Englishteacher said:
Now in my third year of trying to coax adequate heat from my Jotul3 CB for my 1900 square foot, cathedral ceiling, open floor plan, well insulated house. I can't seem to get the stove hot enough to radiate anything near what my old rolled steel stove seemed to do, let alone circulate. I realize the stove may be undersized for the space. I'm using stove top fans, ceiling fans, my home's heating circulation fans. The hottest I can get the stove top is 550 no matter what I try, typically it's @350. I've got a tall double-lined pipe chimney with a strong draft. Is that where all the heat is going? The one thing that seems to burn the stove hotter is if I shut down the primary air control lever and open the start-up lever thingy, something the salesman told me never to use (the manual talks about the possibility of it causing over firing, which right now is something that seems near impossible given what this stove has done thus far)but it does create the best burn. It's the only time I've been able to get a secondary burn. I stopped up at the dealer to ask, she seemed less informed than I, which is saying something. All she asked was if I were using seasoned enough wood which I believe I am and the stove seems to burn through rather quickly. Am I expecting too much from a small stove? yet from all I hear from salespeople and owners is that this stove, although small, should be able to really whale. I'm disappointed at this point and would appreciate any thoughts or advice about what I should realistically be able to expect from this stove and these different strategies I've been trying.
I've involuntarily become something of an expert at coaxing maximum heat out of a small stove using less than perfectly seasoned wood.
So here's a couple things that should help. First, split the wood down more. You don't say what size splits you're using, but the smaller the stuff you put in the stove, the hotter a fire you'll get. Double that if your wood isn't really seasoned dry.
Second, what kind of wood are you using? Some woods burn hotter than others. You'll never get your maximum heat from red maple, for instance, but beech will really give it up.
Third, build looser fires. Air plus (dry) wood surface is what creates heat. The smaller your splits and the looser they're piled in the stove, the more heat you'll get out of them. There's a price, though, for doing that, which is that you'll burn more wood. But if you're "understoved," as I am, that's what you have to live with if you want to stay warm.
Last, or maybe first, don't be too quick to turn down the primary air. Let 'er rip for a while and see where you get to. Each stove and each wood supply combine to produce a different "sweet spot."
Also, you may need to take longer to build up the fire and the heat more gradually. A smoldering fire in a box stuffed full of big splits is going to stay a smoldering fire. Get a good rapid fire going with really small splits, then add more stuff gradually so you're not stifling the fire.
There's no way around it, it's a PITA to get good enough heat out of a too-small stove.
And what I've learned most of all is that you really, really have to know your wood-- what kind it is, how fast it ignites, how dry it is, how much heat it gives out. I've become a devotee of black birch and beech, both of which burn really hot, significantly more than rock maple or red oak. In my tiny firebox, red maple just takes up space. I also make ample use of medium kindling-- 1 and 2-inch strips of barn siding plus bags of super-dry pine I get from my local Aubuchon.