Getting Soapstone to 400+

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bcnu

New Member
Dec 1, 2006
495
In my first year with of wooding and have a HS Homestead. I've been experimenting but would like to narrow that curve, so here's my question:
What is the quickest was to get to/past 400 degrees (measured on top of stove) so the stove can put out that great heat? The wood I have is a mixture of ash, fir and some really dry oak. I have kindling, small splits etc, but find that it usually takes me a long time to go from say 175-400 degrees. I wonder if I'm not using the air intake lever correctly - or perhaps optimally? I know there are many variables but hope to get some ideas on how to limit them.
 
In general, the more air to a fire, the faster and hotter it burns. You also go through wood faster however.
 
My best results have been to get it going aggressively at full throttle for just under 30 minutes and then damper to 50% and let it keep ripping. The 50% cut back doesn't really seem to make a difference in visible flames but I believe that less heat is rushing through the chimney. The first 30 minutes of full throttle heat the chimney and establish the strong draft.

I will fill the box with a log cabin style of 3 inch splits right to the tubes to create a raging inferno. No probelm getting to 450 after a couple of hours but it takes significantly more time to get to 500.

Basicly, be more aggressive about leaving the draft open and filling the firebox with smaller wood.
 
When I had my Homestead and wanted it hot, I'd fill it up to the gills with medium sized splits, burn on high for about 15-20 minutes, turn air down to about half, then tweek the air down from there as the temps rise. I could get her up to 600 sometimes. If you burn it wide open too long, most of the heat goes up the chimney.
 
Sounds like I may be shutting the air control too quickly. But it seems like it really rips thru the wood when left open to half or above. Is it something like a stick shift where "granny gear" is wide open to get going, then shifting thru until I hit overdrive when completely closed down? What about using a mix of splits and say, pallet wood? OR, am I back to the air control as the best/quicket way to get the temp up?
 
I have an inline dampner on the stove pipe and throttle that back about 50% with full air on the stove and it holds neat better and climbs faster.
 
It usually take me about an hour to get to 450. I really don't like to get past 450 because it is too hot for the house, and I am paranoid about the soapstone. I found here in the last couple of weeks, that once I reach the 400-450 temp, I can usually close the vent down most of the way and get a L o n g burn time. Load that baby up, get it to temp, and close the vent all the way down, and open it up about a quarter inch, to one half inch and keep it there. I have found that it will hold the 400 degree temp for a couple of hours, and then slowly coast down to 300 after 5 hours of so, all with a huge pile of coals. A good 6-8 hours burn time. Not as long as the burn time with the vent closed, but it does have other advantages that make up for it. With the vent all the way down, the coals don't seem to get hot enough to keep the temperature up, and then you are left with a pile of ash and hard unburned coals. With the vent open just ever so slight, all the big coals that seemed never to burn, burn down to a fine ash. With the current burning style, I haven't cleaned any ash out in 3 weeks. No lie. Try it out and see if works for you guys. I have burning mostly Red Oak with this method seasoned out 2 years, but it still works with Locust that is seasoned out 18 months, and White Ash seasoned out 9 months. The Ash was seasoned out in a Holzhausen.
 
My first year with a homestead as well. I love this lifestyle, although I didn't realize that it is a huge part time job.

I find that once I get the temp up to 300, it does not take long to go past 400 and often into the 500s, if you have hot coals by:

A) adding pallet wood until the firebox is ~20% full, opening the intake to about 50% for 1-2 minutes, then shutting all the way down . . . it appears that after a short time, the smoke combusts which seems to add lots of heat;

B) fill the firebox with mixed hardwood (most of my wood is scrounged from a plethora of sources), open intake to 1/2 or 3/4 for ~5 minutes. Then close to 1/4 or 1/2 for 5 minutes, then close all the way. This takes much longer, but clearly the temp stays high for longer . . . just keep an eye on the stove and be prepared to blow a box fan on it if it inches toward 600 . . . I had this happen twice and the intake was closed as far as it would go. Box fan works though.

Currently I am burning wood that is 7 months seasoned because, like many, I didn't plan properly for my first year. My goal is to burn 1 year old wood next season, and 2 year old wood in 2009-2010 and from then on . . . I'm not buying wood unless I'm desperate or get hurt and can't process my own.

I really hope that burning dryer wood will make a BIG difference . . . can't get a full overnight burn and I hope that dryer wood will accomplish a longer burn OR the wood will give off more heat, thus driving the overnight temp higher so that I don't quite need a full overnight burn. Currently overnight burn peaks between 510 and 600 (most often 530-540) before inching down.

I'm also open to suggestions.
 
FYI, just had a stovetop temp of 290 exactly 1 hour ago. Closed the intake all the way, stuffed the box as much as I could and just left the intake closed for my overnight burn.

After that 1 hour the stovetop temp is 520 and climbing.
 
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