I've read about some amazing burn times with larger epa stoves here on hearth.com. I hear about englander 30 and blaze king owners getting 12-16-20 hours of good heat.
The operation of the newer EPA stoves is somewhat new to me. As I understand it, the secondary burn occurs when the fuel is heated to the point where it begins to off gas. This gas is then mixed with the oxygen that introduced towards the top of the firebox which results in the secondary burn. When operating these larger stoves how is the secondary burn managed? Once the stove is up to temperature (400+) (which I imagine happens within the first hour) doesn't all the off gassing occur within the next say 2-4 hours? Thus the stove has the secondary burn engaged for less than 5 hours? Is there a way to damp down the stove so that you get a longer period of secondary burn time?
I'm still in the process of learning my new castine. It's my goal to run the stove hard early (run up to 650) then let it cruise for 4-5 hours back down to 300 or so. To burn efficiently should I always try to get a good secondary burn going? Sometimes I just want to maintain a 350-400 stove top by throwing in a split over a coal bed. When I do this the split burns well but It usually doesn't result in a row of blue jets up top. Is running the stove this way a problem/inefficient?
Thanks hearth.com
The operation of the newer EPA stoves is somewhat new to me. As I understand it, the secondary burn occurs when the fuel is heated to the point where it begins to off gas. This gas is then mixed with the oxygen that introduced towards the top of the firebox which results in the secondary burn. When operating these larger stoves how is the secondary burn managed? Once the stove is up to temperature (400+) (which I imagine happens within the first hour) doesn't all the off gassing occur within the next say 2-4 hours? Thus the stove has the secondary burn engaged for less than 5 hours? Is there a way to damp down the stove so that you get a longer period of secondary burn time?
I'm still in the process of learning my new castine. It's my goal to run the stove hard early (run up to 650) then let it cruise for 4-5 hours back down to 300 or so. To burn efficiently should I always try to get a good secondary burn going? Sometimes I just want to maintain a 350-400 stove top by throwing in a split over a coal bed. When I do this the split burns well but It usually doesn't result in a row of blue jets up top. Is running the stove this way a problem/inefficient?
Thanks hearth.com