I posted a thread about three weeks ago stating my stove may not be big enough. Well, it was in the teens the last week or so. This stove is not cutting the mustard. I'm stoking this stove and the best it can do it 73 degrees on a thermometer mounted 15' from it. I was sold on this size soley on what the salesmen told me. I did my own research and all but I felt it was a wise choice. Its not. Next season, the larger model. For now, I'll deal with it.
Wood stove not big enough
- Thread starter jj3500
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
chimney is ~ 28'.
I've got a Raytek hand held temp gun. It reads 300 degrees at eye level on pipe. It reads 530 degrees on the stove top. Of course, this varies all the time. This is where it is currently. Its been hotter....but that is with me constantly stoking it. If I load and walk away, here is where its at.
I've got a Raytek hand held temp gun. It reads 300 degrees at eye level on pipe. It reads 530 degrees on the stove top. Of course, this varies all the time. This is where it is currently. Its been hotter....but that is with me constantly stoking it. If I load and walk away, here is where its at.
its not. Its been a dry area for over two years. The area I'm trying to heat is just too large for the stove. It is coming obvious to me at this point.
I have the same stove, and I find that different wood makes a big difference. I can make my living room unbearable with a full load of oak or maple. I stick to softer woods when it's warmer out for that reason. I think house size, insulation, and floor plan are also big factors. If your wood's dry and you're up to temp, (sounds like you are) then you might be right. I've got 800sqft downstairs and 600 up, and sometimes think I'd get by with a smaller stove, but a poorly insulated one-level ranch at the same sqft might be cold away from the stove.
My house is ~ 2500 square feet. Half of that is upstairs. The first floor is completely open floor plan. Its a new house so its not faulty insulation. Double pane windows etc.
Sounds like it's not getting hot enough. 530 is not very hot for a steel stove, and you say you have a hard time getting over this without stoking it constantly? How is your secondary burn? Are you burning this stove on a high air setting? Could be the draft is sucking too much heat up the chimney? Try cutting the air back and see if the stove temps rise. That stove should get up over 600 easy.
OK...let me get the terms correct first. Air control...I can either close this or open it up. When its closed, I usually put it here for overnight burns. Burns slower etc ...to last the night. The dampner...operates the flue opening? correct. That is usually closed. Only when I fill it with wood that this is open.
Back to the air control, it is usually wide open for max air. Sometimes, I crack the door open for more. That usually gets the fire really revved up.
So where am I at....?
Back to the air control, it is usually wide open for max air. Sometimes, I crack the door open for more. That usually gets the fire really revved up.
So where am I at....?
[quote author="jj3500" date="1227504343" The dampner...operates the flue opening? correct. That is usually closed. Only when I fill it with wood that this is open. [/quote]
Is this a cat stove, or non-cat?
Is this a cat stove, or non-cat?
For higher temps, you definitely want to close the air control at least half way when you put a fresh load of wood on a hot coal bed. Maybe more. The objective is to get a good hot secondary burn going.
Load wood, let it char with air control wide open for maybe 10 minutes or less, depending on the wood and coal bed. Then close down the air until you get a strong secondary burn. The stove temp should shoot up to 600-650. At this point you need to decide if you want it to stay there or go for the longer burn. If longer burn then close down the air control until the flames waft ghost like above the wood, but not completely out.
Load wood, let it char with air control wide open for maybe 10 minutes or less, depending on the wood and coal bed. Then close down the air until you get a strong secondary burn. The stove temp should shoot up to 600-650. At this point you need to decide if you want it to stay there or go for the longer burn. If longer burn then close down the air control until the flames waft ghost like above the wood, but not completely out.
I mite be in the same boat , I'm burning wood like I'm on a train. I have a hearth stone Equinox. The stove just doesnt seem to be getting hot enough. My house is over3000 sf . Ive been stuffing the stove with wood all day and i have the fire box full of coals but I'm sitting next to the stove with insulated jeans on . My wood has been cut and split for 2 years and covered since august . I don't think this stove is putting out 125,000 BTU . I hope i can figure this out soon. I have no other heat.
so....let the air control be at half-way area? to allow the reburn? I have noticed the more air the hotter the box gets. It burns out the load quicker but I get the heat that I want...for only a short burst. If I put the air control in halfway, I'll get a hotter stove? is this what is implied? I don't get it. How does less air get a hotter box?
wellbuilt home, try lots of smaller splits and make sure theres air between the splits. Your trying for higher temps here. Bigger splits generally give you a lower longer burn. Sometimes people put to much wood and pack it tight thinking it will make a hotter fire the opposite is sometimes true as there is cooling from all the wood and not enough space for air to feed a good fire.
jj3500 said:
Yes! Secondary burns are hotter. There burning the smoke and gases that would otherwise just go up the chimney.
jj3500 said:
Try not to think of it as LESS AIR, think of it as SLOWER air... Might not be exactly right, but it puts things in perspective for me.. I have found that my stove seems to run hotter with the air control all the way down, or at least VERY close to all the way closed.. I don't see the temps that a lot of folks see, but I think mine is due to being a double top stove (buck 21)... I heat a 1000sqft basement with my little 1.6 cuft firebox, and therefore heat the upstairs SOME.. Of course I can't get the upstairs as warm as the basement but it works pretty well.. BTW I am in a warmer climate so it does act differently..
Jason
I've adjusted the air flow...considerably. I'm getting the lazy yellow/orange flames and they are going through the reburn tubes effectively. This is not raising the temperature on the box or on the flue. I have a whole box of glowing ambers plus four smaller splits that are all lit up burning. This has been this way for 30 mins. now. I think if this were the case, the temp should have bumped up some...correct?
I think its just too cold outside and the heat is getting canceled out by low 20s temps.
Feedback?
I think its just too cold outside and the heat is getting canceled out by low 20s temps.
Feedback?
when you cut the air back 1/2, give it a few minutes to catch up with itself. the secondary burn is indeed hotter. YOU MUST close the air down to keep the heat in the box. sounds like you are letting most of your heat go up the chimney
after letting it burn and get up to running temp....then you can take the air down some more another 1/4, getting it down to around 3/4 close or more. you WILL keep the heat in and your box will get hot
after letting it burn and get up to running temp....then you can take the air down some more another 1/4, getting it down to around 3/4 close or more. you WILL keep the heat in and your box will get hot
Keep playing with the air setting and check the temps. The stove temp should rise with a good secondary burn rolling along and the pipe temps should stay in the 250-350 range.
Closing the air control doesn't cut off air so much as it redirects it to the tubes in the top of the stove. That causes the stove to burn the smoke also, so burning more of the fuel, and therefore hotter. Burning with the control full open may get the stove hot, but you're burning up fast, and sending most of your heat up the chimney. I usually have my control less than 1/4 open for most of a load.
A couple of thoughts:
-The secondary flames seem to work best when the stove is hot and the load is big. If my stove is cold, I start with a smaller kindling load laid criss-cross and let it go with the air full open. When that's reduced to coals, (an hour or less) I load up. I don't usually load less than 3/4 full when it's cold out. Bigger and smaller pieces. I let that burn at full primary air for 10-15 minutes, however long it takes for the whole load to be in flames. Then I push in about 1/2 way. At that point I usually have the tubes shooting out flames like little blowtorches. Stove gets really hot. After a while (depends, but not usually more than 30 min) I push in to 1/4. The secondaries burn all over the top of the stove for an hour or 2. When the load is down to smaller coals I often pull the air back out for the last hour. Loads after that don't require the 1/2 way air at all. I load up, let it go for 15 min at full, and then push in to 1/4 or less.
-Do you have the blower? I made my own, and it makes a huge difference. Especially at the coaling stage. If you use it too soon, though, it slows the stove getting hot enough for good secondaries.
-Do you have outside air? My house is old and leaky, so I have fantastic draft, but if your house is pretty tight, you may not be getting enough air. You shouldn't have to leave the door open longer than to start a cold stove.
In the end though, Lopi says this stove does up to 2000 sq ft. Even in a well insulated home it's probably too small.
A couple of thoughts:
-The secondary flames seem to work best when the stove is hot and the load is big. If my stove is cold, I start with a smaller kindling load laid criss-cross and let it go with the air full open. When that's reduced to coals, (an hour or less) I load up. I don't usually load less than 3/4 full when it's cold out. Bigger and smaller pieces. I let that burn at full primary air for 10-15 minutes, however long it takes for the whole load to be in flames. Then I push in about 1/2 way. At that point I usually have the tubes shooting out flames like little blowtorches. Stove gets really hot. After a while (depends, but not usually more than 30 min) I push in to 1/4. The secondaries burn all over the top of the stove for an hour or 2. When the load is down to smaller coals I often pull the air back out for the last hour. Loads after that don't require the 1/2 way air at all. I load up, let it go for 15 min at full, and then push in to 1/4 or less.
-Do you have the blower? I made my own, and it makes a huge difference. Especially at the coaling stage. If you use it too soon, though, it slows the stove getting hot enough for good secondaries.
-Do you have outside air? My house is old and leaky, so I have fantastic draft, but if your house is pretty tight, you may not be getting enough air. You shouldn't have to leave the door open longer than to start a cold stove.
In the end though, Lopi says this stove does up to 2000 sq ft. Even in a well insulated home it's probably too small.
Not enough fuel. This thing works like an atom bomb and you need critical mass for the chain reaction to occur. Get a coal bed of 2-3 inches and then load it up. Fill it to the baffle. Where there are spaces fill them with smaller pieces. Now give it plenty of air until the load catches and starts to burn strong (10-15 minutes). Now cut down to half primary air. Temperature should rise now as the exhaust dwell time in the stove is longer giving a chance to collect that heat instead of sending it up the flue. After another 10 minutes or so you can start cutting the air more; maybe almost down to nothing.jj3500 said:
If you want more heat load the wood with the ends facing the loading door (NS); for less heat/longer burn load so the sides of the splits are visible through the window (EW).
jj3500 said:
Damper closed???? You are referring to the damper in the flue pipe right? I'm no expert but I think that should be left open all the time unless you have excessive draft (cannot control the fire with the air inlet).
I suspect you are blocking off the air flow. You also could have a safety problem if you create a positive pressure in the stove and leak out dangerous gasses.
Also, what species of wood are you burning? Some woods put out half the heat of other species. Oak, hickory, hard maple, locust, hedge are the best.
BeGreen said:
BG, I can't get 600 degree temps with my PE Summit no matter what I do. 400-450 is the max I've seen, and that's enough to drive us out of the house in 20 degree weather. I get good secondary burn and no smoke out of the chimney. Once it gets going I cut the air back to about 1/3rd open or less. Am I doing something wrong?
I do have the blower on the stove running pretty low so that probably reduces the temperature a little but I doubt it takes it down 200 degrees. I've turned the blower off one time to check and it didn't make a difference.
Ken
- Status
Similar threads
