Wood stove woes

[forgeblast]

We have a 1300sqft modifed a-frame. We have a wood stove in our mud room, and then right off that a great room with 20ft ceilings. The mud room and great room have no other types of heat. the rest of the house has electric baseboard heating, and in the basement we have 2 3-brick lp burners. we have casement windows and our doors do need replacing some gaps(the original owner had a hard time installing doors and electrical the right way).

my issues, one the smoke that comes into the house is affecting my wife.
2. the cost of the wood is free(my time only) so winter heating is free.
3. need something that will work when the power is off.

I am thinking as a temp fix to get a standalone hepa filter ~700 with shipping that will clean the air(will cover 1000sf)(the other sqft is bedrooms that we keep the doors closed all the time.

I am also thinking that if we can get more heat into the house during the day it would help with the amount of time we have to run the stove.
Possibling using this. Your Solar Home SolarSheat 1500G/S Two-Pack Solar Collectors, Model# SH1500G-BL-2Pak Your Solar Home SolarSheat 1500G/S Two-Pack Solar Collectors, Model# SH1500G-BL-2Pak | Solar Air Collectors + Heating | Northern Tool + Equipment

My wife suggested heat pump/ac mini split, not sure it that would give us enought heat.

I am also looking at some lp stoves. Money is kind of tight right now, just had to pay for a new well pump, some other electical issues, and had some other major bills in august. But i have to do something.
I figured I would throw this out there to see what you all think.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Where is the wood smoke coming from?. Solar is not an option. If you change the stove to a EPA rated give us a comment back.
Craig Clayton

 

[Mousefield]

You need to figure out how/why the smoke is getting into your house as you should not have smoke in the house. Is it coming back in from the chimney or from the stove itself? Burn only dry well seasoned wood and make sure the chimney has been cleaned.

 

[dmccarty]

Those 20 foot ceilings are killing you heat wise. We have 10 foot tall ceilings that we love in the summer. Not so much in the winter. :laughing: Last weekend I was changing a light bulb in a recessed light fixture and the amount of heat at the ceiling was unreal.

We have run our ceiling fans in reverse but the slight air movement we feel is worse than the temperature rise we got from moving the heated air. But maybe in your situation ceiling fans might work.

If the smoke is getting into the house from the doors would a quick weather stripping job work?

We have a heat pump but use the wood stove to heat the house. It has been COLD here the last week or so. This morning was 13 degrees in some areas. The house was at 18. A heat pump is better than nothing but getting a warm house with low temperatures are problematic. We just run the heat pump from time to time during the winter to exercise it. Not sure if it is needed but we just do it.

Unless we dump smoke from the wood stove when opening the stove door we do not get smoke smell in the house.

I am curious about those solar heaters and have looked at them for years but that is all I know about them. There is a house at NCSU that houses the NC Solar Center. Quite a few years ago we visited the center during the XMAS holiday season. It was VERY cold out that day. Part of the design of the house was a porch closed in with glass that was facing south. That room was in the 90s. The outside temps were in the 20s.

So I could see how the panels could work....

Could you install a solar radiant heating system in the house? It sure will not be cheap but there are Federal tax breaks and maybe your state has tax breaks as well to help lower the install cost.

Later,
Dan

 

[forgeblast]

Sorry should have said, the wind blows the smoke that is commming out of the chimney (outside) into the doors and windows. The smoke then gets into the house.
the stove itself i just replaced the seal around the door its not coming in from there.
I also only burn seasoned wood, and clean the chimney, and use the creologs throughout the year as I am burning the wood.

I have also been putting the weather stripping down, but the gaps in some places are bad...right now wind will get into the house if its blowing pretty good.

We do have two ceiling fans that are run in reverse to pull the heat down. its a nice trick does work great.

 

[Mousefield]

Not sure what the code is in your area but commonly the chimney should be at least 6 feet above the highest point of the roof. Where is the chimney located and is it above the roof line and if so by how much?

 

[blueriver]

Sorry should have said, the wind blows the smoke that is commming out of the chimney (outside) into the doors and windows. The smoke then gets into the house.
the stove itself i just replaced the seal around the door its not coming in from there.
I also only burn seasoned wood, and clean the chimney, and use the creologs throughout the year as I am burning the wood.

I have also been putting the weather stripping down, but the gaps in some places are bad...right now wind will get into the house if its blowing pretty good.

We do have two ceiling fans that are run in reverse to pull the heat down. its a nice trick does work great.

I would think perhaps your chimney is not extended past your roof enough ... that smoke should not "swirl" around and then get in the house. If your gaps are that bad you may need to use wood strips first before the weather strips ... got any pictures of the chimney and the gaps?

 

[EddieWalker]

I just installed my first wood stove and started burning wood about a month ago. I'm new to this, so don't really know what I'm talking about. Having said that, here's my 2 cents.

My stove does not put out very much smoke. When it's burnig, I can stand out side and not see any sign that I'm burning on the inside. I have a pretty efficient stove, and think that has a lot to do with it. I'm also burning oak from a tree that has been dead for a few years.

My pipe goes a little over three feet above the roof. From what I read, three feet is code from the high side of the roof to the top of the chimney. My pipe comes straight up without any bends. I also read that the more bends you have, the more soot you trap.

The leaking door is fairly common. It does take a little practice and a commitment to getting it right so that you have a good seal. Sometimes you have to put down the level and eyeball them to get the best seal possible. Weather stripping is cheap and easy to add to a door.

The windows are a big issue. If you have smoke coming in through them, you have heat going out through them. It really wont matter what you do for your stove, those windows are just going to let all the heat out until you fix that problem. If money is tight and/or the weather conditions make it impossible to change them now, I would seal them shut with silicone for the time being.

Far whatever reason, I see homeowners use silicone and caulking in such a way that it doesn't accomplish anything. Be sure to get it into the open spaces and cracks. Then use your finger to make sure it's in there, and also spread out and around the ousdide of the open areas. It's cheap, so don't be shy with it.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[MtHam]

As the previous posters have said, sealing your home MUST be your first priority. You are losing LOTS of heat. We have been heating with wood from our land for years, and its wonderful! Easy to keep the interior at 75F and no smoke!

 

[forgeblast]

I know its not the widows they seal well, its the doors that are my problem then. I have frost rings around both the entry and side doors and then we have two huge slider doors that go to our deck (right off the great room), the one had at least a 1'' gap. I had to build it up with weather stripping to get a seal.
Ill try to post some pics of the issues.

as far as the chimney, it is not higher then the higest point on the house. Its on an addition to the aframe, and its roof is maby 10' from the floor where the top of the aframe is easly another 15-20' higher.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Minimum code is the chimney should be 3' higher than the highest point of the roof within 10' of the chimney, but that is minimum. Yours is obviously not high enough to keep the smoke out of the house. Supporting it will probably involve guy wires, a tricky operation in the middle of the winter.

Your energy efficiency sounds horrible. A few years back I replaced all my windows with U.36 low-e vinyl, the old wood entry door with a fiberglass insulated door, and the big slider onto the deck with Pella French doors with the mini-blinds in between the two panes of glass. I also added another foot of attic insulation and insulated the subfloor. Keeping the house warm is no longer a problem. Keeping it cool in the summer got a lot easier too.

As a stopgap, they sell latex foam insulation that will fill pretty big holes. Urethane foam will also fill big holes, but expands as it cures, and will jam doors and windows from the pressure. Both come in aerosol cans. The latex will freeze, so pick a warm day.

Insulation - the gift that keeps on giving.

 

[sal64]

are you getting a backdraft when the fire gets low?

 

[tommu56]

All the above are good.
The other thing are you burning it hot enough/
Do you have a stove thermometer and what type of stove do you have?

tom

 

[nikdfish]

What about adding a catalytic combuster to the stack before it leaves the room? It will add heat output & reduce smoke output somewhat at the same time. It isn't a complete answer in and of itself, but it may help a bit.


Nick

 

[WayneB]

Like others have already stated I think you should focus on the key issues with the windows and doors to tighten them up as much as possible.

You can purchase some of the 3M products for sealing the windows and they also have a kit for the slider that you are talking about.

3M? Window Insulator Kits

I would think if you are not using the slider to seal it up for the winter. We have one in our house and I do it each fall and it really works great. As for the windows I would suggest you do all the windows. This is easy to do and not that expensive.

Some information on witerizing your home:

Winterizing Your Home - Winterization Tips to Save Energy and Money - The Daily Green

I believe you have to take a look at your woodstove installation. I do not understand the idea that the smoke is entering the house via the windows and doors. Most of the time smoke will raise and not come down to ground level although it is possible but not seeing the house and the chimney location it is hard to visualize.

You are using seasoned firewood and I am assuming this is not the first year you have used the woodstove. We heat with a Vermont castings defiant stove and the recommend method is to start the fire and run the temperature up to approximately 500 degrees at the griddle and then adjust the primary input air to maintain a hot fire. This reduces the amount of creosote build up and produces ample heat.

Not known the brand of woodstove you are using I cannot comment on how you should or shouldn稚 burn wood in it.

Just my thoughts

Wayne

 

[sal64]

We have a 1300sqft modifed a-frame. We have a wood stove in our mud room, and then right off that a great room with 20ft ceilings. The mud room and great room have no other types of heat. the rest of the house has electric baseboard heating, and in the basement we have 2 3-brick lp burners. we have casement windows and our doors do need replacing some gaps(the original owner had a hard time installing doors and electrical the right way).

my issues, one the smoke that comes into the house is affecting my wife.
2. the cost of the wood is free(my time only) so winter heating is free.
3. need something that will work when the power is off.

I am thinking as a temp fix to get a standalone hepa filter ~700 with shipping that will clean the air(will cover 1000sf)(the other sqft is bedrooms that we keep the doors closed all the time.

I am also thinking that if we can get more heat into the house during the day it would help with the amount of time we have to run the stove.
Possibling using this. Your Solar Home SolarSheat 1500G/S Two-Pack Solar Collectors, Model# SH1500G-BL-2Pak Your Solar Home SolarSheat 1500G/S Two-Pack Solar Collectors, Model# SH1500G-BL-2Pak | Solar Air Collectors + Heating | Northern Tool + Equipment

My wife suggested heat pump/ac mini split, not sure it that would give us enought heat.

I am also looking at some lp stoves. Money is kind of tight right now, just had to pay for a new well pump, some other electical issues, and had some other major bills in august. But i have to do something.
I figured I would throw this out there to see what you all think.

are you sure it smoke bothering your wife my wife has problems with her eyes watering when we use our wood stove we think its the dry heat so i bought a big humidifire so far its helping some.

 

[Thomas]

Are getting down drafts causing smoke,if so maybe T etc. top of chimney.

Ceiling fan helps alot w/high ceilings.

 

[irvingj]

I'm with WayneB and others, sounds like you have multiple issues:

1. Seal the house up. If you have frost rings around the entry door(s), you have a problem.
2. That chimney really needs to be higher; it might well be worth the expense to have an expert look at the installation.
3. It sure sounds like your stove isn't running hot enough; if mine's putting out a lot of smoke, I know it has died down and needs to be brought back up to temp. (I also use the 450-550 temp on the top of the stove method.) The smoke will also smell like a burning garbage dump if it's not hot enough!

 

[EddieWalker]

Reading Wayne's reply has me wondering how the smoke is getting in through the windows and doors.

Smoke goes up. Wind will blow it around, but I'm struggling to see how it is coming into the house.

Are you 100% sure that the pipes and stove are installed properly? That the door is sealed properly and there are no other leaks on the stove?

Smoke in the house sure does sound like a leak in the stove or pipes.

Eddie

 

[magicheater]

I know its not the widows they seal well, its the doors that are my problem then. I have frost rings around both the entry and side doors and then we have two huge slider doors that go to our deck (right off the great room), the one had at least a 1'' gap. I had to build it up with weather stripping to get a seal.
Ill try to post some pics of the issues.

as far as the chimney, it is not higher then the higest point on the house. Its on an addition to the aframe, and its roof is maby 10' from the floor where the top of the aframe is easly another 15-20' higher.

Pictures would be a huge help. You are stuck with your architecture, no doubt. The improvement efficiencies won't change the architecture. Are you on an uninsulated slab to boot? Sometimes no matter how hard you try you are cursed with the infrastructure you have. Better info=better advice.