Fasest way to get the stove hot

[Bspring]

Should I give it plenty of air to get the most heat or do I actually get more heat when I cut the air supply down?

 

[Jags]

My practice is to run wide open till I get over 500F, then half air till up to operating temp, then clamp air down for long cruise.

 

[Battenkiller]

Should I give it plenty of air to get the most heat or do I actually get more heat when I cut the air supply down?

Too much air will cool the fire down and send wasted heat up the flue. You only want enough air for complete combustion to occur. Once the stove is real hot and combustion reactions are proceeding vigorously, you will need less excess air inside the box than you do at the beginning. Get it hot then step it down works for most wood heaters.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well the fastest way to get the stove hot would be to place a 5-gallon bucket of gasoline and diesel inside and touch it off . . . but I am NOT recommending this . . . just trying to be funny . . . obviously this is very UNSAFE and not the proper thing to do.

So now that I'm done being a wisea@$ . . . how I get my stove going is to leave the door ajar and the air open all the way . . . once the temp in the flue is hot enough I close the side door and wait to see if the fire is still going strong . . . typically at this point the fire will die down a bit and then take off . . . and the temp on the stove will rise a bit.

In another 5-10 minutes I will close the air control 3/4 to halfway . . . and wait . . . and typically the stove temp will climb a bit more . . . this is usually when I start to hear the pinging and ticking of the metal ("the sound of heat" according to my wife) . . .

I then close down the stove to the quarter mark . . . and observe . . . and usually the stove continues to heat up . . . secondaries start firing (sometimes they start before this even) . . . eventually I can often get to the point where I can close the air all the way down . . . some folks can do so . . . some folks can only go to the quarter mark . . . the key is to make sure your secondaries are still firing and the fire isn't being snuffed out.

 

[Battenkiller]

Geez, Jags, even when I try to be brief I use four times as many words as you do to say the same thing. %-P

 

[pen]

It depends on fuel size and dryness, as well as what you are burning in. The others who already posted gave great advice as well.

However, are you asking about a wood stove or a furnace here? What type of unit?

pen

 

[Jags]

Geez, Jags, even when I try to be brief I use four times as many words as you do to say the same thing. %-P

Welcome to my world. I am a multitasking freak. I need to be able to be short, sweet and to the point or I can't keep up. I took two phone calls (and solved two problems) in the time it took for me to type this (and I type 60 words per min, but the phone calls interrupted my typing ). YEEE HAAW.

 

[Bspring]

Thanks, and yes I am asking about a wood stove.

 

[oldspark]

Fire (someone had to do it).

 

[Stephen in SoKY]

For me it would be a couple of splits of extra dry poplar but I assume pine or any other well seasoned soft wood would accomplish the same thing.

 

[pen]

What kind of wood stove? EPA stove w/ secondary burn? Catalytic Stove? Pre-Epa "Smoke Dragon"?

Brand?

pen

 

[woodchip]

Should I give it plenty of air to get the most heat or do I actually get more heat when I cut the air supply down?

I would avoid trying to get a stove hot too quickly, even when it's seasoned.

When warming up a stove, various stresses set in between the plates, and if you really roar it away from cold, you will find uneven heating could possibly cause air leaks in the seams where the plates join.

I reckon half an hour from cold to hot minimum with my stove, but I used to work on steam engine boilers which took 4 - 5 hours to heat gently before we really let go with the firebox, so I'm probably a bit cautious.

Caution is often a good thing in small doses....... ;-)

 

[leeave96]

My practice is to run wide open till I get over 500F, then half air till up to operating temp, then clamp air down for long cruise.

+1 for my Englander, though I might start cutting back at 400 degrees.

For the steel plate stove, I see no need to pace the get it hot burn. On my soapstone, I'm a little more careful.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[mayhem]

Dry wood, smaller and medium sized pieces. Light it, air control wide open and the door cracked for extra air.

When its up to temperature shut the door and close the air control down.

 

[Bspring]

It is an englander 13 nc-clp. I think it is a non-cat stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've operated a few stoves now and have not varied much in how we get them hot. Naturally, having good dry wood is the biggest key. Basically what we do is run the stove at full draft until the wood starts to char a bit and then usually cut the draft to about half. Then we watch the flue temperature along with the stove top temperature. If the flue temperature gets too high, cut that draft more. On our present stove this means 400 degree flue measured on a horizontal single wall pipe. Sometimes the temperature gets a bit above that 400 but 400 is what we aim for.

Others are correct. If you leave the draft full open, you are really heating the chimney and not getting the benefit of the stove heating sooner. Cut the draft and the stove will heat up much faster. However, much depends upon the fuel and the installation. Of course, chimney type and height are critical too.

And we start our fires using Super Cedars.

 

[bogydave]

I get a good fire burning, with the door cracked & get the flue hot then close the door tight with the stove on high for a few minutes.
I adjust to about 3/4 of wide open, for a few minutes. Stove is good & hot now.
Mine is catalytic, so then I engage the cat, get it hot then set for desired heat output.
Dry wood of course.

 

[Bspring]

How are you guys getting the temperature? Mine does not have a guage on it.

 

[Jags]

How are you guys getting the temperature? Mine does not have a guage on it.

Get one.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Magnetic thermometers. Condar is the ones I prefer.

 

[Bspring]

Thanks, I just ordered one.

 

[lillyrat]

With my Summit I have to slowly run the flue temp up to at least 500 (single wall magnetic therm) to get any heat out of the stovetop (above 550). Last year was my first year burning and was only able to get it up to 570. This year I have had it up to 660 and it hasn't been below freezing much. Seems to me that my wood may be not quite as good this year and it doesn't take off in a flaming inferno as quick as it did last year.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I've operated a few stoves now and have not varied much in how we get them hot. Naturally, having good dry wood is the biggest key. Basically what we do is run the stove at full draft until the wood starts to char a bit and then usually cut the draft to about half. Then we watch the flue temperature along with the stove top temperature. If the flue temperature gets too high, cut that draft more. On our present stove this means 400 degree flue measured on a horizontal single wall pipe. Sometimes the temperature gets a bit above that 400 but 400 is what we aim for.

Others are correct. If you leave the draft full open, you are really heating the chimney and not getting the benefit of the stove heating sooner. Cut the draft and the stove will heat up much faster. However, much depends upon the fuel and the installation. Of course, chimney type and height are critical too.

And we start our fires using Super Cedars.

I've never gotten the "door cracked open" thing. With my setup, the fire lights off faster with the door closed. Is that because I have near perfect draft, or is it somehow a characteristic of a small stove? Or maybe because I usually start smaller on the intial load and build up, and you guys are lighting off a full load from the get-go? What? I do find that I get noticeable heat faster from this little box if I start small and build up. I've learned NEVER to try to start a cold (OK, it's warm in the morning when I get up, but just barely) stove with big splits, so I use three or four 2 and max 3-inchers until it really gets going.

 

[firefighterjake]

How are you guys getting the temperature? Mine does not have a guage on it.

Magnetic thermo on the stove . . . probe style thermo for the double wall pipe. Big fan of thermos.

 

[Jags]

With my Summit I have to slowly run the flue temp up to at least 500 (single wall magnetic therm) to get any heat out of the stovetop (above 550). Last year was my first year burning and was only able to get it up to 570.

Just to confirm - you do realize that internal temp is roughly double the reading of the single wall surface? Your 500 surface is equal to 1000 internal and your 570 is equal to 1140. That is pretty darn high. :ahhh: