Quick question about top down fires

[tlingit]

So, we have been building and really liking top down fires for a couple weeks now. It gets up to speed quick, less smoke, and so on an so forth. Liking this technique a lot. So, here's my question. Excuse me if it's sort of, you know, dumb. The first fire of the day or evening goes great, quick lite, nice heat. What do you do about the second one? How do you lay that and how long do you wait? We live where it gets really cold, and I'd like to keep the heat pretty steady. Last winter our hard working equinox, stovezilla, was the primary heat during some -30 stretches.

 

[dave11]

I generally add a second load while the coals are still red, and they start outgassing immediately and burn fast. No need for kindling etc.

Or do you mean you're waiting longer than that?

 

[sandie]

I do not wait til it is only coals and down to cold, I refill the stove when it is about 300 degrees or so and let the flu be open for about 5-10 min til it really gets going and for my stove I leave the 'themostat" wide open, once it goes up to where I want it I close the flu and leave themostat open and it will close as it gets hotter and then my stove will open the thermostat automatically as the stove goes down in temperature.
I believe I should get longer burns than I do but still learning the stove, got it last January or so and did not have great wood til late January and lots of playing to learn the stove. This year it is better, right now has been burning since about 1 pm, now is 9pm and it is 72.3 degrees in here and about 65 or so the rest of the house. It is 38 degrees out and raining. Cozy for sure.

 

[firefighterjake]

Like Dave I add wood when the coals are still pretty sizeable (softball or grapefruit size). . . later on in the burn cycle when the firebox is full of coals and a nice bed of ash I'll let the coals go even smaller before reloading. If it's wicked cold out I'll sometimes add wood like Sandie when the fire has reached the point right before it is going into the coaling stage . . . but that's kind of rare for me to do.

 

[sandie]

So if you wait til it is coals the size of oranges and grapefruit then you started a fire, let it go up to whatever like 600, shut the damper and wait til it goes to those coals and then throw in as much wood as possible and let 'er rip til it goes up to 600 or so and then close the damper again etc. Seems you would lose alot of the heat up the chimney, no? I like to add wood when I still can have some flames to get the new wood going fast and wait til 600 or so with damper open and then close and let it heat the stove for a few hours, in my case about an hour for each piece of wood or so. Am I missing something here? Would love to be able to have a longer time between loading and heat going away etc. Have not tried an all night fire, not sure I can get 6 or so pieces of wood in there. To me it is rather narrow and smallish interiour of stove so have not tried it but will this winter when I can get up in morning and see if I have enough red hot coals to get the fire up again. It can take me about 30-40 minutes to get a cold stove up to 500 degrees. Is that unusual?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

When the stove is down to or almost down to coals, I do not feel you lose any heat up the chimney at all. It will also help keep those coals burned down so they do not become an unmanageable block to you adding a full load of wood. We read on here every year about folks shoveling out the coals so they have enough room to add the wood. That to me makes about as much sense as draining a gallon or two of gas so you can get more in the tank.

We do add wood when the stove gets down to coals but if the coal bed is larger than normal, we sometimes then will add one split or even a few pieces of kindling, leaving the draft fully open. This helps burn down those coals and you won't be without heat benefit because it won't all go up the chimney. You can also try cutting the draft back just a little while doing this if it help. Experiment.

On the reloads, we simply add splits....after raking most of the coals to the front of the stove. Once again, larger splits or a round goes in rear bottom. A hot quick burning piece goes in front (soft maple in our case) and then fill with whatever. Also remember that for the longest burns, the larger the splits, the longer the burn. Naturally this has to be balanced with the various sizes your splits are. Time and experience will guide you.

 

[CTYank]

So, we have been building and really liking top down fires for a couple weeks now. It gets up to speed quick, less smoke, and so on an so forth. Liking this technique a lot. So, here's my question. Excuse me if it's sort of, you know, dumb. The first fire of the day or evening goes great, quick lite, nice heat. What do you do about the second one? How do you lay that and how long do you wait? We live where it gets really cold, and I'd like to keep the heat pretty steady. Last winter our hard working equinox, stovezilla, was the primary heat during some -30 stretches.

Uh, they're different situations- for one, you're "cold iron"; for the second, not.

Subsequently, you can add fuel in batches separated in time such that the "fire mass" grows or declines. Just how that happens is a matter of experiment. That's the fun part- it's not just flipping a switch. There's no "second one" really, more like a lumpy continuum.

Different feeding rates, different species and moisture content. Variables that keep it from getting boring. Check outside now and then to verify that you're not making smoke, and find out what avoids that.

 

[allhandsworking]

Yep every fire is different, especially when your a scrounger and your wood is all narly ugly and uninformed. I lower my air intake as soon as the fire let's me. Not when I reach a magic number like 600. The key is don't send smoke up the chimney but don't burn your fuel to rapidly either.

 

[firefighterjake]

Yep every fire is different, especially when your a scrounger and your wood is all narly ugly and uninformed. I lower my air intake as soon as the fire let's me. Not when I reach a magic number like 600. The key is don't send smoke up the chimney but don't burn your fuel to rapidly either.

I hate uninformed wood. My wood is always informed . . . I always inform it of its rights.

OK wood, listen up. You have the right to burn in my woodstove. Any wood that can burn will be used in my Jotul Oslo a few months from now. You have the right to sit in my woodshed. If you do not wish to sit in my woodshed I will allow you to sit outside in a stack. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?

 

[allhandsworking]

Darn spell check keeps jamming me up!