Fire Starting Question - How fast does your stove get to 400 degrees?

[whodaman]

All,
If your stove is cold and starting a new fire. How fast does it typically take to get the stove to 400 degrees? I'm just curious as I'm learning to burn in my new wood stove and would like some benchmarks. I know there are all kinds of variables here, but I guess an average would be cool
thanks,
Dan

 

[Nick Mystic]

My Woodstock Classic on our lower level will get the top up to 400 degrees F in about 15 - 30 minutes if I manage to get the ratio of kindling and splits correct when I fire it up. I just bought an IR thermometer this weekend and while trying it out I noticed that the top of the Woodstock Classic got up to 400 F while the front was still only 100 F.

 

[ArsenalDon]

typically 15 min

 

[Wood Duck]

You are probably asking about the stovetop temperature. I think stovetop temperature lags behind the interior temperature, and therefore isn't a good judge of how hot the stove is when the interior temperature is rapidly changing.

I'd say it takes about half and hour at least for my stovetop thermometer to read 400 degrees when starting cold.

 

[tfdchief]

Wow, that is a hard one. Maybe 15 minutes average, but it's all over the board, depending on all the variables.

 

[brian89gp]

5-10 minutes if the draft doesn't blow the kindling out. I have a 40' flue.

 

[NortheastAl]

That is a difficult question t answer because of all the variable of stove construction. I have firebrick as the baffle material whereas some have a steel plate or a ceramic mat. In my case it can take up t a half hour because of all the heat the firebrick has to absorb throughout the stove in order to pass it on to the outer steel top.

You might want to keep a log of types of wood, outdoor temps and so on to see what you could expect on average from your stove.

 

[pen]

For me, it varies quite a bit depending on how large the splits are I'm using to get things started and how well the draft is (if it's 10 degrees or 40 degrees out). In all, I've just never paid attention to how long it takes to that given temp. On average, I can have the stove settled into a cruise at about 550-600 in 35 minutes so that I'm comfortable to walk away from it. I still allot myself at least 45.

 

[whodaman]

You are probably asking about the stovetop temperature. I think stovetop temperature lags behind the interior temperature, and therefore isn't a good judge of how hot the stove is when the interior temperature is rapidly changing.

I'd say it takes about half and hour at least for my stovetop thermometer to read 400 degrees when starting cold.

yes, I was talking about stove top temp. I have the thermometer right on the stove top of my osburn 2400. I don't know if that's the best place for it or not. Just saw some other posts on here from other guys that place it there.

 

[corey21]

About 10 minutes for the Mag.

 

[TradEddie]

If I'm using lots of kindling and everything goes just right, 15 minutes. However when things are heating up that fast it is obvious that the stovetop temperature will be lagging as an indicator of internal temperatures. On a fast heat, I can reduce the air and see secondaries burning when the stovetop is below 300, on a slower heat up the ignition point for secondary burn won't happen until the stovetop is almost 400.

TE

 

[begreen]

For our large stove this totally depends on the wood species, how it is loaded (N/S vs E/W), how tightly it is packed, how dry the wood is and how quickly I want to start shutting down the air for a longer burn.

The T6 has a lot of iron hanging on it that acts a a heat sink so my times would vary from maybe 30-60 minutes. I might be able get that down to 20 minutes, but it would require a loose load of small splits. This year I've been going for lower slower and longer burns, and I prefer to let it warm up slower. Seems less stressful for the metals, but maybe not.

 

[ScotO]

I honestly can't answer that as it hasn't gone out the whole way since October. But if I had to make an edjumicated guess, I'd say between 10 to 15 minutes or so.....depending on the outside temps and weather, etc......

 

[etiger2007]

yes, I was talking about stove top temp. I have the thermometer right on the stove top of my osburn 2400. I don't know if that's the best place for it or not. Just saw some other posts on here from other guys that place it there.

Your good placing the therm there, my manual says heat reading should be taken on the stove top.

 

[WES999]

Just timed it, came home and the stove slightly warm (85) , loaded it with some pallet wood and kindling, it took 9 min to reach 400.
One benefit of a small stove is it heats up fast.

 

[Highbeam]

Big cat stove gets loaded with big splits. Since you can't engage the cat (the major heat maker) until the flue temps are quite hot it takes a long time to get the stove hot. An easy hour from cold. Thing is, if you're doing things right, it will never get cold on accident.

 

[CT Pellet]

Takes about six hours or so.....She cruises right along at 600+ and after about 6 hours she will dip down to 400, just in time to stuff her full again.

 

[xman23]

It takes a while to get a cold Oslo to 400. It all depends how well I get the 1st load started and then how loosely I can fill the fire box on the 2ed and 3rd reloads. If the splits aren't positioned correctly the fire will be very slow at taking off. A warm stove and a bed of coals it's hard to do anything wrong. I've run other stoves that get hotter much faster, but they cool down faster as well.