Osburn 2000 insert perfomance

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etiger2007

Minister of Fire
Feb 8, 2012
1,255
Clio Michigan
Well so far I have to say Im pretty happy with this insert. Today when I got up at 9am I loaded the stove with four small ash splits on a small coal bed left over from the night before, then around 1pm I put four more on, then at 5pm I put three splits on and havent touched the stove since, it has a good coal bed now and the house is at 79 degrees at 7:50pm ( hotter than I like and not bad for 11 small splits of wood). The temps during the day where in the mid 40's and are currently at 31 degrees outside. This stove top gets up to 600 degrees with little to no effort. When i start a new fire in a cold stove Ill take a split usually ash and split it up into about six pieces and use it as kindling, light it up and without adding any more wood the stove top is at 600 degrees and that kindling will burn for about an hour or alittle longer. This puzzles me because I read people freaking out when their stoves hit 600-700 degrees. I know my temps are accurate because I use a magnetic temp gauge and an IR gun and they are within 30 degrees of each other. On a full load the stove top will hit 800 ( for about 10 or 15 minutes) then it will settle down and cruise between 600 and 700 degrees for awhile. I have tried to reduce the air sooner (like at a 400 degree stove top, reducing the air in increments) on bigger loads but I tend to get smoke coming out of the chimney so I have to give it more air to clean up the burn. It may take me some more time with this stove to perfect the way It burns when fully loaded, when running small loads 3-4 splits its very eazy to maintaine the fire and keep the stove top around 600 and burn clean but then im re-loading every four hours. Over all Im real happy with this stove and look forward to colder weather.
 

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Glad you're happy with the insert!

My 2300 seems to be the same way. I gotta get it to 500-600 for no smoke to be visible and for the secondaries to really start cruising. My 2300 usually hovers around 550-650 or so when it is burning well.

COngrats once again

Andrew
 
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have tried to reduce the air sooner (like at a 400 degree stove top, reducing the air in increments) on bigger loads but I tend to get smoke coming out of the chimney so I have to give it more air to clean up the burn.
Try reducing the air early like this and monitor how long the smoke lasts. It should go away unless you are cutting too much too soon.

How does it compare last year's stove?
 
Try reducing the air early like this and monitor how long the smoke lasts. It should go away unless you are cutting too much too soon.

How does it compare last year's stove?

Night and day, I can put the same amount of wood in the new stove and get twice the time in between re-loads. Im thinking because the mass of the stove is double compared to the old one it retains the heat longer. The old one weighed in at 225lbs so it would cool faster.
 
I am happy to hear it etiger, as you know your previous posts were helpful when I was making my buying decision. I have the same insert, and my experience has been similar. This weekend was really the first time it was cold enough outside to really run it. I have had no problem getting an overnight burn from a full load. I am also in the learning curve you mention where I am figuring out the best way to manage it day to day. I loaded it pretty full last night with a mostly of Red Oak, and Silver Maple at 10pm and closed the air to about 1/4, and the blower on 1/2, and woke up this morning at 6 and still had the back log burning and a ton of coals. The previous night I left the blower running fast, and woke up to just coals. Either way I feel like eight hrs. is not a problem, and 9-10 might be doable. I do have a problem spilling ash when I open the door, and the door opening is deceiving to the eye, I feel like I can put more splits in, but end up bumping the burn tubes at the top when I try. That said Im pretty happy with it, and the price eas very fair compared to comparable stoves.
 
I am happy to hear it etiger, as you know your previous posts were helpful when I was making my buying decision. I have the same insert, and my experience has been similar. This weekend was really the first time it was cold enough outside to really run it. I have had no problem getting an overnight burn from a full load. I am also in the learning curve you mention where I am figuring out the best way to manage it day to day. I loaded it pretty full last night with a mostly of Red Oak, and Silver Maple at 10pm and closed the air to about 1/4, and the blower on 1/2, and woke up this morning at 6 and still had the back log burning and a ton of coals. The previous night I left the blower running fast, and woke up to just coals. Either way I feel like eight hrs. is not a problem, and 9-10 might be doable. I do have a problem spilling ash when I open the door, and the door opening is deceiving to the eye, I feel like I can put more splits in, but end up bumping the burn tubes at the top when I try. That said Im pretty happy with it, and the price eas very fair compared to comparable stoves.

Glad to hear it Paul, I have only burned ash and black walnut in my 2000 Oak will be ready next year. I too spill ash and hate the fact that there is a seam righ there for the ash to fall into the blowers and get sucked up when I turn the blower on ( so i am alway popping off that plate and cleaning the blower area). How many splits are you putting in there for an all night burn? Are you loading East and West or North and South? I tend to put three splits on the coals e/w then two or three splits on top of those going diaginal and then what ever else I can fit on top of that one or two real small splits usually.
 
Glad to hear it Paul, I have only burned ash and black walnut in my 2000 Oak will be ready next year. I too spill ash and hate the fact that there is a seam righ there for the ash to fall into the blowers and get sucked up when I turn the blower on ( so i am alway popping off that plate and cleaning the blower area). How many splits are you putting in there for an all night burn? Are you loading East and West or North and South? I tend to put three splits on the coals e/w then two or three splits on top of those going diaginal and then what ever else I can fit on top of that one or two real small splits usually.

EW mostly, because most of my wood is split to a length that would make it tough to go NS. Im still trying to figure it out, so far I start with the largest split at the back, then whatever I can fit on the bottom, the top is tricky because it always looks like I have so much room, but the tubes are closer than they look. I then stack as much as I can and use small peices to fill in the spaces. I guess Ill learn better now that the weather is finally letting me burn long enough to get a feel for it. I am very happy that I dont have to start fresh every morning, it was one of my big concerns and its a relief to know I chose the correct insert.

Oh, and I really need some gloves, its pretty hard to pack it full in there when your trying not to burst into flames ;lol
 
EW mostly, because most of my wood is split to a length that would make it tough to go NS. Im still trying to figure it out, so far I start with the largest split at the back, then whatever I can fit on the bottom, the top is tricky because it always looks like I have so much room, but the tubes are closer than they look. I then stack as much as I can and use small peices to fill in the spaces. I guess Ill learn better now that the weather is finally letting me burn long enough to get a feel for it. I am very happy that I dont have to start fresh every morning, it was one of my big concerns and its a relief to know I chose the correct insert.

Oh, and I really need some gloves, its pretty hard to pack it full in there when your trying not to burst into flames ;lol

LOL my fore arms get toatsy with gloves on when I reach far in the back of the fire box. I also always have enough coals to start a new fire the next morning. When you get your all night burn how hot is your stove top? Im going to pack it full tonight and leave the blower on 1/2 and see what happens, Im still unsure why this would matter but I'm going to try it.
 
Nice to read posts by other happy Osburn owners. I don't know much about their inserts, but I can say (after last weekend's excellent burn) that the Osburn here once again kept @ 1500 sq ft very cozy including overnight. Temps just dipping down to -6 deg C (-10 windchill) - @ 15 or 20 deg F I believe. A brisk north wind outside. Dog's outside water bowl frozen down about an inch. This November is a bit chillier here than the past few years have been. Got nothing on the Alaska folks but I have a feeling we'll get a little taste of the -40 thing this year.

On Saturday just after midnight I loaded 2 big gnarly pieces of maple (the "un-splittables") in the stove for an overnight burn - just enough room to lay them in under the tubes. 3 years on the woodpile and they were perfect - a nice bed of coals got them rolling pretty fast. Once they lit up I shut the primary air right down. Flue temps @ 450, I watched it cruise for about a half hour (thinking it might snuff out a bit with these big chunks and no primary air) but it kept rolling. I crashed sometime shortly after 1:00. Slept in Sunday - by 9:00 there was still a pretty decent bed of coals to restart easily with a few very small birch splits and a couple of those awesome milled hardwood ends left over from last year.

With the right wood and the sweet spot on the air, this stove gives me a nice overnight burn. Once the whole place is toasty for a day or 2, it takes very little to keep it that way. A few years into this brand / model and so far I'm really happy with it.
 
Well so far I have to say Im pretty happy with this insert. T
Ed - your sig shows "Osburn 2000 wood insert with the nickle package painted midnight brown" - is this the "golden fire brown" option I see on the Osburn website now, or did you re- paint the original nickle trim? Sorry if that's a dumb question.
 
Ed - your sig shows "Osburn 2000 wood insert with the nickle package painted midnight brown" - is this the "golden fire brown" option I see on the Osburn website now, or did you re- paint the original nickle trim? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

Thats not a dumb question brother, I painted my stove, door and surround midnight brown and left the nickle trim alone and of course once installed the wife thought the golden trim would have been better lol. I think the Golden Fire Brown is another trim color option because they only offer a black stove. Sounds like you did extremely well Saturday night Hammers, and Thank-You for sharing your Osburn experience with us hopefully more Osburn owners will chime in with tips , tricks, and stories.
 
Hey guys

Been burning a 2300 for 3 years. It's a monster and I love the bypass!!!

When trying to load E_W, I need to use gloves. I don't know what I would do without them. The scars on my forearms tell the tale of me trying to be stupid and tempt fate!

I love my stove and wouldn't want another one. The 2300 has a nice cast iron door with one of the largest windows on the market! I have the install in my basement of a bungalow. 1250 sq feet. Once the basement warms the heat rises upstairs and after 3-4 hours it heat my entire house. I must say that I have 1.5 inches of spray foam on my foundation walls with Roxul on top of that (R14). So my basement is well insulated but that stove can handle it either way!! Today I loaded twice: about 5-6 medium pieces of softwood each time. I get nice secondaries for about 1 hour or so and a slow burn after. No signs of smoke coming out of my chimney. My basement is 24C and upstairs is 22C. It is currently 0C outside.

Andrew
 
Hey guys

Been burning a 2300 for 3 years. It's a monster and I love the bypass!!!

When trying to load E_W, I need to use gloves. I don't know what I would do without them. The scars on my forearms tell the tale of me trying to be stupid and tempt fate!

I love my stove and wouldn't want another one. The 2300 has a nice cast iron door with one of the largest windows on the market! I have the install in my basement of a bungalow. 1250 sq feet. Once the basement warms the heat rises upstairs and after 3-4 hours it heat my entire house. I must say that I have 1.5 inches of spray foam on my foundation walls with Roxul on top of that (R14). So my basement is well insulated but that stove can handle it either way!! Today I loaded twice: about 5-6 medium pieces of softwood each time. I get nice secondaries for about 1 hour or so and a slow burn after. No signs of smoke coming out of my chimney. My basement is 24C and upstairs is 22C. It is currently 0C outside.

Andrew

I got my first Osburn battle scar on my right forearm on Friday, a good one too, about two inches long lol. So with 5-6 pieces your getting a good five hours or so between re-loads Andrew?
 
Congrats.
 
About that. With 6 medium pieces I will get 4-5 hours and have a few little coals remaining...nothing spectacular but it prevents me starting a fire from scratch.

The longest I ever went between loads with my 2300 was 11 hours.

Andrew
 
I think the burn I described above was my best yet in the 2200. I'm very happy with the situation - I love puttering around outside picking up dead branches, splitting a bit, sorting out a couple of nice all nighters for the overnight burn, etc. - reloading the stove a couple times during the day isn't work for me at all. If I still have a few coals and some heat in the morning I'm quite content. +1 on the gloves - heavy welder gloves are always sitting on the hearth.
 
I had a pretty good burn lastnight, at 7pm I loaded six splits into the stove (all ash) and by the time the stove top was at 650 the air was closed down to about 10% open. I got up for work at 4:45am and had a good coal bed so I threw three small splits in and headed out for work, the house was at 71 degrees and the outside temp was 28.
 
I had a pretty good burn lastnight, at 7pm I loaded six splits into the stove (all ash) and by the time the stove top was at 650 the air was closed down to about 10% open. I got up for work at 4:45am and had a good coal bed so I threw three small splits in and headed out for work, the house was at 71 degrees and the outside temp was 28.
Nice. I'd have to say I think these are pretty good burn times for these Osburn units. Nothing like a cozy home and no big oil / gas bill.
 
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