short burn times

[Kenneth Kline]

Just bought my first stove. Vermont Castings Intrepid II. I can't believe the incredible heat produced, love it. But I can't seem to get it to go all night. never any coals left by morning even if I damp it down to where the flue thermometer is running on the cold side(<300). Do you guys really get your stoves to go all night?

 

[corey21]

Welcome.

What size splits are you burning also is you wood seasoned being cut split stacked for a year or too?

 

[Beer Belly]

I can get 5 hours or so out of our insert. In my case, if I had better wood, I'd problably get longer burns......currently burning Cherry CSS a year ago....now, if it were 3 year CSS Oak ????....there is also a learning curve as to when to dampin it down, and how far.....been using this insert 5 years, and I'm still trying to figure it out. Good dry wood is key, this year is the closest I've come to decent wood, starting next year, I should be in better shape....gettin' 3 years ahead, just gotta get thru this season

 

[Kenneth Kline]

Definitely big pieces. Sometimes I can just barely fit them in the top and it's all bone-dry red oak and locust that's been stacked in the sun a couple of years. It's originally for my fireplace so have to cut many of them in half length-wise. I'm sure I need a season to get the hang of adjusting the air control and catalytic damper.

 

[Todd]

Your stove doesn't have a very good rep for long burns but you should get better with a little more trial and error. It can be tricky getting an overnight burn with smaller stoves. Larger splits packed tightly and finding the sweet spot on your air control is about the only thing you can do.

 

[Kenneth Kline]

Thanks. But ultimately it must come down to running the stove on the cold side, right?

 

[Jags]

Thanks. But ultimately it must come down to running the stove on the cold side, right?

meh - erased a long post that didn't say anything more than Todd did. (He covered it pretty well)
Small stove
History of short burn times
Only way to increase burn times is to lower the heat output at stove and stack. Warning: too low of stack temp will promote creosote.

 

[JCass]

Thanks. But ultimately it must come down to running the stove on the cold side, right?

In my limited experience with my small stove (PE vista insert), I can get decent burn times. First, by descent burn time, I mean coals to restart the fire in the morning.

Example: last night at about 8pm, with the stove top temp at about 350, I loaded the stove tight. Hardly an airspace. FYI, I am using the notoriously low BTU pine. Kept the primary air flow high until the stove top reached ~450. Stepped the air down 1/4 about every 10 min to a low setting of about 10% open. The stove top temp was about 650 at 9:15. Went to bed.

Woke about 5am with stove top at ~200. Raked the coals, added some kindling and opened the air. Fire got going no problem.

Works pretty consistently even with the small stove. I can't expect to have a ranging inferno after 10hrs, but this works for me.