The picture is of the new one. Everything is new. The old one was taken down and the new one was put back up
new Vapor Fire 100 with very poor heat
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The whole chimney is brand new the old one was taken down in the summer and this one was put up. I wish I knew all this in the summer I would have had it done differently if i did. I just got off the phone with a chimney company and they are saying the middle would have to be broken out to make room for the insulated liner. Its going to be real hard to get someone out here this time of year they are all really busy.
In the Owners Manual for the Vapor Fire 100 it indicates to locate the Barometric Damper that they provide
as close to the flue outlet as possible and at close to a 45 degree angle in the pipe. Where exactly is yours located?
I own one of these furnaces and can't be more pleased with the results. Thanks to many of the members that have
chimed in on this thread I am really impressed with the performance that I obtain.
as close to the flue outlet as possible and at close to a 45 degree angle in the pipe. Where exactly is yours located?
I own one of these furnaces and can't be more pleased with the results. Thanks to many of the members that have
chimed in on this thread I am really impressed with the performance that I obtain.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Curious how long a load lasts for you? Lots of coals left?
Are you filling it up all the way up?
Running the computer on L, M, or H?
How many coals are left after say, 8 hrs?
Just for example, I have been running 12 hour loads on 25-30 lbs of wood per load (1/3 ish load) mostly this year...did run one 40 lb. plus load on a 11* night...heating almost 3000 sq ft if you include the basement (1200 ft)...this is an average insulation 1940 brick cape cod. After 12 hours I can usually scrape around in the ashes and get enough live coals to light the next load with no match, just a lil kindlin/splitter trash on the coals...that is with burning Oak and Ash mainly.
Looks like the return air is off the basement floor...what is the temp there...vs at the ceiling?
Are you filling it up all the way up?
Running the computer on L, M, or H?
How many coals are left after say, 8 hrs?
Just for example, I have been running 12 hour loads on 25-30 lbs of wood per load (1/3 ish load) mostly this year...did run one 40 lb. plus load on a 11* night...heating almost 3000 sq ft if you include the basement (1200 ft)...this is an average insulation 1940 brick cape cod. After 12 hours I can usually scrape around in the ashes and get enough live coals to light the next load with no match, just a lil kindlin/splitter trash on the coals...that is with burning Oak and Ash mainly.
Looks like the return air is off the basement floor...what is the temp there...vs at the ceiling?
laynes69
Minister of Fire
I'll say it this way. We had a blower door test done on our home about 8 years ago on our 150 year old home. At the same time our neighbors in their 3 year old home were complaining about high energy bills. In the end our home was much tighter than the new home. While a home can be well insulated...it can be very loose with high air infiltration. It's nice for the manufacturer to offer a buyback if necessary....but it's also easy to say hey it will work. Spending what little bit it will cost to find problem areas in the home is worth it's weight in gold. Unfortunately there's too many variables when heating a home.
I've wanted to get it done for awhile now and will once I get the furance running like it should be mine was built in 1990 by the way.
I'm hoping to be one of those people one day too, but in its current state mines not working very well. I posted pictures of the pipe it's two 45s and a strait shot up currently.
I'm taking air off the floor right now it's about 3 degrees warm at the ceiling. I plan on adding duct work so it take it from the ceiling. My burn times have been 17 hours with red oak with full to top but I get very little heat after it goes to coals. I think it's beacuse of the chimney. I'm going to get it fixed and update everyone once its done. How warm are you keeping the house when it's 11? I'm not interested in burn times I want the house to be like 74.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
My temp range in the house goes from 71 to 75...but try to keep it 72/73 mostly. Last winter when it got nasty cold in January I had to load 3x per day, and that was the only time the computer came off low...put it up to medium for a couple days. Most of the winter it was on low and loading twice per day. 40 to 45# per load is pretty average...25# is about my low, 70 something is a full load, on average.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Since that is a brand new chimney I'd not have a problem putting a bare 6" liner in it...insulated is better, but just going to 6" round flue will help alot. I bet you could get a 6" liner in there with the 1/4" insulation blanket on it (1/2" is normal) the OD should be less than 7" that way...should be able to get that down a 8" flue, unless they really globbed the mortar between the tiles.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
This really is sounding more and more like a low draft issue...
If I going to spend the money on it I would like to make it the best it can possibly be. So I'll probably have them brake it out and put the liner down it.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
especially when he’s getting 17 hours on high.
did you ever considerjust a regular class a pipe chimney? I don’t know if anybody in my region even knows how to build one out of rocks!
keep at it. You’ll figure it out soon
It would seem to me that an easy, seat of the pants, test for adequate draft is to watch the baro flap. If it never moves off of closed, it might be weak draft. It it's always a-flappin to kill the draft, like mine is, well, the draft ain't it. Just me, but if my stove wasn't working, and I thought low draft was the problem, I'd give it a try without the baro. The baro is a huge leak just being there even with the flap closed. There's leakage around the closed flap, as well as around the tee parts. I'm not going to say this is the long term solution, as the draft may increase as temps decline into winter, but its a quick test that could be done today. Further off the cuff thoughts - I might try some hi-temp silicone to seal the joints in the baro tee, and some carefully applied aluminum foil over the baro flap end would make for a 10 minutes of labor test. No stove pipe rejiggering required.
I saw a significant difference in heat delivered to my living space vs. my furnace room when I sealed up the front cover of the Kuuma. The air that leaks out of there is the hottest air bouncing around in the furnace, and as delivered, mine leaked pretty good, so you might take a look at that as well as any air leaking from the ducting. Not THE cure, I know, but it might help.
Fwiw, I installed my vf 100 this summer, so I'm going to reserve judgement on weather I think it's going to heat your house. I can say, I was heating my house (barely) with a Clayton 1600 before, and I would encourage you to stick with it if you can. The improvement in my life has been considerable already. For the shoulder season, I've been mostly running on the lowest setting, and stretching the coals to reload during the day in approx. 20-40 degree weather. We've had a couple of days so far where the temp ranged 10 degrees either side of zero, with wind, and I will say from those, that I have a feeling that I'm going to be running this Kuuma at some pretty high settings to do the job when real winter sets in. I think that the ability of the Kuuma to keep producing heat at a good level hour after hour will give it the advantage over the Clayton. It was a real trick to have the Clayton burning in the morning with the soft wood we have to burn here, and during the day, it was about a 2 hour (partial loads for a decent burn) feeding schedule. So far the Kuuma is 8-12 hour loads (of pine) on cold fall days (0-30f).
It's too early to have any idea of wood consumption, but the Clayton was often running with a 600 degree stack, and usually smoking. The Kuuma has a 100 or so degree stack that I can put my hand on, and doesn't smoke. I actually saw a light tan 4" icicle hanging from the top lid of my metalbestos cap on a subzero morning last week while the stove was running. If it's burning the wood efficiently, with no smoke, and not putting half the heat up the chimney, it's gotta be an improvement over the Clayton this winter!
I will say that the roaring Clayton burned the chimney clean at least every few days, so creosote buildup was never a problem!
Fwiw, I installed my vf 100 this summer, so I'm going to reserve judgement on weather I think it's going to heat your house. I can say, I was heating my house (barely) with a Clayton 1600 before, and I would encourage you to stick with it if you can. The improvement in my life has been considerable already. For the shoulder season, I've been mostly running on the lowest setting, and stretching the coals to reload during the day in approx. 20-40 degree weather. We've had a couple of days so far where the temp ranged 10 degrees either side of zero, with wind, and I will say from those, that I have a feeling that I'm going to be running this Kuuma at some pretty high settings to do the job when real winter sets in. I think that the ability of the Kuuma to keep producing heat at a good level hour after hour will give it the advantage over the Clayton. It was a real trick to have the Clayton burning in the morning with the soft wood we have to burn here, and during the day, it was about a 2 hour (partial loads for a decent burn) feeding schedule. So far the Kuuma is 8-12 hour loads (of pine) on cold fall days (0-30f).
It's too early to have any idea of wood consumption, but the Clayton was often running with a 600 degree stack, and usually smoking. The Kuuma has a 100 or so degree stack that I can put my hand on, and doesn't smoke. I actually saw a light tan 4" icicle hanging from the top lid of my metalbestos cap on a subzero morning last week while the stove was running. If it's burning the wood efficiently, with no smoke, and not putting half the heat up the chimney, it's gotta be an improvement over the Clayton this winter!
I will say that the roaring Clayton burned the chimney clean at least every few days, so creosote buildup was never a problem!
One last thing - if you do have a low draft problem, I notice the cleanout door on the outside of your chimney. If that's not airtight, that could be a real draft killer.
I had that problem with a flue for another stove in my house. I solved it with some real good duct tape since it's sheltered. Exposed, like yours is, I would use silicone.
I had that problem with a flue for another stove in my house. I solved it with some real good duct tape since it's sheltered. Exposed, like yours is, I would use silicone.
it never moves unless it's really windy outside
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
What typically happens on "too big" masonry chimneys is that they draft like a freight train when the furnace intake damper is open and the fire is building...then when you (or the computer in this case) starts to ratchet back the intake damper to normal secondary burn settings...the chimney cools quickly, draft drops, then the fire dies down some...draft drops more, fire dies more. This is an overly simplistic explanation of what happens (especially with the Kuuma's computer control) but that's the gist of it...
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Well there you go then...that seals the deal...no draft. Mine is open/flapping even on a warmer day
I was thinking of buying this for it...
www.woodlanddirect.com
'
If you look at that question answer part they say it's 7 3/8 outside diameter. Do you think that would go down my 8in chimney?
6" Easy Flex Pre-Insulated Chimney Liner | WoodlandDirect.com: Chimney Liners, Champion
If you look at that question answer part they say it's 7 3/8 outside diameter. Do you think that would go down my 8in chimney?
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
An easy thing to do to take the baro out of the equation is to cover the front with aluminum foil...I told my sister to do this on her chimney...she struggles with having enough good dry wood all winter and the chimney gets a little creosoted up sometimes...so I told her to help with this issue, control the "cold air leak" (baro) by covering it up unless it was needed. She has a 15-16' chimney and the draft tends to stay under -0.06" WC unless it is really cold or windy out, so the baro can stay covered most of the time...easy to pop the foil off when needed. She has the Dwyer Mark II Model 25 manometer permanently mounted on the wall (as do many of us) and monitors draft after every re-load...I personally think that having a manometer setup like this should be mentioned in the manual @lampmfg ...since having proper draft (not low, not high) is so important!! The Dwyer mark II model 25 is not an expensive tool!
And it should be mentioned that a outside chimney is no good unless it's insulated!
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