The parameters. New Hearthstone Heritage, basement level, 6" single wall pipe to thimble, chimney is new 6" class A on outer wall of house about 16' tall. Two 90 degree elbows involved. My wood is an asortment of oak, maple, and softer woods (mostly cedar) It all appears to be well seasoned.
1. I am having trouble keeping the stove up to temperature. I can get it up to 400 within an hour of starting it up, but once the logs start to break down, the temp drops off rapidly. I am constantly adding logs to keep it up to temp. I'm going through a lot of wood with this stove. Last night I put 4 good size splits of maple in there. The temp only hung at 400 for about 30 minutes and then dropped off. The wood was already reduced to coals. I have thermometers on both the soapstone and the stack. The soapstone temp stays steady as advertised, but the stack is all over the place. If I get cut the air flow at all, the temp drops rapidly. Someone suggested I might have trouble keeping temps up since the chimney is not enclosed. (last night it was 15 degrees outside) I am very concerned about not being able to keep this chimney hot since I do not want to create circumstances for creosote buildup. My draft is good. I have no trouble starting up a smoke free fire from a cold stove using two fat sticks and kindling with the stove doors closed. I've checked the seals on the stove. The main door isn't dead tight, but shows resistance on the dollar bill test. I used both a candle and an incense stick last night around it, and neither made any big moves toward the stove. I never see smoke in the room, so I'm thinking the seals are good. I used 14 split logs during a 7 hour period which just seems way too high. I must admit that I have been very reserved in making my fires so far. I'm reluctant to completely pack the firebox so far. I want to make sure that the installation was good before going nuts with temps and capacity.
2. The stove makes a clicking noise in the area of the ash plan. By clicking noise, I mean a sound similar to what baseboard radiators and electric stove burners make while they are heating up. Is the stove supposed to do this? I hope this is just some sort of settling in period since I find it very annoying. It makes me very nervous that something's not right. I've never heard a stove make this sound.
3. My glass is getting dirty with each fire. I know it probably has something to do with the temperture problem, but I would think once the fire was hot enough, it would burn off. It's always in the same two places, near the edges/corners of the glass. Never the middle.
4. A question for the fire safety crowd. Since I am having trouble keeping my stove and chimney warm, is there a minimum time that you have to burn it a the appropriate temperature to prevent creosote buildup? In other words, it takes an hour to get to the safe temp of over 250, I burn it at a safe 400 for X amount of time, and then it cools back down without buildup. What would X be? When the chimney is hot enough for a certain time frame, does it burn off existing buildup as well?
You guys have been great so far. I'm so glad I found this forum. I was always a good pyro in the past, but am definitely at a high learning curve with this new stove. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
1. I am having trouble keeping the stove up to temperature. I can get it up to 400 within an hour of starting it up, but once the logs start to break down, the temp drops off rapidly. I am constantly adding logs to keep it up to temp. I'm going through a lot of wood with this stove. Last night I put 4 good size splits of maple in there. The temp only hung at 400 for about 30 minutes and then dropped off. The wood was already reduced to coals. I have thermometers on both the soapstone and the stack. The soapstone temp stays steady as advertised, but the stack is all over the place. If I get cut the air flow at all, the temp drops rapidly. Someone suggested I might have trouble keeping temps up since the chimney is not enclosed. (last night it was 15 degrees outside) I am very concerned about not being able to keep this chimney hot since I do not want to create circumstances for creosote buildup. My draft is good. I have no trouble starting up a smoke free fire from a cold stove using two fat sticks and kindling with the stove doors closed. I've checked the seals on the stove. The main door isn't dead tight, but shows resistance on the dollar bill test. I used both a candle and an incense stick last night around it, and neither made any big moves toward the stove. I never see smoke in the room, so I'm thinking the seals are good. I used 14 split logs during a 7 hour period which just seems way too high. I must admit that I have been very reserved in making my fires so far. I'm reluctant to completely pack the firebox so far. I want to make sure that the installation was good before going nuts with temps and capacity.
2. The stove makes a clicking noise in the area of the ash plan. By clicking noise, I mean a sound similar to what baseboard radiators and electric stove burners make while they are heating up. Is the stove supposed to do this? I hope this is just some sort of settling in period since I find it very annoying. It makes me very nervous that something's not right. I've never heard a stove make this sound.
3. My glass is getting dirty with each fire. I know it probably has something to do with the temperture problem, but I would think once the fire was hot enough, it would burn off. It's always in the same two places, near the edges/corners of the glass. Never the middle.
4. A question for the fire safety crowd. Since I am having trouble keeping my stove and chimney warm, is there a minimum time that you have to burn it a the appropriate temperature to prevent creosote buildup? In other words, it takes an hour to get to the safe temp of over 250, I burn it at a safe 400 for X amount of time, and then it cools back down without buildup. What would X be? When the chimney is hot enough for a certain time frame, does it burn off existing buildup as well?
You guys have been great so far. I'm so glad I found this forum. I was always a good pyro in the past, but am definitely at a high learning curve with this new stove. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
