colder weather means more air needed to burn?

[par0thead151]

i may be way off, and this very well may have to do with the wood i am burning(it is a mixed lot of oak, ash, and elm)
however i have noticed, that as the days grow colder here in Wisconsin(its 22 ourside right now) it seems like the wood burns faster. is this all in my head and/or just related to my wood ? or does the cold require more air flow to achieve the same heat levels in the stove?
thanks

 

[begreen]

Actually, it's that the flue is working better at cooler temps. Cold air is going to increase the pressure difference between the warm interior of the house and the outside. This increases draft or the suction on your flue. Thus the stove appears to be taking in more air.

 

[par0thead151]

Actually, it's that the flue is working better at cooler temps. Cold air is going to increase the pressure difference between the warm interior of the house and the outside. This increases draft or the suction on your flue. Thus the stove appears to be taking in more air.

what i have noticed are 2 things.
1.) my wood burns faster
2.) i need to allow more air to achieve a 600 degree+ burn.

 

[begreen]

That sounds like when I switch to alder, pine or poplar. Are you burning a different wood species?

 

[Sealcove]

Does the density of cold air also play a role here?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I believe the density of the cold air is the reason why the flue works better. It makes the hot air that much more lighter than the cold air. Now if you were talking about the feed side, unless you have a OAK I don't think it would make a difference since you are drawing in room air.

Matt

 

[northwinds]

Actually, it's that the flue is working better at cooler temps. Cold air is going to increase the pressure difference between the warm interior of the house and the outside. This increases draft or the suction on your flue. Thus the stove appears to be taking in more air.

what i have noticed are 2 things.
1.) my wood burns faster
2.) i need to allow more air to achieve a 600 degree+ burn.

It makes sense to me that your wood would burn faster at the same air setting, if you have increased draft
at lower temperatures. But that condition means I usually reduce my primary air, not increase it to maintain
the same burn. Cruising at 650 tonight with the Isle Royale with a big unsplittable elm round in the back.

I'm not quite used to these colder temperatures. Heading down to 11 in southern Wisconsin, and cut down
our Christmas tree this afternoon. Cold enough to make everything shrivel.

 

[par0thead151]

Actually, it's that the flue is working better at cooler temps. Cold air is going to increase the pressure difference between the warm interior of the house and the outside. This increases draft or the suction on your flue. Thus the stove appears to be taking in more air.

what i have noticed are 2 things.
1.) my wood burns faster
2.) i need to allow more air to achieve a 600 degree+ burn.

It makes sense to me that your wood would burn faster at the same air setting, if you have increased draft
at lower temperatures. But that condition means I usually reduce my primary air, not increase it to maintain
the same burn. Cruising at 650 tonight with the Isle Royale with a big unsplittable elm round in the back.

I'm not quite used to these colder temperatures. Heading down to 11 in southern Wisconsin, and cut down
our Christmas tree this afternoon. Cold enough to make everything shrivel.

im in the milwaukee area as well...
its going to 11 tonight... well this should be a good test of if i can heat my home with just the enviro 1700....
so far i am holding 65 in the lower level with the stove roaring away... however i just got home 2 hours ago, and it was fairly well burned down when i got home form work.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a good time to bust out the serious hardwood. And in WI some beer and cheese.

 

[par0thead151]

Sounds like a good time to bust out the serious hardwood. And in WI some beer and cheese.

i dont have any "serious hardwood"
this is my first season, and i took any and all wood i could get my hands on.
the best i have is some buckthorne and birch.
the rest is a lot of ash but was stacked in 9' logs for a few years.

 

[colsmith]

Seems like there are a lot of cheeseheads here. I am another big supporter of cheese and beer. Have to support the local economy.

 

[Valhalla]

The colder weather brings more heat loss
from your house. Therefore, more heat output
from your stove is needed. So you add air and
fuel.

BTUs lost = BTUs gained. Otherwise your
house gets cold. Keep warm.

 

[northwinds]

I agree that more fuel equals more BTU's. More air will bring the temperature higher
in the beginning of the burn cycle. More of those BTU's are going up the chimney.

If I'm looking for maximum heat, I'll start shutting the air down at 600 instead of 500,
and I might run it longer at half air to get it up to 650-700, but then my sweet spot
for maintaining that burn is a more restricted primary air setting when it's cold out.
I had a nice ten hour burn last night, clean glass, and my 2100 square foot house only
dropped a few degrees by 7 a.m on a cold night. A comfortable 65 for sleeping.
Now we're back up to 650 stovetop, and the cycle begins again.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sounds like a good time to bust out the serious hardwood. And in WI some beer and cheese.

i dont have any "serious hardwood"
this is my first season, and i took any and all wood i could get my hands on.
the best i have is some buckthorne and birch.
the rest is a lot of ash but was stacked in 9' logs for a few years.

I don't understand. First you stated, "...the wood i am burning(it is a mixed lot of oak, ash, and elm)." And now you state, "...the best i have is some buckthorne and birch.
the rest is a lot of ash..."

What is it that you are burning? And why do you feel that buckthorne and birch are better than oak? What is wrong with ash?

Different types of wood can and will require different amounts of draft to burn properly. For example, if we burn soft maple we can almost close the draft. If we burn ash, it takes quite a bit more draft to burn right.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

MIL asked if it was cold outside. I opened the door and pointed out it was snowing. :lol: There was a look of dread on her face.

Matt

 

[par0thead151]

Sounds like a good time to bust out the serious hardwood. And in WI some beer and cheese.

i dont have any "serious hardwood"
this is my first season, and i took any and all wood i could get my hands on.
the best i have is some buckthorne and birch.
the rest is a lot of ash but was stacked in 9' logs for a few years.

I don't understand. First you stated, "...the wood i am burning(it is a mixed lot of oak, ash, and elm)." And now you state, "...the best i have is some buckthorne and birch.
the rest is a lot of ash..."

What is it that you are burning? And why do you feel that buckthorne and birch are better than oak? What is wrong with ash?

Different types of wood can and will require different amounts of draft to burn properly. For example, if we burn soft maple we can almost close the draft. If we burn ash, it takes quite a bit more draft to burn right.

im not that great at ID'ing trees/wood right now(first season burning)
and i scrounged most of my wood from friends and family.
i know i have a nice big stack of buckthorne as it is easy to ID vs other woods(and it is not as large as other wood(my buckthorne is about 2-4" in diameter)
i know i have a a birch tree that i fell and cut and split. the rest was wood cut a few years ago on my family's property that was stacked in 6-9' lengths uncut and unsplit. that lot is the one i am not sure what wood i have

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I don't know if I ever have a homogenous load of wood in the stove at any one time. What goes in is what is pulled off the top of the stack.

As to different species of wood, who cares? As long as it throws off heat it's good in my book. I'm always happier when I scrounge a dense, btu packed piece of firewood, but if I only get pine, it'll still keep my family warm.

Matt

 

[Valhalla]

I agree that more fuel equals more BTU's. More air will bring the temperature higher
in the beginning of the burn cycle. More of those BTU's are going up the chimney.

If I'm looking for maximum heat, I'll start shutting the air down at 600 instead of 500,
and I might run it longer at half air to get it up to 650-700, but then my sweet spot
for maintaining that burn is a more restricted primary air setting when it's cold out.
I had a nice ten hour burn last night, clean glass, and my 2100 square foot house only
dropped a few degrees by 7 a.m on a cold night. A comfortable 65 for sleeping.
Now we're back up to 650 stovetop, and the cycle begins again.

There is also heat loss in BTUs through your roof, walls, windows, etc. So the
BTU / per hour output of your fine stove will replace that lost. The heat up the
flue is unfortuately wasted. Heat always goes toward cold. So we humans have
to replace it in the winter with our neat wood stoves or other heating devices.
Right also, as the more fuel burned the more air is needed to maintain optimum
combustion. Much like the air/fuel ratio is maintained in a gasoline engine.

Glad to hear that you get long burns and home heating with your Quadra-Fire.
How was it last winter during below zero temps? My Olso is on duty a first time
as we wanted more BTUs than the Encore NC could produce. My older bones crave
more heat! But, we still love the north country!

Keep warm and enjoy this great weather!

 

[northwinds]

Glad to hear that you get long burns and home heating with your Quadra-Fire.
How was it last winter during below zero temps? My Olso is on duty a first time
as we wanted more BTUs than the Encore NC could produce. My older bones crave
more heat! But, we still love the north country!

Keep warm and enjoy this great weather!

I didn't need to use my furnace to keep up with the below zero temps, but it's more
challenging. I need to get the house up to about 76 before bedtime, and then load
it up around 10 p.m. At 6 a.m., the house drops to about 62, and I had to sometimes
fight with burning down coals for the morning load.

The Oslo is a beautiful stove and heater.

 

[Valhalla]

Glad that you can keep the heat overnite. At zero and below I will refuel to
keep at max. Then we go into the coldest time time, just before sunrise, with
full heat output.

Your home must be very well insulated and have a layout condusive for a wood
burner. Glad it works well for you.

 

[northwinds]

Your home must be very well insulated and have a layout condusive for a wood
burner. Glad it works well for you.

It is, and I have one more heating season to enjoy it. Next year, we'll be moving
to a home with more land around it but less insulation in it.