Burn times with softwood

[RedRanger]

On woodheat.org I poised the question on whether or not I would get the advertised 25-30% longer burn-time if I upgraded my 1985 pe insert. And I did state that I was burning softwood 99% of the time. Well "the man" said only a marginal difference,and only if I were upgrading from something like a franklin or some other totally inefficient stove or insert would there be much of a gain. I recognize that JG is the guru of wood burning in north america,but thought I might pose the question here as well?

Near as I can tell my firebox is 2.0 cu.ft. Through this past winter I have tried all the tricks, small splits mixed with big splits,north south loading, east west loading. You name it I have tried it. Best I can do is 4.5 hours between loads. Only time I got a 6hr burn was when I used some precious birch (hardwood).

So I`m wondering if any of you that burn exclusively softwoods, and the same size firebox get any longer burns.?? And if you do get a longer burn using just softwoods, what kind of insert are you using? I already know that I could get longer burning time with something like a summit with the larger firebox,but something like that would cook us out of the rec-room (15x26) with only 7.6ft ceiling. So, similiar firebox to mine, whats the best you can get with softwood??

 

[begreen]

Sounds about right to me, unless you are considering upgrading to a larger capacity firebox, like the Summit insert.

But perhaps I am not understanding what is meant here by burn time. Is this the period of meaningful heat, or from time of starting to just enough glowing coals to start another fire?

 

[WarmGuy]

That's about the same for me. I start it up around 7 AM, and I have just enough coals to get a fire going at noon.

 

[RedRanger]

Good to hear from you BG.. Basically, if I wait longer than 4.5 hours I can`t start a fire without newspaper and lots of kindling. And as you know, in our part of the continent, not much hardwood to be had around here. At least not here on Van.Isle. I`m not bemoaning my "old girl", she does put out lots of heat. I guess I just kinda envy those eastern folks with all that nice hardwood to burn. And hence, the longer burn time.

But then again, they don`t have the nice winter temps that we do. Sure learned a lot since joining this forum. eg. surprisingly, when it is above 50, it is actually more econonmical to fire-up the boiler for a half hour and raise the temp by 10 degrees , than it is to burn wood 16/7 to get the same result. Based that calc on cost per cu.ft, and cost to run the boiler for that short period.

And then again, there is that propane insert on the 3rd floor. It does get tricky trying to calculate when best to run that thing. But what else are we retired guys supposed to do with our time, other than buck and splilt wood,. ;-P And calculate and re-calculate the most efficient way to heat our homes.

 

[Todd]

Just to give you a little perspective on burn times on different types of firewood, I'e been burning Boxelder the last couple days since it's been kind of mild here. In comparison between a full load of Oak to a full load of Boxelder it's pretty much double the heat and burn times with the Oak. 8-12 hr reload schedule compared to 4-6 hrs. So yes, with the softer or lower BTU type firewoods you need a larger firebox to extend your burns.

 

[begreen]

Tom Oyen can give you more meaningful times for the new PE inserts burning NW wood. I thought you meant meaningful heat times. I think you can do better with the newer generation PEs. Our neighbor's Spectrum gets realistic 6-8 hrs burn times. The stove won't be too warm by then, but he has plenty coals for a restart. But he is not burning cedar. That is mostly with soft maple, alder.

 

[RedRanger]

Hey, really good to hear from Todd who doesn`t live near a nuke plant.. Hope you have forgiven me for that mistake?

Ya, I just cant justify the upgrade,specially burning softwood. Even though my insert has only burned 55 cords now, got to ask how do I check for cracks,etc in the steel without pulling the damn thing out? A bit off the topic of this post,but just thought I would pose that question?

Otherwise, considering where I live in a mostly moderate climate, just not going to spend the 3K total cost,including taxes, to get rid of my old faithful. We only burn 16/7 anyway. It really is a balancing act living here in the PNW as to what is most economical for the time? Like we have more shoulder seasons than you guys have real ones. So is it old-boiler today, or is it the propane insert for an hour or less, or burn wood 16/7? Todd, if I lived where you do, it would be a no-brainer for both of us, (2 wood burning inserts) But we just don`t have that kind of cold very often.

Anyway, going to go with JG`s advice,not just becaue he is a Canuck, but cause he so experienced in this stuff. And he isn`t trying to sell me anything!!