Flue damper, what's it for?

[Rickb]

Still that buck is a 4cuft stove. Mine is a cat and a BK so they are known for long burn times but mine is a 2cuft stove and will burn on low for 8 hours easy if I pack it full.

Fire/burning is a pretty simple concept. You have fuel(Wood) then add Air and between the 2 you get your burn. More fuel it lasts longer more air and it burns faster. A little lazy flame + 4cuft of fuel = long burn time. I just cant fathom how its possible to have that short of a burn time with that little flame. To burn through 4cuft of wood in 4 hours you would have to have a heck of a fire going.

Take some pics of the stove with wood in it before you start burning then again after 30ish minutes, then again after 90 minutes.

 

[FR9Ford]

alright, I'll post it up tomorrow. Thanks for the help

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

alright, I'll post it up tomorrow. Thanks for the help

Have another beer. Will keep you warm.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm digesting your setup here, what we know -
You have a new freestanding buck 94 nc - the largest non catalytic stove buck offers.
The install was professionally done, and I assume it meets all the install regs from the manual.
You firewood has been tested using a moisture meter on splits that were brought up to room temp, re-splitting the piece and checking the fresh face going with the grain, also making sure the meter prongs were penetrating the wood. The results were between 17 & 23% on random pieces.
You located in Ohio, which is experiencing some record cold with steady winds coming from the N NW.
Now the questions
Your stove is in the "family" room, how tall are the ceilings? your floor plan looks like everything is on the same level (ranch style) perhaps newer cons or reno, are there lots of windows.
How tall is your chimney? and what style of install do you have? (ie: from the stove straight up, from the stove 90deg bend then through the wall to the outside and then straight up, ect.)
Where is your stove orientated to north, south, east, west.
Do you have an outside air kit? or are you pulling room air to feed the stove?
Are you using ceiling fans. central heating / cooling to move stove air around?
How well is your house insulated?
Can you post a pick of your setup, specifically the front glass, with the fire burning as it would normally burn? a picture is worth a thousand words
Do you have a stove top thermometer? if you do what temps are you running, same with the black pipe (about 18" above stove top) ​

 

[Doc C]

I'm confused. The slow and lazy flame would lead me to think not enough air flow either into the stove or into the house.

The going through wood to fast leads me to think you have too much air.

It doesn't add up

I think I would blow some air through your holes on the bottom of your stove while you have NO fire. The purpose is to make sure that your air holes especially your secondary burn tube holes are actually getting oxygen through them.

While you are doing it have someone feeling inside the stove for air movement. Make sure you go slow so they don't get a face full of ash!

I doubt this is your problem but I would rule it out. And it's interesting to learn what holes do what inside the stove.

And a 4 CF firebox should heat a large house like WELL over 2000 square feet depending on the insulation of course and no vaulted ceilings.

 

[FR9Ford]

Here is a fresh load 15 minutes old before i close it down. Stove temp reading approximately 300*

 

[Doc C]

Here is a fresh load 15 minutes old before i close it down. Stove temp reading approximately 300*

I would think the thermometer would be more accurate on top of the stove. It's hard to tell in the picture but is that stove set back inside a fireplace? Might be an optical delusion.

 

[FR9Ford]

I'm digesting your setup here, what we know -
You have a new freestanding buck 94 nc - the largest non catalytic stove buck offers.
The install was professionally done, and I assume it meets all the install regs from the manual.
You firewood has been tested using a moisture meter on splits that were brought up to room temp, re-splitting the piece and checking the fresh face going with the grain, also making sure the meter prongs were penetrating the wood. The results were between 17 & 23% on random pieces.
You located in Ohio, which is experiencing some record cold with steady winds coming from the N NW.
Now the questions
Your stove is in the "family" room, how tall are the ceilings? your floor plan looks like everything is on the same level (ranch style) perhaps newer cons or reno, are there lots of windows.
How tall is your chimney? and what style of install do you have? (ie: from the stove straight up, from the stove 90deg bend then through the wall to the outside and then straight up, ect.)
Where is your stove orientated to north, south, east, west.
Do you have an outside air kit? or are you pulling room air to feed the stove?
Are you using ceiling fans. central heating / cooling to move stove air around?
How well is your house insulated?
Can you post a pick of your setup, specifically the front glass, with the fire burning as it would normally burn? a picture is worth a thousand words
Do you have a stove top thermometer? if you do what temps are you running, same with the black pipe (about 18" above stove top) ​

My ceilings are 8.5' tall. I have a magnetic thermo, as well as an IR gun. I have a ceiling fan in the same room as the stove, no other rooms have ceiling fan. There is a box fan in the master bedroom doorway blowing air down the west hallway and i have a fan sucking air from that hallway back to the stove room. The front of my house (the back of the stove) faces due south. The chimney is 8" double wall all the way out minus about 2 ft that is flex connected to the stove. I dont remember exactly how tall it is, but i wanna say its about 20'. Its tall enough he installed support brackets. I never thought about ceilings much, my kitchen, and part of my hallway are vaulted up to 14'. I did check with my IR gun to see if heat whats trapped, but those areas were reading somewhere from 50-55*

 

[FR9Ford]

I would think the thermometer would be more accurate on top of the stove. It's hard to tell in the picture but is that stove set back inside a fireplace? Might be an optical delusion.

Yeah, its being used as an insert. Hang on ill take a better picture. The top of the stove is always way colder than the front.

 

[Doc C]

Yeah, its being used as an insert. Hang on ill take a better picture. The top of the stove is always way colder than the front.

Are you losing a bunch of heat up your chimney? Meaning is there a block off plate or something similar to keep heat from going straight up?

 

[FR9Ford]

Here doc, maybe this helps.

 

[FR9Ford]

Are you losing a bunch of heat up your chimney? Meaning is there a block off plate or something similar to keep heat from going straight up?

Well i dont know what a block off plate is. But maybe this will help, this house use to have a flat roof. The previous owner put a pitched roof on it, and cut the masonary chimney down to about 8' in height. Then capped it with mesh and concrete. So the installer chiseled a hole for the pipe to slide into and installed a weather proof collar.

 

[Doc C]

Here doc, maybe this helps.

That's a good looking setup. Now just need to make it function like it looks! I have not messed with inserts a whole lot. I know some folks here have. I am betting your losing most of your heat up your chimney.

 

[FR9Ford]

I'm confused. The slow and lazy flame would lead me to think not enough air flow either into the stove or into the house.

The going through wood to fast leads me to think you have too much air.

It doesn't add up

I think I would blow some air through your holes on the bottom of your stove while you have NO fire. The purpose is to make sure that your air holes especially your secondary burn tube holes are actually getting oxygen through them.

While you are doing it have someone feeling inside the stove for air movement. Make sure you go slow so they don't get a face full of ash!

I doubt this is your problem but I would rule it out. And it's interesting to learn what holes do what inside the stove.

And a 4 CF firebox should heat a large house like WELL over 2000 square feet depending on the insulation of course and no vaulted ceilings.

To answer the insulation question, there is fiberglass insulation in the attic, plus the old rubber roof is still up there. The attic is about 10*, and none of the snow on my roof has melted. Seems its pretty solid. About 3/4 of the ezterior walls are new and have insulation, as well as the doors and windows are all new and ive found minimal to almost 0 penetration l

 

[FR9Ford]

That's a good looking setup. Now just need to make it function like it looks! I have not messed with inserts a whole lot. I know some folks here have. I am betting your losing most of your heat up your chimney.

How would i check for that?

 

[Doc C]

Well i dont know what a block off plate is. But maybe this will help, this house use to have a flat roof. The previous owner put a pitched roof on it, and cut the masonary chimney down to about 8' in height. Then capped it with mesh and concrete. So the installer chiseled a hole for the pipe to slide into and installed a weather proof collar.

Let's wait for some of the other folks with more experience on inserts but I believe you need a block off plate just above your stove and the pipe goes through it. Keeps the heat from the stove inside the house instead of letting it go up between the masonry chimney and the pipe.

Do a search here for block off plate and you will get a ton of info.

 

[Doc C]

To answer the insulation question, there is fiberglass insulation in the attic, plus the old rubber roof is still up there. The attic is about 10*, and none of the snow on my roof has melted. Seems its pretty solid. About 3/4 of the ezterior walls are new and have insulation, as well as the doors and windows are all new and ive found minimal to almost 0 penetration l

How many ice cicles do you have?

 

[FR9Ford]

The thermo on the front of the stove os reading 650* now, my IR gun confirms that, but the top of the stove is showing to be 320* in its hottest spot

 

[FR9Ford]

Let's wait for some of the other folks with more experience on inserts but I believe you need a block off plate just above your stove and the pipe goes through it. Keeps the heat from the stove inside the house instead of letting it go up between the masonry chimney and the pipe.

Do a search here for block off plate and you will get a ton of info.

Sounds like id need to move a 600 pound stove... lol oh no

 

[Doc C]

The thermo on the front of the stove os reading 650* now, my IR gun confirms that, but the top of the stove is showing to be 320* in its hottest spot

That's backwards from my stove but might just be the nature of that brand of stove. My hottest point is the top of my stove just in front of the pipe.

 

[FR9Ford]

That's backwards from my stove but might just be the nature of that brand of stove. My hottest point is the top of my stove just in front of the pipe.

Well, my fireplace opening is so big, it almost swallows this giant buck, the pipe is back another 12ish inches from the trim.

 

[Doc C]

Sounds like id need to move a 600 pound stove... lol oh no

I'm betting if this is the case then it should be not to bad of a fix. I've never done it but I imagine having to disconnect the pipe, pull the stove out and reach up inside and install the plate. I may be way off base but that is what seems logical.

 

[FR9Ford]

How many ice cicles do you have?

None

 

[FR9Ford]

I'm betting if this is the case then it should be not to bad of a fix. I've never done it but I imagine having to disconnect the pipe, pull the stove out and reach up inside and install the plate. I may be way off base but that is what seems logical.

Im looking into it now.

 

[Doc C]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-difference-does-it-make.166336/#post-2229418

I found that link interesting. Is your chimney exterior?