Oslo load question

[chad3]

Been running the stove for a few years with very good results. This is more of a "poll" than anything else.
If you guys are going for an overnight burn, how many splits can you fit and about what size are they?
Reason I ask. I hear lots of talk about 5-7 splits. I can barely get 4 in the stove (just did it again).
Is there any reason for splitting them smaller to get more in? My overnights are about: 2x 10" 3" x20" and 2 at 5" 20" triangles.
Just curious. Wood is seasoned oak and I get coals in the morning, but was wondering about others.
Thanks for chiming in.
Chad

 

[ansehnlich1]

I cut all my wood to 20-22 inches.

If I'm loading big stuff yeah, I can only get 4 or 5 pieces in.

Sometimes I can slide some smaller stuff in on top.

Just pack that sucka and let 'er rip!

I always like a big rectangular split at the back with a big fat round on top. Then I throw a shorter triangle split in the front, hopefully short enough to sit in between the uprights so I can nudge it close to the inside front door, then I put a smaller round or split up the middle, most times it'll rest on the coal bed, then whatever fits in on top of that piece in the middle and up front, then let the side door open til she reaches 300 on the stovetop thermometer, then close her up and watch her go to 600+, then set the air at half for a spell, then back her down to an 1/8th and go to bed.

 

[Shari]

ansehnlich1 - You make it sound so simple! Our Oslo is due 'home' late next week so I am reading all the tips possible - thanks for your comments!

Shari

 

[Soadrocks]

I got the Castine, but similar to the above. We place a huge split in the back, then another one on top, probably a medium to a small split. In front of that two medium splits, and then one of those half circle pieces in front, sometimes just in front of the glass. If there is any room left over, small splits wherever we can fit them...keep it open for a minute or two. Close the door...wait until it's 650 degrees, go down to half, then completely to the left. We have been getting 8 hour burns with the castine this entire week. In the morning, throw kindling , and we're back in action! You'll love that OSLO. Jotul's are the most beautiful stoves, hands down!

 

[logger]

I can fit 5 big splits if I position them right. If I load a buttload of little splits I can fit 7 or 8, but the fire will be out much sooner. I put the biggest s.o.b. in the back and then load more big splits around it. This gives me a constant 10-11 hr burn time with oak, locust, cherry, and apple.

 

[Soadrocks]

11 hours....I'm so envious!

 

[logger]

With these storms and cool weather, I've been waking and reloading around 2 or 3 AM so we awake to a roaring fire and not just a bed of embers.

 

[polaris]

With these storms and cool weather, I've been waking and reloading around 2 or 3 AM so we awake to a roaring fire and not just a bed of embers.

Me too. It's funny how I just seem to wake up between 2:00-4:00 without any prompting, load it up and wake to a good secondary burn going at 6:00
Joe

 

[mikepinto65]

I am able to get 5-6 in this year due to much smaller diameter wood. My supply for next season is cut 20-22" with most having a width of 5-7". Im sure i'll only be able to get 4 (5 if im lucky) packed in.

 

[ansehnlich1]

ansehnlich1 - You make it sound so simple! Our Oslo is due 'home' late next week so I am reading all the tips possible - thanks for your comments!

Shari

Uh, YEAH! I ain't braggin' but after 3 years you get it down to a science.....get up, shower, dress, rake stove coals, load, leave side door open til she gets to 300 degrees on top, close door, run her up to 600 or so, then throttle her back to half open air, then back to near closed.

Have a bowl of cereal and cup of coffee in the mean time, surf hearth.com etc., brush teeth and head out to work

It really IS that easy.

And yes, I do use the ash pan, haha! I empty that puppy every day into a 35 gallon galvanized can with lid that sits on my concrete porch.

And yes, I DO have a nice long handle iron stove shovel that, when I pull the ash pan out (shaking it around a bit before removing it so as to level the ashes in the pan) I use to slide into the ash pan hopper and shovel out whatever ash is left in there that may be at the rear.

And yes, every time I remove ash, I open the side door BEFORE opening the ash pan door, it cuts the draft through the ash pan door down considerabley and allows you empty the ash without the coals firing up too much

You'll love the stove Shari, if you have a 6 inch chimney setup you'll be just fine. Mine is an exterior masonry lined/insulated 6 inch about 22 ft. high and it just works MAHVELOUS!

 

[mikepinto65]

I've heard a lot of people say they leave the side door open when reloading the Oslo. Im not sure I understand why leaving the side door open is a good idea or benefit? I have no problem raking my coals forward in the morning, loading the firebox, and than leaving the air wide open for 20-35 minutes untill the stove top is at 500 and I can back the air down.

Maybe someone can let me in on the secret? Is it you HAVE to open the door to get the fire going? Is it impossible to get going with the door closed? If so Im thinking most are feeding less than ideal wood into the Oslo or maybe my draft is better than most? I dont know...just always wondered why some people state they do this.

 

[grommal]

I've heard a lot of people say they leave the side door open when reloading the Oslo. Im not sure I understand why leaving the side door open is a good idea or benefit? I have no problem raking my coals forward in the morning, loading the firebox, and than leaving the air wide open for 20-35 minutes untill the stove top is at 500 and I can back the air down.

Maybe someone can let me in on the secret? Is it you HAVE to open the door to get the fire going? Is it impossible to get going with the door closed? If so Im thinking most are feeding less than ideal wood into the Oslo or maybe my draft is better than most? I dont know...just always wondered why some people state they do this.

It's probably wood that's not fully dry. I had mostly very dry wood this season, but also had some 9-month old oak. Never need to leave the door open with the dry stuff, but I do with the marginal wood unless there's a giant coal bed.

 

[ChrisN]

I can usually get four splits in, maybe one more if it is small. I have a hard time judging split size so I just took a ruler to check: The larger ones are 6'X6"X20" (probably ones Chad split!) they will be the two main pieces for over night with smaller ones to fill in. I have also been loading the stove at 1030 -11pm and getting up at about 4am to reload. Otherwise I find only a dying bed of coals in the morning at around 7am. P.S. Chad, how's it going? long time no see.

Chris

 

[ansehnlich1]

I've heard a lot of people say they leave the side door open when reloading the Oslo. Im not sure I understand why leaving the side door open is a good idea or benefit? I have no problem raking my coals forward in the morning, loading the firebox, and than leaving the air wide open for 20-35 minutes untill the stove top is at 500 and I can back the air down.

Maybe someone can let me in on the secret? Is it you HAVE to open the door to get the fire going? Is it impossible to get going with the door closed? If so Im thinking most are feeding less than ideal wood into the Oslo or maybe my draft is better than most? I dont know...just always wondered why some people state they do this.

If I have a 2 inch coal bed with a stovetop temp of 200 to 250 degrees, and I pack my stove with large splits/rounds of oak/hickory/cherry/ash for an overnight burn, then close the door, my Oslo will smolder and then slowly catch fire, and then work it's way up to 500/600 degrees, but it's a much faster trip up to those temps if I leave the side door open until the stovetop temperature hits 300, then close it. Cuts way down on creosote formation PLUS it allows my stove to go into secondary burn immediately upon reaching 300 and closing the side door.

If you load your Oslo under similar conditions as described above, and close the door, what happens?

Are you saying you can have a 2 inch coal bed, a stove top temperature of 200/250 degrees, stuff your stove full with hardwood, close the door, and go into secondary burn right away? immediately have dancing flames all over the firebox? or reach 500 degrees in 20 minutes? ....if so, your draft is infinitely better than mine.

Now, the entire story changes if my stove is sitting at 300/400 degrees.

BTW, all my wood is seasoned 2+ years, most of it is 3 years from split.

 

[ansehnlich1]

double post, sorry!

 

[ansehnlich1]

I have a 22 foot high 2 foot square exterior brick chimney with a 7 and 1/4 inch square terracotta liner, and that is lined with a 6 inch stainless liner and poured insulation.

I have one 90 degree elbow into the thimble.

So I figured right now would be a good time to experiment. I had a bed of coals, maybe an inch, or two, the coal bed was below the air inlet dogbox. I loaded 7 pieces of oak, split 2 years ago in March, so it sat outside taking the summer sun and wind for 2 years. In fact this particular wood received direct sunlight all afternoon and prevailing winds for two years. (I know it will burn much better next season, which is I when I will be using the bulk of it)

The stove top temperature was 200 degrees and falling, outside temp around 22 degrees under high pressure.

I loaded at 8:10 pm, air wide open

8:35 and the stove top temp has dropped to 160 degrees.

The fire is just starting to go. It sat there with very small flames licking around under the front split. I then opened the side door to re-count how many splits I put in and indeed it is seven. At this point the upper splits erupted in flame.

8:40 and still no secondary burn though the front splits are burning. The stovetop temp is closing in on 200 degrees. It's been a half hour and still no secondaries.

8:45, flames becoming more vigorous, still no secondaries, stovetop temp not quite 250 degrees

8:50, telltale sounds of the cast iron heating up, you know, the clickin and tickin... can distinctly hear the air sucking into the stove... 280 degrees on stovetop, no secondaries yet

8:53, stovetop temp is 325 degrees, secondaries starting to kick in

9:00, stovetop temp is 425 degrees, full secondary action.

9:02 stovetop temp is 500 degrees.

There, that took 52 minutes to do that. So, maybe you all would like to do the same some time and post here. I think the main difference in time it takes to reach 500 degrees is draft/chimney setup, however, barometric pressure/wood type etc. may also change the dynamic.



edit to say at 9:10, fully one hour after loading, the stovetop temp is at 600 degrees, air was wide open the whole hour, time to throttle down!

 

[mikepinto65]

Ansehnlich,

Man thats a long time....either your wood isnt dry after the two years, something is seriously wrong with your draft, or your dealing with some sort of negative pressure in the room the stove located in.
There is no reason why it should be taking you that long!?!?.

I never leave the side door open when reloading.

Before going to the FIL's super bowel party today at 4:25 I loaded up 5 splits on a bed of coals (using birch red oak and various maple seasoned 1 yr) and 250 degree stove top temp (air wide open). Within 20 minutes my stove top was reading 500 and firebox flooded with flames. I backed the air down just a hair past half closed and took the dog out to pee before we left, secondaries blazing. After that I shut the air down 90% and loaded beer into my car. One more look 5 minutes later and secondaries were still jetting and stove top holding at 500.

Its 10:24 now and I still have a good 1" of coals in the firebox, clean white firebricks in the back, and spotless glass. No evidence of smoldering at any point (ecspecially the initial load!).

Bout to go do it again and call it a night.

(for the record, it dosnt matter what my stove top temp is when reloading, if there is a couple coals to start the wood I can be clean burning in 20-30 min....i might just start with less wood and burn it faster with air open more to re-establish a thick coal bed.)

 

[grommal]

With an inch of coals or more, irrespective of stove top temperature, if I use REALLY dry wood, I can load the stove and have some good flames in 5 minutes, rising temperatures in 10-15 minutes, and 350F top back corner and secondaries in under a half hour. If the wood is fairly dry, it would take twice as long or more, so I'd give up and open the side door a half inch.

On the coal bed, be sure to use your ash rake to free up the air inlet holes in the front, and make a little front-to-back channel for the air to go under the splits.

Cold start is similar. No door open, and secondaries in under a half hour. But, only with REALLY dry wood.

 

[ansehnlich1]

This is my 3rd year with this Oslo. I'm talkin packin' it with 22 inch splits, little room to spare in the firebox on a rather cool stove. I ain't talkin bone dry 2 and 3 inch splits that are 14 to 16 inches long and loosely placed in the firebox with the stove at 250 degrees. That's a whole other story now.

That load I described above in this thread kept my living room at 71 degrees right now (5:20am) with it falling to 13 degrees last night. This load will be for today, as I will leave here about 6:30 or so and not return until 5:30. I know there will be that nice bed of coals waiting for me when I return late this afternoon, and I know the stovetop temp will be below 200 degrees, and I know the house will be between 67 and 72 depending on weather conditions. I've never seen it dip below 67 this winter yet after being away for 10 hours or so.

5:20 a.m, stovetop temp 160, just loaded 5 splits of 2 year seasoned oak and one round of 3 year seasoned ash. This loaded on about a 1 to 2 inch coal bed left over from last night.

leaving the side door cracked open

5:30 a.m. stovetop temp not quite 200 degrees.

5:40 a.m. stovetop temp about 200 degrees

5:50 a.m. stovetop temp 300 degrees, closed side door

6:00 a.m. 380 degrees, no secondaries....hmmm, looking like loading and CLOSING the side door IS better eh? Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

I've been humbled :red: In my earlier post I stated that my stove will be burning secondaries upon closing the door at 300 degrees, well, this was not true with this test this morning, and I apologize, though starting with a higher stovetop temp, and burning a looser fitting load of splits it does indeed do so.

After closing the side door the stovetop temp went up to 380, then leveled off and even fell slightly.

6:10 full secondaries, 450 degrees stovetop temp. This is fully one hour after loading

6:15 near time for me to go, stovetop temp is 525 degrees.

I want to thank you guys for challenging me to do this experiment. It is taught me that keeping the side door open is not necessary. You guys were right!

6:20 stovetop temp 600 and time to shut her down and get outta here....

thank you guys for your help on this.

 

[mikepinto65]

Glad to see it made your temps rise quickly after closing the door. The main reason why I never thought it to be a good idea to leave the side door open is because the firebox cant hold the heat....Your basically sending all the heat up the chimney and burning your wood faster than it should. Not to mention that when the side door is open the load ignites all over the place (back, middle, front) and your diminishing fuel that would burn later in the process if the door were to have stay shut.

I will say this, the only times I HAVE chosen to keep the side door cracked, for maybe a minute, is when my chimney is stone cold and i want to blast some heat up it to reestablish a proper draft.

Glad to see your open to trying new things with your stove, that can be tough to do after having a routine that works and keep the house warm...for three years none the less I wish my dad would be more accepting to trying new techniques!

I dont think it can be possible my draft is infinitely better than yours, as I have the worst chimney set up possible...

 

[mikepinto65]

With an inch of coals or more, irrespective of stove top temperature, if I use REALLY dry wood, I can load the stove and have some good flames in 5 minutes, rising temperatures in 10-15 minutes, and 350F top back corner and secondaries in under a half hour. If the wood is fairly dry, it would take twice as long or more, so I'd give up and open the side door a half inch.

On the coal bed, be sure to use your ash rake to free up the air inlet holes in the front, and make a little front-to-back channel for the air to go under the splits.

Cold start is similar. No door open, and secondaries in under a half hour. But, only with REALLY dry wood.

I've always just cleaned out a little pocket in front of the primary air. I just reloaded and made the front-to-back channel, seems to work well igniting faster and more intensely..thanks for the tip!

 

[firefighterjake]

Generally I get 4-5 splits in for an overnight burn . . . final load around 9:30 p.m., in bed by 10 and up around 4:30-5:30 a.m. to a nice bed of coals . . . although in the past few days the boiler has been kicking on around then . . . in fact I think that's what wakes me up . . . that unfamiliar sound of the radiators' metal heating up, reminding me that it's time to reload the woodstove.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

It's nothing but 3 of the meanest, biggest chunks of old Shag Bark Hickory (split back in June 07) at night when it's really cold this week.
The last few weeks at night it's been White Oak Black Birch......but nothing beats the smell of charred Hickory Bark.


WoodButcher

 

[ansehnlich1]

It's nothing but 3 of the meanest, biggest chunks of old Shag Bark Hickory (split back in June 07) at night when it's really cold this week.
The last few weeks at night it's been White Oak Black Birch......but nothing beats the smell of charred Hickory Bark.


WoodButcher

uhhhh, YEAH MAN, that's some nice stuff there, HICKORY

I have some tucked away myself!