A bigger stove may be in your future, but you might as well try to make the best of what you have for now. One winter at a time, eh?
Lots of good points above. Here's my $0.02:
Exterior masonry chimney can be a. . .
That's why I switched from an insert to the Fv.
A rear heat shield from Woodstock might be worth a try for ~ $80, but I think you might get more bang for your $ by putting a block-off plate over the whole mouth of the fireplace and maybe stuffing the fireplace full of insulation. This was my original plan, but I got sidetracked sealing up leaks in the house. You might want to pack Roxul around the liner under the plate at the top of the chimney too.
A new cat for $125 might be worth a try, but I doubt you'd be hitting 650° on the top of the stove if the cat were not working. Are you getting secondary flames in the firebox?
http://www.theyellowhouse.org.uk/eco-prin/princip.html#p7
Our house has this *bad*. It's nice for cooling without AC in the summer. To combat it in winter we keep the doors to every room upstairs closed. Heat collects in the stairwell and landing. The 2 bedrooms stay warm enough for sleeping, and we use an electric heater in the bathroom for showers. The batroom fan stays off.
I also cut a piece of 1/2" foam board to fit tightly into the attic hatchway and jammed it in below the hatch. Did the same with the crawlspace vents at the bottom of the house(remove after winter.) A 4 x 8' piece of foam board costs ~ $10. Get a piece and get creative.
As for your question about the Fv 201 vs. 205, according to Woodstock's numbers, the 205 is only 2-3% more efficient (compared to the Classic, which is a 201 without the window.)
http://www.woodstove.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=227
I'm surprised that they said the PH would give you only 30% more heat. Many of us have measured the usable space in the Fv ~ 1.8 cu ft. I may be oversimplifying, but 30% more heat implies 30% more capacity, ~ 2.35 cu ft, and I thought the PH's 2.8 cu ft spec was close to the actual usable capacity. Any measurements, PH'ers?
Lots of good points above. Here's my $0.02:
+1Do you have a heat shield on the back of your stove.
I had a fireplace set up and found the brick was sucking the heat out through the brick.
The brick on the outside was warm to the touch. I put a heat shield on and reflected some of that heat outward.
It made a big difference.
My new house has a metal chimney up through the house. That gives off far more heat.
Some one else suggested checking for a block off plate. I would do that.
Exterior masonry chimney can be a. . .
That's why I switched from an insert to the Fv.
A rear heat shield from Woodstock might be worth a try for ~ $80, but I think you might get more bang for your $ by putting a block-off plate over the whole mouth of the fireplace and maybe stuffing the fireplace full of insulation. This was my original plan, but I got sidetracked sealing up leaks in the house. You might want to pack Roxul around the liner under the plate at the top of the chimney too.
A new cat for $125 might be worth a try, but I doubt you'd be hitting 650° on the top of the stove if the cat were not working. Are you getting secondary flames in the firebox?
I think you may reach a point of diminishing returns with loading the Fv too often. Every time you open the stove door, that's kind of like opening a window in the house; you lose some warm air from the house up the flue + you cool the stove off too. Also, cat stoves lose their efficiency advantage when pushed hard. Also also, coal buildup must be a big problem for you, so you're not getting full loads of fuel on every reload. I love the Fv, but it is probably one of the worst stoves you could pick to pump a lot of wood through in a hurry.(Doh! ) I think it's designed to conserve wood and reload maybe 3 times per day, every 8 hours or so.FireV temps are up to 650, and I'm generally reloading every 4-6 hours in the daytime. Burning a lot of wood but not getting a lot of heat into the room, unless you're right by the stove. . .
+1. . .Google "stack effect"...basically whole house acts like giant chimney, as cold air leaks in low and hot air escapes out top. Way to halt stack effect is sealing air leaks. . .
http://www.theyellowhouse.org.uk/eco-prin/princip.html#p7
Our house has this *bad*. It's nice for cooling without AC in the summer. To combat it in winter we keep the doors to every room upstairs closed. Heat collects in the stairwell and landing. The 2 bedrooms stay warm enough for sleeping, and we use an electric heater in the bathroom for showers. The batroom fan stays off.
I also cut a piece of 1/2" foam board to fit tightly into the attic hatchway and jammed it in below the hatch. Did the same with the crawlspace vents at the bottom of the house(remove after winter.) A 4 x 8' piece of foam board costs ~ $10. Get a piece and get creative.
As for your question about the Fv 201 vs. 205, according to Woodstock's numbers, the 205 is only 2-3% more efficient (compared to the Classic, which is a 201 without the window.)
http://www.woodstove.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=227
I'm surprised that they said the PH would give you only 30% more heat. Many of us have measured the usable space in the Fv ~ 1.8 cu ft. I may be oversimplifying, but 30% more heat implies 30% more capacity, ~ 2.35 cu ft, and I thought the PH's 2.8 cu ft spec was close to the actual usable capacity. Any measurements, PH'ers?