Wood Stove Doesn't Seem to Heat Well Enough

[kennyp2339]

Well it looks like you have a sealed block off plate, single wall pipe going into the liner, fire in the bottom pic looks normal, I see a few secondary's.
The issue here is the setup is the wrong tool for the job. Cutting in floor vents isn't going to help, it will have very minimal heat coming through the registers, you may want to put a box fan by the stairs and point it at the stove, moving cold air towards the stove is easier then moving hot air around.

 

[bholler]

Here’s some pictures. View attachment 234289View attachment 234290View attachment 234291View attachment 234292

The fire is where it’s at with the intake about 1/4” out.


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I am a little concerned about the black stovepipe going through the blockoff plate. Unless it is painted stanless it needs changed out for stainless.

 

[Jazzcrazy]

I am a little concerned about the black stovepipe going through the blockoff plate. Unless it is painted stanless it needs changed out for stainless.

Why’s that?


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[bholler]

Why’s that?


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Because it needs to be stainless. Being black pipe it will deteriorate and because of its location you wont know it. And replacing it will be a problem.

 

[Jazzcrazy]

Because it needs to be stainless. Being black pipe it will deteriorate and because of its location you wont know it. And replacing it will be a problem.

We have a stainless steel liner that connects to the double wall pipe. For some reason the code here says it has to be double wall.


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[bholler]

We have a stainless steel liner that connects to the double wall pipe. For some reason the code here says it has to be double wall.


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It doesnt look like doublewall at all. Double wall would have a second layer that would overlap the stove collar.

 

[MAD MARK]

It doesnt look like doublewall at all. Double wall would have a second layer that would overlap the stove collar.

X2.

And if you were told that is double wall is there really vermiculite an whatnot? There is a lot going on here that might not really be going on.

 

[Jazzcrazy]

X2.

And if you were told that is double wall is there really vermiculite an whatnot? There is a lot going on here that might not really be going on.

Definitely vermiculite. They put the seal on wrong and it was leaking out. Then they came back and fixed it.


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[MAD MARK]

How much does something like that cost?

 

[Jazzcrazy]

How much does something like that call?

I’m sorry?


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[brenndatomu]

I’m sorry?


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Just tell 'im they call all the time...and it drives you crazy!

 

[begreen]

Lots more contradictions. So there is a block-off plate, and there is no double-wall and the flue thermometer was on the flue collar. Hopefully they transitioned to stainless liner above the block-off plate.

The fire looks fine in the last picture. Did the stove top temp come up a bit with the air closed down to 1/4?

 

[Jazzcrazy]

Lots more contradictions. So there is a block-off plate, and there is no double-wall and the flue thermometer was on the flue collar. Hopefully they transitioned to stainless liner above the block-off plate.
View attachment 234300
The fire looks fine in the last picture. Did the stove top temp come up a bit with the air closed down to 1/4?

The chimney liner itself is SS.

The stove temp did come up. It stays around 475°. The house though was at 73° the other way, now it hangs at 68°. I have been able to cut back the wood by about 3 loads today though.


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[begreen]

Reminds me of a friend that complained his little Chevy was getting lousy gas mileage. He drove it like the accelerator was an on-off switch. I told him if he wanted to drive fast, get a real vehicle, which he eventually did. Still gets poor gas mileage, but at least now he expects to.

 

[maple1]

Definitely vermiculite. They put the seal on wrong and it was leaking out. Then they came back and fixed it.


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There could be gaps in it from settling.

Don't think that would cause excess wood consumption or reduced heat output, but could make creosote spots in the chimney - or worse, start a fire if they didn't get all the creosote out before it was relined.

If you get your burns under control & proper, I don't think there is much more you could do to improve anything with the stove sitting right where it is. Except maybe increase air movement around it to push more heat out from the stove into the room before the brick grabs it all. Don't think we've seen yet the fan that I think was mentioned or exactly where it is?

 

[jetsam]

As a short term fix, he could still insulate the fireplace. Lots of btus being lost there.

 

[maple1]

As a short term fix, he could still insulate the fireplace. Lots of btus being lost there.

Maybe? Hard to tell if there is enough room between it & the stove to get a layer of say Roxul board in there and still leave an airgap to the stove. I don't think you'd want to fill that space - then all that heat couldn't get out of the stove? I could picture some kind of meltdown happening.

 

[Chas0218]

A single woodstove is never going to heat 4000 square feet unless there's like 4 foot thick insulated walls. Never mind one that's stuffed inside a fireplace in the basement. Sure we can help optimize what they have but reality is they'll never come close to achieving what they're trying to do. Best bet is to run the stove at a reasonable level of efficiency and be happy about any break in the heating bill. Then put a stove and chimney in both levels.

I heat 3000 sqft 2 story no problem with my stove granted a little different setup but 100% doable with what he has minus the stove inside the fireplace.

If your in PA I would be looking for a coal stove if your in coal country. They usually put out much more Btus than a wood stove and coal can be had pretty cheap

Coal is extremely corrosive and illegal (at least in NY) to dispose of at dumps/landfills. You need to take it to designated places.

Here is what I would do, have someone come and place a tee in the liner and have it come out the front of the fireplace. This will allow you to get the stove out of the fireplace and it will be much more efficient.

I also don't think you're going through more wood than I do heating 3000 sqft. I started burning 24/7 about 2 weeks ago but have been burning for about 1 month. I have gone through about 1&1/4 cord of wood so far this heating season living on the Southern Tier of NY. I'm figuring around 5 to 6 cord a season based on last season.

 

[jetsam]

Maybe? Hard to tell if there is enough room between it & the stove to get a layer of say Roxul board in there and still leave an airgap to the stove. I don't think you'd want to fill that space - then all that heat couldn't get out of the stove? I could picture some kind of meltdown happening.

1/2" micore is R1.1 or R1.27 depending on the product. That plus a sheet of sheet metal would be some insulation plus a reflective surface in a ~9/16" space