Am I burning hot enough?

[pelican]

Oh, sorry. I do burn all day, as soon as I up I go down and get it going and it goes all day through night when I load it up full before bed. I do feel a little heat coming up but it's more lukewarm than warm. Maybe I'll post some pics so you can get a better idea of the setup.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I don't give up easily and already driving my wife nuts about this, I think I can figure it out somehow. I think I'm up to plan "E" now, which is to put in a ceiling fan in the living room directly above the family room is where the insert is.

 

[Woodreb]

With regard to front of insert versus stove top temperatures, from an old post back in 2008

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/a-little-test-of-insert-temp-measurements.19568/#post-287984

The front is not the same reading as the actual stove top and our experience with the i2400 is that a reading of 450-500 on the front of the stove is certainly hot enough to produce good heat and from what you say, getting the stove to put out heat isn't the problem if the stove room is 80 degrees. You just need to find a way to move the heat out of that room. The incense stick would work to check out air flow, so would a candle. Have you tried a small fan on low in the hall to the stairs pointed toward the stove room?

I have a neighbor with a raised ranch and a wood stove downstairs. They have a somewhat more open flow (no hall way) from the stove room to the stair well and you can really feel the heat coming out of that area and up into the upstairs living area.

 

[Russ Davenport]

Pelican, I have 2 themometers. 1 with the RED zone and 1 w/o. I guess the redzone one is for the pipe..? I too have a raised ranch w/ stairs in middle. Hole in floor to bedroom above stove. Doesn't heat upstairs up too much unless I leave it going for 2 days which I don't. I am a Weekend Warrior or just burn for the evening. I put one of those thermo-electric fans on top to help push hot to the open door at stairs. May try the fan blowing cold down and incense trick too to see what I find.

BTW, my Jotul 3 is for 1300 sg ft and house is 1600.

 

[pelican]

Sorry, the "red zone", that i was referring to was more in my head than on the thermometer. Thanks for the article woodreb, I'll keep my cruise zone around 500 degrees, my downstairs is already 80 so it should be a good target temp.

I tried pointing a fan down the stairs from the entry area but it seemed to fight with the warmer air that fills up the hallway area. I think its trying to make its way upstairs but ends up filling up in the hallway. Today, I moved my 4" air circ fan from my doorway to the end of the hallway sort of on an angle up the stairs. I think it's working the best out of all the things I've tried. Now I'm going to put a fan in the room pointing out to try to move more hot air out.

 

[Woodreb]

Sorry, the "red zone", that i was referring to was more in my head than on the thermometer. Thanks for the article woodreb, I'll keep my cruise zone around 500 degrees, my downstairs is already 80 so it should be a good target temp. I tried pointing a fan down the stairs from the entry area but it seemed to fight with the warmer air that fills up the hallway area. I think its trying to make its way upstairs but ends up filling up in the hallway. Today, I moved my 4" air circ fan from my doorway to the end of the hallway sort of on an angle up the stairs. I think it's working the best out of all the things I've tried. Now I'm going to put a fan in the room pointing out to try to move more hot air out.

Actually, I meant put a small fan on the floor of the hallway pointing to the stove room. That would keep the cold air current low where it wouldn't fight the warm air. If the fan is on the landing, I think it might be too high. Or would that put the fan right in the walkway?

It's good that the small fan seems to be helping some.

 

[pelican]

Not a bad day, I was able to keep the house around 66. It's 12:30 now and the house is 65 which is warmer than I usually have the thermostat set at.

I bought another small fan today on amazon, I'll try your suggestion woodreb. Another thing I may be doing wrong is running the blower on low. Is it ok to run it on the high setting for long periods of time and is it more beneficial?

 

[Cross Cut Saw]

It's a raised ranch, Brother Bart. Like a split level but when you walk in the front door you can walk up to the main living area or down to the lower area where the insert is in the family room.

I loaded it up pretty good tonight and got it up a little past 500degrees. I think thats the hottest ive got it, made me nervous too. i heard some odd pings and sort of an odor, like an enamel smell, like when i broke the stove in. The room it's in got up to 80 degrees but sadly it's still only 62 upstairs...

It's early, I haven't taken the time to read through all of the responses so forgive me if I'm just repeating what someone else already said.
Call the manufacturer or a very experienced and trusted dealer. They should be there to help and to let you know what the normal operating range of your particular stove is.
Maybe your house is too tight? Mine is very drafty, the heat goes right upstairs no problem...
Open a window upstairs just a crack and see if it pulls some of that air up.

 

[velvetfoot]

Is it ok to run it on the high setting for long periods of time and is it more beneficial?

When it was cold out I ran it on the high setting a lot. Really kicks out the heat. Too bad it's so noisy. Does your stove also have only two speeds?

 

[Woodreb]

We rarely run our stove on high. The low setting seems to do a pretty good job for us, at least for the main level of the house. With our stove, the high setting seems to cool the stove off too fast.

Our setup is different. We're in a colonial with the stairs to the bedrooms in the center of the house. There are 2, standard size, doorways in the stove room that lead to the kitchen and living/room dining room. The living room/dinig room is open front to back of the house. We seem to have a pretty natural convection loop on the main floor. I can get heat to migrate slowly to the other side of the house, even without the blower on. In that scenario, we get the stove room at 72-75 degrees and the other side of the house 66-68 degrees (depending on the outside temperatures). The air doesn't move very readily up the stairs to the bedrooms without the blower on. With the blower on low, the stove room is 78-80 degrees and the lving room/dining room is about 72-74 degrees. Then I can get the master bedroom upstairs to about 66-67, which is comfortable for sleeping. The only time I get the bedrooms in to the 70s is when it is relatively mild out - high 30s to low 40s. Our house is pretty drafty and I've been talking with my husband about beefing up the insulation in the house. As some others have mentioned, I can feel cold air flowing down the stairs.

Do you feel any air movement of cold down your stairwell?

 

[pelican]

Yes, only two speeds, low and jet engine...I wasn't sure if I'd wear out the motor running on high for long periods of time. I usually put it on high when my stove temp read 500 on the door, otherwise I always have it on low.

I suspect my problem is my house is too tight seeing that I put all new energy efficient windows in. What does seems to help is opening my sliding door a crack down in the family room where the stove is. I have tried cracking the window upstairs but it just felt like it was just letting in cold air. Maybe I should crack both?

Also, I do feel some cold air coming in the room through the door but this is how the hot air is getting upstairs. Is that normal for hot and cold air moving opposite directions from the stairway. I know how the physics work with the hot on top/cold on bottom but just wondering if anyone else has the same effect with stairs?

-MP

 

[velvetfoot]

I have a colonial similar to woodreb but open on the first floor. When I'm laying on the sofa in the living room where the insert is, I can feel the cold air coming down the stairs.