vermont castings resolute - blower?

[Jason Schatz]

Hi All,

Just got into the wood burning lifestyle this year with our new (1800s) farmhouse. We installed a Harmon TL300 in our living room and I am enjoying learning about it.

The home, however, came with a vermont castings resolute wood burner in the kitchen. I am getting a good fire with it, however it is installed in an old fireplace opening so I am looking for some way to get the heat out --- do they make a blower for this set-up? From what I have researched it seems this stove is from the mid 1980s? There seems to be a metal plate on the bottom that looks as if it would be used to draw cold air in, but nothing else on the stove looks conducive to a blower.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[begreen]

There was no fan option for that stove that I recall. It sounds like you could benefit from installing an insulated block-off plate at the lintel level to avoid heat going up into the smoke chamber.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Why_damper_seal_is_needed/

 

[Jason Schatz]

thanks - the old damper on the fireplace is closed tightly and stuffed with insulation -- while i think i could probably do a better job i don't think that is the main issue. is there any type of generic fan option i could employ?

 

[Oldhippie]

thanks - the old damper on the fireplace is closed tightly and stuffed with insulation -- while i think i could probably do a better job i don't think that is the main issue. is there any type of generic fan option i could employ?

Some guys use small computer "muffin" fans. The are about 3.5 inches square, low cost and fairly quiet. You can point it at the stove and push cold air at the stove and push the heat out.

Also, do you have a flue damper on that stove? I have an Acclaim Resolute (might be a newer model than yours) and it benefits from flue damper which I notice once the stove reaches about 600'F on the griddle, the flue pipe also had a high temp.. then I engage the flue damper and it helps keep the heat in. The temp drops on the flue but stays hot longer on the stove. Saves on wood too.

 

[Jason Schatz]

i do have a flue damper -- it works well when the fire gets hot I close it down and I get much longer burn times.

thanks for the advice, I guess I will just have to experiment with external fans

 

[begreen]

thanks - the old damper on the fireplace is closed tightly and stuffed with insulation -- while i think i could probably do a better job i don't think that is the main issue. is there any type of generic fan option i could employ?

If there is a large cavity above the stove in which the heat can collect, that can be an issue. The masonry will soak up the heat like a sponge.