About a year ago I moved into a house with a 25-PDVC already installed. I burned about 1.5 tons of Stove Chow through the rest of the winter, burning the stove from the time we got up until we went to bed. Since we sleep with the bedroom doors closed (I'm a fireman, so it's been ingrained in me to sleep with doors closed), I shut the stove down at night and let the boiler run.
Throughout last winter, I wasn't terribly happy with how the stove burned. The glass was black within 4-5 hours and the flame was a bit lazy. I made some adjustments to the stove with some help from this site, but nothing that made a big difference. I also tried 10 bags of Barefoots and 10 bags of Lignetics. Again, a slight improvement, but nothing earth-shattering. One thing that really bothered me was that when the stove was installed, the vent was run straight through the wall with absolutely no rise (and no cleanout), and it was blowing right on the OAK vent.
This spring, I took the stove apart and gave it a thorough cleaning. The vent was loaded with black, fluffy soot. I had meant to add some rise to the vent, but ran out of daylight (and promptly forgot about it all summer long).
Fortunately, the remaining pieces from the vent kit had been left in the cellar. So, this morning I assembled 3 sections with the cleanout and cap and added them to the vent. Now that the stove can get some fresh air, and the vent has a bit of a draft, let's see how much better it burns.
Now come spring, I'll have to try to clean the soot off the siding!
Throughout last winter, I wasn't terribly happy with how the stove burned. The glass was black within 4-5 hours and the flame was a bit lazy. I made some adjustments to the stove with some help from this site, but nothing that made a big difference. I also tried 10 bags of Barefoots and 10 bags of Lignetics. Again, a slight improvement, but nothing earth-shattering. One thing that really bothered me was that when the stove was installed, the vent was run straight through the wall with absolutely no rise (and no cleanout), and it was blowing right on the OAK vent.
This spring, I took the stove apart and gave it a thorough cleaning. The vent was loaded with black, fluffy soot. I had meant to add some rise to the vent, but ran out of daylight (and promptly forgot about it all summer long).
Fortunately, the remaining pieces from the vent kit had been left in the cellar. So, this morning I assembled 3 sections with the cleanout and cap and added them to the vent. Now that the stove can get some fresh air, and the vent has a bit of a draft, let's see how much better it burns.
Now come spring, I'll have to try to clean the soot off the siding!