Need help/advice: Wood burning stove

[gobrien]

Sounds like wood stoves are much more scientific and complicated than I ever knew, good thing I am not operating one...

[arleigh]

I just finished rebuilding my shepherd's stove it's a cook stove with an oven , not very big . the fire box is about the size of a loaf of bread, the oven is 9" h 11" w 16" deep.
I have used wood stove almost all my adult life, one thing I do with them on every single instalation is include two elbows in the chimney pipe , it works beter than simply using the damper. My new stove is so tight I can literally shut it off just closing off all the air in, and closing the dampers. I don't like a hot house in the winter 65 -75 max ,if the house temps are too radical going in and out is un healthy in my book.



There is a shrink plastic they have for windows , I make a frame and either make it to fit the inside or the outside , and depending on the house I use gasket material to seal .
If you can get an infared thermometer , you can walk around the house finding leaks , even from the inside , the hottest area is the vicinity of the leak. it doesn't mesure the air but the things the heat is being drawn to .
If you have a means of exchanging the air up stairs down it'll make a big difference as well.
good luck