Stove loading pics?

I hope people post lots of pics as I too am looking to improve my method. This weekend I tried loading logs entirely north/south and got some really nice, warm fires out of it. I know the experts on this forum will load us up with plenty of great ideas!

This is a great idea. Finally had a nice long, cold enough weekend to start really getting the feel for my stove. Had some good success with increasing my burn times and getting good output but I think I can improve a lot and loading would definitely be a good place to start.

Here's what mine looks like tonight. 18 degrees outside and dropping. 84 inside

This is what it looks like after 20 minutes with the blower on low and the air 95% shut down

lopiliberty said:

This is what it looks like after 20 minutes with the blower on low and the air 95% shut down
View attachment 171070 View attachment 171071

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Wow that's a warm stove top

After reviewing Lopiliberty's post I run my Napoleon in the same exact method. Loading method and temperatures to a "T".

chemical_man said:

800F on the stovetop! That's a lively one

How long until you reloaded that beast?

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It actually came down to 700 then shot back up to 800 with the air all the way closed. It dropped down to 8 degrees last night. Reloaded this morning at 9am with a stove top of 300 blower still on low and a living room temperature of 78

chemical_man said:

I've never loaded up that much wood in the stove, a bit hesitant I guess of not having control.

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If its a new stove load it up when you know you are going to be home so you can watch it and know how it will react to full loads. Do this a couple of times and I think you will be a lot more comfortable with loading the stove full

chemical_man said:

Has anyone of the experienced burners on here posted a thread (or have a link to one) with pictures of how they load up the stove/amounts of wood/what it looks like burning at certain intervals?

I'm not sure if I am running things as well as I could and was looking for some wiser input. My searches don't seem to pull up anything useful.
Thanks!

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8 splits that would probably require two loads if done sideways. The coal bed was really deep or I could have packed two more of that size.

So, literally up to the baffles. I definitely need to put more wood in the stove. Home tonight so I can experiment and keep an eye on it. I've been putting on average 4 medium splits and getting about 4 hours give or take. The f400 firebox isn't as big as the ones in these pics but I could easily fit 2 more and probably stretch it to 5.5 or 6.

ETA: since the f400's firebox is relatively shallow, any problems with cutting my splits shorter so I can get a N/S load instead of E/W. One of the things that has held me back from really packing it is my concern that once things shift that something will fall forward and hit the glass.

Any east west loads? I see a NEO load N/S my logs are too long to load it that way. Seems alot easier to pack a N/S stove.

Grimlock13 said:

Any east west loads? I see a NEO load N/S my logs are too long to load it that way. Seems alot easier to pack a N/S stove.

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I loaded E/W forever until getting this new stove. After trying it both ways, I will go with N/S (straight in). I can pack it tight with wood, never worry about stuff falling into the door, and I think I get more wood in. Packed as shown in that photo, and damped down to 10-20% air intake, it'll burn at least 8 hours and have a solid bed of coals.

Cut your wood smaller. Ha Ha! I started cutting mine shorter due to muscle atrophy as I age ha ha . Splitting by hand and lifting big logs takes a toll, so I saw more rather than lift more.

Here's the Shenandoah loaded for the overnight last winter

All I can add is to learn the wood you have and load accordingly and not what others do. I can cram a load of hardwood is a 300 degree stove and be good for the night. If I tried that with some of my hodgepodge I'd have a glowing stove. Start small and work your way up keeping track of coals and temp when you reload. I also have some marginal moisture wood laying around that if I'm at coaling but still hot I know I can load and be alright to load up for the night.

I have experimented a lot with different ways of loading the F55 and I can generally get the most wood in with an E/W load. It seems to burn a bit longer that way too. I can get 10-12 decent sized 18" splits in that way. In the F55, the secondary tubes and baffle at the top of the stove are slanted, so there is more room at the front of the stove than the back. Makes it hard to really stuff the stove with a N/S load unless you have splits that are significantly thicker on one end. I'll try and snap some pics of my next load.

8 splits one e/w in the back, still cant keep my leaky house warm in this cold spell

Ode1891 said:

I loaded E/W forever until getting this new stove. After trying it both ways, I will go with N/S (straight in). I can pack it tight with wood, never worry about stuff falling into the door, and I think I get more wood in. Packed as shown in that photo, and damped down to 10-20% air intake, it'll burn at least 8 hours and have a solid bed of coals.

Cut your wood smaller. Ha Ha! I started cutting mine shorter due to muscle atrophy as I age ha ha . Splitting by hand and lifting big logs takes a toll, so I saw more rather than lift more.

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I'm going to take your advice. I have the NEO as well and although it is an E/W stove i find it burns way better loaded N/S.

Grimlock13 said:

I'm going to take your advice. I have the NEO as well and although it is an E/W stove i find it burns way better loaded N/S.

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I live with 'people' who are compass challenged . N/S in my mind is feeding wood straight into the box so the length is front to back. E/W is sideways or rolling it in.

We almost always load to the top. On all stoves with all wood in all temperatures. The non-cats will run away out of control (by design) but wouldn't get so hot as to cause damage. The cat stove is like a furnace and settles into "crock pot mode" and runs at whatever output I desire until the fuel tank is spent.

Three pics. Hearthstone heritage, NC30, and BK Princess. All softwoods.

I load my englander right to the baffles with a nice coal bed. I load the splits straight in. I think any other way would be crazy with this stove because the fresh air comes in right at the window and blows to the back of the stove. I think airflow would be compromised loading sideways.

I leave the air wide open for about 5 mins and then shut it almost closed for the night. Wake up 8 hrs later to a warm house and 3-5" of hot coals. Perfect for a restart.
My house is 10-20' ceilings and 2100 sqft. Heating that is like heating a normal house with 3000 sqft and lower ceilings.

Ode1891 said:

I live with 'people' who are compass challenged . N/S in my mind is feeding wood straight into the box so the length is front to back. E/W is sideways or rolling it in.

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I'm on the same page

lopiliberty said:

Here's what mine looks like tonight. 18 degrees outside and dropping. 84 inside
View attachment 171067

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I have had my stove for three years and still have never put iin a full load like that. I am convinced I would have a runaway.