Help Needed in Maine, Harman SF 150

Last year was the first year I heated my home with this stove for the entire season. It was a lot of work to get the house up to 60. I may have a total of 2000 sq ft so I know that something is wrong. I need to insulate the basement windows this year. Maybe do something about the draft in the door but I don't want to suffocate the stove either. I considered that I may just need to let the stove burn hotter during the cold season. I really have no idea what temp I keep it at but the most amount of nut coal I was burning was about 50 lbs. Half that in the fall and spring. I have a lot of ideas, very limited resources and virtual no HVAC ability. I would like to get a bonnet. I would like to plumb my existing baseboard heating through the stove. I should probably put in more heat vents but I don't know what I'd want to do so. On top of that I need to figure out a better system to empty the ash pan without filling my basement into a "Sand Storm" .. What do I need to do?

post some close up pix of the system, the basement, etc. I'm heating a 200 yr old 2500 sq farm house in upstate NY with a Hitzer 50-93 go through 40# on the coldest days (24 hr) Yep, something ain't right--you better get your stove operation down pat before you get too grandiose Everybody goes through a learning curve--yep, even you & me. How are you doing your ash removal?? All your ideas are good ones, but lets get step one done before jumping to step twelve

Does your 2000 square foot figure in the basement? How hot does the basement get when you are running the stove? How about the first floor in the home? Personally I think 50 lbs per day is pretty "light" for a 2000 sq. ft house in Central Maine, but I will await your answers to decide if it is a heat output or a distribution problem.

My first guess is that your basement is absorbing a lot of the stove's output, and not enough BTU's are making it to the floor above. I know some of the guys with SF250's have bought the optional heat collector to help "harness" the heat, but I don't know if the same part will fit your SF150.

Here is some light reading for you:

SF-250

Where to Purchase Heat Collector for Harman SF-150

Don't get too frustrated, you are one of many that has installed a stove in the basement and then had to do some modifications to get the heat to the proper areas. A heat collector and a cold air return at the far end of the house may make a world of difference.

One more...are you dumping your ashes into a can in the basement? If you are, you need to stop! Take the ash pan out of the stove, and carefully take it outside without disturbing the ashes. If you want, make a cover to slip over the pan for transport.

Hi justaman and welcome on the forum.
The idea from markviii is the one to do for the ash removal. The lid/cover for the ashpan is a must to make the job.
If you could get a thermometer on the stove and one on the stove pipe you could know the Temp. and control the heat output.

markviii wrote:Does your 2000 square foot figure in the basement? How hot does the basement get when you are running the stove? How about the first floor in the home? Personally I think 50 lbs per day is pretty "light" for a 2000 sq. ft house in Central Maine, but I will await your answers to decide if it is a heat output or a distribution problem.

My first guess is that your basement is absorbing a lot of the stove's output, and not enough BTU's are making it to the floor above. I know some of the guys with SF250's have bought the optional heat collector to help "harness" the heat, but I don't know if the same part will fit your SF150. ...8<

I agree with markviii that your Lbs/day seems quite light for Mane. Calculating that max 50 lbs/day out to BTU/hour, you are only making up for a loss of 26,000 BTU/hr. Not a lot of heat for your mid winter low temps. I have put nearly 90 lbs through my little stove on a cold 'push' day (~47,000 BTU/hr) and my construction is 11 years old @ 3100 sq ft.

Do you have a manual pipe damper or a barometric damper on the stove pipe?

So trying to provide you gentlemen with some answers to your questins all at once.

The house is a 2 BR ranch. 874 Sq ft on the living floor and an open poored basement. The basement temp is usually just 3 to 5 degrees warmer than upstairs unless I run the blower. Part of the problem may be the concrete sucking up a lot of heat?? The single pane glass windows should have been winterrized last year but I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I have to run the stove's blower for a long time to get any signifigant heat upstairs. I need a better system for heat transfer. I'm sure I haven't reached my stoves potential BTU's due to my inexperience and the fact I don't want to damage my stove by allowing it to run superhot for an extended amount of time.

My girlfriend's son is now sleeping in the basement. I should have taken the ashes outside since the beginning but ... I just didn't.

I'd really like to tie the stove into the existing baseboard heating system. I don't have a problem burning 90 lbs of coal when it's needed if thats what it needs but I wasn't about to do it just to melt the snow on my neighbor's roof. I've messed with my baro damper a lot to try and guage the correct draft. But I need to get a new one and I don't think I put the first one in correctly as it would not make small adjustments on it's own. Only when I left the ashpan door open would I see the damper move much.

I hope some of that helps you folks help me sort this mess out.

If you can't get 900 sq. ft worth of basement above 65 degrees with a SF150...you either have a big hole in the wall or you are just idling the stove along.

That heat is going somewhere...
My DS at 130k btu/hr can heat my leaky cottage...
and it is in the uninsulated basement...
Much of the heat goes into the concrete walls...

markviii wrote:If you can't get 900 sq. ft worth of basement above 65 degrees with a SF150...you either have a big hole in the wall or you are just idling the stove along.

I know I can get it warmer than that. It's just requiring a lot of time and coal. I had the house at 70 for my new years eve party basement and living area but I burned through 40 pounds in about 12 hours and had the stove's blower on practically the entire time. I have a small house. I don't want to be throwing heat out the window if I don't have to and it seemed as if thats what I've been doing. I'd like to get my system more efficient.

Welcome to the forum.
Please post some photos of your setup so we can get a better idea of what you're working with.
If you're not controlling the draft properly you're sending heat up the chimney. The SF-150 is a large stove, it should heat up your place with no problem. You can expect to use much more then 40 lbs per day in the dead of winter.

Part of the problem may be the concrete sucking up a lot of heat?? The single pane glass windows should have been winterrized last year but I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

If the basement walls are uninsulated, you are certainly losing some heat through them. Single pane windows aren't helping either...do what you can to seal up the cracks and drafts, and consider blocking off a few of the basement windows in cold weather.

My girlfriend's son is now sleeping in the basement. I should have taken the ashes outside since the beginning but ... I just didn't.

That was an easy fix...don't dump ashes in the house, problem solved.

I'd really like to tie the stove into the existing baseboard heating system. I don't have a problem burning 90 lbs of coal when it's needed if thats what it needs but I wasn't about to do it just to melt the snow on my neighbor's roof.

You have a poorly insulated basement, and old windows...you are going to have to burn some coal to keep the place warm. You may very well burn 100 lbs per day in cold weather (or more). If you want to utilize the baseboard system, consider a boiler...but realize that the house will still be bleeding heat.

Justaman wrote: I know I can get it warmer than that. It's just requiring a lot of time and coal. I had the house at 70 for my new years eve party basement and living area but I burned through 40 pounds in about 12 hours and had the stove's blower on practically the entire time. I have a small house. I don't want to be throwing heat out the window if I don't have to and it seemed as if thats what I've been doing. I'd like to get my system more efficient.

You seem to be focusing on getting the heating system more efficient...spend some time trying to keep the heat in the house. You don't have to remodel the place, just start by looking for drafts on a windy day. If the wind is blowing through the house, you will be surprised what an afternoon with a caulking gun and spray foam can accomplish.

Good post Rob,

He can also use those plastic window kits from Thermo King. I do it every year in my old place. Double sided tape (on top of that blue painters tape so you don't ruin the paint job striping the tape off at seasons end) the plastic sheet as tight as you can get it, then a hair blow dryer to tighten them up. I was amazed at how well these insulate. they really work well.

I spent my first winter walking around with a BIC lighter--caulk gun & can of spray foam--I picked up a 4x4 peice of 2" styrofoam & cut out inserts for basement windows & thick guage plastic & firring strips for some of the windows--amazing that about $50.00 & a few hrs wandrein about could make the difference it did. I also re-skimmed my stone interior basement walls--one bag of sakrete & again some labor time.

Forty lbs. a day is not that bad for your only source of heat. Do you have a floor register directly above the stove? And do you have a source for return air to the basement?