12-16 hours of burntime for an Oakwood.... Seems far off

How long has your wood been cut/split/stacked?
If the wood is not optimal, you are less likely to get a good secondary burn. But you may also be getting backpuffs because you are closing the bypass too soon.

Try experimenting with your timing on closing the bypass and air supply. If I have a good bed of coals and I reload the stove, I will leave the bypass open with 100% air for about 5 minutes. Then I cut the air to 60-70% for a few minutes. Then I close the bypass. Then, after a few more minutes and I'm sure the AB is working, I cut the air to 30-40%. Another 15 minutes and I cut it to 20%.

The timing will depend on the coal bed and on the size and dryness and type of wood, and will vary for different users depending on weather and draft conditions. You just have to keep playing around, but if you are not having any luck you may likely need smaller/drier splits.

BTW, you may expect burn times of 6-8 hours with bypass closed, but not double that. When it's very cold out and I need to reload often because I'm giving it more air, I reload every four hours. The long burns only come when I shut the air way back.

SIERRADMAX said:

Oak and maple seasoned 12 months exactly. Not sure on the moisture content. Haven't gotten that scientific yet.

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Soft or hard maple, 12 months dried depending on how it was done might leave you with some wood a little wetter than should be.

Tricky everburn system. All i have ever heard, and seen a vc with it, you need a nice coal bed load up then close dampner and adjust the air down in increments.

2 months is still in the learning curve, so dont get too frustrated just yet.

It could be your wood or something else, but more or less the procedure your following. Also burn time isnt a box full of flame, its generally considered heat output and time between reloads without lighting a match.
2600 sqft, is also on the upperend for that stove, still should work.

Pleanty of folks here have and like your stove. Hopefully they will chime in with how the do it.

SIERRADMAX said:

Oak and maple seasoned 12 months exactly. Not sure on the moisture content. Haven't gotten that scientific yet.

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If you can, save the oak for another year or even two. One-year oak does not do well in my stove.

Once you get some good burns with the bypass closed and no backpuffs, you'll be confident to close it overnight. With bypass open, you won't get half the heat you would otherwise, from the same amount of wood.

That oak is young enough to keep secondary combustion from happening most of the time. The Maple should be fine. Whether that wood has been actually seasoning for 12 months or not, it sounds like it is not good enough.

In addition, if you have to keep that bypass open, your wood is not good enough - period.

I do not have a harman oakwood but it has taken me 1 1/2 seasons to finally get my stove down right and get the optimum results.

It just takes time to understand the process of burning wood in a stove and how that stove operates.

Type of wood and dryness of wood is the key to operation.

I got a moisture meter this year and it has helped greatly. I got mine at harbor freight just a cheap one it was only $12.99 and I had a 20% off coupon it came out to $11.03 out the door.

In colder weather the longer burn times you talk about do not seem right. Hang in there it will get better.

I don't know much about cat stoves (this is a cat stove, right?) but with the bypass open and the primary air fully open you're not going to get long burns in any stove. If closing the bypass makes the stove run poorly, maybe the cat is clogged. If it is not a clogged cat but you need lots of air to keep a fire going, I'd guess your wood is not seasoned. One year old oak and maple might be OK or might not. If the wood was stacked in the open with lots of air space, good wind movement, small splits, then maybe the wood is OK. If not then maybe the wood is damp. Most stove problems start with the firewood.

Even with perfect firewood I think 16 hours is pretty optimistic!

Wood Duck said:

I don't know much about cat stoves (this is a cat stove, right?) but with the bypass open and the primary air fully open you're not going to get long burns in any stove. If closing the bypass makes the stove run poorly, maybe the cat is clogged. If it is not a clogged cat but you need lots of air to keep a fire going, I'd guess your wood is not seasoned. One year old oak and maple might be OK or might not. If the wood was stacked in the open with lots of air space, good wind movement, small splits, then maybe the wood is OK. If not then maybe the wood is damp. Most stove problems start with the firewood.

Even with perfect firewood I think 16 hours is pretty optimistic!

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His stove is not a cat stove, it is a downdraft stove with a secondary burning chamber. It could be that the air flow system is plugged somewhere in the burn dome, but I would say most likely the wood is not quite ready, plus some optimistic expectations on how long the stove will burn.

I have burned wood for over 25 years, and this is just the second year I have been able to burn wood that has been split and stacked for more than 12 months, and I can tell you that the locust, hickory, and oak is not really as dry as it should be. Next year I get to burn wood that has been split and stacked for 24 months.

After reviewing the manual on page #9, you didn't mention anything about running the stove with the damper closed and the air control above the middle. I am not suggesting you run the stove long with the air control wide open, but you may need to open it up a bit more than you have so far.

It might do you well to review their instructions, noting that you may need your air control a notch or two higher than normal to compensate for the not-so-dry wood. Also note the importance of having a good bed of embers in front of the air dome entrance to maintain enough heat for the secondary burn in the chamber. I do not have experience with these stoves, but had considered one a few years back, so studied them some, and the burn system does interest me. You do need to learn how to operate the stove with the bypass damper closed, you are loosing too much heat up the chimney that way.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I've burned in an Oakwood for 6 years, and I can definitely keep getting good heat output for at least 6 hours - usually more - even with red oak in the low 20%'s that's been cut and split only 9 months (drier is certainly better). You may have a drafting issue or restriction in your combustion chamber air flow (the really brittle thing where the secondary combustion takes place). If you leave the primary damper open, you're definitely going to have short burn times.

Here is what I've learned to do to get the stove burning well:
1) Open primary damper, and push the front airflow control all the way to the right.
2) Start a fire with plenty of good kindling, and add small pieces of regular wood as it gets going
3) Add some larger wood after the small stuff is going well and starts coaling.
4) Leave the larger stuff to get going well and coaling. As it gets going, close the front air vent a bit every 5 or so minutes until it's about half closed.
5) By now (1/2 hour to 45 min or so after lighting), there should be a good bed of hot coals. WITHOUT this bed, there will be NO secondary combustion.
5) Add however much wood you want, let it catch for a few minutes, then close the primary damper. You SHOULD hear the secondary combustion start.

If you have a decent draft, this stove burns great.

Sounds like its the wood, Go to a local Lowes and get a moisture meter they are like 29 bucks.

Split the wood before taking a reading so you can get a reading on inside the log.

If you dont have another dry wood source go ahead and split all your current splits one more time to make them half the size.

Dont know your stove but if you want, for a longer burn time, rake your coals to get some wood that's stacked in an area of the stove so as you have no coals laying underneath them. In my stove I rake them forward leaving a deeper open space all the way to the bottom of the stove with no coals. I then can stack more wood back there and not have any of it sitting on hot coals. Then on my second row its usually on the coals which is fine as the back row will do for a longer burn time.

If your stove is loaded north south rake coals to one side or the other to open up an area on the left or right with no coals.

Bring in some of your wood and stack it near the stove to dry out. Stack it log cabin style so air circulates around each piece better. You ought to bring in enough wood for 2 or 3 loadings so they can be drying ahead of time. Splitting them one more time should help drying time.

But anyhow sounds like its your wood so split it smaller and try to get you a moisture meter so as your not guessing at what is wrong.

I have been heating with an Oakwood for 3 years. This stove operates differently from other stoves. It takes some time to figure it out but it is worth it. First make sure you have a good, deep coal bed. I find that if I form a little "U" shaped dip in the middle of the coals leading back to the afterburner, it works better. Load up the stove with good wood and wait until that load is fully engulfed. Then close the bypass damper with the air control all the way to the right, wide open. I use a magnet thermometer on the back-side of the stove a little lower than the bypass handle. When it reaches 400, you have clean burn. (15-20 minutes) When it reaches 600, begin to cut down the air 5 notches at a time. I cruise at between 5 and 8 notches, depending on the weather.

The afterburner will burn between 500 and 900 degrees. This is normal. Ever so often, it will make a wooshing sound with flames in the firebox, also normal. I have had the smoke backpuff a couple of times, if that happens, bump up the air a couple of notches. I burn this stove 24/7 during the heating season, it works great. My furnace kicks on about 3-4 am after I load it at 9:00PM. If I drink a large glass of water before bed, I naturally have to wake up and I'll throw a stick or two on. You can easily get 10 hour burns with bright red coals to restart and a stove that is still 250 degrees. If you load it right with good wood, 12 hours is easy. I have never been close to 16 hours.

Go to Harman's website and watch the vids on your stove. Take away from that - big, hot fire on startup, coal bed, dry wood, enough air to keep the combuster lit. As much as I wish it were magic, it isn't. A lot of variables come into play.
Stash the oak.
Burn the maple.