All night burn-what's the trick?

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Keep working with it skinny kid.

I can't believe your stove is cold come morning with just ash. Are you sure there aren't any hot coals?

I have a kozyheat z42 and we put about 4-5 splits in around 8 pm, damper down, and come 6 am - the blower is still going and the firebox is warm. Now it looks like a pile of ash but I rake the ash and open the damper and the coals glow. I then put in some smaller pieces, close the door, and it's off and running again. An overnight burn. I'd be surprized to see anyone wake up with a full blown fire in the box. That pile of ash is full of hot coals that are still working - you just have to rake and vent.

I truly believe good dry hardwood would make things better for you. I'd never burn wood that is not ready.
 
skinnykid said:
Yes I know Hemlock and Birch are not Long lasting, but I figured the Maple (a bit under seasoned) was and it would run all night. Well i figured, with all the stories I heard and read that the F500 would give me an all night burn. I am a horrible wake-er up-er but if I gotta reload the stove once, then thats what I gotta do I guess.

Adios, I would like to know where I can get some Apple or Locus in our area. I know about the Apple but I am sure If I go to the orchards and start hacking down trees, I might get a ride down town.

Hey Skinny, I bet it's red maple (swamp maple) and it will leave a pile of dust in the morning. I call it "poor mans wood" and I have a bunch of it for next year, I'll burn it during the day but not at night, sugar maple on the other hand is some good stuff.. I have no complaints about my Oslo. I bought it in October 2004 and it's been cranking out heat since. At night, I'll pack that
sucker about 3" from the burn tubes. I'm really picky about seasoning my wood, and I feed that Oslo big 20" splits (no wimpy chunks here) what length are your splits?..... because that
will make a difference also. You want to take up as much room in that firebox as you can.


WoodButcher
 
basswidow said:
Keep working with it skinny kid.

I can't believe your stove is cold come morning with just ash. Are you sure there aren't any hot coals?

I have a kozyheat z42 and we put about 4-5 splits in around 8 pm, damper down, and come 6 am - the blower is still going and the firebox is warm. Now it looks like a pile of ash but I rake the ash and open the damper and the coals glow. I then put in some smaller pieces, close the door, and it's off and running again. An overnight burn. I'd be surprized to see anyone wake up with a full blown fire in the box. That pile of ash is full of hot coals that are still working - you just have to rake and vent.

I truly believe good dry hardwood would make things better for you. I'd never burn wood that is not ready.

Haven't tried Ash yet, I burned all my Ash last winter, I have tried Maple and OLD white Birch. I have lots of Oak but it was just cut split and stacked in August. That will be for next year.

This year I have Hemlock, Maple, Black Birch, White Birch, Elm (I think) and other stuff that I forget I am sure.
 
Overnight with softwood: 9:30-10:00 pm until 6:00-6:15. I've never tried with hardwood 'cuz I don't have any.

my 2 c.f. PE Fusion handles it just fine like this: dry wood, stove all warmed up and humming along I'll pack it full with 3- 4 or 5 inch rounds and a small stick of whatever (poplar and white spruce only). I rake the coals forward and literally scrape the coals forward (no coals at the back at all) so I get the true cigar burn. I'll get the edges blackened by running it full for a minute or two then I fuss with the air control until I *feel* it's right (I don't use a thermometer but maybe I will at some point). This routine may violate how others may approach it but it works for my wood and my conditions.
 
I bet it is red Maple. I live next to a lake in sandy wet area. When I split it the internal wood is very red, the bark is some what shaggy. It takes forever to season and is very heavy!
 
What worked for me:

1.) Big rounds to bank the stove. I use the nasty ones that I can't split down to size. then pack stove with as much wood as possible.

2.) Controlling secondary air intake. Limiting this air supply will slow the burn. reducing primary air as low as possible isn't doing too much if secondary is wide open.

This of course is not the cleanest burn but will extend the burn times.
 
JohnNC said:
Lots of factors can def affect burn time. Many of the posters said they had problems with all night burns and this model. Gaskets are the cheap and removing the grate is cheaper.
There is no grate to remove, the grate in the F500 let's ash fall into the ash pan. I don't have any trouble with my stove. If I load it @10p.m. I have enough coals to restart @8A.M. The problem has to be the wood you are using, next year that Oak will get you through the night. ;-)
 
your probably correct, but I would assume that the Maple would also, isn't Maple a denser wood?
 
Stove type makes a big difference too. Loaded the (catalytic) FV with pine last night at 10:30, at 6:30 this morning was still at least 1/3 full and stovetop was over 250 degrees. Not putting out lots of heat but the house was still comfortable.

Three years of burning with a little Lopi Answer I think it got a true overnight burn once. Usually up in the middle of the night feeding it.
 
JohnNC said:
Lots of factors can def affect burn time. Many of the posters said they had problems with all night burns and this model. Gaskets are the cheap and removing the grate is cheaper.
I think the grate the OP has is the slotted floor of the stove that allows excessive ash to be raked through to the ash pan. No air is introduced below this "grate", so it should not affect the burn rate much, as long as there's a layer of ash left on it.
 
CookWood said:
What worked for me:

1.) Big rounds to bank the stove. I use the nasty ones that I can't split down to size. then pack stove with as much wood as possible.

2.) Controlling secondary air intake. Limiting this air supply will slow the burn. reducing primary air as low as possible isn't doing too much if secondary is wide open.

This of course is not the cleanest burn but will extend the burn times.
Secondary air is not "user adjustable" on the Oslo.
 
Skier76 said:
River19 said:
Spent the second week with our new Jotul F3 and I was able to wake up each morning after 6-7 hours of sleep to find enough coals to rekindle the fire and I only had the firebox 50-60% packed with 3 logs (one 50% burnt and the other two within 30mins of going to bed). Loaded the logs, closed the damper and went to bed.

Got up at 6am to go hunting, moved the remnants around, tossed in a small ball of paper, a couple pieces of kindling and within 5mins I had a new log in and a fire going……….

What am I missing here?

That's good to know. Did you shut the air control down 80% or do you have an actual damper on the stove pipe? What kind of wood were you burning?

I have no damper on the pipe, it is a double wall stright run out the top of the stove up to the box in the cathedral ceiling, really a textbook install with not a bend in sight, I get a great draft. The stove is brand new, broke it in per instructions a couple weeks ago. I loaded it with birch, beech (I think) and maple not totally packed either, but I had a good bed of coals at about 400-425 degrees. Still had enough coals to ignite the paper and kindling and have a full fire within a short period.

I closed the stove damper all the way.
 
Skinny,
Red maple doesn't have a lot of btu, but if does season very fast.
 
webby3650 said:
JohnNC said:
Lots of factors can def affect burn time. Many of the posters said they had problems with all night burns and this model. Gaskets are the cheap and removing the grate is cheaper.
There is no grate to remove, the grate in the F500 let's ash fall into the ash pan. I don't have any trouble with my stove. If I load it @10p.m. I have enough coals to restart @8A.M. The problem has to be the wood you are using, next year that Oak will get you through the night. ;-)

I believe Webby is correct. The harder(dense) the wood is the more btu's is can make.The dryer it is the more btu's it can make.
The trick is to run it hard enough so that the flue gases stay above 300 degrees.
Sure wet wood will smolder forever but there's no heat burning this way.
 
just my second year with a Lopi Freedom Bay and have achieved all night burns for the first time. Last night was nine hours and most of two splits still in tact with stove at 400 when I awoke. Rookie last year with oak and ash not dry enough, read on here so many times about the importance of good fuel finally acted on it and man these guys in here are correct. Get ahead of your work and ready 2 years old and more and learn to love your stove.
 
On a non cat plate steel stove I'd doubt you'll get an overnight fire with really useful heat. Be grateful for the hot coals though...our last 3 stoves would go stone cold if you didn't get up to feed them. At least with hot coals you can have a good working fire in 10 min or less.
 
CookWood said:
grommal said:
Secondary air is not "user adjustable" on the Oslo.

I'm sure there is a hole somewhere...
There is, but there's no adjustment for the amount of air that goes into the secondary path. It's a fixed ratio of primary/secondary air.
 
Skinny . . . you've got some good advice here from a number of folks with actual experiences with the Oslo . . . and some lousy advice from some folks who don't heat with Oslos . . . and some good and decent advice from folks who don't heat with the Oslo, but have had similar experineces . . . you'll have to weed out the good from the bad.

That said, as mentioned all maples are not created equal . . . on the top end is sugar maple . . . on the low end is silver maple. I think you'll find red maple somewhere in the middle when it comes to BTUs and the maple family.

Inconsequential advice . . . it's a new stove, right? I highly doubt this is a problem with gaskets and seals. I think it's more of an issue with the operation and limitations of the fuel, type of stove (i.e. secondary burner) and size of the firebox . . . but don't worry . . . we'll get you through this and have you waking up to coals in short order.

Tradergordo had some fine advice on the definition of an overnight burn . . . for a firebox the size of the Oslo it is unrealistic to expect to go to bed and wake up 8 hours later to a firebox still full of flames no matter how much wood you stuff into it, how well seasoned the wood is, what species the wood is, etc. If you can go to bed and wake up 8 hours later to find a warm stove and rake up some coals to restart the fire I would say this is about as good as it can get . . . that's the bad news.

The good news is that your stove will keep the house heated moderately well . . . providing it is insulated well . . . and you will and can wake up to coals the next morning with a few easy tips . . . most of which have already been noted here.

Last year I thought I had great, well-seasoned wood. I was wrong. It was better than many newbies who were burning last year . . . but now that I'm burning truly seasoned wood this year I have seen the difference as the fires are hotter, faster and the secondaries last longer.

Last year I thought I was running my stove well. I was wrong. I was cleaning out the ash in the firebox too often . . . now I realize that keeping an inch or so of ash in the firebox is the key to having less heat on the hearth, more heat in the room and to waking up to coals in the morning.

Webby offered some great advice . . . as did Smokey Foot . . . they pretty much do what I do . . . load up the stove a little before you go to bed, after the fire has been established for awhile. Get the stove temp up to 500-550 (in my case) and then begin to slowly throttle back the air. Last year I could only go down to a 1/4 closed . . . this year with much drier wood I have been able to close the air all the way which has made a big difference. Now I know you're tired at this point and want to go to bed, but I would encourage you to stay up just a little longer because watching the secondary action at this point is incredible . . . eventually when you get tired go to bed . . . and wake up 6-8 hours later to find some coals . . . you may have to stir the ashes a bit . . . but they should be there.

For me the three keys to achieveing my goal of keeping the stove warm and getting coals the next morning are:

a) Ash . . . you've got to have an inch or two in the firebox . . . don't worry about covering up the grates . . . the ash will be there naturally once you have a few fires in the firebox.

b) Wood . . . you've got to have good, well-seasoned hardwood . . . although Smokey Foot is getting by with pine (no doubt he is bald and has hairy palms from burning all that pine ;) . . . bigger is generally better . . . at least have a good sized split or round in the back and medium stuff in the middle. More is also good . . . the more wood in the firebox = more of a chance you'll have coals in the a.m. Try switching to some better wood . . . hemlock and birch are not great for overnight burns. You mentioned elm . . . if it's seasoned try that or some ash if you have it.

c) Air . . . the key (contrary to what some folks have said here) is to have well seasoned wood and use the air control to gain both BTUs and time . . . getting the firebox up to temp and then throttling back the air will result in maximum BTUs coming from the stove . . . and the secondary action will last longer . . . trust me . . . I've seen this. Using green wood may result in longer burns, but it can suffocate the fire and create more creosote.

The key really is utilizing the ash, getting well seasoned wood so you can get the seconedary action and then using the air to give you the time and BTUs where you want it -- your home.

I wish I could have had you stay overnight with me . . . last night I threw some "junk wood" into the firebox around 9 or 9:30 when I went to bed . . . mostly some odd ball pieces and chunks of elm, maple and ash . . . didn't load the stove to the gills or anything . . . woke up this morning around 4:30 . . . no glowing coals . . . but when I stirred the ash there were enough embers to get some newspaper and kindling going without using a match . . . within 10 minutes I had the stove back up to 450 or so (of course it was only down to 150 or so when I started.) As I said . . . this was done without loading the stove up with the premium wood or using large splits or rounds . . . just chunks . . . the key however was I had plenty of ash in the firebox from the fire my wife had going all day long.
 
A really well written post Jake. Thanks for taking the time to put that together.
 
Skier76 said:
A really well written post Jake. Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

I'm a government employee . . . we have lots of time on our hands. ;) :)

Actually, all kidding aside, I figure helping folks burn cleanly and safely and efficiently . . . regardless of where they live . . . is important.

Besides . . . I learned a whole lot from other members when I was a newbie and first starting out . . . and I'm still learning (re: learning about the top coming off the Oslo in that recent thread) . . . figure this is just one way to give something back to others . . . and hopefully they'll stick around and offer good advice to others.
 
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