Low heat output stockton 5 multi fuel stove

Peaches2

I have just had a new stockton 5 multi flue stove fitted. I have burnt both kiln dried logs and taybrite smokeless fuel but the heat output in the room is very poor. I still have the double radiator in the room full on and the room is only warm. I have a stove thermometer fitted and use the air flow controls properly. Is this normal? Everyone tells me how hot their room gets with stoves yet mine I have to practically sit on top of it to feel the heat out of it. Any ideas?

Skulls

Roughly how much wood/coal are you burning for a given amount of time?

alleycat`

I suppose it depends on how much fuel you are consuming, the temperature you are running the stove at, how big the room is and if the stove is in an inglenook or similar.

As an example, i have the older model of your stove and in 2 hours it will lift a room that is 20' x 14' with a semi vaulted ceiling and has an opening into the room next door (7' x 7' approx) from 16C to 20C.

I do have a stove fan, which does make a difference.

The room is fairly well insulated but it doesn't have radiator in it or any other form of heating.

pws52

This is the third winter for my Stockton 5 and the only time that the stove didn't throw out enough heat was when I had some wood which hadn't dried. I thought that there was something the matter with the stove!
The room is 4 metres by 4 metres, has a radiator which we don't use and we rarely close the door. The room is lovely and warm.
I only burn wood and use a stove thermometer .
Do you allow the stove to get up to temperature before closing the lower vent? I found that if I didn't do this then the stove seemed to struggle.

Peaches2

I have been at home all day today and lit my stove the usual way, firelighters, kindling, then small amounts of taybrite. It took ages to take but 2hours later the coals were red hot. I can't get the thermometer to register in the best operation zone even keeping the primary air full open and only a small amount of airwash. The coals are burning red and I have not let it go cool. The room is still only got the chill taken off not toasty as everyone else seems to get. My room is only 16 x 12 so not large and the stove is set within a fireplace which has a reasonable size opening allowing air to circulate. If I burn the kiln dryed logs they catch quickly burn well the thermometer reaches best operation zone but when I turn the air circulation down it quickly goes cool. The logs also burn very quickly having to refuel every 20 mins. Even at best operation the room does not get hot. What am I doing wrong?

pws52

You poor thing.

I followed the instructions from the manual when I was new to wood burners.
Now, I scrunch up newspaper and place on the grate, cover with dry kindling, light the paper, leave the door open slightly until the paper is burning well, close the door and make sure that the top and bottom vents are open.
When the kindling is alight and the fire has taken hold I layer on top some small logs making sure that the kindling isn't smothered.
The temperature on the thermometer continues to rise and when it is about halfway into the white I close the bottom vent.
I then put on some larger pieces of wood and let the temperature rise to about three quarters into the white.
I then start controlling the burn with the top slider.
This takes about fifteen to thirty minutes depending on the wood and wind direction.
A top up of logs lasts about an hour and a half.

I make sure that the wood I burn is well seasoned ... and is dry on the outside.
But what works for me may not work for others and someone else might have better methods.
Do you know anyone who has a wood burner who you can watch or who can watch you? At the beginning I would have appreciated someone showing me what to do as practice does help.

Greenfires is someone with a wealth of knowledge and experience who might be able to offer advice.

alleycat`

Peaches2 wrote: »

I have been at home all day today and lit my stove the usual way, firelighters, kindling, then small amounts of taybrite. It took ages to take but 2hours later the coals were red hot. I can't get the thermometer to register in the best operation zone even keeping the primary air full open and only a small amount of airwash. The coals are burning red and I have not let it go cool. The room is still only got the chill taken off not toasty as everyone else seems to get. My room is only 16 x 12 so not large and the stove is set within a fireplace which has a reasonable size opening allowing air to circulate. If I burn the kiln dryed logs they catch quickly burn well the thermometer reaches best operation zone but when I turn the air circulation down it quickly goes cool. The logs also burn very quickly having to refuel every 20 mins. Even at best operation the room does not get hot. What am I doing wrong?

I have to say i struggled with taybrite to get it above 300 but it would stay just under the silver bit solidly for hours.

With solid fuel i start the stove like this:-

Kindling in a crossed stack with a bit of firelighter underneath.
Like this http://www.thestonebakeovencompany.co.uk/wp/wp-content/themes/sboc/images/cooking/cooking-firing.png

Around the edges i place few smokeless ovoids.
Have both air vents fully open and light.
Leave the door slightly ajar for about 30 seconds to a minute to get it going.
Once it's going i leave it to get on with it until the temp gets up to about 250.
I then put a couple of bits of wood on the stove or a part of a hardwood briquette.

Once thats going well i start to load in a few smokeless ovoids on and around the wood trying not to smother it too much.

Once i'm happy it's going well i tend to add more smokeless and close the airwash down to about half.

As the wood burns away and i've got the smokeless glowing well i load some more in, close the bottom vent to about "half" and leave it to it.

Probably give it a riddle every now and again and if i need to load it up i just open the vents up until it gets going again, then put them both back to half.

I think the trick tends to be getting it going with the kindling at the start.

Trying to start with a load of smokeless on its own is hard going.

A._Badger

A common mistake with smokeless (wood too, for that matter) is timidity - people often don't use enough!

Get a good fire going with wood and then add a layer of Taybrite. When that is going, add more - a single layer isn't going to produce a lot of heat and make sure you keep the firebars open so that air can get through. Riddle every time you add smokeless, to keep air flowing.

Smokeless will produce a lot more heat than wood providing you learn to drive your stove in the right way, so keep trying, don't be too mean with the fuel - and good luck!

suki1964

Until you get the fire bricks glowing red, you aren't burning it hard enough and there's no heat

I leave my air vents open till those bricks are red and glowing, then close them down

wrightk

A._Badger wrote: »

A common mistake with smokeless (wood too, for that matter) is timidity - people often don't use enough!

Get a good fire going with wood and then add a layer of Taybrite. When that is going, add more - a single layer isn't going to produce a lot of heat and make sure you keep the firebars open so that air can get through. Riddle every time you add smokeless, to keep air flowing.

Smokeless will produce a lot more heat than wood providing you learn to drive your stove in the right way, so keep trying, don't be too mean with the fuel - and good luck!

i second this. i made this mistake when i started burning. added a layer thinking 'oh thatl be it for a few hours' how wrong was i.

i find that my stove works far more efficiently when i light it in the usual way with kindling etc, cover with a single layer and when thats going really pile it up with about half a scuttle full. If i do it in this way, that half a scuttle will last at least all day

ktee_uk

I do similar to wrightk. Put 4 kindling sticks on base, then put ontop another 8 kindling stick with strategic gaps to insert 4 pieces of fire lighter. Then put one even layer of ovals ontop but avoiding the firelighter gaps.
After i light the starters, i put ovals ontop of those plus a few more. Equates to half a bucket. Close door, all vents open . Start to close down bottom vent gradually after half hour or so. Should be upto low optimum after an hour and stay at medium optimum for 10 hours with a top up every 2.5 hours. Use one small bucket of ovals in total.
If i light up at midday it will still be toasty at 10pm. Still warm next morning.
Room size is 22x12 feet. Rads turned off. Well insulated and 2 patio doors.

Using wood during week for shorter length fire. Also heats up quicker but overheats the room compared to ovals.