Alaska Channing III Conversion

Hi Guys. I have an alaska channing III that I purchased used to heat my 20x22 garage. It came with an alaskavent power vent that gets vented thru the wall. I don't like this setup very much for a few reasons. First, I think it cools the stove down way to much at idle. I can touch the side of the stove easily at idle. Sencond, it seems to be very dirty with ash dust clogging the convection fan screen. Third, it uses more electricity than required it the stove was vented with a chimney, plus more parts to break. So my question is has anyone converted something like this setup or similar to either back vent or top vent? Im sure I could easily to a back vent but I would prefer top vent. I plan on a chimney install in the spring/summer.

If it were me I would use the existing exhaust vent and pipe it to the new chimney. I don't see any advantage in changing the flu exit of the stove unless you have the equipment and skills to do that kind of work. Pull off the powervent and pipe into the new chimney. Very little cost and about a half hour of work.

the channing needs to draft at -.04 or you could be losing heat out the pipe, but its not unusual to be able to touch the side when idle, I can idle mine down to under 100f, the range of these stoves is a good thing especially during spring and fall

I get the idling back thing..my problem is I have a LL pocono that idles most of the time, unless its very cold and that heats my whole house. I have the alaska in a 20x22 garage, and unless I crank it up, the garage is usually cold when the stove is a idle. I feel it should be more than enough to heat the garage. It is insulated with R-19. I agree with Doby as it is much easier to just remove the power vent an pipe it into the chimney. It just seems to be losing alot of heat with the vent running.

I thought about converting it to top vent because it would be easier and probably more effective with less elbows..

you are using the convection blower to blow the heat off the stove? If not you need to, the channing will heat up to 2500 sq ft. but thats pushing it you got only 500, so plenty

When comparing I don't think you can compare the stoves on settings compare on coal used considering sq ft of heating area for a rough idea

I run my Channing III into a regular masonry chimney. Works great. Dont like powervent at all . You are right it sucks too much heat out. If I absolutely had to use a powervent, I would put a rheostat on it to better control air flow