# Help with Waterford Erin Woodstove pls! (Came with house we bought - little instruction)



## kennydewit (Nov 13, 2011)

Hi All!  

I'm new to the Hearth Room, but always a fan of wood heat since I was old enough to know what wood is.  Also long time reader, 1st time poster.

So the story goes:  We bought a house on a river in the country a few months back and other than electric baseboard, it came with this woodstove.  The old lady that owned the place lived here on her own as her husband passed suddenly 10 years ago.  Being from Ireland, and afraid of fires, she didn't have much advice on how to operate it.  Trouble is, we think its undersized and can't get it to burn properly.  Truth is, we're not sure we're doing it right either so we're here to ask!  

I've read through some instruction manuals I found online, but its not clear what the primary and secondary dampers are??  I see an ash pan handle/slide, an Air wash knob and a flap on the flue..but no where else do I see any controls.  If I only use these three methods, I can't get much of a flue temp (300C).  To get a good fire going, I have to crack open the Ash pan door..which they say I shouldn't have to do.  Am I missing something?  

Background on the house:  Its a 2 storey, 1750sq ft, no basement and unheated crawl.  Built in 1984 with insulation values of that time,(will upgrade insulation next summer)  wood stove in living room with ceiling fans in stairwell, dining and kitchen to circulate the heat. We're burning mostly local white Ash which is supposed to be a great burning wood.  Temps here in the winter get down to -30C but average -10.  We're pretty sure by the measurements and description, that this is a Waterford Erin wood stove.  

So we bought 5 cord of hardwood (Ash) for the winter, but want a woodstove efficient enough to make it last.  We're thinking this stove is undersized to begin with, to heat this little house in the dead of winter.  (Have heard it puts out 33k BTU / heats 1000sq ft total?)  We find it won't do an overnight burn and we have to keep feeding it lots of wood every 3 hrs or so..we also suspect the glass seal on the door needs replacing and have seen others with a steel mess over their ash pan grate..ours doesn't have that.  

Thought we'd ask before we replace it soon!..with either a good Canadian made Napoleon 1400 or Pacific Energy Super series.  A speedy reply would be great as its getting pretty cold here now and the wife doesn't want to mess around..she wants heat! haah.  Thanks in advance,


Ken


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## BrotherBart (Nov 13, 2011)

For a start, we have the manual here for the stove here in the Hearth Wiki:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/f426c9dd7fa688700087c63c2790846d/


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## kennydewit (Nov 13, 2011)

Thanks Brother!

This looks similar to others I've read, though definetely comes through clearer and has the same controls as mine.  Big help.  After reading that,  a few points I've noticed on this Erin stove:

-the Top knob is the primary control knob (Not air wash knob like a different manual told me for a different variation with control knob on the ash pit door)
-I see a rear air duct but no way of controlling how much it lets in.  (No secondary??)
-the grate handle is just to empty the ashes into the ash pan, unless emptying..leave it full in. (Previous owner told me it made the fire go wooosh!)

Btw, this explains why we burnt through wood so fast, as we had the primary control knob set to full open. Working alot better now. I'm still getting an average flue temp of 300-350C once its its up to temperature.  I hear the primary control knob is possibly adjustable(to get more air) from another owner so I'll have a look at that when the stove cools down.  I can't see why it would be though, as I believe this stove has had minimal use over the years given the condition its in.

Either way, is this stove still undersized for our home?  By EPA standards, this Erin is 63% efficient and is purely radiant.  With newer models 76-83%+ efficient, with convection, reburn technology and optional blowers..perhaps I should upgrade before things get real nipply?  Your thoughts..


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## BrotherBart (Nov 13, 2011)

The short answer is that a Super 27 will give you more heat and longer burn times. But operated properly the Erin should give you more heat and better burn times than you are presently getting from it. Whether that is the wood, the flue, the operator or phases of the moon is hard to tell from this far away from the stove.


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## DexterDay (Nov 14, 2011)

How long ago did you get the Cords of Ash?? 

Thats a beautiful stove. Should be a pretty good heater. If the stove didnt overfire with the Primary open all the way,  then I would say the wood may be a little wet? Ash is a fairly low M/C wood,  but it dont season in a month. Its still best with 1 yr seasoned. 

Welcome to the Forums. These guys and gals will get you going shortly. 

Note:A bigger and more efficient stove will always give you more heat. But new EPA stoves like Dry Wood.


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## kennydewit (Nov 14, 2011)

Thanks for the reply Dexter,
and indeed you're right that this Ash was cut and split a month ago. That being said, I've also burned various seasoned softwoods I've had that were dry with similar experience.  I have to leave the ash pan door cracked for it to get enough air to bring the flew temp up higher than 300C.  I even tried some dry maple last night, which went out overnight after I tried to draft it down and had to re light the log this a.m.  

But I do agree that I'd rather season it if I can..unfortunately for me, the guy that was supposed to have my hardwood ready for the winter ended up having a bunch of green poplar for me!! Can you believe it, some freind.  So naturally I cancelled that deal and had to find what I could locally.

As far as for Ash, I've heard the saying "Ash wood wet or Ash wood dry, a King will warm his slippers by!"  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that the moisture content of 'green' Ash is within a few percentage points of seasoned Ash and is the only wood I know of that can be burned right away.  The 72 yr old neighbour/farmer up the road who's been getting it locally for me, burns it green in his larger Regency wood stove every winter without any issues..it'll just about cook you out.  I've also split larger chunks into smaller bits by axe to double check his theory and its surprisingly dry in the center. 

I'm going to have a better look at this Waterford stove today as its warming up to 15C.  I'll try and clean out its various air passages, that and replace the window seal which is shot..

That being said, this stove is still undersized as primary heat for an 1800sq ft total (2 storey) right?..


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