Although we get heat from it we bought a much more powerfull one than was neccessary for the room in the hope the heat would spread into another room next to it where the entry was open. We seem to be able to heat ne room but nothing else. The insert came with no operating instructions and i wonder what we are doing wrong. There is a little sliding piece in the top with a +~- and a fan wuth two settings also a metal handle to turn to openand close the tube but when to do that will closing it slightly give us more heat? Any help would be appreciated.
I am not familiar with inserts but heat with a wood stove. I don't know what the sliding piece is but it would make sense to me that a + would relate to more heat. It could be an air intake. Fire needs oxygen to burn so the more air you give it the hotter it will burn. Like wise by opening the damper it will increase airflow. Different woods burn hotter than others and any wood should be properly seasoned to maximize heat. If you know the make and model of your insert you might be able to find a manual online or go to a dealer and ask for help.
IF the insert heat exchanger is adequately heating the main room, or even making it hot, then the problem is NOT the insert or your use of it , but instead, the problem is getting the warm air in the first room into the second room, and the cooler air in the second room into the warmer room and to the insert/heat exchanger for heating. The ...little sliding piece... is to control the amount of air that flows through the insert. By slowing down the airflow, you will cause the air to be inside the insert LONGER and thus give less volume of air into the room, BUT... because of the extended contact time inside the heat exchanger, that lower volume of air will be able to transfer MORE heat from the hot combustion gasses from the fire and thus come out hotter. The faster the air is passed through the exchanger, the cooler the outlet temperature will be. The same is true for the fan settings: the faster speed will move more air through at a lower outlet temperature, and the slower flow will provide hotter outlet temperature but less volume of air. Closing either vent control slightly, or the slower fan speed will give hotter air out, but to get maximum heat, all of those valves should be wide open and the fan on high. As for heating the second room, that is accomplished by what is called convection which is a circulation of a fluid [air or water for example] resulting in the fact that warmer/hotter fluid will rise upward, being replaced by drawing cooler fluid in below. Thus the second room gets its heat by the warm air up high flowing through the top of the doorway(s) into the cooler room, and the cooler air nearer floor level being drawn into the warmer room. You could enchance the warming of the second room by placing a fan up high in the warmer room and pointing the air flow through the upper part of the doorway. That would increase the rate of circulation of warmer air into the second room, and cooler air from that room into the warmer one. Good luck!
