North South burning

[Bill]

In a recent forum discussion it was mentioned that burning N&S;burns longer. But my reasoning is if it burns longer, it's also burning cooler, so where is the advantage? I don't see one. I have never had a NS burning stove so can fellow Pyro's attest to this?

 

[savageactor7]

I'm a NS burner...you can load more without worry about logs rolling out. It's a preference...but I wouldn't burn with an EW stove if it was given to me. No intent to disparage those that so....just say'en

 

[fossil]

The way I understood it, it was actually the opposite. Since the combustion air on most stoves enters the firebox along the bottom front (beneath the door), if the splits are stacked N-S, the incoming airflow is directly against the ends. This (at least the way it was explained to me) will tend to result in a hotter, faster fire than if the splits were loaded E-W...with the same air setting. This seems to bear itself out in my experience. I am by no means a woodburner who's really careful about the exact orientation of the splits I load, nor do I have any quantitative data to offer up as evidence one way or the other. My fires tend to turn out pretty catawampus as I toss in re-loads. Rick

 

[Hogwildz]

The way I understood it, it was actually the opposite. Since the combustion air on most stoves enters the firebox along the bottom front (beneath the door), if the splits are stacked N-S, the incoming airflow is directly against the ends. This (at least the way it was explained to me) will tend to result in a hotter, faster fire than if the splits were loaded E-W...with the same air setting. This seems to bear itself out in my experience. I am by no means a woodburner who's really careful about the exact orientation of the splits I load, nor do I have any quantitative data to offer up as evidence one way or the other. My fires tend to turn out pretty catawampus as I toss in re-loads. Rick

Actually its not so much the ends, but the straight shots of air to go from air input at front along the spaces between the splits. More air over more surface = hotter burn.
I burn N-S and I still get great long burns.

With E-W, the air hits a wall off splits & less area( no tunnel effect), hence the theoretical slower burn.
N-S no matter what anyones opinion, does afford one to load more wood with less hassle & no danger of a split rolling out when opening or while door is open.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I'm more NS than EW as well. Seems easier to really stuff that SOB when I load NS. I think the firebox on mine is roughly square (insert) so I could do either.

 

[RedRanger]

Yes, my insert is designed for N/S 20" splits. I can understand how E/W might achieve a longer burn? but then I would be lying awake at nite wondering if a log has rolled up against the glass and broken it? Think I will continue to load N/S just for the "peace of mind"

 

[fossil]

...Actually its not so much the ends, but the straight shots of air to go from air input at front along the spaces between the splits. More air over more surface = hotter burn.
I burn N-S and I still get great long burns.

With E-W, the air hits a wall off splits & less area( no tunnel effect), hence the theoretical slower burn.
N-S no matter what anyones opinion, does afford one to load more wood with less hassle & no danger of a split rolling out when opening or while door is open.

Makes sense, Hog, and matches my experience. When I've tried for a good long burn (a real challenge for us softwood burners), I've jammed it full both ways, and it really doesn't seem to make a heck of a lot of difference in the end result. N-S certainly makes jamming it full an easier task with a fire going in it. After that, it's all about what I do with the air. Rick

 

[Henz]

N/S burns faster for me, E/W slower and its due to how my stove moves air from front to back. I typically load N/S though

 

[RedRanger]

& where can i get a magnetic compass for my stove?

Hey Pook : thanks for the how to link tip. Just tried posting that link in the ash can and yea, it worked.

 

[fossil]

& where can i get a magnetic compass for my stove?

Oh, gosh, Pook, any sporting goods store. I still have mine from Boy Scouts. But, of course, then you need to know what the declination is at your latitude & longitude. You can find that here:

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp

Just remember "True Virgins Make Dull Company at Weddings" to get from True to Magnetic, and

"Can Dead Men Vote Twice at Elections" to get from Magnetic to True.

Might be easier and more precise if you install a gyrocompass calibrated to read true north. I'm surprised your stove installer didn't use one. :lol: Rick

 

[Henz]

what the h_ll is everyone talking about here. Do you mean magnetic thermometer or something>?

 

[fossil]

i dont need to learn rockit science just where to get a magnetic compass

Well, they're not gonna sell you one unless you show them your certificate of satisfactory completion of the mandatory training course and after the required waiting period. Rick

 

[Adios Pantalones]

You open the door of the stove and load it (front loading)- are you now looking at the ends of the logs (that's NS) or the sides of the logs (that's EW).

 

[Henz]

Adios Pantalones just spoiled your fun fossil

 

[begreen]

Someone slipped something into pook's brownies.

 

[fossil]

what the h_ll is everyone talking about here. Do you mean magnetic thermometer or something>?

Stand squarely in front of your stove, and imagine you are due south of it (regardless of where you may actually be facing). The back wall of the firebox is then north, the left wall west, and the right wall east. If you shove your splits straight in with the ends against the back wall, you're loading N-S. If you put 'em in "sideways", with their ends toward the side walls, you're loading E-W. That's it. Has absolutely nothing to do with how your stove might be oriented with respect to Polaris. And you certainly don't need a compass. Rick

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Aw- looks like he was going to torpedo this anyhoo.

Just call me "Buzz Killington"

 

[fossil]

I'm just too verbose to keep up with these fast-moving threads! :lol: Rick

 

[Henz]

I know what N/s E/W is when loading a stove, I thought you were tryingto confuse Pook and truthfully I was hoping for Pooks sake that he/she understood that you were busting

 

[fossil]

I know what N/s E/W is when loading a stove, I thought you were tryingto confuse Pook and truthfully I was hoping for Pooks sake that he/she understood that you were busting

I hope so too. What say you, Pook? Got the N-S, E-W thing now? Nothin' to it. Rick

 

[Bill]

As far as ease of loading and amount of wood I can jam in. My stove has a side and front door, so logs rolling out is not a problem, and yes I can jam lots of wood through the side door.

 

[begreen]

I know what N/s E/W is when loading a stove, I thought you were tryingto confuse Pook and truthfully I was hoping for Pooks sake that he/she understood that you were busting

I think it was pook that was funning with ya. Far as I know all compasses are magnetic, unless you're talking about the ones to draw circles.

 

[BrotherBart]

& where can i get a magnetic compass for my stove?

If you are going to put a compass on the stove be sure that it is UL approved and that you pull a permit for installing it. If not your insurance won't pay if the house burns down.

 

[fossil]

...Far as I know all compasses are magnetic...

That may have been true up until around 1885:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrocompass

Rick

 

[fossil]

...ahh, the stove is the planet.

YES! (well, laying with its axis of rotation horizontal) And you're at the south pole. That's all there is to it. Rick