Burn Time Learn

[G6 at Snook TX]

My Jotul Castine f400 is burning wood faster than I expected. Perhaps the wood I am using is too small, but with the draft control nearly closed I can only get about two hours out of the thing. Admittedly, it is not packed to the gills like you can get away with in more northern climates. I noticed the hickory I tossed in it last night burned longer than the post oak.

This is a small stove compared to the Hearthstone, Blaze Kings, and Oslo I see on here, but to lengthen out a burn cycle for the nighttime should I go with the big uglies rather than smaller split wood?

Still learning the intricacies of this stove. I have figured out, however that the secondary burn and the ghost flames really got going when the breather control was down around 10% open.

 

[pen]

Many castine owners have reported that they basically need to run the stove in the closed air position. These are a small stove and they run hot. You are right that bigger uglies may help you extend burn time. Some experimenting w/ loading and positioning the hot coals in the stove will help also.

pen

 

[Todd]

Rake the coals forward and stick a big ugly down in back then fill in from there. This is how I get the longest burns in my little stove.

 

[adrpga498]

I use 3 or 4 splits ( lagrest ) that I can fit iinto the stove with a good bed of coals. Wait half hour for the stove to get up too 500* then reduce air intake to 50% . After all wood is charged I'll cut air down to 25% open. If you have good hard wood for the rear of stove split (largest in rear) you should have embers after 8 hours . Keep working at it you"ll get it.

 

[begreen]

My Jotul Castine f400 is burning wood faster than I expected. Perhaps the wood I am using is too small, but with the draft control nearly closed I can only get about two hours out of the thing. Admittedly, it is not packed to the gills like you can get away with in more northern climates. I noticed the hickory I tossed in it last night burned longer than the post oak.

This is a small stove compared to the Hearthstone, Blaze Kings, and Oslo I see on here, but to lengthen out a burn cycle for the nighttime should I go with the big uglies rather than smaller split wood?

Still learning the intricacies of this stove. I have figured out, however that the secondary burn and the ghost flames really got going when the breather control was down around 10% open.

For the longest burns, use large splits, stacked tightly, with smaller splits filling the gaps. With our setup, I had the air control set about the same as you when the weather was mild. As it got colder I could close it all the way. In cold weather (20's and below) with a hot stove and a moderate coal bed, I could turn down the air control 50-75% within 5 minutes, wait about 10 more, then close it all the way.

 

[babzog]

I use 3 or 4 splits ( lagrest ) that I can fit iinto the stove with a good bed of coals. Wait half hour for the stove to get up too 500* then reduce air intake to 50% . After all wood is charged I'll cut air down to 25% open. If you have good hard wood for the rear of stove split (largest in rear) you should have embers after 8 hours . Keep working at it you"ll get it.

Half an hour? OMG, if I let my Regency go half an hour wide open with a full load, I'd be in the smelting business.

Burning some dry poplar this fall and I've already had about 4 occasions were the fire quickly got up past 900 (think I burnt my new paint job - no longer shiny and it dusts off easily on my fingers). The open the door trick does work to cool things down quickly.

 

[G6 at Snook TX]

When manipulating the draft control, what should I reasonably expect to happen when I go from 1/4 open to nearly shut? How much of a temperature bump should I expect? I don't want to get it up to 550 then start to close off and end up at 700 with it shut.

 

[turbocruiser]

I use 3 or 4 splits ( lagrest ) that I can fit iinto the stove with a good bed of coals. Wait half hour for the stove to get up too 500* then reduce air intake to 50% . After all wood is charged I'll cut air down to 25% open. If you have good hard wood for the rear of stove split (largest in rear) you should have embers after 8 hours . Keep working at it you"ll get it.

Half an hour? OMG, if I let my Regency go half an hour wide open with a full load, I'd be in the smelting business.

Burning some dry poplar this fall and I've already had about 4 occasions were the fire quickly got up past 900 (think I burnt my new paint job - no longer shiny and it dusts off easily on my fingers). The open the door trick does work to cool things down quickly.

Me too; I typically load a 1/3 load or 1/2 load, let it loose for no more than twenty minutes at most and then go to 1/2 open air. I cannot imagine cramming the thing full and letting it loose with air all open for a full thirty minutes! YIKES. I don't even think (although I haven't tried this yet) loading a full load and letting it loose for twenty minutes would work well. My extremely limited experience is the Regencys tend to really run hot.