I can only get my new wood stove to 400 degrees

[Pastor López]

It's a Drolet Savannah. I was expecting to get it up to 600 or more, and I am worried this is a sign of creosote build up.

Any opinions on this?

thanks

 

[Todd]

Sounds like it might be wet wood? Does it sizzle out the ends?

 

[pen]

It's a Drolet Savannah. I was expecting to get it up to 600 or more, and I am worried this is a sign of creosote build up.

Any opinions on this?

thanks

Sounds like your wood isn't as seasoned as you thought it was.

Try picking up a couple of bundles of that firewood you see at grocery stores. I bet that you'll see heat then.

Then, buy all your wood for next winter NOW (or get cutting if you do it yourself) and be prepared for next year.

Good luck

pen

 

[snowtime]

Not much info here. Have you never gotten it above 400 and if so how long have you been burning it? Low temps will cause creosote buildup but if its been hard to get warm from beginning then its probably wet wood. Most new and some old burners do not accept the fact that wet wood is the bain of new epa stoves. Lots also think their wood is dry because the person who sold it to me said so. Big mistake.

If you have wet wood and can never get the stove hot then you will have a creosote problem guaranteed. Check your chimney and get some dry wood even if you have to by the stuff at a big box store.
Do you have good draft? Does the stove smoke much at start up?

 

[savageactor7]

If you have what you think is a good working fire on an established bed of coals then it may be a faulty thermostat...otherwise it's the wood. Can you post a pic of the best fire you can get in there?

that fire is about 550°.

 

[Pastor López]

thanks everyone.

The wood I have been using I got from my father in law and sister in law.

To be safe, I'll take some maple my brother bought (that he bought and uses to get his stove up to 600-800)

I'll also take a picture of the stove running so you can see the flame.

I've also wondered if it could be a draft issue - although I don't know if that would be easy to fix (my liner runs the full length of the chimney already)

 

[northwinds]

Is your chimney new or recently cleaned? You don't really want a super hot fire if your chimney already is plugged
with creosote. Still need more information.

 

[Pastor López]

brand new liner installed about 2 weeks ago, stove is also new.

 

[begreen]

Should burn ok if the wood is good. How tall is the chimney? This is a basement install, right? If the wood is nice and dry, it may be negative pressure. Try opening a nearby window a little bit to see if the stove needs more air.

 

[Pastor López]

It's in the basement and my chimney is very tall. So I have about 6 feet of liner slopping up towards the wall and then it goes up 35 feet to the top of the chimney.


We also have a pellet stove we use 24/7, so I won't run it again until Friday (gone tomorrow), I'll take a picture on Friday of the flame.


Possibly the room does need more air, this stove does make that room hot (I've had the room as high as 93 degrees) but the air doesn't leave that room one bit - you feel it as you walk through the door (which is always wide open) - probably a 25 degree difference in temperature from being at one side of the doorway vs the next.

 

[northwinds]

Air movement presents a separate issue. You may want a fan blowing cooler air from the door towards the stove.

I suspect it's the wood. If the blood relative's wood doesn't give you a hot fire, then pick up some of the super
dry (and expensive) grocery store wood and give it a try. Darned in-laws messing up your fire.

 

[begreen]

It's in the basement and my chimney is very tall. So I have about 6 feet of liner slopping up towards the wall and then it goes up 35 feet to the top of the chimney.


We also have a pellet stove we use 24/7, so I won't run it again until Friday (gone tomorrow), I'll take a picture on Friday of the flame.


Possibly the room does need more air, this stove does make that room hot (I've had the room as high as 93 degrees) but the air doesn't leave that room one bit - you feel it as you walk through the door (which is always wide open) - probably a 25 degree difference in temperature from being at one side of the doorway vs the next.

This is a separate issue entirely. The stove is an area heater, period. It sounds more like a distribution problem about which there are many posts here, especially for basement heating problems.

 

[savageactor7]

One other consideration Claudale ...if the blower is running that will reduced stove top temp. So you may have that hot fire you desire...you just can't prove it LOL. Here's the fix...lock down the blower to reassure yourself the wood will heat the stove up the temp you want, observe what that fire and coal bed looks like, then engage the blower and take note of the lower adjusted temp. Then relax, cause you know the stove is preforming OK.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

One other consideration Claudale ...if the blower is running that will reduced stove top temp. So you may have that hot fire you desire...you just can't prove it LOL. Here's the fix...lock down the blower to reassure yourself the wood will heat the stove up the temp you want, observe what that fire and coal bed looks like, then engage the blower and take note of the lower adjusted temp. Then relax, cause you know the stove is preforming OK.

You know, I wondered if the blower caused a noticeable difference in the thermometer reading.. I guess it would. I have only been running our stove for a week, just got a thermometer yesterday, no fire today. I figure it seems quite hot, the house is rising in temp, or steady, at my choosing, the exhaust is nearly-to-completely clear, and my glass is clean.. or was until I loaded up a big load last night, set air control to about 5% then let it burn all the way out. "Smudge" in the lower corners today. My guess is when I fire it up tomorrow it will burn off. And I will get to play with my thermometer..

 

[Pastor López]

I'm not using the blower. I have the thermometer on top and I reached an all time high today of 425 but it has since dropped to around 400 (usually is in the mid 300s). the room is 90 degrees and will probably get even warmer if I keep the stove packed with wood.

Here is a picture of the flame (not using the flash on my camera)

I tend to think the wood is good, my father in law has been chopping, storing and burning for decades and when he runs his wood stove in the basement, the place feels like a desert in no time.

(broken image removed)

thanks again to everyone.

 

[Pagey]

I see nothing wrong with that fire.

 

[Pastor López]

I see nothing wrong with that fire.

Thanks, I was kind of thinking that. It gets really glowing hot orange ambers just the stove doesn't get as hot as I'd like.

 

[Pagey]

If the room is 90 degrees, I would say your stove is operating fine. Like BeGreen stated, moving that air to a cooler location is another matter entirely. Basement installs are often problematic, especially in the basement is unfinished and not insulated. Basement walls will bleed BTUs almost as fast as you can generate them. Most people recommend setting up a convection loop by blow cold air at ground level toward the stove so that warm air will move in and take its place. Now, how you achieve that from a basement I have no clue. Sounds like the stove is operating just fine.

 

[Pastor López]

If the room is 90 degrees, I would say your stove is operating fine. Like BeGreen stated, moving that air to a cooler location is another matter entirely. Basement installs are often problematic, especially in the basement is unfinished and not insulated. Basement walls will bleed BTUs almost as fast as you can generate them. Most people recommend setting up a convection loop by blow cold air at ground level toward the stove so that warm air will move in and take its place. Now, how you achieve that from a basement I have no clue. Sounds like the stove is operating just fine.

Thanks. I was hoping the stove would be hotter, but I can make that room hot. Easy to get it from 55 degrees to 80-90, I can work on getting the air moving next. The stove is almost always in the mid to low 300s (unless its packed with wood)

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Could you perhaps have a bad thermometer?
90 degrees in Phili is pretty warm for a stove only at 425....maybe spend $15 and get a new thermo or $35 and get an Infrared one. Good luck

 

[northwinds]

Infra-red thermometers are a fun man toy too. You can take your readings from a number of places
on the stovetop and then work your way to the cat warming itself by the fire.

 

[savageactor7]

Fire looks good to me too Claudale...and I kind of had a hunch your FIL would only give prime fire wood to his daughter.

On our stove BeGreen advised us to place the thermostat stove top front in the middle above the glass...is that where your is? That's the hottest part of the stove top. Also if you were to burn your splits NS instead if EW you'd get a hotter fire. But before you do that you might want to start moving that heat around like the others suggested.

Then if you want a hotter fire use smaller splits. That fire I posted above is our usual 3 splits in different burn stages WOT. When were in and about the house that's our standard operating procedure.

 

[Wood Duck]

I vote for a bad thermometer or somehow you are using it wrong (???). The stove looks hot from here!