Recommendations on Existing Wood Stove

When I was researching for a new stove, I considered the Englander NC30, the IS, and a BlazeKing King.

All three are reputable stoves, and the Englander would be very similar to your existing stove, but all reviews I've read are that it too has excellent air controls.

How is the chimney install in your house?

Single wall pipe through the wall, ceiling & roof? Liner in existing masonry chimney?

There may be areas we haven't touched upon that could improve the performance of your stove.

Do you have a chimney damper installed?

 

Oh yeah.



Edit..
As an aside.. Earlier in the month when temps were real low, I used the IR therm on the walls.
Bedroom wall.. 42°F
Wall behind stove.. 83°F



Exterior insulation is on this year's improvement list.

 

Here is a video of someone replacing a damaged baffle board. It is nothing more than a fragile barrier which redirects the heat up and around to the front of the stove and then back to the flue outlet. Be careful not to bump it while feeding the stove and cleaning the flue.

 

Well here are some pictures of my stove setup:





Single wall pipe through the ceiling & roof. (I wish it went outside and then up the exterior of the house since wouldn't be such a mess when I cleaned it).

Is this really single pipe after it goes through the ceiling?

Do you have a chimney damper installed? NO

Any suggestions?

 

I guess not. ;-)

 

Can you see up the flue from inside the fire box? If so you will want to look into a soot eater. Cleaning from inside has never been more convenient.

Flue damper, can you choke the fire down to slow motion flames in the fire box or i's it alway's a raging infirno?

 

Hey SteveWest It should connect to a thimble through the ceiling and roof.

Not sure if double or triple wall is required.

A key damper installed will definitely help you get a handle on the stove control, but could be a PITA during clean out.

I don't have a "soot eater", traditional steel brush. Cleaning out my wall thimble can make a bit of mess, but chimney itself is cleaned from outside.

 

I dont mention this from personal experience (I get on the roof to use my soot eater) but I believe I've heard others mention it will go right passed a key damper. I could be making that up though

Hopefully one of the bottom-up guys (hows that for a visual) will chime in here.

 

Seems to me I remember the same thing being said.

As far as the bottom up guys comment....be careful! They're closer than you think!

 

It's above the tubes, #9. Looks like two pieces. The baffle board retains heat in the re-burn area and routes the smoke past the tubes to be burned. Check that they are intact, and pushed to the rear..otherwise smoke can bypass the tubes and go straight to the flue exit, robbing you of heat.

 

You don't really want that; You're better off with a straight shot up for the best draft when it gets warmer out and you don't have as strong a draft. For cleaning, you can substitute a telescoping slip connector to the flue exit, then just slide it up and attach a plastic bag and sweep down into it from the roof. Make sure it telescopes smoothly when you install it, because they can be tough to slip when they get a little dirty..
The connector pipe should be attached to a ceiling support box, then it should be Class A chimney from there up..

 

Yup, you are right.

 

If you can't slow the stove down enough to get lazy flame coming off the wood and strong secondary, a flue damper will slow the burn a bit. I have two installed on my SIL's stove..

 

Curious. I’ve never heard of using two dampers. Why?
My Lopi Leyden won’t damp down as far as I like with its internal dampener and air control. Always burns it self out clean overnight even if feeding it during a middle of the night bathroom run with a large well seasoned split or two.

My old shop stove with a pipe dampener works as expected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yep dampers reduce draft more. How tall is the chimney on your lopi? Has anyone ever measured the draft to see if it is within spec?

 

Good to hear about the disadvantage of routing my flue outside the house.

I have been cleaning my stove from inside using the slip (screw in) connectors with the bag as you mention. I try to do this regularly like once a month during the heating season.

I have hired a local vendor to clean my stove. They do it from the roof (I don't want to get up there myself) and take the cap off. One thing when they insert their brush down that concerns me is all I see is them pushing it down one time. They don't do a scrubbing action like I do when I open my flue up from inside. With there not doing this scrubbing action I wonder if they are missing a lot?

 

Thank you both for posting information about this baffle. I just started a fire so will check when it has cooled down to make sure it is there and isn't damaged.

 

My chimney is only one story. Above where my chimney is it goes through the attic of house. Thus it is not like it goes through a 2nd floor before the cap.

I have not heard of measuring draft on a wood stove. How is that even done?

 

Basically take off door, tape plastic over door and measure air flow with a gauge.