wood stove problem

[sancraft]

My wood stove is getting very hot. You can hardly stand to stand next to it for too long, but if you move literally 2 ftt away from it, the room is stone cold. Move 10 ft and you can see your breath. Any suggestions. It's just a simple boxwood stove.

[Rocky]

Do you have a manual damper in the chimney? It sounds like all your heat is in the stove and roaring out the chimney.

[thequeensblessing]

If the stove is burning right and heating up nicely, then it doesn't really sound like a wood stove problem to me. It sounds like a room problem. Is the stove too small for the room it's in? Perhaps you need a larger stove? Is there an upstairs that is sucking the heat up? What it really sounds like to me is inadequate insulation in the home/room. It sounds like the heat energy is escaping too quickly. Can you cover the windows with a thermal covering? Add some insulation to the attic? Buy a bigger stove?
Sorry, I'm not much help, but that's what it all sounds like to me.

[tobo6]

Your cabin has a loft doesn't it? I'd agree that the hot air was going up and to fix that, I'd put a fan behind the stove to blow the air out into the main room. Maybe even a fan upstairs to keep the heat down.

[DrippingSprings]

Originally Posted by sancraft

My wood stove is getting very hot. You can hardly stand to stand next to it for too long, but if you move literally 2 ftt away from it, the room is stone cold. Move 10 ft and you can see your breath. Any suggestions. It's just a simple boxwood stove.

San if its one of the small box like you can get at lowes etc for 125 bucks then I think your losing your heat up the pipe. Mine is one of those out in my shop. its a bg office with little insulation but its about 350 sqft and it will heat great. I just had to experiment with the damper in the pipe. Mine also has a bend in the pipe and I get alot of heat off the pipe. look at tractor supply they have one of those lil box collectors for those heaters that attach to the pipe and get you some of the heat youd otherwise lose.

Heat Reclaimer, Attaches To Stove Pipe & Reclaims Heat Normally Lost Up The Flue, Fan Motor Gently Blows Warm Air Into The Room

[Buffy in Dallas]

You could also try blowing a box fan on the stove to move the heat around the room.

[momlaffsalot]

Our stove was the same way, Sancraft until we got a blower and put that in. It makes a HUGE difference, just huge. It'll cost a bit, but it's well worth every penny. In the meantime, I would put a fan behind it to disburse that heat.

[marvella]

if you are getting good heat near the stove, then i agree- it's an insulation problem.

i've been known to line entire rooms with rolls of 4 mil plastic to keep drafts out. might help.

course, moving closer to and farther away from the woodstove is an old fashioned thermostat. if you're cold,, get closer. too warm step away.

[SquashNut]

we put a ceiling fan in our living room. Cost $25.

[comfortablynumb]

I concur, set a fan blowing air around, aim it at the pipe.

better yet put up a cieling fan all the hot air is on the cieling, setting there doing nothing.

[Richard6br]

I don't care much for the heat reclaimers that go into the flue pipe. I have made a few and they do put heat out. The only problem is that they can cool the flue too much resulting in increased creasote and possibly effect your draft. You need to keep the flue warm for good draft. I would put a fan behind the wood burner so the air moves across the top. This will pick up some heat off the flue pipe and a lot of heat from the top of the wood burner. Are you sure that your damper in functioning properly. Sounds like its stuck open and all the heat is going up the flue. If the damper is working properly and you can see your breath 10' from the wood burner, you have some serious insulation problems.

[foxies]

Oh, yes a fan behind the wood stove. Mine is a small 10 dollar fan works great.

[lacyj]

Hi Sancraft,

Did you get a damper in the pipe?

Did you take the stove pipe out the wall?
DH had a shop with no insulation, he used two elbows and kept the stove pipe in the shop for about 10 feet, before it went out the roof. It made more heat, in the shop. It required more length of pipe above the roof line to increase the draw. (Otherwise it got smokey) The higher the roof pipe the better the draw. If you change your pipe, so it is more flatter, then you'll need to clean it out often, as the ash will build up quickly.

Have you insulated yet?
Your place is small, go by an insulation company and see if they will let you raid their dumpster or buy their left over partial rolls/bags. Get the insulation up and cover it with something. The black roll roofing will work and is pretty cheap.
Then you can cover it later or use sheets to cover it, for now...(How 'bout all that on-sale christmas wrapping...ha)
You can do the same with the loft that you aren't using. Covering the 2x4's with cardboard will cut down on the heat loss,(get some insulation in the rafters)
If you get a circulating fan, on a stand, then you can make more adjustments for your room. You'll be able to aim the heat, where you want it...(Wally world has them)

[sancraft]

Thanks. We don't have much insulation. I put insulated packing blankets on the walls and quilts on the windows. That still leaves the loafs and 1/3 of the building uninsulated. I won't be able to get anything else right away. Money is really short right now. I'll try and find some cardboard free somewhere. I'll also try a small fan. The damper also appears to be stuck open. I'll try and rig it to partially close. I'll let you know if this all helps.

[lacyj]

Did you put the damper in yourself? They are hard to get perfectly centered. If they aren't centered, they will not close completely. You may have to take the pipe apart and make a new hole for the end of the damper.I'm not sure what you plug the old hole up with, someone will know here, tho...
The other idea is to redrill the holes for the damper, higher up the pipe, as this will make for more hot air in the pipe, and in your house.

We lived in a 10x12 ft cabin for 10 years, so I know about small space livin'...ha. We insulated it well and live in a warmer climate. We put in a small wall furnace that ran on propane, and used small 5 gallon bottles to run it.
When your power is inside, get electric blankets, it's much easier to climb into a warm bed, in a cold house...

[shellbug]

Put something (like a draft dodger/sandbag type thing or a rolled up bath towel) under the door crack. if you can't get a ceiling fan, a box fan pointed down from the loft will recirculate the heat some. duct tape and black plastic over the windows is cheap (you are using quilts, so light is not a factor).

[DrippingSprings]

Originally Posted by sancraft

Thanks. We don't have much insulation. I put insulated packing blankets on the walls and quilts on the windows. That still leaves the loafs and 1/3 of the building uninsulated. I won't be able to get anything else right away. Money is really short right now. I'll try and find some cardboard free somewhere. I'll also try a small fan. The damper also appears to be stuck open. I'll try and rig it to partially close. I'll let you know if this all helps.

Go to autozone or advance nd ask them if you can have the boxs they emptied when they put the oil in the racks. When I worked there on Friday nght and Saturday we ended up with dozens of them. I had a friend take some and staple them on the studs in his building similar to yours and then put hay behind it between the studs until he could buy some insulation.

[MELOC]

a small bolt and washers for the hole.

[MELOC]

i encountered a thread once telling how to make your own insulation from newsprint. soak it in a solution of borax and dry it before shredding it in a shredder or chipper. just thought i would toss that out.

[Jen H]

In our outbuilding, we aim a fan straight up along the stove pipe. There's a ceiling fan really close by that scatters all of that hot air around the room. 500 sq feet, and we can get that building up to 85* without trying too hard. I think we paid $25 for the ceiling fan and it's just a cheap $10 fan aimed at the stove pipe.