quigleybmd said:
Hi, I just got a new Jotul 550, and have a question about how much wood I can load at once.
I have seasoned, split, hardwood and so far I've only been putting a few pieces in at a time.
I've been getting pretty good fires, but have been getting soot on the glass, and I'm wondering
if I should load more wood in to get it to burn hotter. But I don't want it to overfire (is that possible?).
I haven't been running it 24/7 ... just some evenings and weekends. So I don't really need to load a lot
to keep it burning overnight - but when it is burning I want to make sure it's running hot enough that
I'm not getting any creosote build up (and I'm worried that the soot on the glass could be a symptom of that).
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks very much. Mike
Welcome to the forum Mike.
Hot fires are usually the best way to go. How much wood to put in depends upon how much heat you require and how long you want the fire to burn.
The first thing I notice about your post that sends a signal is the soot on the glass. First, that is easy to get off by using a newspaper, dampen it, dip it into the ash and lightly rub that black right off. It is easy and cheap. Just make sure you cool the stove first as you don't need to get all burned when doing it.
Definitely your wood has to come into consideration here. You say it is seasoned, split hardwood but that really does not say much at all about it. It does sound as if you may have purchased this wood from a wood seller and if so I can almost guarantee that wood is not seasoned and ready to burn. You were just told it was seasoned.
What type of wood is it? Hardwood does not say much because any tree that loses its leaves is a hardwood. So that also means something like willow is a hardwood as is popple. Yet, these are very poor choices for wood burning. Oak is much better but there can be some big problems with it too. For one, oak needs to be cut, split and stacked out in the wind for 3 years before it will burn good. The reward is worth the wait but this does not help a new wood burner at all.
In short, to season wood for burning, it needs to be cut to length AND SPLIT before it will begin to dry. Time and wind are your friends then. Stack the wood up off the ground and stack it so the wind will hit the sides of the stacks and then let Mother Nature take over.
But all that probably won't help you this year. You probably will have to baby that thing along this year. Some folks have good luck getting pallets and cutting them up to mix in with the wood and it will work but is a lot of work cutting them up too.
You have the right idea about running the stove hot to keep away from creosote but do not think you have to leave the draft full open or even close to it. It is in the early stages of the fire when you get the smoke and gasses. In the early stage is also when you have the draft open a good ways. Once the fire becomes established is when you dial that draft down. If you don't dial it down, much of your heat will simply go up the chimney rather than in your house. So dial it down after the fire gets going good.
Try to find drier wood if you can but that is a difficult task.
This also is a wake up call. Get next years wood on hand, split and stacked, as soon as you possibly can.