Sorry I missed this thread before. Welcome to FHC! It's nice seeing wood burners that are your age. It's definitely a great feeling knowing you're hard work reduces the heating bills. But it's still hard work. I think the damper you installed will help a lot. In the off season, you should mod the stove and do whatever other upgrades/ mods to the stove and the walls etc that you can. What make is that splitter? It looks similar to the old Didier that we have.
You might have more success pushing cold air toward the stove rather than pushing or pulling warm air. Cool air is dense so fans have a MUCH easier time moving it and the warmer air will naturally replace it. This is a game changer for so many people, and so backward from conventional thinking.
I burned an all-nighter when I first started down this road. I added a baffle, and it helped. Then I replaced it with a newer stove. Both changes (baffle, then new stove) helped, but your biggest gain (by far) would be to move the heater out of the basement. Best to you.
His biggest gain would be foil backed 1” insulation on the top half of the walls of that basement. It’s cheap too. Cold air naturally rests on the floor. That’s why it’s easier to move cold air toward the stove than to try and push warm air that wants to rise…it doesn’t push far before changing direction. Cold air being low to the floor is also why you’ll see a major change just by insulating the upper half of the basement walls with 1” foil backed (reflective) insulation. Doing this helps this stove AND any new stove you may buy later. So do this step first as it’s the logical progression.
I wonder how this Lad is doing. Hasn't been heard since Feb.... Welcome to FHC and hope the new burning season is going well.
