Hi all! New member here and I was hoping you could help a greenhorn who knows nothing about wood stoves with a problem.
I am building a 600 sq. ft. home with loft and cathedral ceiling (20 ft. high). It is dried in but as yet uninsulated. I recently acquired a Vermont Castings aspen wood stove and have just finished installing it and can not get it to burn with the door closed. I have taken it apart and inspected and cleaned it. Everything looks good but as I said I'm new at this so I'm not exactly sure what to look for.
I am using a well seasoned mix of mostly juniper, and the rest pinion pine and scrub oak. Not the most prime fuel I realize but its what I have and I am not buying any. I can get a real hot fire going but if I close the door it slowly dies. Even after burning for several hours and developing a nice bed of coals (a struggle!) I can add wood and if I close the door it will not light and more or less just smolder. If I open the door it will light and start to produce heat. With the door cracked just a hair it becomes a raging inferno and I have experimented with getting a lot of good fuel really going until everything is hot and then closing the door and same thing- fire goes out and coals turn from red to black. Heat goes down.
The stove vents through 16 foot of single wall pipe connected to 6 ft. class A chimney, which exits near the peak of the roof. After installing I read you should only have 8 ft. of single wall above the stove so I will at some time fix that but I don't think that has to do with my problem.
So the fire is not getting air, that is apparent. I thought the air vents were clear but I will check them again, maybe try and blow compressed air through them..
After getting the stove, which seemed like a good deal (no cash involved), I have learned that that particular model is somewhat of a dog and a bit undersized for what I need anyway. I will be on the lookout for another but for now I thought if I could get this one running properly it could at least take the edge off the cold while I work through the winter.
Sorry for the long winded approach to what is most likely a simple problem. Appreciate any and all help.
I am building a 600 sq. ft. home with loft and cathedral ceiling (20 ft. high). It is dried in but as yet uninsulated. I recently acquired a Vermont Castings aspen wood stove and have just finished installing it and can not get it to burn with the door closed. I have taken it apart and inspected and cleaned it. Everything looks good but as I said I'm new at this so I'm not exactly sure what to look for.
I am using a well seasoned mix of mostly juniper, and the rest pinion pine and scrub oak. Not the most prime fuel I realize but its what I have and I am not buying any. I can get a real hot fire going but if I close the door it slowly dies. Even after burning for several hours and developing a nice bed of coals (a struggle!) I can add wood and if I close the door it will not light and more or less just smolder. If I open the door it will light and start to produce heat. With the door cracked just a hair it becomes a raging inferno and I have experimented with getting a lot of good fuel really going until everything is hot and then closing the door and same thing- fire goes out and coals turn from red to black. Heat goes down.
The stove vents through 16 foot of single wall pipe connected to 6 ft. class A chimney, which exits near the peak of the roof. After installing I read you should only have 8 ft. of single wall above the stove so I will at some time fix that but I don't think that has to do with my problem.
So the fire is not getting air, that is apparent. I thought the air vents were clear but I will check them again, maybe try and blow compressed air through them..
After getting the stove, which seemed like a good deal (no cash involved), I have learned that that particular model is somewhat of a dog and a bit undersized for what I need anyway. I will be on the lookout for another but for now I thought if I could get this one running properly it could at least take the edge off the cold while I work through the winter.
Sorry for the long winded approach to what is most likely a simple problem. Appreciate any and all help.