Shed wood stove

Hello everyone. I'm hoping that someone can give me some good advice about my wood stove in my shed. My shed is small, 10x20, and I use it as my workshop. I often have a very heavy smoke smell in the air, and when I open the door, smoke comes out. I don't normally have a large fire, but the stove gets pretty hot; typically around 500 degrees or so.

I purchased the HQ Issue outdoor wood stove and installed it a week or so ago. It heats the shed very nicely, and I love how small it is. I have it sitting on a pedestal, and the chimney goes straight up through the ceiling and roof. The chimney is 8 feet tall from the stove to the cap. I am using the 3.75" pipe that came with the stove in addition to a 3 foot double wall pipe to penetrate the ceiling and roof. A standard flashing, storm collar and cap are installed.

The 3.75" chimney goes through the middle of the 3 foot section of double wall pipe, which has a 4" ID. When the 3.75" pipe is ~500 degrees, the outside of the double wall pipe is ~150 degrees, so this should be a pretty safe installation. The attached image shows this setup.

I added a 3 inch fresh air intake that sits in front of the stove, just under the door.

 

Welcome yvanblo.. first couple of easy question. how dry is your wood? how is your draft? then when you watch smoke come out your chimney what does it do...

just so you know you not only one ...I smelt smoke in my house.. instantly alarmed.. grabbed flash light checked everything out it was fine.. right before I asked on here I determined the smoke was from Neighbors OWB half mile away

 

Not sure why you are having problems. Your chimney is taller than mine. Mine came with 5 16 inch sections. Reason being they all nested inside the stove for taking packing back in and installing in a tent. My shed has a real shallow roof pitch so the height of the chimney wasn't as critical. Does yours follow the roof/chimney height rule?
This rule indicates that the chimney must be at least 2 feet taller than any structure within 10 feet of it and also at least 3 feet higher than the point at which it penetrates the roof. ... As a rule, 15 feet should be the minimum chimney height unless you have an extremely small firebox or other unique situation. You have a small firebox.
Edit: Keep us posted. Mine doesn't come even close to following the rule, but because extra sections of chimney pipe we're going to be so expensive I tried it. It doesn't smoke and a drawl fine
Chief

 

Thanks for all the warm welcomes and helpful questions.

To answer your questions:
Q: how dry is your wood?
A: Pretty dry. A lot of it has been in my shed for quite a while.

Q: how is your draft?
A: Hard to tell, as I'm not used to judging a draft. I think maybe it's weak, but I only say that because smoke comes out when I open the stove door. It continues to smoke until I close the door, or nearly close the door, say, 1/2 gap.

Q: then when you watch smoke come out your chimney what does it do...
A: It goes up, and then sorta spreads across the shed. I smell it most heavily at the other end... where I like to work. lol

Q: Does yours follow the roof/chimney height rule?
A: It's very close to the rule. I have about 1.5 to 1.75 feet above the peak of the roof. I also have a very shallow roof pitch. In fact, my shed looks a lot like your shed, except mine is not for storing firewood.

Q: How close/distance is the cap of your pipe to the peak of your roof?
A: It's about 4 feet away, and about 1.5 to 1.75 feet above the peak.

I had a little better results this afternoon after I calked around the chimney pipe joints. I had been watching where the smoke was coming from, and noticed it was coming out of most of the seams. So far this is helping. I still get smoke coming out of the door when I open it. Do I need more intake air? I try to light the fire near the back of the box, right under the chimney. When I know it's not going to rain, I'll take the top off and see what happens. Living in WA, that will be tricky

 

First of, welcome aboard yvanblo .
Now, this

is very vague. What you're shooting for is a moisture content of 20% or less. Above that will possibly be tough to burn, and the higher the %, the tougher it gets.
Do you top cover the wood while it's drying? I don't, but mine stays in the drying stacks for 2 years (I'd prefer longer).
One thing to remember.......water doesn't burn. Someone will probably come on and prove me wrong though.

 

Yvanblo....Welcome to the campfire where everyone knows your name! I can't help ya with the problem you're having, but I'm here to listen and learn too. I've noticed that stove online and might pick up one for myself...

Carry on y'all... <listening>

 

I don't have a moisture meter, so I can't give you a reading. Anyway, I get very little to no sizzle/snap/crackle/pop when the wood burns. Not like our outdoor fires, which tend to be fairly green wood. Most of the wood I've been burning has been cut very thin, and sitting in my shed for a year or more. I've been saving it from cut off scrap wood, alder, cedar, maple mostly. It's is as dry as it can be in WA. My shed is insulated, so moisture is lowish. Paper left out there is always a little limp.

 

Deadwood, it's a sweet little stove! I was looking at stoves in the $200 range when I came across the HQ issue for $79. I couldn't pass that up. Smoke problems and all, I have really enjoyed that little stove so far! It was even fun to use it outdoors, which you will want to do for the first 2 or 3 burns to burn off the nasty burning paint smell.

 

I've got a 55 gallon barrel wood stove myself (in detached garage) that I've been quite pleased with, simplicity and all. The HQ is really just a smaller version of that, hence my interest. Aside from the smoke issue, is it staying toasty in that shed?

 

Yvanblo...What kind of "caulk" did you use?

 

Deadwood, I got Rutland 500°RTV High Heat Silicone (Black). So far its working just fine. And, yes, my shed is downright comfy. The stove is great for a 20x10 insulated building.

 

Thanks for the info on the silicone.

 

Is this the stove we're talking about?


It is good that you sealed the joints of the pipe...this will help your draft-think of trying to drink through a straw that has holes in it. I trust that you sealed up the joint where the single wall enters the double also? This would be the largest loss of draft point.

Another thing (that shouldn't make too much difference with the draft), is that all the pipe end joints should be installed with the female end of the pipe up and the male end of the pipe down. This allows any dripping (creosote or condensation) to remain inside the pipe and eventually back to the stove instead of dripping to the outside of the pipe at the joints.

One other question regarding the double wall which penetrates the roof. Is the air gap space between the vent and the outer pipe of the double wall still open or sealed/closed up?

I had a small wood stove with a 3" vent and no more than 6' of pipe attached with two 90's in it. The thing worked great even with the short and restricted vent length! As I remember it, I"m sure the pipe joints were male end up also, but it still worked fine for the draft. I would use scraps of wood I found laying on the ground for stating the fire...whatever looked dry but I'm sure wasn't.

 

Just imagine the confusion of someone new here, when they read this.
Eric must be at work, or he woulda jumped on it before me.

 

Yooperdave, Yep, that's my stove. About the size of a medium to large mailbox.

Thanks for the very helpful tips and questions! At first, I didn't seal any of the pipe connections. But as I was watching, and considering all of the helpful advice on this forum, I noticed that smoke was indeed coming out of the pipe joints. So I sealed em up with high temp caulk. The straw analogy helps, and I had not thought of it like that. I might need to do more than just caulk around the outside of the seam though. What sort of sealant do you recommend for those joints?

The design of the stove does not allow the chimney pipe to be installed female, bell end, up.

Q: Is the air gap space between the vent and the outer pipe of the double wall still open or sealed/closed up?
A: It is on the bottom, but not the top.

 

You could use aluminum tape to seal the joints/seams, but you might not like the look.
The high temp caulk will fail eventually. Try some of the stuff used to install door gaskets. That stuff lasts a while.