running it hard, and getting very little efficiency from it.
Check the stack often for build up.

 

[doodledawn]

@Hogwildz Good to know about the brand vs. testing lab. I am not up on stove brands and knew very little about this one except that it was free. Makes sense about the elbow slowing the draft. It's funny- I was very set on a straight up-and-out to keep down smoke, but didn't realize how it would reduce the heat.

@john26 Wow, thanks for the great diagram! That is my stove, spot on.

I live 2 hours away from the cabin so I can't get new photos just now. I have some on my phone but none of the inside, though the diagram above is the correct one. I have attached a few shots, included the admittedly dodgy temporary stovepipe from the previous rig. Note that the current stovepipe rig is straight now as this shot was during initial setup! Obviously going to put proper backing on the corner and build a platform, but the stove need to be in place to work in the space.

From what I've gathered, I can:

A: Add a damper which MAY help a bit
B: Accept that my stove is cool and inefficient and chop more wood (at least it's free)
C: Buy a new more efficient stove

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Ludlow]

Is the upstairs and roof insulated yet?

 

[bholler]

@Hogwildz Good to know about the brand vs. testing lab. I am not up on stove brands and knew very little about this one except that it was free. Makes sense about the elbow slowing the draft. It's funny- I was very set on a straight up-and-out to keep down smoke, but didn't realize how it would reduce the heat.

@john26 Wow, thanks for the great diagram! That is my stove, spot on.

I live 2 hours away from the cabin so I can't get new photos just now. I have some on my phone but none of the inside, though the diagram above is the correct one. I have attached a few shots, included the admittedly dodgy temporary stovepipe from the previous rig. Note that the current stovepipe rig is straight now as this shot was during initial setup! Obviously going to put proper backing on the corner and build a platform, but the stove need to be in place to work in the space.

From what I've gathered, I can:

A: Add a damper which MAY help a bit
B: Accept that my stove is cool and inefficient and chop more wood (at least it's free)
C: Buy a new more efficient stove

Thanks for the advice.

Is that 6" the whole way?

 

[begreen]

Add a key damper in the stove pipe about 18" above the stove. Close it down once the fire is burning well. This will slow down the flue gases and it will help the stove get hotter. You can probably find a 6" damper at the local hardware store.


In the long term, a modern stove will throw out more heat using less wood. If you are heating up the cabin from cold (no supplemental heat) then go large with the stove. Something like a Drolet Austral II would work. Just be sure the wood is fully seasoned. Modern stoves need dry wood to perform well. If there will be supplementary heat, then a smaller stove in the 2 cu ft range would suffice.

 

[xman23]

The chimney setup looks great. Wet wood is normally the issue with a stove not getting hot, It also becomes an issue keeping the wood burning in the startup. But if it's burning uncontrollably, check all the gaskets and stove for cracks. My guess it will be fine after the place gets insulated and walls closed up.

 

[bholler]

The chimney setup looks great. Wet wood is normally the issue with a stove not getting hot, It also becomes an issue keeping the wood burning in the startup. But if it's burning uncontrollably, check all the gaskets and stove for cracks. My guess it will be fine after the place gets insulated and walls closed up.

There is an odd transition above the vented doublewall that looks fishy to me.

 

[begreen]

There is an odd transition above the vented doublewall that looks fishy to me.

And cockeyed. Plus there is almost no hearth protection.