I'm not ripping my two-year old Hearthstone Mansfield, just looking for ideas how to manage those high-heat periods after reloading the stove.
Stove: Hearthstone Mansfield, rated up to 2,500 sf and up to 80,000 BTU.
Heat area: 1,700 sf partially exposed basement, 15,000+ cf (9' ceilings), about 2/3 is finished and superinsulated, about 1/3 is utility with 1" blueboard insulation on outside of masonry walls.
Fuel: Seasoned white ash.
Flue: 35 ft masonry (Isokern) with stack damper.
Heat transfer: 1. Force air system cold air return in ceiling near stove to circulate heat throughout house. 2. Two round ducts with in-line fans that draw air from the basement ceiling and discharge to a sun room on the first floor. 3. Open stairwell from basement to first floor.
The stove keeps the basement in a 70-72 degree range most of the time, so the stove size is OK from that standpoint. I get 10 hour burn times, meaning that I refire from live coals every 10 hours using a handful of kindling splits under the 3"x3" ash splits. I pack the firebox up to the secondary combustion tubes with wood.
The problem is that, after refiring, the stove throws out so much heat for a couple of hours I have to open a window on one end of the basement. This is with outside temperatures in the 5-10 degree range and with warm air being pulled out of the basement by the forced air system and the transfer ducts mentioned above.
After refiring, I allow the stove to run up to 400-450 before shutting down the air intake and stack dampers. After that, the stove temperature will continue to rise to 500-550, then begin to gradually drop. The stove would not get as hot and would not pump out as much heat if I left the dampers open, but the burn time would be much shorter.
I've kind of resigned myself to opening the window. That's good for airing out the house. There may be a way I can fiddle with the two dampers, but that means I have to hang around the stove to make adjustments. Suggestions are welcome.
Stove: Hearthstone Mansfield, rated up to 2,500 sf and up to 80,000 BTU.
Heat area: 1,700 sf partially exposed basement, 15,000+ cf (9' ceilings), about 2/3 is finished and superinsulated, about 1/3 is utility with 1" blueboard insulation on outside of masonry walls.
Fuel: Seasoned white ash.
Flue: 35 ft masonry (Isokern) with stack damper.
Heat transfer: 1. Force air system cold air return in ceiling near stove to circulate heat throughout house. 2. Two round ducts with in-line fans that draw air from the basement ceiling and discharge to a sun room on the first floor. 3. Open stairwell from basement to first floor.
The stove keeps the basement in a 70-72 degree range most of the time, so the stove size is OK from that standpoint. I get 10 hour burn times, meaning that I refire from live coals every 10 hours using a handful of kindling splits under the 3"x3" ash splits. I pack the firebox up to the secondary combustion tubes with wood.
The problem is that, after refiring, the stove throws out so much heat for a couple of hours I have to open a window on one end of the basement. This is with outside temperatures in the 5-10 degree range and with warm air being pulled out of the basement by the forced air system and the transfer ducts mentioned above.
After refiring, I allow the stove to run up to 400-450 before shutting down the air intake and stack dampers. After that, the stove temperature will continue to rise to 500-550, then begin to gradually drop. The stove would not get as hot and would not pump out as much heat if I left the dampers open, but the burn time would be much shorter.
I've kind of resigned myself to opening the window. That's good for airing out the house. There may be a way I can fiddle with the two dampers, but that means I have to hang around the stove to make adjustments. Suggestions are welcome.
