- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
I recently installed a Vermont Castings small Winter Warm in my masonry fireplace. The stove is vented into a 6" stainless steel liner running to the top of the chimney. My concern is the stove does not get very hot. In fact it doesn't even come close to being able to heat my 1600 sq.' house. When the stove is cranked the temp. on the iron above the glass door is ~ 350 deg F, stove top ~ 500 deg and flue temp. measured 3" above the stove on the outside of the pipe is ~ 650 deg. When I engage the catalyst these temps drop about 100 degrees. I have a good draft and the outside temp. was in the 20's. Is this stove performing correctly? I have an old Warner stove in the cellar and it heats much better than the new insert.
Answer:
The small winterwarm is by no means a powerful heater. Even the larger winterwarm is not considered a whole house heater by many dealers.It relies largely on convection heats since most of the body of the unit is located in the fireplace behind the surround panels. This type of stove is purposely built to not get very hot on the outside, thereby increasing it's safety. It surely will not seem to get as hot as an older steel stove like the Warner.In summary, it is a more civilized products...but perhaps that was not what you expected. Your best course of action is probably to use it for another couple of weeks and become more familiar with it's operation. It can easily take 3-4 weeks to become acquainted to a new stove. Folks who really want heat from their fireplaces will often use a stove on the hearth as opposed to an insert. This gives the full effect of radiant heat and exposes all the surfaces of the stove to the room air.
I recently installed a Vermont Castings small Winter Warm in my masonry fireplace. The stove is vented into a 6" stainless steel liner running to the top of the chimney. My concern is the stove does not get very hot. In fact it doesn't even come close to being able to heat my 1600 sq.' house. When the stove is cranked the temp. on the iron above the glass door is ~ 350 deg F, stove top ~ 500 deg and flue temp. measured 3" above the stove on the outside of the pipe is ~ 650 deg. When I engage the catalyst these temps drop about 100 degrees. I have a good draft and the outside temp. was in the 20's. Is this stove performing correctly? I have an old Warner stove in the cellar and it heats much better than the new insert.
Answer:
The small winterwarm is by no means a powerful heater. Even the larger winterwarm is not considered a whole house heater by many dealers.It relies largely on convection heats since most of the body of the unit is located in the fireplace behind the surround panels. This type of stove is purposely built to not get very hot on the outside, thereby increasing it's safety. It surely will not seem to get as hot as an older steel stove like the Warner.In summary, it is a more civilized products...but perhaps that was not what you expected. Your best course of action is probably to use it for another couple of weeks and become more familiar with it's operation. It can easily take 3-4 weeks to become acquainted to a new stove. Folks who really want heat from their fireplaces will often use a stove on the hearth as opposed to an insert. This gives the full effect of radiant heat and exposes all the surfaces of the stove to the room air.
