soapstone fireplace saturated with heat

[toddd]

we spent almost 20k on a tulikivi soapstone woodstove with bake oven.
its beautiful.
but it doesnt do a great job heating the room.
the thermometer sitting 12' away in the room doesnt move much during firing or 12 hrs later either.
with a traditional steel or iron woodstove the heat transfers into the room and continues to do so throughout the firing.
i am wondering if the soapstone stove does that as efficiently.
my question is:
what happens to the heat from firing if the soapstone become saturated with heat? does more heat from continued firing move quickly thru the heat-saturated soapstone into the room? or does the heat-saturated soapstone act as a barrier forcing further heat up the chimney?
another question:
after firing when the soapstone is 'charged' does all the heat release into the room or is some of the heat released internally and goes up the chimney?
i think i am having buyers remorse on this soapstone fireplace.

 

[EbS-P]

What is the longest time you have been burning?? I notice a difference in heat output once all my masonry gets heat soaked. Takes about 4-6 hours with a softwood fire.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You have a lot of thermal mass to heat up. Depending on how much thermal mass is there, it might take a couple fires to heat it all up.

 

[stoveliker]

Soap stone does not saturate with heat. It can always be made hotter.

So I concur with the above, the heat input has not been enough yet into the thermal mass to radiate significantly (and prolonged) into the room. Burn more and burn hotter.

 

[mellow]

Not sure what model you had installed, was it one like this: (broken link removed to https://www.tulikivi.com/usa-can/products/TLU2000_92)

I would have the installer come out and walk you through how to use it and how to get it to heat correctly, they have no instructions on the website.

 

[neverstop]

Soap stone does not saturate with heat. It can always be made hotter.

So I concur with the above, the heat input has not been enough yet into the thermal mass to radiate significantly (and prolonged) into the room. Burn more and burn hotter.

My stove is internally lined with soapstone and the stone definitely takes longer to come up to temperature compared to a cast iron stove.

Looking at the specs of those stoves it looks like they heat 500-1200 sqft. How tall are the ceilings in the room this fireplace is located in?

 

[stoveliker]

Sure it takes longer due to the thermal mass. But there is no saturation; the heat capacity does not diverge in the range of usage (or in the range of soap stone stability, i.e. before it would decompose at far higher temperatures).

 

[begreen]

Try a fire every 6 hrs to see if that brings it up to temp. At that point, you may be able to do a once every 12 hr fire, or not, depending on outdoor temps and the heat loss of the house.

 

[electrathon]

we spent almost 20k on a tulikivi soapstone woodstove with bake oven.
its beautiful.
but it doesnt do a great job heating the room.
the thermometer sitting 12' away in the room doesnt move much during firing or 12 hrs later either.
with a traditional steel or iron woodstove the heat transfers into the room and continues to do so throughout the firing.
i am wondering if the soapstone stove does that as efficiently.
my question is:
what happens to the heat from firing if the soapstone become saturated with heat? does more heat from continued firing move quickly thru the heat-saturated soapstone into the room? or does the heat-saturated soapstone act as a barrier forcing further heat up the chimney?
another question:
after firing when the soapstone is 'charged' does all the heat release into the room or is some of the heat released internally and goes up the chimney?
i think i am having buyers remorse on this soapstone fireplace.

Steel and cast iron are known as conductors. The transfer heat through the metal and dissipate it outside the stove (think of the term "heat sink") happens fairly quickly. Soapstone is an insulator. It will absorb slowly heat and then release it slowly into the room. Your statement was correct about what happens to the heat that the soapstone cannot transfer into the room. It goes up the chimney. The fire burns, it has to dissipate the heat someplace, either up the chimney or out into the room. If you burn the stove long and hard you will finally get the heat to pass through the insulation layer and into the room.

 

[EbS-P]

Sure it takes longer due to the thermal mass. But there is no saturation; the heat capacity does not diverge in the range of usage (or in the range of soap stone stability, i.e. before it would decompose at far higher temperatures).

When I say heat soaked I really mean energy equilibrium. What ever heat is being absorbed the same amount is being released into the (Within the efficiency limits if the heater).

 

[stoveliker]

Yes, but in such a steady state, increasing the heat input into the stone should (near proportionally) increase the heat output into the room. Hence my suggestion to burn more and or hotter.

 

[Todd]

I take it this is a masonry heater and shouldn’t be run like a wood stove? I thought these heaters were supposed to be filled full with smallish sized splits and fired full blast for 2-3 hours down to coals then the heat is released for up to 12 hours before refiring or you could cause damage internally? Maybe 1-3 fires per 24 hours?