Correct no air goes up except exhaust.

This picture was taken the first time we fired the stove. Draft was completely out so that the burn pot would get going. Since then I have made adjustments to make sure to only allow enough draft to keep glass clean.

medic3375 wrote:

That's good. I am thinking that your home is a heat sink, with the 5 brick walls, They can soak up alot of heat like a basement which is difficult to heat. I have plaster walls and they tend to be that way but not to the extent of yours. I would encourage you to do an r60 in attic and use vinyl wall paper etc to help alittle (vinyl resists heat transfer)and ofcourse get your 3500 adjusted and get all you can get. This summer you will be cool when many of us will be paying A/C bills. I hope you find some solutions.
PS Window kits will stop free air from entering and leaving windows maybe a little caulk in right places around frames. The air intake could be 2" and do the job.

I would also guess this is because of the thick brick walls. there is a 1780 stone house in my family which takes about a week to cool off or heat up an appreciable amount. This is great om the summer since the lack of AC is never much of a problem, but it never really gets very warm either.