New stove, wow...learning curve.
Other than shutting down the air earlier and loading e/w, how can I get low and long burn times?
Other than shutting down the air earlier and loading e/w, how can I get low and long burn times?
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80 @ 2:30am
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EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Bigger splits might help. I think air flow in the fire box ( and how we load it affects that a great deal) has an impact on burn time.
If I block my primary air with a big split the load takes off slower. I am always closing my air down too soon and choking the secondaries off. So I’m well practiced at finding that right moment to shut it down all the way. I have found that a couple pieces of kindling on the bottom and top of a reload light off the secondary combustion sooner meaning I can close down the air sooner. Can’t say I’ve tracked the burn time with or without the extra kindling. Heat content of the coal bed can affect how fast my load lights off.
It’s easy to burn hot and fast. Slow and low takes practice in a non-cat-stove. Ever seen a motorcycle slow race? Yeah that’s what it’s like.
If I block my primary air with a big split the load takes off slower. I am always closing my air down too soon and choking the secondaries off. So I’m well practiced at finding that right moment to shut it down all the way. I have found that a couple pieces of kindling on the bottom and top of a reload light off the secondary combustion sooner meaning I can close down the air sooner. Can’t say I’ve tracked the burn time with or without the extra kindling. Heat content of the coal bed can affect how fast my load lights off.
It’s easy to burn hot and fast. Slow and low takes practice in a non-cat-stove. Ever seen a motorcycle slow race? Yeah that’s what it’s like.
I think that denser woods like White Oak, Dogwood or Black Locust might gas slower, especially at the beginning, but I haven't yet tested that theory on my SIL's new secondary stove..
Mech e
Feeling the Heat
I have been working through this as well. 2nd season with this stove. Big splits definitely help increase burn time. The other thing I have been doing is noting the coal bed when I add wood before bed. If the coal bed is still fairly large and hot, I add wood and completely close the air control. At 2:30 AM, yep, it's 80 degrees (-8. If I can wait for the coal bed to die down more before adding wood I still shut the air control completely but the wood burns more slowly. However, I get more smoke and the secondaries do not kick in. The glass also gets dirty overnight. so the burn is not a clean one.
My best approach so far is adding large splits to a hot coal bed, yielding a clean burn and longest burn time. I can usually go 7-8 hours overnight and get things going again in the morning by adding smaller splits to the remaining coal bed.
My best approach so far is adding large splits to a hot coal bed, yielding a clean burn and longest burn time. I can usually go 7-8 hours overnight and get things going again in the morning by adding smaller splits to the remaining coal bed.
As I said, I'm learning secondary burning as well, but I'm wondering, if you have quite a few coals can you shove them to the back of the box, so less of the new load gets burning immediately, as would happen if you put a big load on a coal bed that was spread out evenly over the entire floor of the box?
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