I think I just need to......

[herdbull]

Load it and leave it! This is my first full year of burning with the insert, I'm more green than a live standing maple tree, I know that. But I'm catching on - lol.

I started thinking that it seems like when I'm home for the weekend (3 days), I'm loading a few splits in every 2 hours or so. But yet every night when I go to bed I load her up, shut down the damper & blower and wake to a 70 degree house 7 or 8 hours later. And a nice bed of coals to boot. This current way uses probably a half dozen more splits a day than the proposed way. Over a season that would really add up.

So why can't I do that during the weekends when I'm home all day? I dunno (shrug). I guess I just like to fidget with stuff too much. If the temp drops a half a degree I put another split or 2 on and get more heat. I guess maybe impatience is part of my problem.

So I'm doing a little experiment this weekend and see if it saves any wood. I've also toyed with the idea of turning the blower completely off. It appears initially the temp drops within the first hour or so but then holds and even climbs a bit. I know they have blowers for a reason but why run it if the house stays warm without it?

It's kind of surprising how well this house holds heat for a 35 year old log home. It's not very efficient and I've seen what's in the ceiling for insulation, R-20 at best and this thing is/was drafty. But I have made tremendous improvements in sealing it up. I think what helps it is it's a very open concept. Almost totally open up stairs so this little 1101 is just about the right size. It's 6 sided with 16' ceiling in the middle and the FP in the middle of the room. There's only 1 bathroom and 1 bedroom upstairs, the rest is all basically one room.

So hopefully after this weekend I'll be a little wiser.

 

[PapaDave]

With 15 posts, you've probably been welcomed, but Welcome to the Hearth, from me too.
I did that routine the first couple years. Sit down, get up and load stove, sit down, get up and load stove, etc., etc. until I was dizzy.
I still have to get up and futz with the air every once in a while, but I put in a few splits and once going, leave it alone for at least a couple hours. Depends on the weather, of course.

 

[tcassavaugh]

After the novelty wears off, and the paranora of having a fire in the house subsides, you will be fine. I still tinker a bit with each new load i put on unless i have a full bed of coals and i know it will eventually get back up to temp. I get double the fun because i have the controls on the stove and a damper in the pipe. allows almost an infinate number of combinations to play with. Hang in there, soon you won't need to mess with it all the time anymore.

jmho

cass

 

[Joey]

I also tried to keep the blower off on my insert. It works great in the shoulder season,,,but during the freezin cold,,,it just cant heat the entire house. You will be amazed at how hot your insert will get without runnin the blower. The blower takes so much heat out of the machine. Would love to run with the blower off at all times,,,,but just cant do it with a insert. My next stove will be fre standing for sure. Keep your eyes on your temp gauge if your not gonna be using the blower, its a huge difference.

 

[remkel]

Yup, I agree with you. Load it and leave it- save for tinkering with the air controls etc.

I usually get the load going, then check on the stove a couple of times to ensure it is running smoothly and to make some small adjustments along the way. Makes for a more efficient burn cycle and saves me some effort of traveling down to the basement.

I believe burning in a stove should be a hobby, not a job. If I had to load every two hours it would be considered a job.

 

[Jags]

Around the forum it is common to refer to this as the burn cycle - and most seasoned burners do it this way (or a slight variation).

Load stove
Full open air
Light
Char for 15 min. or until operational temp has been hit.
Tune down primary air for the long haul (outgassing stage)
Go do other things.
Return to stove when coaling stage is dropping the stove temp below required heat level.

Repeat, without the "lighting up" stage.

You will drive yourself insane and use more wood with the onesy/twosy method.

 

[firefighterjake]

One thing I learned a long time ago is to stop playing with it . . .







It just works better sometimes when you take a "set it and forget it" approach.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Load it and leave it! This is my first full year of burning with the insert, I'm more green than a live standing maple tree, I know that. But I'm catching on - lol.

I started thinking that it seems like when I'm home for the weekend (3 days), I'm loading a few splits in every 2 hours or so. But yet every night when I go to bed I load her up, shut down the damper & blower and wake to a 70 degree house 7 or 8 hours later. And a nice bed of coals to boot. This current way uses probably a half dozen more splits a day than the proposed way. Over a season that would really add up.

So why can't I do that during the weekends when I'm home all day? I dunno (shrug). I guess I just like to fidget with stuff too much. If the temp drops a half a degree I put another split or 2 on and get more heat. I guess maybe impatience is part of my problem.

Herdbull, you pretty much nailed it when you stated that you can load that thing and go to bed then to get up and find a nice bed of coals. Well, if it works that way at night without any fiddling, then it makes sense that it would be the same results during the day or perhaps even better because you do not need as much heat during the daytime.

Get over the novelty and let the stove do the work. That stove is just another tool and I learned a long time ago that if you are using a tool, then let the tool do the work. You only guide it. In this case, you guide it by using the draft control. Relax and enjoy. You will also use less wood doing it this way.

 

[herdbull]

Thanks guys. So the experiment went quite well so far today. But now I have another question on the 1101. I picked up a magnetic thermometer today. Can't really believe I was running without one. But on about 3/4 load, damper shut all the way down and blower on low she went to around 575. Tomorrow I'm gonna see what a full load gets me too.

The thermometer is mounted on the stove front, upper lh corner. It's about the only flat spot there is and the insert sits almost flush with my hearth so there is no way to get it on the actual top of the stove. I haven't seen too many people running these inserts on here so I'm curious as to where's a good point to be concerned? Maybe 700 degrees?

 

[WoodpileOCD]

My attitude is that you do whatever you enjoy doing with the fire for wherever you are in your experience/curiosity/energy/intrigue/ability etc. All my life I've enjoyed poking and messing with fires. I'm just learning my stove so I'm having a hard time keeping my hands off of it as well but enjoying it tremendously. When it loses it's novelty and you/I have finished our experimenting and found out what works best, we'll move on to a load it and forget it cycle like I did with my old one. For now, just enjoy the learning curve and who cares if you use a few more splits of wood this season, unless you are really short. Like most things I've found that unless I mess with it a good bit, I won't learn all of the idiosyncrasies and personality of this little piece of hell in our homes.

 

[snowleopard]

It's kind of surprising how well this house holds heat for a 35 year old log home.

Log homes usually have great thermal mass, and make for very comfy surroundings--once you get the logs up to temp. If you can keep them warm, you're going to stay comfortable.

I burned through a lot more wood at the beginning of the learning curve, overheating the hearth room and then letting the fires die down so the upstairs didn't have a chance to get warm. I learned by trial and error (mostly latter) to manage the fire a lot better, and am getting consistent heat throughout the house and over the course of the day (and night).

Takes time, and we all get ashes on our noses and burn unexpected pieces of ourselves, but you, too, will be a firewit soon.