question about moving heat from stove room

[USMC80]

what temp are you running the Clyde at? You should be running full loads with a complete burn cycle.

 

[Grisu]

The best and most efficient way to operate a modern stove is to load it up once you have established a nice bed of coals and the stove is warm. Recycling another post of mine:
See that you have a good bed of hot coals and a warm stove before loading it for the night. Put as many splits as you can fit in up to the top of the firebricks maybe leaving only a 1.5 to 2 inch gap to the burn tubes in the top. Let the wood catch fire and start a good burn, then close door. Leave the air all the way open until the wood is fully engulfed then start to stepwise close the air, maybe a quarter every 5 min. When the air is completely closed you should have nice secondaries in the top of the firebox and the stove top should read 400 to 500 F. If you have lots of cold coals left in the morning it could mean that your wood is not fully seasoned, check it with a moisture meter.

In the morning put on more than one log, a bunch of smaller splits filling half to 2/3 of the firebox would be better. Leave the air open a little bit (but not all the way once you have a good fire) to get a quick hot fire going; that should get the stove and the house back up fast. Once that fire dies down fill the stove up again similar to what I described for an overnight burn and let it cruise during the day. I manage to do a quick, hot fire in the morning (~2 h), two fill-ups during the day (~6 h each) and one overnight burn (~10 h) with nice dry hardwood.

 

[mass_burner]

@mass_burner...the left side of the house faces almost due north and the temps lastnight hit low 30s

that's part of the issue. that side of the house gets little sun and bears the brunt of wind/cold air movement. you should consider an evergreen tree stand or panel screen to deflect wind along those walls.

 

[mass_burner]

House is just under 1700 square feet.
The stove is a clydesdale 8491, 74,000BTU and is rated for a 2400 sqft house.

My running times are this:
Get home at 5, start fire and get it going...replenish the beast all evening. at around midnight i fill up the fire box and keep the damper nearly shut. i still have red coals in the AM. Wife said the fan was still blowing around 7am.

so at 7am when you wake up, what's the temp in LR, Kitchen and den?

 

[USMC80]

I really think the clyde should be able to keep that house toasty, especially with temps only in the 30s at night.

 

[mass_burner]

i have insulation in the ceiling, in the floor and in the exterior walls. most windows are new, but the older ones get the plastic sheet treatment during winter.

as for the insulation, would that just need to be done in the attic?

how much insulation in ther attic? was it air sealed? do you have a basement, how big? how old is the house? plastic sheeting didn't work for me.

 

[Grisu]

I really think the clyde should be able to keep that house toasty, especially with temps only in the 30s at night.

In principle, I agree that it should be able to do more than it seems to be doing. 69 F close to the stove are not that impressive. However, I am wondering how cold the house gets during the day. If it is below 60 and the Clyde is busy getting everything warmed up during the evening I can understand when it struggles to get the bedrooms warm. It also looks like a big, masonry interior fireplace. That will suck a lot of heat until it is warm. I have a similar setup and from a cold start it takes about 3 hours before the house starts to get really warm. It is nice in the morning though when the brick still radiates the heat while the stove is pretty much out.

 

[brakatak]

House is just under 1700 square feet.
The stove is a clydesdale 8491, 74,000BTU and is rated for a 2400 sqft house.

My running times are this:
Get home at 5, start fire and get it going...replenish the beast all evening. at around midnight i fill up the fire box and keep the damper nearly shut. i still have red coals in the AM. Wife said the fan was still blowing around 7am.

I am very similar to you in house size, layout, rookie status, and stove size (Enviro Boston 1700 insert, 2.5cu.ft. box).

Reading your experience is similar to mine so far. I think its difficult to have high expectations when starting cold ever night. Takes a while to get eveything going hot. And once your stove room (mine is 600sq ft open area) finally gets heated, the heat will then start to spread to other areas down the hall, etc. I been using a ceiling fan to help circulation. Your layout looks similar with stove in big open area..

I remember originaly being worried about over-heating, but so far, I cant get the stove room past 75 and adjacent rooms only around 68-72. This is with outside temps of 25. These temperatures are comfortable for me, so I am not complaining. But I was expecting warmer temps if I wanted them. I think that is attainable if i was burning 24/7 and continually reloading every 5 hours. But so far, I am only burning nights and weekends. The nightly cold start is the biggest drawback in my opinion. Basically starting the heating process over each night.

My schedule is load up at 6pm and have heat pumping until about 11pm (5 hours), then have reload at 11 before bed.
I can get 8-10 hour burn times, but the last couples hours seem to be mostly coals burning, with little heat. Basically I get good heat for the first 4-5 hours.

Anyways, the Clydesdale is an awesome looking stove and gets great reviews. It was on my short list. I'm sure once you become more familar with it, performance will increase. Seems there is a big learning curve the first year.

 

[USMC80]

I too have a similar setup just smaller about 1200 sq, interior masonry fireplace My thermostat in the next room pushes 76 degrees running a full load with outside temps in the high 20's. Keep in mind I have a smaller insert 2.3 ft. Back bedroom without any floor fans gets to about 67 degrees.

With a full load of seasoned wood I would think his stove room and living room would easily hit 70 degrees. I have to wonder how he is running it, small loads?

 

[maple1]

Stoves are space heaters, and I see a lot of spaces in the floor plan.

I also would expect to see warmer temps in the room closest to the stove, however. Are you sure your wood is dry?

 

[mass_burner]

In principle, I agree that it should be able to do more than it seems to be doing. 69 F close to the stove are not that impressive. However, I am wondering how cold the house gets during the day. If it is below 60 and the Clyde is busy getting everything warmed up during the evening I can understand when it struggles to get the bedrooms warm. It also looks like a big, masonry interior fireplace. That will suck a lot of heat until it is warm. I have a similar setup and from a cold start it takes about 3 hours before the house starts to get really warm. It is nice in the morning though when the brick still radiates the heat while the stove is pretty much out.

the critical issues of why a house is cold starts way before you light a single stick of wood. i have a 1.5 cu ft box and after about 1 hour it is 72 d 6 ft all around the stove, after 2 hours it 72 everywhere in that half of the house. i also have a 3' x 15' floor to ceiling all stone/brick chimney. its the baseline that's important. I don't heat half of my house past 10-11pm. When I woke this morning, with an overnight low of 28d, it was 66 in that half of the house. So getting to 72 from there isn't that hard.

 

[Dave A.]

i guess worst case i can keep the oil heat on during the day then let the stove take over in the evening and overnight. Was hoping to heat as much as possible with the stove and limit oil use.

Sometimes it's just not worth it driving yourself crazy to have the wood stove provide all of the heat for the house when it just can't do it. Even if you do augment with the oil at times, you need to keep in mind, that you are using a lot less oil than you would without the stove.

 

[Bster13]

Has anyone else tried this? Maybe it'd work on a calm day, but goes against my logic. Thx.

If you crack a window at the end of the house you want the heat to go to it will. Warm air takes up more room then cool air, so the warm air will move to the cracked window and push the cooler air out the window. The room won't be as warm as the central part of the house, but will take the chill away.

How many square feet is your home and what size stove are you running?

 

[Dave A.]

I suspect part of the problem is that you're not really getting the stove hot enough. That size stove should be able to heat your size house and layout. But from the temps in your main room, if you want the bedrooms warmer, you're prolly going to have to get the main room a little warmer. I'd be shooting to get the temp of 65 in the LR area closer to 70F. And if you fully load the stove and let it run on high longer to get it hotter, you should be putting out enough heat to warm up that main room to higher temp, imo, you may be cutting it back too soon or too much.

 

[rygar]

so at 7am when you wake up, what's the temp in LR, Kitchen and den?

this morning it was about 63.5-64 degrees

 

[rygar]

i dont do a full load, i have a friend with a wood stove who was telling me to do one log at a time.
this is feel is a big part of the problem. i am glad and very appreciative with every ones input. It is good to have input from seasoned veterans.

 

[mass_burner]

this morning it was about 63.5-64 degrees

is that without running the stove past 11pm?

 

[USMC80]

i dont do a full load, i have a friend with a wood stove who was telling me to do one log at a time.
this is feel is a big part of the problem. i am glad and very appreciative with every ones input. It is good to have input from seasoned veterans.

Bingo! Load her up I guarantee she will heat your house up nicely. Should see that den and living room in the 70s

 

[USMC80]

now to find out what you did to piss your friend off

 

[rygar]

is that without running the stove past 11pm?

that was me loading up the box and doing an overnight burn. well not totally full did the old log cabin with the center hollow

 

[rygar]

now to find out what you did to piss your friend off

well he did let me borrow his splitter which did all the heavy work for me so i will let him pass.

 

[Grisu]

now to find out what you did to piss your friend off

I fear he is burning wet wood. If your wood is not seasoned and you pack the stove full with it you will certainly just get a smoldering mess. One log at a time may be the only way to keep the fire going.

 

[Grisu]

that was me loading up the box and doing an overnight burn. well not totally full did the old log cabin with the center hollow

Pack it tight as I described it above. The more it looks like one wooden block (within reason) the better.

 

[USMC80]

I fear he is burning wet wood. If your wood is not seasoned and you pack the stove full with it you will certainly just get a smoldering mess. One log at a time may be the only way to keep the fire going.

if thats the case you have to find yourself some real seasoned wood thats been split and stacked for a while, and start cutting now for next year

 

[USMC80]

how long has this wood your burning been split and stacked? What kind of wood is it?