Small fires in a big stove

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BrowningBAR

BrowningBAR

Minister of Fire
Jul 22, 2008
7,607
San Tan Valley, AZ
Seems to work just fine. I have been running on two to three splits all day by doing this. Stove runs at a stove top of 450 with cooler temps on the sides and front. Three medium splits will give me a 5+ hour burn on the Defiant.

2 splits gave me a 4+ hour burn.

Temps in the stove room are at 75° with outside temps at 30°.

This setup is a LOT more efficient than it is running the Heritage or the vigilant. I would guess I will cut my wood consumption down by two to three cords by running two Defiants as oppose to the Heritage and Vigilant setup I was running.

This winter the Heritage and Encore were the primary stoves with the Vigilant being the secondary stove for the colder days. I'm guessing a pair of defiants will be the primary stoves and the Encore will get second billing.

My season fuel consumption will probably be about 6-7 cords for an average winter, 8 for a bad winter. Better than the 10+ I had last winter with the Vig/Heritage/Intrepid combo.
 
Good to hear it. Yeah I like to burn two or three split fires in the daytime. You get all of the heat out of the stuff as opposed to blowing a ton of it up the flue during the first two hours of a fully packed load. In fact large three split night loads work well for me with steady 550-600 heat for hours and hours.

Sounds like you are getting that place dialed in.
 
Sounds like you're getting dialed in to what will work in your unique situation. Congrats! Now that I have been operating a stove for a bit, I'm in awe of your operation of 3 simultaneously. Truly, it boggles my mind. Luckily for me, the Progress seems to be heating my entire house. Can't explain it, but the heat seems to get around much better than I'd dared to hope (full well knowing that we've had an exceptionally mild winter). Is the Defiant a new find?
 
BrotherBart said:
Good to hear it. Yeah I like to burn two or three split fires in the daytime. You get all of the heat out of the stuff as opposed to blowing a ton of it up the flue during the first two hours of a fully packed load. In fact large three split night loads work well for me with steady 550-600 heat for hours and hours.

Sounds like you are getting that place dialed in.
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I guess I am not the only one who thinks that, I have always been impressed with the amount of heat the summit put out with 3 splits of wood, all that extra wood in there dont seem to add all that much useful heat.
 
HollowHill said:
Sounds like you're getting dialed in to what will work in your unique situation. Congrats! Now that I have been operating a stove for a bit, I'm in awe of your operation of 3 simultaneously. Truly, it boggles my mind. Luckily for me, the Progress seems to be heating my entire house. Can't explain it, but the heat seems to get around much better than I'd dared to hope (full well knowing that we've had an exceptionally mild winter). Is the Defiant a new find?
Click to expand...

Picked up the Defiant last weekend. I am also noticing a difference in heat movement with a larger stove when compared to the Vigilant (which isn't a small stove in itself).

Running three stove gets easier each winter as I upgrade the stoves. Two defiants and an Encore will be far easier next winter than any other winter.

Now I just need the right wood racks inside the house to cut down on the trips to the wood pile while also keeping a clean and organized home.
 
BrotherBart said:
Good to hear it. Yeah I like to burn two or three split fires in the daytime. You get all of the heat out of the stuff as opposed to blowing a ton of it up the flue during the first two hours of a fully packed load. In fact large three split night loads work well for me with steady 550-600 heat for hours and hours.

Sounds like you are getting that place dialed in.
Click to expand...


I still need to swindle one more owner out of their Defiant, but I am definitely heading towards the wood burning promise land. And I managed to do it on a budget.
 
I've build building them in the Napoleon alot lately, on account of the unusually mild weather we've had. Doesn't seem to pose a big problem as I am burning well-seasoned wood, but just to be safe I still check and clean the flue and cap once a month when I run the stove 'soft' like that.....it's like we've had a four-month shoulder season!!
 
oldspark said:
BrotherBart said:
Good to hear it. Yeah I like to burn two or three split fires in the daytime. You get all of the heat out of the stuff as opposed to blowing a ton of it up the flue during the first two hours of a fully packed load. In fact large three split night loads work well for me with steady 550-600 heat for hours and hours.

Sounds like you are getting that place dialed in.
Click to expand...
I guess I am not the only one who thinks that, I have always been impressed with the amount of heat the summit put out with 3 splits of wood, all that extra wood in there dont seem to add all that much useful heat.
Click to expand...

I've tried this both ways. When it is above 45F then 2-3 split fires seem the best way to keep the chill off. But below 40 I am able to pack the stove and let it roll for hours. Today for example I loaded it up around 8:30am and refueled at around 5:30pm with outside temps starting in the high 30's, and now heading back down at 41F. Wood consumption is about the same and comfort is good. But I think she is burning cleaner with the larger load. Now this is with doug fir. I laid off the hardwood once we got into the mid-30's.
 
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
 
I get nervous everytime i think of running two stoves next winter. This mild season a second one wasnt really needed so i put my time elsewhere. Next winter this shack will have two whether needed or not.

Some sort of covered rack nearest (my two) doors is needed. I fight the mess running one...
 
Scotty Overkill said:
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
Click to expand...

The only time I have a problem with the draft is when it is over 40 with consistent rain.

Any other time, my drafts are pretty strong.
 
Scotty Overkill said:
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
Click to expand...

I don't burn above 50F. The heat pump is much more efficient and the T6's draft is fussier. But I take some ownership for that. I have an offset coming off of the stove that may be affecting draft a mild outdoor temps.
 
Stump_Branch said:
I get nervous everytime i think of running two stoves next winter. This mild season a second one wasnt really needed so i put my time elsewhere. Next winter this shack will have two whether needed or not.

Some sort of covered rack nearest (my two) doors is needed. I fight the mess running one...
Click to expand...


I have the small one of these:
https://www.plowhearth.com/Decorati...Resistant-Covers_p8891_S2011_D4020_C1035.html

I will be purchasing the medium on this summer. For me, the key to mess management is bringing in enough wood for several days. Especially before a rain or snow storm. The medium will fit perfectly along the stone wall in the foyer while still looking pleasant.

Having small individual wood racks for each stove adds to the mess for me.
 
Scotty Overkill said:
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
Click to expand...

I really don't notice a problem with getting an adequate draft going in any reasonable temps. Maybe up around 50* and up it seems a little sluggish from a cold start. And I certainly don't have a spectacular chimney or anything it is just 7' of single wall to 8' of class A 6". Seems like my stove is just not that sensitive to a lower draft. It got up to 40ish today during the day and I would just toss 2 4-5" silver maple splits in about every 4-5 hours and ran the stove about 450 and falling to 300 in the coaling stage.
 
That is what I like about not packing the stove day or night. Burns with a mess of nice flames all the way to the back of the load maintaining stove temp and not ending up with a monster pile of coals in the back to mess with.

Different smoke for different folks. Ya do what works for ya.
 
BrotherBart said:
That is what I like about not packing the stove day or night. Burns with a mess of nice flames all the way to the back of the load maintaining stove temp and not ending up with a monster pile of coals in the back to mess with.

Different smoke for different folks. Ya do what works for ya.
Click to expand...


I still want to try a 30.
 
I have been hearing about the Defiant for so long I would like to take one for a test drive some day.
 
BrowningBAR said:
Scotty Overkill said:
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
Click to expand...

The only time I have a problem with the draft is when it is over 40 with consistent rain.

Any other time, my drafts are pretty strong.
Click to expand...
+1 BBAR .....that is really the only time I have any problems with mine. And BG anything over 50 deg. outside we let the fire die down but not out as we don't use the furnace unless we absolutely have to. All of you guys have good points. I was curious how others handled that situation.
 
BrotherBart said:
I have been hearing about the Defiant for so long I would like to take one for a test drive some day.
Click to expand...

I'm still concerned about the ongoing maintenance costs of running three VC stoves. I am currently looking into buying refractory and cat parts in 'bulk.'
 
We try and "idle" our T6 during these unusually warm temp's of just above freezing by throwing on the odd split or two throughout the day. I did have to open a window or two throughout the day to keep from overheating. Yes, we are burning dirtier than usual, but a full load with hot temp's would cook out of our well insulated house.
 
Scotty Overkill said:
I will say this, fellas. When the temps are mild outside, it's sometimes hard to get a draw going in your flue when you don't put some real heat in the stove. That is the only downside to building small fires in the bigger stoves during mild temps, what are your thoughts?.......discuss......
Click to expand...

I've had some issues with this, and began raking the coals up front, placing two stacked splits on each side of the stove (NS), with about 5 nice pieces of oak kindling on the coals - the coals fire right up, heat up the flue with very little smoke and end up catching the upper splits pretty well. Within 20 minutes, I move the upper splits onto the coals from the kindling and away it goes + usually add a few more pieces. Cheers!
 
I will add my 3 split fires are not on "idle" I run the stove hot with the smaller fires.
 
With 26 feet of triple wall in an insulated chase, draft has so far never been an issue. In fact, we have about 75% of our secondary inlets blocked, otherwise we might as well not have a primary control.. lol

But we have had a lot of mild weather, and we also do a lot of 3 split fires during the day, if needed, always with primary at least 1/2 open, so it's a "real fire". But like many/most, above 45-50, we just let the heat pump run. Last night was a low of 22, but today will be +50.. so I reloaded when I got up at 7am, will not reload until 10pm or so tonight..
 
A couple more quick thoughts. For us, I like to at least keep enough coals in the stove to restart unless I am going to let the stove go cold for more than 18-24 hours. I have tried it both ways, letting it go cold and just burning enough to keep coals to relight off of, and if I end up with a difference in wood usage it is 2-4 splits a day max. That is just not enough for me to justify letting the stove go cold and having to do a cold start every day. This time of the year even when it is warmer like this week we still need heat every day. We end up with one of two scenarios. Today is a high of 45* and sunny but it was 20* when I got up this morning. Tomorrow is a high of 48* and a low of only 35* but that comes with rain so it will be damp. Most of the time it really needs to get up around 60* before my stove goes cold since even around 60* for a high if it is clear out we can swing 20*-30* overnight and end up around freezing by morning.

This may sound kind of goofy also but when we get into this kind of weather I actually switch back to my good hardwoods like oak, locust, and hickory for my day burn. I can burn a quick small fire in the morning on silver maple or pine and have the stove up to temp. Then put 3-4 splits of black locust on,slowly bring it to a low cruse getting past the main off gassing stage, say 400-450 and no smoke. It will cruse smoke fee and go to coaling stage thru the day. Then since I have the primary almost 100% closed It will bank enough coals to reload 8-12 hours later for my evening/night fire from those premium wood coals. If I did not have the premium hardwood to do this with it would not work and I would have to let it go cold during the day. This year has really made me perfect this tactic since half of the winter has been like shoulder season. This winter has made me come up with a whole new playbook for burning wood.
 
'Just saw this post after putting a "model specific" reply to another.

With regard to the smaller-fire when not-as-cold: In our Firelight cb, we get short-duration fires that peak out hot enough that they don’t stain the glass or overheat the house. We build ‘em N/S, with small to medium splits, 3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, & 1 on top, close to the burn-tubes. With fire starter used in a top down start, the secondary manifold and tubes “torch-off†quickly, but the fuel runs out quickly, too. ‘A very satisfactory solution to preventing over heating with that large stove.

Cheers.
 
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