I have a earth stove 100 series, the only thing i have to control the heat is the air intake on the back of the stove. but i only get about 2 to 3 hours of burn time on a load of wood, i can't even keep a fire all night, i wake up in the morning and it's like someone came in and stole my wood right out of the stove. i was wondering if i added a stove pipe damper if that would help keep my fire longer and burn slower, it heats great but i seems the heat goes right up out to the chimney, there is no catalytic coverter or anything below the outlet just a whole. my stove is about the same age as my mom and dad and theres never used that much when i lived there. please let me know what you all think, thanks
The earth stove 100 series
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no - actually - I'm not, but those were the first things that came to mind. Hopefully someone more familiar with that stove will chime in. If I remember right, one of the members (Spike, I believe) was pretty familiar with them, but haven't seen him yet this season.
actually it's not to bad to explain. the is just an airtight stove pretty much square. on the back is a the damper that runs down the center of the back and is about 2in by 6 inch opening. it as a flap in side that is ran off a rod that goes to a box off the side of the stove with a dial for high medium and low. in that box with a dial is a spring and if the stove gets to hot it will shut. thats it. mom and dad has a Valley Gem insert and all it has is a crank in and out damper. but the only thing that i did notice is most stoves do have a metal plate or somthing cover the outlet to the chimney and i don't and that is where i think that the heat is going out the chimney and is burning fast. so if i put a stove pipe damper on the pipe it would keep the heat in and be able to control the fire a little better. But like i said it works great keeps my two story house warm. a friend of mine and a lot of other people said that they are good stoves and i believe them but i am not going to keep feeding that thing like i have been and it's not even that cold out yet. i would understand if it was really cold out if it used alot of wood.
Many of us only have an air inlet to use to control the burn of the stove. Well, that is besides, type of wood, quality of wood, size of slits, size of the fire box, how much you stuff in there and how you stack it inside.
Is that a relatively small stove? Many of us just use a good bed of coals and some larger logs, get them burning a bit and then close the air down to get an overnight burn.
Is that a relatively small stove? Many of us just use a good bed of coals and some larger logs, get them burning a bit and then close the air down to get an overnight burn.
here is a picture of what my stove looks like it the same brand as this one, the picture came off this site. is like 26x 28 or something around there. my woods is well seasons mixed with oak and cherry. it just seems to me that its all going out the chimney. i can get it going hot and turn the damper down and puff my fire down below 250 degrease, i am also afraid of creasote buildup as many times it's burned down that low when i am in bed or not home. so if i put a stove pipe damper in that should keep most of the heat in the stove and burn longer. i mean it don't matter if i have it turned down or up it seems to me it burns the same amount of wood. some guys i have talked to here at work said that i needed to have the stove pipe damper. they said i should have that in there and use my air control on the back. I don't know i just want to figure this out fast, i have burned wood for a long time with my other house and now i have my own this is different and it making me mad.
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What has me a little confused is that you are getting the stove down to 300, or so. That would seem to indicate the air control is working. I would think that a damper would choke it down even more.... then you have creosote issues..... unless the thermometer is bad..... and you could be burning at a higher temp than is indicated..... then I would think the damper might help.
yeah i thought my thermostate on the pipe would be bad, i need to go get one and use it. I agree with you it works great actually to good because if you barly turn the know for the air control it changes the temp, like i said earlier it has high medium and low and i run it about medium and in between medium and low. But really what to get at is that shouldn't there be something were the stove pipe comes out. a baffle or something, i mean the flames heat and everthing goes right out? if you want to see what the damper looks like there is two earth stoves on ebay, the damper is the same way is mine.
Looked at the ebay ones....
Seems that if the air control is working (which your's seems to be), then it is really shouldn't need a damper in the pipe, as the fire inside the box has been "dampered down", which you know since the stove is cooling down. There isn't likely to be and flames going up the pipe, or an excessive loss of heat, or high wood consumption.
Just another thought.... how about the stove pipe connections themselves. I know you said the gaskets were in good shape.... could you have leaky seams at the pipe connections? If that were the case though, I'd think you would see some symptoms of overfiring... which doesn't seem like you have.
Seems that if the air control is working (which your's seems to be), then it is really shouldn't need a damper in the pipe, as the fire inside the box has been "dampered down", which you know since the stove is cooling down. There isn't likely to be and flames going up the pipe, or an excessive loss of heat, or high wood consumption.
Just another thought.... how about the stove pipe connections themselves. I know you said the gaskets were in good shape.... could you have leaky seams at the pipe connections? If that were the case though, I'd think you would see some symptoms of overfiring... which doesn't seem like you have.
That stove appears large enough to hold a nice load of wood. There is no way your burn time should be only 2-3 hours. I bet you are getting air in through leaky door gaskets or somewhere and/or your not actually getting it to damper the air down far enough.
How tall is your chimney? Possible overdrafting. You say it doesn't have something near the outlet of the stove, No baffle?
I have the same stove and also do not have a damper on the flue. It seems as though if i do not keep the stove damper cranked wide open it just begins to smolder. Maybe adding a damper to the flue and regulating it a little higher up would be the answer, I don't know. Mine is in the basement so I have a long chimney. Good luck and let me know how your making out. If its bad now for you it will be worse when it really gets cold and windy which will create wven more draft.
laynes69 said:
That's what I thought at first as well... but being able to get the temps on the stove down by closing down the air intake would seem to indicate that it's not over firing with air leaks, unless the temps on the thermometer are way off. If the wood is completely gone - it's obvioulsy burning up... but why?
I know crabby said the wood was well seasoned oak and cherry... could it be a little too old, depending on how it was stored before... maybe wet for a long time and got a little punky, and then dried out well... that would expain the fast burn times. If it were wet - I think you would see a lot of smoldering embers in the morning.
I don't know how else the wood would be able to burn up that fast without overfiring the stove (which it doesn't seem to be doing)
well guys i have checked the door and the gasket seems to be good, it look like new or not very old, for what they cost i might still change it. also on the back of my stove there is a hole with pipe thread above the air intake door. the hole goes into the stove and 90's up the stove pipe. looks like to me there was a draft inducer at one time on it, i was wondering if i put a plug on that hole. that should help. and there is no baffle on the stove pipe, nothing at all, it's all open. the wood i have sat for about a year under a tarp also.
I just bought a stove exactly like the one in the picture above... I am glad to find someone on here talking about it! Mine has been stored in a barn for a while, it's very rusty and needs a bit of work... I have never seen a stove with a rear vent?? and some sort of coil thermostat or something. Does anyone know of a dealer for this stove?
Howdy!
Just thought I'd chime in, as I have the same stove -- drastically different climate though (I'd assume, based on the wood you have available!)
While I'm not sure how old this beast is, it is just a big steel box with a few doodads and bits in and on it. Your "wood burning too fast" issue is a familiar one to me. My priority was to be able to use it as my primary heat source (I have propane backup, but prefer not to use it). Obviously leaving well enough alone, even with a hefty load of wood (oh and the wood I use pretty much blows as far as BTU/cord -- fir, spruce, aspen), resulted in a cold stove in the morning. So I did the usual stuff -- check the pipe, clean the chimney, check the seals etc with little to no effect. So I had to get a bit more creative.
The damper on the stove has a bimetallic spring in it attached to the damper control rod. As the fire cools, the spring-actuator opens the air intake allowing more air in, thus speeding up/maintaining combustion. Even if you close the air intake lid it'll still pull air in and increase combustion. So after a few beers one night I decided to experiment and I clamped a small pair of vice grips on the control rod and just it hang, thus keeping the air intake valve shut against the will of the spring. Lo and behold in the morning: hot stove, easy to get going again. Perfect. Well, not exactly...
Doing this is probably NOT recommended by anyone in the "business" as what you're doing is forcing the stove to smolder all night. I accept this as I've gotten to where I can clean my chimney from inside in about 20 minutes (6" single to triple wall Duravent, 18' vertical run) and beleive me, doing this will force you to clean the chimney at least once a month if not more (when it becomes tough to light, decrease draw etc...time to clean). But -- I'm a career fireman so i can wathc my house burn down and know exactly why it happened!
Another question, what is your stove outlet diameter? Mine necks immediately from 8" to 6" (at the stove) so this is part of my problem, as this creates a semi-venturi effect thus increasing draw. Also, is your pipe run OK? Does it go single wall to the (first) ceiling then double or triple up and out? (Mine originally went single to double to single to triple....bad creosote situation there....but it heated the heck out of the upstairs
I fixed it.)
Anyway, good stove: strong like bull, smart like...bull. I'm thinking of upgrading to a more modern catalytic model, but who knows. Mine has cracked at all four door corners (on the stove itself) which I just welded back up. Made it look meaner....ugly like bull. So...that's my two cents!
Just thought I'd chime in, as I have the same stove -- drastically different climate though (I'd assume, based on the wood you have available!)
While I'm not sure how old this beast is, it is just a big steel box with a few doodads and bits in and on it. Your "wood burning too fast" issue is a familiar one to me. My priority was to be able to use it as my primary heat source (I have propane backup, but prefer not to use it). Obviously leaving well enough alone, even with a hefty load of wood (oh and the wood I use pretty much blows as far as BTU/cord -- fir, spruce, aspen), resulted in a cold stove in the morning. So I did the usual stuff -- check the pipe, clean the chimney, check the seals etc with little to no effect. So I had to get a bit more creative.
The damper on the stove has a bimetallic spring in it attached to the damper control rod. As the fire cools, the spring-actuator opens the air intake allowing more air in, thus speeding up/maintaining combustion. Even if you close the air intake lid it'll still pull air in and increase combustion. So after a few beers one night I decided to experiment and I clamped a small pair of vice grips on the control rod and just it hang, thus keeping the air intake valve shut against the will of the spring. Lo and behold in the morning: hot stove, easy to get going again. Perfect. Well, not exactly...
Doing this is probably NOT recommended by anyone in the "business" as what you're doing is forcing the stove to smolder all night. I accept this as I've gotten to where I can clean my chimney from inside in about 20 minutes (6" single to triple wall Duravent, 18' vertical run) and beleive me, doing this will force you to clean the chimney at least once a month if not more (when it becomes tough to light, decrease draw etc...time to clean). But -- I'm a career fireman so i can wathc my house burn down and know exactly why it happened!
Another question, what is your stove outlet diameter? Mine necks immediately from 8" to 6" (at the stove) so this is part of my problem, as this creates a semi-venturi effect thus increasing draw. Also, is your pipe run OK? Does it go single wall to the (first) ceiling then double or triple up and out? (Mine originally went single to double to single to triple....bad creosote situation there....but it heated the heck out of the upstairs
I fixed it.)Anyway, good stove: strong like bull, smart like...bull. I'm thinking of upgrading to a more modern catalytic model, but who knows. Mine has cracked at all four door corners (on the stove itself) which I just welded back up. Made it look meaner....ugly like bull. So...that's my two cents!
i put the damper in last week right at the top of the stove. and it seemed to have helped a lot. it actually have a bed of hot coals in the morning to start a fire again and leave, i never have to tought the air control on the back, i just leave it on low and leave the damper shut, with the damper shut it still allows some heat out and the stove pipe stays around 300 or 200, but the top of the stove is usually 300 to 500. burns good and hot and a lot slower than before, woke up to warm house this morning.
don't worry about cresote build up, i just get a jug of powder from my boss, he sells central boilders and sells the powder with them to keep the chimney's clean. you just use a spoonful once a day and it suppose to keep it clean. so it has been really good here the last few days.
don't worry about cresote build up, i just get a jug of powder from my boss, he sells central boilders and sells the powder with them to keep the chimney's clean. you just use a spoonful once a day and it suppose to keep it clean. so it has been really good here the last few days.
crabby said:
Put not your faith in that powder... It is NOT a substitute for regular and vigourous mechanical cleaning with a brush of the appropriate size... While lots of folks swear by it, the only thing scientific testing has shown that powder can reliably do is clean surplus cash out of the wallets of the gullible...
Gooserider
i know that the powder is not a substitute for cleaning!! i just put a new liner in this year and i am just trying to keep cleaner, i used to clean my other chimney at the beginning every year. my fire goes out alot because we are hardly home enough during the day to keep it going hot, so when i get home i start is back up i get it good a and hot to clean it out and use the powder, i don't depend on the powder.
GOOD! We occasionally have gotten people in here with chimney fire or blockage problems that were puzzled by it - saying "well I use the powder..."
US: When was the last time you swept the chimney?
THEM: I've never swept, with the powder you aren't supposed to need sweeping..... >:-(
From the way you were talking I thought you might have been one of that type, wanted to make sure... I'm not at all convinced that the powder does anything besides clean out wallets, but if you get it for free / cheap then I guess it's no harm in using it. I had some from different sources that I used to use in my smoke dragon, can't tell that it made much difference, and certainly had plenty of crud when I brushed. Now I don't use it becase the stuff I have doesn't say that it's safe for cats.
Gooserider
US: When was the last time you swept the chimney?
THEM: I've never swept, with the powder you aren't supposed to need sweeping..... >:-(
From the way you were talking I thought you might have been one of that type, wanted to make sure... I'm not at all convinced that the powder does anything besides clean out wallets, but if you get it for free / cheap then I guess it's no harm in using it. I had some from different sources that I used to use in my smoke dragon, can't tell that it made much difference, and certainly had plenty of crud when I brushed. Now I don't use it becase the stuff I have doesn't say that it's safe for cats.
Gooserider
I have the same earth stove and like the way it burns, I know that the seal is bad on the front door as it is warped from the previous owner getting it too hot. But I never got operating instructions on how to run the thing, I know to raise the dampner thing in the back and open to high when I first start it but then do I leave the air dampner up then use the high med low dial to regulate or do I drop the air dampner gate down then use the H M L dial?
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