I've been doing some full overnight loads lately, trying to gain confidence in our new jotul. The problem seems like I can't keep a good overnight burn for more than a few hours at most. By then I'm back to coals. This afternoon I loaded up 3 big oak splits on bottom and another on top. I could have put in one or two more smaller splits but held off. So 3hrs later I'm down to coals. This is with the primary closed~ 90% after wide open burn early on then close in increments over a 20' time frame. At this rate I'll be going through my wood fast. Btw I loaded NS but think I'll try EW on the next reload.
3hrs on a full load?
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BobUrban
Minister of Fire
What is the stove top temp. Often the flaming fun portion of the burn cycle is complete LONG before the heat your house cycle and all you have is a glowing mass of hot coals.
EW should allegedly provide a longer burn cycle depending on the design of the stove.
EW should allegedly provide a longer burn cycle depending on the design of the stove.
As Bob said above the burn is long from being over when the flames go away. The coaling stage is probably the longest part of the burn when burning a non cat stove. With a stove top of 400-450 it sounds like you have hours of good heat left in the stove
Just to clarify the stove temp I mentioned is during the fire phase. How do some guys "cruise" overnight at 600f? Their stovepipe must be pushing 800f no?
BCC_Burner
Feeling the Heat
They don't with a non-cat. Non cat stoves produce great flame shows and huge amounts of heat (650-800 degree stovetops in many cases) for the first 1.5-3 hours of the burn. Then the temp slowly begins to drop as the coaling phase begins. No non-cat is going to maintain 600F+ for more than 3 or maybe 4 hours. You still get lots of usable heat during the coaling phase, but it isn't terribly exciting to watch.
remkel
Minister of Fire
What everyone else said......nothing is wrong with your Jotul....sounds like it is running just fine.
Thanks guys. Kinda wished I had looked into cat stoves a bit more. Burt I'm happy with the jotul so far
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
No. On a stove top of 600 degrees our flue temperature (single wall horizontal) will run around 350. And no, the stove will not be at 600 all night long but will just gradually taper off. Yet, I've gone to bed with the stove top around 550 then get up about 3 or 4 hours later to find the stove top well over 600 and as high as about 680.
JA600L
Minister of Fire
As I've heard many times on here, unseasoned wood will tend to coal more in an EPA non-cat stove. How long were those big splits seasoned?
Jerry_NJ
Minister of Fire
I have never loaded my Quad 4100I full, but when I put about 50 pounds of well seasoned hardwood in before going to bed the insert is hot enough that the fan has not shut down 4 or 5 hours later... and there is nothing at that point beyond some hot coals. If it is on its own for 8 hours the fan is off, how long I don't know, but the top and face is till warm to the touch. Of course my central heating system cut in some time before I got up and checked. I'll guess the 50 pound estimate is no more than fills about half the volume of the fire box.
That's about how it's working for me so far. I can get up in the morning and the stove is still warm to the touch. A few coals left but my indoor temp has dropped overnight at some point to 68f. Then the boiler kicks on. I guess I was assuming I'd get 5-7hrs of true burn time before the coals set in but that's unrealistic for me so far
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
Turn the boiler kick on temp down, and be happy with 68 degrees upon waking up.
I'd be fine with waking up to 68. Some mornings I wake up to 63 or 64.
I'd be fine with waking up to 68. Some mornings I wake up to 63 or 64.
Jerry_NJ
Minister of Fire
Turn the thermostat "back to 68"?? I consider 68 the turned up temperature.
My wife grips when I turn it down to 64 at bed time, given I don't fully load the insert with wood, the house temperature drops to 64 by the wee hours of the morning. From that point we are on geothermal heat pump (a rather competitive cost for heating), but the Insert remains warm until 7 or so AM, so it must be adding a few BTUs of heat to help out. That said, I consider 68 degrees to be a 'toasty warm" temperature. Yes I wear long sleeve shirts and under shiirts in cold weather.
If I were home alone, as happens a few days a year, I just leave the central heating (heat pump) at 60 degrees and put on a sweater. I also this year purchased an electric blanket and my wife no longer complains about be letting the house fall to the lower 60s over night.
My wife grips when I turn it down to 64 at bed time, given I don't fully load the insert with wood, the house temperature drops to 64 by the wee hours of the morning. From that point we are on geothermal heat pump (a rather competitive cost for heating), but the Insert remains warm until 7 or so AM, so it must be adding a few BTUs of heat to help out. That said, I consider 68 degrees to be a 'toasty warm" temperature. Yes I wear long sleeve shirts and under shiirts in cold weather.
If I were home alone, as happens a few days a year, I just leave the central heating (heat pump) at 60 degrees and put on a sweater. I also this year purchased an electric blanket and my wife no longer complains about be letting the house fall to the lower 60s over night.
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Sounds like things are working out pretty well . . . in my house I have the thermostats set to kick on around 60 degrees and depending on when I last loaded the stove and the outside temp I may end up with a 60-64 degree temp in the morning . .. waking up to 68 degrees F would be quite nice.
As for the burn time . . . I think most everyone reads about "burn time" in the brochures and assumes "burn time" = active flames. As mentioned, the coals will throw off a lot of heat for a very long time and it's heat that you want for the end result . . . not just the pretty flames.
tcassavaugh
Minister of Fire
with my little f3cb I get about 6-8 hrs of heat out of it. I fill it, let it burn and get up to temp, then I close it down still maintaining flame but not at a fast rate.
Huntindog1
Minister of Fire
How tall is your Flue? As you maybe getting to much draw. A Flue Damper may help. As secondary air is not controllable on non-cat stoves. If your flue is really tall and insulated it will suck more and pull more air in thru the unrestricted secondary inlets. Or you can play with some foil tape over those secondary inlets and poke different size holes in the foil tape to see if it helps but make sure you dont completely kill all your secondaries. Your wood being really dry makes things burn really easy and if your flue is drawing extra then it will burn your wood up fast.
tcassavaugh
Minister of Fire
I've always used a pipe damper in addition to the main stove controls. comes from using old smoke dragons I guess but it just gives me an added comfort level and an extra level of control giving longer burns. jmho
Jerry_NJ
Minister of Fire
My Qual Insert is not a cat stove and indeed when th "shot gun" and "secondary" are shut back all the way a considerable fame will continue if everything is hot and the outside is 50 or 60 degrees below my house temperature.
I have always been concerned about shutting the secondary all the way back (not off) because it may contribute to creosote build up in my SS chimney (or any chimney for that matter). My SS 6" chimney is insulated too and inside a masonry two story exterior chimney.
I raise here only in a justification of my concern about shutting back too far and creosote, am I off base here?
I have always been concerned about shutting the secondary all the way back (not off) because it may contribute to creosote build up in my SS chimney (or any chimney for that matter). My SS 6" chimney is insulated too and inside a masonry two story exterior chimney.
I raise here only in a justification of my concern about shutting back too far and creosote, am I off base here?
Hogwildz
Minister of Fire
I shut my Summit all the way on low air, and have no creosote issues. Some can shut all the way to low, other leave a little more open.
Depends on your set up., as each is different.
I always suggest to get it up to temp and cut air all the way low, and see how it performs. Then if needed adjust and experiment from there.
Depends on your set up., as each is different.
I always suggest to get it up to temp and cut air all the way low, and see how it performs. Then if needed adjust and experiment from there.
Stack is about ~21' from stove outlet to the top. I can certainly play around with the secondary. Anyone know where to get a good size magnet, as I heard that works quite well.
mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
Just to confirm, I'd be closing down the primary all the way, then closing off the secondary in small increments? I don't think I have too much draft as most of my fires will die down much too far if I close the primary all the way, but just last night, I had a great fire at 500F stovetop and primary shut all the way. Usually I'm running 400F. A lot depends on the wood I'm burning, but never seems consistent.
bag of hammers
Minister of Fire
A bit more around managing expectations vs managing the stove 
.
We got a bit of a mild spell friday - almost hit the freezing point. Then temps dropped to @ -14 C again by Sunday morning, and the house was @ 65 deg when I woke up. I was quite happy with that, especially as we didn't load up for an overnight fire (house was very warm, lots of hot coals when we went to bed, so we just let it ride). Today it's down to -25 deg C - things are a bit different of course. The stove would get loaded up for bedtime for sure this week. Still we would likely wake up to mid - 60's in the a.m. I love the sound and feel of the fire roaring back to life when I reload the stove in the morning. Going from 65 to 70 is easy after that.
IMHO things should be consistent but only to a point - expectations should fall within a range especially with a tube stove. But if you're waking up to 68 deg that's not too shabby, something's right with that routine. Sounds like the stove is treating you well.
.We got a bit of a mild spell friday - almost hit the freezing point. Then temps dropped to @ -14 C again by Sunday morning, and the house was @ 65 deg when I woke up. I was quite happy with that, especially as we didn't load up for an overnight fire (house was very warm, lots of hot coals when we went to bed, so we just let it ride). Today it's down to -25 deg C - things are a bit different of course. The stove would get loaded up for bedtime for sure this week. Still we would likely wake up to mid - 60's in the a.m. I love the sound and feel of the fire roaring back to life when I reload the stove in the morning. Going from 65 to 70 is easy after that.
IMHO things should be consistent but only to a point - expectations should fall within a range especially with a tube stove. But if you're waking up to 68 deg that's not too shabby, something's right with that routine. Sounds like the stove is treating you well.
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