Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

Good to hear action is being taken
When heating oil prices spiked up sharply in the 80s metal chimney liners became a brief trend. As a licensed mechanical contractor i found replacing the unlined brick chimney with double wall insulated stainless steel pipe to be the best choice for many clients restoring older homes.
I'm a firm believer in a back up home heat source.

 

It's a log cabin built in 1940 and the chimney wall is stone. But yes the only utility I'm connected to is water and electric so I have oil heat. The stove is a godsend. I have oil heat which is up quite a bit. $300 for 100 gallons near me.

 

Dropped three 2 ft diameter tree at my parents' place. Got 2 of them bucked and hauled to the barn before running out of gas, both literally and figuratively.

 

Quoting your post here, and risking playing "Debbie Downer" (old Sat. nite live bit). Your comment of " I just run the CS log twice a season. I got quotes for liners and the cheapest install was $2100. Out of my budget...." Scares me! - How much more would the whole house replacement cost of the house be -to say nothing of you and your belongings? I have heated with wood for many years - 35-40 and had one flue fire -Scared the hell out of me and I was a minute or so from calling the FD. This is even though my entire flue system is on the outside of my house (except for the little bits from the stove to the wall thimble.) Not a wise choice to take chances with a risky flue system. Sorry to "preach"!

 

Sounds like the ash buildup might be cutting off the inlet air source. Do you know where combustion air enters the firebox? Is it being covered over after a long period of burning?

 

It's a lever at the rear of the stove. I keep it open to get as much air in as possible.

 

Have you opened up the exit pipes? Any stove has to "draw" (pull) air from outside of itself to keep burning. I have a little stove in my garage and have found that over time that very dry creosote will collect at the bend in my flue pipe that is near the stove. This stuff will not catch fire as it has the consistency of "Rice-Krispy"'s. Even so it can build up, and as it does it blocks off the pull or draw of the stove.
This very much effects the burning of the stove. I also try my best to burn very well seasoned wood in my stoves. I go through more wood, but this makes for a much lower chance of a flue fire. If you have a big enough opening in your flue they do make some triple lined flue pipe you could put in there. This is available at professional wood burning outlets.
The "lever" you speak of -- could it be the "damper" handle? Like these

Stovepipe Damper 6"

Stovepipe Damper 6" - - Amazon.com. These can greatly affect the draw of your woodstove and also can get build-up of creosote of the "dry" or the "sticky" (dangerous) kind!

 

It's a single non lined stove pipe. The air intake draw in a lever operated door about 3x3 inches on the back bottom of the stove.

 

I am curious, can you post a photo?

 

OK - that is Not a flue damper. The air intake is your adjustment of how much is getting into your stove. If your stove is a "air-tight" stove you could rather quickly shut your fire down if you wanted to do that. My garage stove is an air tight model , while my house add-on unit is not. My fire in my home would go out upon totally shutting the round air intakes but not as quick as the garage stove.
One more suggestion is for you to get is one of these magnetic flue temp sensors. They are simplistic, but they give some idea of how hot you are burning. Amazon has these as do many places -I think there is a correct distance up on the flue pipe where to place these. You need to do your own research on that. EXAMPLE:

$6 Frienda 1 Piece Wood Stove Thermometer Magnetic Oven Temperature Meter for Wood Burning Stoves Fire Stove Pipe Thermometer for Avoiding Stove Fan Damaged by Overheating

Amazon.com: Magnetic Wood Stove Thermometer Fire Stove Thermometer Flue Temperature Meter for Avoiding Stove Fan Damaged by Overheating (1) : Home & Kitchen

 

Here’s the back of the stove. The air flow intake is the square flap on the chain connected to a lever that’s attached to the stove and thermostatically adjusts the flap for flow control but I keep it open all the way or it will smother out.

 

Mmm wood heat, I miss a good wood stove, not many of those on Orange County… not much wood in general. What a quality thread, this is what community looks like ❤️

 

If you're keeping it wide open all the time you have bad draft. Is your house really tightly insulated? If so you may need to open something to allow some outside air into the room where the stove sits.

 

It's a log cabin so there's plenty of airflow. But opening anything to allow cold outside air in is counter intuitive to using a wood stove

 

Sort of. There has to be air to go into the stove and up the pipe.

I cannot say I have seen a stove like that.

 

Well opening a window in cold weather to vent a stove to heat the same space i'm in seems weird to me...lol

 

Stove needs oxygen! Try putting a paper bag over your head and see how long you want to keep it there. I have a dryer vent in reverse as a fresh air source for combustion. Works great.

 

Well opening a window isn't an option..lol

 

Post some pics of the whole stove. From what you posted -the stove looks like it may be a well-constructed unit. This is not to say that there may be things that have worn out or need repairing. Include some pics of your flue system as well.

 

@stevesnj does this mystery stove have a name , make or model # ?