Burning while away

To me it depends if you have another heating option.

When you are comfortable enough with your stove, it will become natural to just set it and forget it. You get to know your stove just like anything else, each one acts different. Soon running it will become second nature and the paranoia will go away.

I load mine up before i leave the house and before i go to bed at night. If its not running its not saving me money.

Trktrd said:

When you are comfortable enough with your stove, it will become natural to just set it and forget it. You get to know your stove just like anything else, each one acts different. Soon running it will become second nature and the paranoia will go away.

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Who said the OP was paranoid? Thought he was asking pros/cons of burning while away vs. letting it go out.

Trktrd said:

When you are comfortable enough with your stove, it will become natural to just set it and forget it. You get to know your stove just like anything else, each one acts different. Soon running it will become second nature and the paranoia will go away.

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This. I get up around 6 and usually leave the house by 7:30/8. I get the fire going first thing so that by the time I leave i can safely have it choked down for an longer burn. Much cheaper than burning oil to maintain temps plus the dog appreciates sleeping next to it all day while we're away.

mass_burner said:

Who said the OP was paranoid? Thought he was asking pros/cons of burning while away vs. letting it go out.

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Speaking from personal experience.

To me it doesn't make sense to keep it going all night. The two inserts are in the other half of the house where nobody sleeps. So I turn the thermostat to 62-64 and have two oil filled heaters cycling at 2-3 hour intervals through the night while we're sleeping. The half of the house where the stoves are zoned separately and are set to 58 during the night, which means the furnace never comes on. In the morning I get 1 or 2 inserts going depending on the day.

I would not want to empty the stove everytime I left the house. That is what I would have to do since I can get pretty long burn times. I suppose in the morning to feel safer you could be more at ease knowing the only thing in your stove when you left the house was coals,, no active flames,,which is probably safer since the coals would not usually get hotter as a fresh burning fire can.

I did not build fresh fires a few times before I left,, while i was having problems, (just weeks ago) but now burning 24/7 and problems fixed,,I have relaxed and stuff the stove before I leave. I do however, still have a note taped to the door to the garage reminding me to check the stove. Myself and my wife made an agreement that we would double check the stove right before we leave the house,,,, no exceptions. We check air settings and dampner position,,,just to be sure. You never know when the other person adjusted or loaded the stove, and forgot something that cannot be changed or fixed unless you are there.

It is habit for me now,,,last thing I do before walking out the door,,,is go check the stove. I do not worry too much about it knowing I checked,,,,instead of wondering if I should go back home.

It takes too much wood and time to restart everyday,,, for us. We are gaining more confidence in our ability and procedures. We'll keep checking before we leave though,,,cause that is what gives us the confidence.

I let my die through the night. My thermostat is set up for 60 at night, in the morning it goes on for 72. I don't run the stove for a whole night just to have heat for 1.5 hr in the morning. Same thing during the day if I am not home stove is not running I start it when I get home at 3:15 run it till it dies at night that's petty much my weekly routine. As far as weekends most of the time I run it 24 hrs a day. If it's really cold night I will run the stove at night on a week days, never during the day. So far I burned 3/8 of a tank of oil.

prezes13 said:

So far I burned 3/8 of a tank of oil.

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how many gals is that?

250 gal tank so I am thinking less than a 100

prezes13 said:

250 gal tank so I am thinking less than a 100

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that's pretty close to my consumption, i'm 1/4 way through my second 100 gal delivery.

It would have been less if I learned that I ran my stove too cold sooner. Plus my wife complains that it's too cold if the temp is lower than 72 deg.

yes, my wife complains also at night, i little less since I asked her to write out the checks for the oil man when he delivers.

Well let me ask, what is the worst that can happen? The flames bust open the glass? And the flames shoot onto the furniture? I'm serious, what would be the concerns?

burn 24/7. House is heated with nothing but wood

HybridFyre said:

I get up around 6 and usually leave the house by 7:30/8. I get the fire going first thing so that by the time I leave i can safely have it choked down for an longer burn

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Ditto that. Get up, load stove, make coffee, close down air while sipping coffee, hit the road when it's burning steady and low.

Ram 1500 with an axe... said:

Well let me ask, what is the worst that can happen? The flames bust open the glass? And the flames shoot onto the furniture? I'm serious, what would be the concerns?

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Really, whats the worst? If the OP is not used to operating the stove properly, how about an overfire and their house burns down with all their belongings. What a silly question.

We burn 24/7 and load up before bed and before work. Never had an issue. That being said, I would make sure you know your stove, your wood, and how they work together. I'd never leave a new stove or a stove I did not know well burning unattended. Once you get used to it you should know exactly what your stoves doing even when you're not there to see it. Kind of becomes second nature. Takes a little bonding with a new set-up.

Ram 1500 with an axe... said:

Well let me ask, what is the worst that can happen? The flames bust open the glass? And the flames shoot onto the furniture? I'm serious, what would be the concerns?

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i suppose the house could burn down if it got too hot and nobody there to shut it down. I know if you left the ash door on mine open and walked out,,,the house would possibly be burning in that hour. I bet the stove would dance,,,,

Hi Mstoelton!

We do much as you do, we let the fire burn out overnight and then relight when we get home from work. As someone mentioned, paranoia.

Best wishes!

Bob

I have no problem leaving the stove burning while Im away at work. I leave at different times through the day and not on a set schedule and if the timing isnt right for a reload then im forced to let it go out. If Im leaving the house at 1pm for an appointment then the stove has to be ready for reload no later than 12:15 otherwise I take my chances with the coals when I return.

logger said:

Really, whats the worst? If the OP is not used to operating the stove properly, how about an overfire and their house burns down with all their belongings. What a silly question.

We burn 24/7 and load up before bed and before work. Never had an issue. That being said, I would make sure you know your stove, your wood, and how they work together. I'd never leave a new stove or a stove I did not know well burning unattended. Once you get used to it you should know exactly what your stoves doing even when you're not there to see it. Kind of becomes second nature. Takes a little bonding with a new set-up.

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I really didn't want to upset you, I was just trying to have a different view imparted to this current thread so that we can all learn from it, kind of like a discussion with one extreme to another.... By the way my wife is more paranoid then me, I see what my stove can an cannot do under normal operating circumstances....

mstoelton said:

We have had the Clydesdale insert installed for a few months and are now getting comfortable with how it acts.

I would like some experienced opinions on burning while away from home. We both work during the day and typically have not kept the Clyde burning while we are away from the house at work.

How many of the readers/poosters on the forum burn while away and how many choose to allow the overnight fire to go out and then start-up again when they arrive back home?

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mstoelton, I have never understood why people install a wood stove but then let the fire die out. Letting a wood stove heat the house while gone just makes sense and you are saving dollars by doing it.

As for heating at night, why not? I see no good reason not to. As for letting a house get down to 60 degrees or thereabouts, it seems rather foolish to me. Why? Because it is not only the air that cools but every piece of furniture, walls, floors, ceilings, etc that lose temperature and have to absorb heat which also means you have to get the place warmer to warm all the rest. It is sort of like not running an air conditioner and letting the house get to 90-100 degrees and then trying to cool it. Mostly a waste and you will do better by keeping an even temperature.

So can the heating be done 24 hours per day? Of course it can and many do it. We don't even have a backup furnace and we get along just fine heating only with wood. For example, the last 24 hours: 24 hours ago the house temperature was at 82 degrees. Yes, we keep our home warmer than most but there is a good reason for that which I won't get into here. At 8:00 last evening we filled the stove with red oak. This morning we got up around 7:30 and found the house temperature at 78 degrees. Around 8:00 we again filled the stove with red oak and a little white ash. We left the house at 8:30 am. Arrived home around 2:30 to find the house temperature at 82 degrees. It is really sweet to be away from home on a cold day (outdoor temp when leaving was 3 degrees and 11 when we returned) and then come home to a very comfortable home.

On my signature line you will see that we've heated with wood more than a few years so we've seen many winters; some relatively mild, some like this year and then some that were very cold. I would hate to have heated with oil or propane through these years and for sure we could not keep the home as comfortable as we do now and we would have spent a lot more dollars. Should anyone ask, we burn around 3 cord of wood per year. We do not have any creosote problems and rarely have to clean our chimney. Both my wife and I can run the stove. All is well and we are happy campers.

Backwoods Savage said:

mstoelton, I have never understood why people install a wood stove but then let the fire die out. Letting a wood stove heat the house while gone just makes sense and you are saving dollars by doing it.

As for heating at night, why not? I see no good reason not to. As for letting a house get down to 60 degrees or thereabouts, it seems rather foolish to me. Why? Because it is not only the air that cools but every piece of furniture, walls, floors, ceilings, etc that lose temperature and have to absorb heat which also means you have to get the place warmer to warm all the rest. It is sort of like not running an air conditioner and letting the house get to 90-100 degrees and then trying to cool it. Mostly a waste and you will do better by keeping an even temperature.

So can the heating be done 24 hours per day? Of course it can and many do it. We don't even have a backup furnace and we get along just fine heating only with wood. For example, the last 24 hours: 24 hours ago the house temperature was at 82 degrees. Yes, we keep our home warmer than most but there is a good reason for that which I won't get into here. At 8:00 last evening we filled the stove with red oak. This morning we got up around 7:30 and found the house temperature at 78 degrees. Around 8:00 we again filled the stove with red oak and a little white ash. We left the house at 8:30 am. Arrived home around 2:30 to find the house temperature at 82 degrees. It is really sweet to be away from home on a cold day (outdoor temp when leaving was 3 degrees and 11 when we returned) and then come home to a very comfortable home.

On my signature line you will see that we've heated with wood more than a few years so we've seen many winters; some relatively mild, some like this year and then some that were very cold. I would hate to have heated with oil or propane through these years and for sure we could not keep the home as comfortable as we do now and we would have spent a lot more dollars. Should anyone ask, we burn around 3 cord of wood per year. We do not have any creosote problems and rarely have to clean our chimney. Both my wife and I can run the stove. All is well and we are happy campers.

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I agree with you, however it depends on people's comfort level, wood supply etc. For me even I totally agree that is nice to have the house hot is kind of a waste of wood to run the stove for extra 14 hours to enjoy the heat for 4-6 hrs. I have forced air heat and nest thermostat and warming up house with a furnace is not a big issue, but true for the money I spent on 100 or so gallons of oil a year I would have been able to buy extra two cords of wood and run the stove 24/7.