Unfortunately too many people have high hopes, and that's swap out the old stove with the new stove in a chimney that's too large, and wood that's not seasoned and expect the world out of it. Many people still believe that 3 month wood split and stacked over the summer is seasoned.
The first year we had our furnace, initially I was impressed, but when the cold set in that went away. I was getting gallons of liquid from the chimney cleanout, heat was poor, and burntimes suffered. I assumed everything worked well with the old so why not new? First off my liner was too big, the flue gasses run between 150-200 external in a burn. They were condensing in the 7x11 liner, which not only gave us that problem, but also little to no draft (not enough heat to warm up the chimney). On top of that, our wood wasn't seasoned, so the firebox damper remained open a majority of the burn, and this lowered burn times. With all this, heat output was poor at best. Our home also had some serious air leakage, despite being well insulated. All in all, it was a disaster. The next year, I lined the chimney and the condensation went away, plus my draft remained at a stable level during all burn stages. I then was able to find good seasoned wood (2 years), and heat output was much better than the previous season, and the chimney remained much cleaner. After we airsealed the attic and insulated, our burntimes increased, as well as comfort and wood usage dropped. I was willing to put in time and money, and I listened to the many who switched and it payed off.
I live in a very rural area, and almost all my neighbors burn wood. Everyone I speak to are amazed by the amount of wood we don't burn. Their houses are much smaller, and newer than ours. Yeah, the old "smoke dragons" can burn cleanly, buy it requires a good amount of air to do it, which compromises burn times. Our home isn't the largest home out there, but it's not small either. On those cold nights, I'm impressed by the way it heats. When it comes to heating, there's too many variables in play, but a EPA unit with the same btu output as a non EPA unit will for sure save wood. I've seen quite a few people that have added burn tubes to their furnace, and the end result despite a smaller firebox is, a longer, cleaner burn and more heat.
The first year we had our furnace, initially I was impressed, but when the cold set in that went away. I was getting gallons of liquid from the chimney cleanout, heat was poor, and burntimes suffered. I assumed everything worked well with the old so why not new? First off my liner was too big, the flue gasses run between 150-200 external in a burn. They were condensing in the 7x11 liner, which not only gave us that problem, but also little to no draft (not enough heat to warm up the chimney). On top of that, our wood wasn't seasoned, so the firebox damper remained open a majority of the burn, and this lowered burn times. With all this, heat output was poor at best. Our home also had some serious air leakage, despite being well insulated. All in all, it was a disaster. The next year, I lined the chimney and the condensation went away, plus my draft remained at a stable level during all burn stages. I then was able to find good seasoned wood (2 years), and heat output was much better than the previous season, and the chimney remained much cleaner. After we airsealed the attic and insulated, our burntimes increased, as well as comfort and wood usage dropped. I was willing to put in time and money, and I listened to the many who switched and it payed off.
I live in a very rural area, and almost all my neighbors burn wood. Everyone I speak to are amazed by the amount of wood we don't burn. Their houses are much smaller, and newer than ours. Yeah, the old "smoke dragons" can burn cleanly, buy it requires a good amount of air to do it, which compromises burn times. Our home isn't the largest home out there, but it's not small either. On those cold nights, I'm impressed by the way it heats. When it comes to heating, there's too many variables in play, but a EPA unit with the same btu output as a non EPA unit will for sure save wood. I've seen quite a few people that have added burn tubes to their furnace, and the end result despite a smaller firebox is, a longer, cleaner burn and more heat.
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