Looking for advice on heating 1800 sf with my new ENCORE 1450 non cat. I'm not warming up the house to my expectations with the stove. The stove is against the south wall at the end of a long 30' x 15' living room. The south half of the room is under 7' ceiling and the other half away from the stove has vaulted 15' ceiling with opening balcony to master bedroom. I know the house has some heat loss issues that I'm working on including basement and attic insulation, and the house has an extremely strong draft that pulls through the attic stairway door. And an over-sized architectural window on the north end of the house that certainly causes some heat loss.
I did not install the stove in the vaulted area so we could trap some heat on the lower level before it went straight up to the high ceiling, and funnel some heat over to the adjacent kitchen. It was also the best location for the stove given the layout. Downside is I had to go out the wall and up with stainless chimney, that is said to be least preferable install option for performance. But the draft seems quite good anyhow.
At about 500 to 600 stove top temp, the stove runs great and heats the immediate area nicely, but I cant get the thermostat above 63 in the living room. For reference, with the furnace at 65 in the living room, the house is quite comfortable, but walking up stairs there is a noticeable cool down and detectable draft from the attic. With the furnace off, that effect seems to go away, but still not that warm.
Should I try the blower kit for this stove? Could an outside air kit help, even though my house is insulated but not tight at all? Should I run the stove hotter in the 700's? Or all of the above.
Seems outside air kits provide another place for cold air and weather to get in the house when the stove is not running.
Maybe my house is so loose that the stove is drawing all the cool air up from the basement and windows, thus minimizing heat radiation through the house?
Any advice welcome, apologize for the lengthy description, but we need to get this right to justify the investment and keep the oil away.
great forum.
Thanks
I did not install the stove in the vaulted area so we could trap some heat on the lower level before it went straight up to the high ceiling, and funnel some heat over to the adjacent kitchen. It was also the best location for the stove given the layout. Downside is I had to go out the wall and up with stainless chimney, that is said to be least preferable install option for performance. But the draft seems quite good anyhow.
At about 500 to 600 stove top temp, the stove runs great and heats the immediate area nicely, but I cant get the thermostat above 63 in the living room. For reference, with the furnace at 65 in the living room, the house is quite comfortable, but walking up stairs there is a noticeable cool down and detectable draft from the attic. With the furnace off, that effect seems to go away, but still not that warm.
Should I try the blower kit for this stove? Could an outside air kit help, even though my house is insulated but not tight at all? Should I run the stove hotter in the 700's? Or all of the above.
Seems outside air kits provide another place for cold air and weather to get in the house when the stove is not running.
Maybe my house is so loose that the stove is drawing all the cool air up from the basement and windows, thus minimizing heat radiation through the house?
Any advice welcome, apologize for the lengthy description, but we need to get this right to justify the investment and keep the oil away.
great forum.
Thanks
