yardatwork said:
Thanks guys! These darn new stoves seems like so much work where the old ones were as simple as SUPER HUGE FLAME, damper control and heat away. I'm hoping its just user error. I buy wood from the same guy for the past four years. So basically the same wood as I was using in the non-EPA stove is the same I'm using in this new stove.
I'll just keep experimenting. I do cut back on the air flow as mentioned once the fire gets up and running, so now I just need to find the perfect spot on the draft and go from there. I was just assuming the more flame means more heat. Ahhh...sometimes less is actually more. Thanks for explaining what those reheat tubes actually do...they reburn the gases. I can see how these new stoves make more heat after that simple answer.
OK, so maybe my first question wasn't so stupid . . . and don't feel bad . . . it's a learning experience to know how to run the stove.
I'm still hoping a SH/Englander user (or maybe even someone who happens to work for the company -- hint hint -- may offer you some better suggestions), but in the meantime here's what I do to get heat from my stove and a longer burn cycle . . . try experimenting and see if there are any changes.
Fuel: This is crucial. You really do need good, seasoned wood. Most folks recommend the wood be cut, split and stacked for 9 months to a year before burning to really dry it out (longer for some species such as oak.) You also need (like old stoves) to start off with kindling and get a good bed of coals going before you get any meaningful heat from the stove to heat up the room. Obviously, more fuel generally means more heat.
The way these stoves work is by reburning the smoke (as mentioned) and to do this the stove needs to be brought up to a certain temp . . . in my stove I get the stove up to this temp by starting the fire (either the traditional way or top-down method). At this point my stove door is ajar and the air control is open all the way. Typically when my flue temp reaches 400-600 degrees I will shut the door and wait a bit and then slowly turn down the air control (for me this is a 15-20 minute affair.)
If I turn down the air too much the fire begins to die down and gets all smoky -- no meaningful heat. If I leave the air control all the way open I get some great flames but most of the heat goes right up the flue and out the chimney vs. being reburned and coming out into the living space. It's a finesse thing and something you learn over time, but sooner or later you'll learn to slowly dial back the air and know where to set the air control so you end up with few flames other than the secondary burn and the result is the stove temp will rise typically and the flue temp will normally stay about the same. After about a half hour to 45 minutes you can feel a notable difference in the room as the heat will be pouring out of the stove.
To move the heat to other adjacent rooms try pointing the fan towards the stove while in the doorway of that room.
When I don't get a lot of heat it's typically because my wood isn't as well seasoned as it should be and the energy that would be used to give off heat to my house is being used to drive out the moisture in the wood and as a result the secondary combustion is not occurring, I have not turned down the air low enough after getting a fire established and as a result a lot of heat is going out the chimney or I have turned down the air control too much or too soon and as a result the fire is smoldering and not producing heat.
Good luck . . . hope this may help . . . but if it doesn't stay tuned . . . we have a long history (well "we" mostly being other folks) of problem solving and finding solutions to wood burning problems.