wood stove problems

[jayjai]

we bought a highlander wood stove a couple months ago. we can't get it to put out much heat. the manufacturer tells us that it is a draft problem.
it is supposed to heat 1600 sq. ft. can barely keep one room warm. we have a manufactured metal chimney put in 25 years ago and worked fine with our
old stove. we put i 6" pipe from stove to ceiling then the metal chimney is 8" would that make a difference rather then using 8" all the way?
any suggestions?

 

[learnin to burn]

Welcome to the forum and Happy New Year. Now for the questions.

I think more info is needed on your set up. Did you clean the chimney before the install? How tall is the chimney? Is it at least 2 ft higher than any part of the roof within 10 ft? Is it at least 3 ft higher than the roof where it exits? (10-3-2 rule). Do you have a cap on the chimney and is it clean?

Is your wood dry, seasoned at least a year? Wet wood will cause poor performance in any stove.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How tall is the chimney? Going from 6" to 8" should decrease the velocity of the fluegas, but if the chimney is tall it may not be an issue. In my old house I went from 6" pipe inside to a 8x8 masonry chimney outside. After it got going it was fine.

Many times a person who switches from an old woodstove to a new one has heat issues when they turn the air all the way down to a smoldering burn like they used to. The newer stoves aren't made to smolder. Wood is also an issue since the newer stoves are a little pickier about the wood they burn.

Matt

 

[LLigetfa]

Transitioning from 6 to 8 in and of itself would not be an issue. Flue gasses however move slower in the 8 inch and so have more time to cool and loose their boyancy. It sounds like the chimney runs up the inside of the house so the portion that runs through the attic and outside is where the heat loss would be. A modern stove expells less up the flue and so there is less heat to service the draft. An insulated liner to reduce the flue to 6 inch is one option. If there is enough flue passing through an attic, you could chase it in to hold in some of the heat. If you have singlewall smokepipe up from the stove, you could replace it with doublewall to preserve some heat as well.

Also, many of these newer stoves require higher temperatures in the firebox and opening up the air too much can prevent the temps from reaching what we call the sweet spot. Sometimes less is more. Try resisting the urge to open it all the way up. If it doesn't perform well with a little less air, it could well be that the wood isn't dry enough.

Lastly, the amount of air available to the stove for combustion is relative to the pressure of the air by the stove. If you are losing air to stack effect it can and will affect the burn rate. Crack open a window near the stove to test the pressure. If you have a strong inrush of cold air, you need to address where air is leaking out of the building envelope.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum jayjai.


Looks like you have some good answers above. I will add that the newer stoves work a lot different from the older stoves and there is a learning curve, albeit short. We had to make some adjustments in how we burn when we put in a new stove a couple years ago. Now we are very happy. We stay warmer and burn less wood.

 

[BrotherBart]

On its best day that little stove should not be rated to heat more than 800-1000 sq. ft. With a 1.285 cubic foot firebox it is out of wood by the time the stove gets up to temperature.

 

[firefighterjake]

we bought a highlander wood stove a couple months ago. we can't get it to put out much heat. the manufacturer tells us that it is a draft problem.
it is supposed to heat 1600 sq. ft. can barely keep one room warm. we have a manufactured metal chimney put in 25 years ago and worked fine with our
old stove. we put i 6" pipe from stove to ceiling then the metal chimney is 8" would that make a difference rather then using 8" all the way?
any suggestions?

Hopefully you've got things straightened out by now . . . and I think LL alluded to this . . . but to add to this . . . a lot of newbies with the "new" EPA stoves do not realize that with the air control all the way open you'll get lots of flames, but the majority of the heat will go up the chimney . . . instead, once you've got a good, established fire (stove top and flue thermometers will help) you will want to slowly close up the air which should result in more heat coming off the stove and if this is a stove with secondary combustion you will be treated to the lightshow at the same time.

Of course, as also mentioned, these stoves are kind of finicky and really need well seasoned wood (i.e. cut and split 9 months to a year earlier) to burn well. Besides folks making the mistake of leaving the air control open all the way (as mentioned in the paragraph above -- you get lots of flames, but not a lot of heat coming from the stove), one of the other common mistakes is attempting to burn less than seasoned wood (and many do not realize their wood is not seasoned since "seasoned" is a rather vague description of wood).

A final mistake is in not realizing that woodstoves do take time to heat up the house . . . a room can be warm within an hour, but it may take several hours for that heat to circulate through other rooms . . . and failing to move that heat effectively (i.e. using floor fans) can sometimes result in the majority of that heat being "trapped" in the room with the stove.

Let us know how you're making out.