New to wood burning

[Treemoss]

Hello everyone, I just joined so I might have alot of questions. I am new to wood-burning and woodstoves. I have a split level house that is about 1200 ft.². It was built in the 50s and is not that airtight. I am sort of on a budget so I am Going to Get the Napoleon 1450 independent stove. But I see this is good for 800 to over 2000 ft.² is this stove overkill for my house. Also Is this stove a good stove. Because of the size of the stove will I be burning it low and building up more creosote. Also the vent pipe will be going outside out of the wall with Double insulated stainless steel. It has 2 90° elbows and 2 30° offsets Passed the Gutter peak for about 20 feet total Length. It only has 14 feet vertical Length. Is this good enough or will I have draft problems. Also will there be a lot of creosote Buildup in the pipe Because of all the offsets and elbows. I will be burning 100% seasoned wood oak Mostly. Any information will be helpful information since I am very new to wood-burning and wood-burning stoves thank you.

 

[zogger]

Howdy, welcome to the madhou...to this fine forum!

Can't tell ya on all those twists and turns, other than years ago I decided to ditch the damper and regulate my heat with size and species of wood, about all the time running wide open.

I found trying to restrict the exhaust did just that, made for smoky fires and so on, dry wood or not. So..switched to a much larger variety of sizes of wood, leave the air open, no damper, and burn that way. I want that thing to *draw* and burn hot and clean.

Example, want a lot of heat right now, small splits of primo wood. Want medium heat to last all day, medium splits and small rounds. Want to keep the fire ticking over at night, heat output not as critical, a big fat gnarly mambo crotch piece or round. Spring and fall, just *some* heat, burn lesser species....

Not familiar with your stove, I just run an old cheap smoke dragon.

Plenty of guys here will chime in later with a more expert technical viewpoint. These guys are wood fanatics! Saying that in a good sense, too, if you can't find your answers here, the answers don't exist!

 

[Dogsout]

if you can't find your answers here, the answers don't exist!

+1

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Good to have some new blood on board! There are quite a few members who are regulars on here that routinely modify, rip out & replace, or just generally experiment on stoves to see what works best. I'm sure they will be along shortly. With that being said, don't be surprised if you start trying to collect wood for what would be 3 winters ahead from now. Many members on here are YEARS ahead. It's called FAD, and you'll know about it soon enough! Stop by the chainsaw forum too. Many knowledgeable members there as well. They'll give you warnings about us here on the firewood forum as being a crazy lot, but everyone here know the chainsaw guys are the rowdier of the two groups. :msp_tongue:

 

[Treemoss]

Can't tell ya on all those twists and turns, other than years ago I decided to ditch the damper and regulate my heat with size and species of wood, about all the time running wide open.

I found trying to restrict the exhaust did just that, made for smoky fires and so on, dry wood or not. So..switched to a much larger variety of sizes of wood, leave the air open, no damper, and burn that way. I want that thing to *draw* and burn hot and clean.


Thank you guys for the welcoming. I don't have a damper but if I was to let the stove run wide open Wouldn't that overheat the stove. Also if running the stove wide open would that be too much heat for my home. My real concern would be creosote buildup in the elbows and offsets. I am just worried about running the stove almost closed for long burns and getting bad buildup. My wood is 18 months old and I don't want to clean the pipe out every month. I will be burning for my Primary heat for my home.

 

[Fred Wright]

Welcome to the asylum.

Ideally, you should have as few bends in your chimney pipe as possible. Two 90s are about the most you'd want. Bends can reduce draft. Would it be possible to go straight up through the roof instead?

Stove BTU ratings can be misleading, as several variables are involved. House insulation quality makes a world of difference. Where you place the stove is important, too. Radiant or infrared heat from the stove will warm walls, furniture and other objects, which is a big help.

Creosote accumulation is a result of burning uncured, or green wood. I'd suggest a look in the flue pipe after a couple months of burn time to gauge creosote buildup. If you're using only well-seasoned wood and keeping your fires hot, creosote accumulation should be little to none.

 

[Treemoss]

Hello, I can't run straight to the roof so I will have to have a 90° and Tee and 2 30° offsets. I feel like if I run the stove hot it might be too much heat for my 1200 square-foot home. I am really worried about the draft with the offsets and creosote buildup. I am wondering if I should get a smaller stove to run with higher heat.

 

[Warfarin]

I wouldn't worry about too much heat for your house. I have an open floor plan and it heats up to where we are comfortable. What I can see is going to be a problem for you is the split level. I know on my dads house he had his stove in his kitchen and it was hot as hades in there when he ran the stove but other parts of his house were cold. If you don't have good airflow to move the heat to other parts of the house you will end up the same way. My stove is centrally located (1 story house 2100 sq ft) and the end rooms are a little on the cold side especially if the doors are closed. Without fans to move the heat around they would never get warm.

Don't have any answers to your chimney questions but the answers given seem correct to me. I have been burning for a few years now (straight pipe) and haven't had any build up problems (I am burning Pine and Aspen mostly). I love my stove and wouldn't want to heat any other way. Welcome and good luck with your stove.

 

[zogger]

Hello, I can't run straight to the roof so I will have to have a 90° and Tee and 2 30° offsets. I feel like if I run the stove hot it might be too much heat for my 1200 square-foot home. I am really worried about the draft with the offsets and creosote buildup. I am wondering if I should get a smaller stove to run with higher heat.

I'd try what you have first.

 

[Cheesecutter]

Thank you guys for the welcoming. I don't have a damper but if I was to let the stove run wide open Wouldn't that overheat the stove. Also if running the stove wide open would that be too much heat for my home. My real concern would be creosote buildup in the elbows and offsets. I am just worried about running the stove almost closed for long burns and getting bad buildup. My wood is 18 months old and I don't want to clean the pipe out every month. I will be burning for my Primary heat for my home.

Welcome to AS. You will get a lot of advice on this site, but the learning curve experience with your stove will come by trial and error as every install is a bit different. I have no experience with your stove, but I had one similar. I think if you run the stove wide open you will over-fire it and cook yourself out of the room. I put a barometric damper in a section of my pipe so checking for creosote build up inside of the pipes was as easy as flipping open the damper door and peeking in. I also had a magnetic thermometer on the pipe. I didn't expect it to be 100% accurate, but it gave me and my wife an idea of where to run the air control lever. My early signs of creosote showed up on the front door glass and on the chimney cap. I would definitely keep an eye on the pipe at least weekly to check for build-up and clean as necessary. As long as you can run a brush through the pipe you should be OK with the set-up you have.

 

[Henry and Wanda]

Hello,
I wouldn't worry about the stove being too big.......I would rather have a stove that is big so you don't have to run it wide open all the time, than have a stove that is too small and then can't keep your house warm !!!!! You can have a smaller good burning fire in a big stove that will burn good....you don't have to have it stuffed full of wood all the time.......smaller fires work good too !!!!!



Henry and Wanda

 

[philoshop]

+1 on all of the above, including the welcome!!
I don't think your stove will be too big. As Zogger said, you'll learn how to regulate temps with different wood species and some experimentation, all while keeping the temps up in the chimney for a clean burn to keep the creosote down.
I have about 800 sq ft of living space on one level, very well-insulated and wide open. 15' of chimney, straight up, and a stove made for 2000 sq ft. With a good thermometer in the pipe above the stove, I can make sure that what's burning is hot enough to keep the pipes clean. When it gets too warm in the house (80+ inside, while it's hovering in the single digits outside), I open a couple of windows.

The bends in your pipe are going to be the wild-card. They're tough to clean and even tougher to inspect. Really tough to clean!
Get some good chimney cleaning gear, a high-quality brush and rods for the straights, maybe a pull-through rope and brush for the bends (probably a smaller brush for the pull-thru, say 5" in a 6" pipe?). You'll have to ask further for more info on cleaning/inspecting bends.
Keep your chimney temps in the right range as you burn and clean/check the pipe every chance you get in the first year or so to verify that you're not getting buildup. Once you're sure there's no creosote, you've got it. Then you regulate indoor temps with different woods and/or quantities while keeping the pipe temps where they need to be. It's a learning process for sure. Nobody can tell you to put tab A into slot B! Doesn't work that way. It's a buttload of work, but a wonderful feeling when you don't get a fuel bill!
Just my $.02
Regards,
Uncle Philo
BTW; where in NY are you?

 

[aarolar]

Another thing to consider is if it gets too warm you can always open the windows up and cool it off alittle. Dad and I both refer to the windows as out thermostatic control during the winter.

 

[Treemoss]

I cannot run the pipe straight out due to a dormer above the room. If you see the picture it would be a 90° elbow going through the wall through the brick to the outside. Then it would go another 3 feet horizontal pipe to a T that goes up 14 feet vertically. Then 2 30° offsets around the gutter and than a additional 4 foot vertical going to cap. View attachment 312740 View attachment 312741

 

[Treemoss]

I'd try what you have

I am just worried that it will be all set up and will not work and then I wont know what to do.

 

[stihly dan]

That's some bad mojo with your chimney. 3ft horizontal is not good, or is pushing it to the edge. If you can 45 from the stove, then 45 to the horizontal, 1 90 of restriction is gone. Also better would be eliminate the cleanout tee. Cut your hole on the wall at a 45 degs, then 1 45 at the stove, 5 0r 6 ft straight pipe, 45 up, then your 2, 22 1/2 deg offsets. If you can have 30 inches between them, you can brush the whole chimney into the stove then out. Should have no problem with draft then.

 

[zogger]

I'd try what you have

I am just worried that it will be all set up and will not work and then I wont know what to do.

If it doesn't draw well enough, add more vertical.

And that is about all I know there. If air can get into the house and to the stove, and there is a fire in there, and heat rises, and the chimney is the easiest way out..well, that's how that works. If on first light you have to burn some kindling to get the chimney warm and really drawing well, then do that. I have read here some guys have used heatguns to jump start a cold chimney before lighting off what they have.

I have never owned/operated a fancy epa turbo stove, can't say why they wouldn't work or not. Just old smoke dragons and I have yet to see a chimney not draw enough for a stove to not work. Personally that is. I have heard about it, but never seen it in person. I know turns should be gradual and not 90s if at all possible, and straighter the better, and at least two feet above anything else around it, if not more.

these fancy stoves need-apparently-more exacting conditions to operate over the old energy hog stoves. but..once running well, they outperform by a wide margin.

Myself, if I owned here and was going to do some retrofitting, it would be a rocket stove design without any doubt at all. I am 100% confident I could build one just by looking at a lot of the other examples on the web. And it would cost less over a store bought fancy heater. and I like the idea of warm thermal mass in the living space, having been in alternative energy areas before, thermal mass works. Saw it in a buiulding retrofit for a solar attached greenhouse/heater combo. it was slick..

That's how these big outdoor boilers work, they heat up mass quantities of water, but..I would rather heat a slightly smaller mass quantity of pretty rock/stone work to look at and sit on in the living room, plus be able to use small quantities of small wood and not need 10-15 cord a year.

I was looking at what a rocket heater needs for a chimney exhaust..hardly anything at all!

 

[ppkgmsy]

I cannot run the pipe straight out due to a dormer above the room. If you see the picture it would be a 90° elbow going through the wall through the brick to the outside. Then it would go another 3 feet horizontal pipe to a T that goes up 14 feet vertically. Then 2 30° offsets around the gutter and than a additional 4 foot vertical going to cap. View attachment 312740 View attachment 312741

Welcome to a great forum. The guys here get bit rowdy at times, but there's never been any blood shed, as best as I know. There's a lot of good information here and a fine spirit of shared passion.

Having a wood stove is just about the best thing you can have to make a house a real home. Something very primal about having a fire. Looking at the picture on the left, it appears you'll have your stove in a living area. Know that space will get very hot and, obviously, radiate out from there. Heat needs may be a consideration based on the location of your kitchen, bedrooms, etc. You'll also be needing to shield the walls and maybe the ceiling. Looking at the toys on the table, it seems you you have small kids. You'll need some kind of barrier around the stove. Also, it's going to be messy with kindling, etc.

My two cents is to try and find someone local who can share with you the straight scoop about wood and heating in your local area. Ask around, there's bound to be an honest woodsman, logger, or just some know-it-all like us guys on this forum! My County has a State employed forester who is a great guy. These guys are usually happy to lend a hand.

Good luck. Let us know how you make out!

 

[Treemoss]

Thanks for the advice, Can I do a 45 on top of the stove on an angle through the wall to another 45 to the Vertical.

 

[stihly dan]

That is what I was saying. And around your soffit use 22 1/2 deg fittings or 45's. Your bends will then be less restrictive than most peoples install. Do ya catch my draft.
Check your manual on the stove, you may need 6-18 inches before an elbow. May not tho.