What is considered a "long burn"?

[TradEddie]

If you want a long burn time, don't get the lopi freedom. I have to get up in the night and add two logs or it will be out in the morning with the fan off. I get a four hour burntime of decent heat. Quess I haven't figured something out. Do know because of the low secondary tubes you can't get more than two good size splits in at one time.

My limited experience with the Lopi last spring was that I had no problem loading it up at 11pm, turning air down low and waking up at 7am to a warm house and it just needed some small splits and a cracked door to get it going again. That's all I need it to do. That was with 5-year seasoned oak, which unfortunately is all gone now.

TE

 

[corey21]

Long burn for me to load the stove at bed time and then wake up to a good coal bed and a warm house.

 

[rdust]

The overnight burn for me is the easy burn. The burn I need to be long is the burn from when I walk out the door around 7am and get time to fiddle with the stove after I get the kids to bed around 9-10pm. My biggest issue with the overnight is trying not to fill the stove too much so I have room for splits in the morning.

This time of year it's loading the stove 1/2-3/4 full at 10pm and loading it the next night at 10pm. Gotta love a big steel stove with a cat.

 

[NextEndeavor]

If you want a long burn time, don't get the lopi freedom. I have to get up in the night and add two logs or it will be out in the morning with the fan off. I get a four hour burntime of decent heat. Quess I haven't figured something out. Do know because of the low secondary tubes you can't get more than two good size splits in at one time.

I've never loaded mine more than 3/4 full at bedtime and the fan is still running when I do so at get up time with plenty of coals to ignight a new load. That wasn't true my first year with "not so great wood". That high moisture content took a lot more inlet air to keep it going, cost me efficiency and producing shorter burns, dirty glass, creosote and too many trips to the rooftop sweep position. The dry wood preaching here is gospel to take home. My inlet air now runs pretty low compared to my early "training" days. Believe it or not I'm getting incredible mileage from pine, box elder, cottonwood and willow in this shoulder season. Those are woods many refuse. I keep my high BTU fuel for cold weather but pine and even cedar is leaving some coals hours later. My stove claims to have a 3.1 cu ft box. It's plenty. Also, N/S loads will burn hotter/faster and can be too hot if not careful. E/W loading up to 24 inch logs for longer burns.

 

[tsquini]

If I can load my stove at night, not get up to reload, and in the morning rack the coals forward and open the primary air and the fire is going again. I consider that a win for me.

 

[rkshed]

There is "burn time" and "long burn time" - burn time is discussed several times a year and the term has no legal or generally accepted technical definition (as you can tell from above). Marketing departments of course have used this term quite liberally in selling stove - in some cases folks here agree with them and in other cases a lot of us are left scratching our heads wondering just how the claims can be made.

I like the idea of "useful heat" from the stove being one measure and then "time between reloads" as another. However, as you likely have noticed, there are many variables there and the weather is one of the most significant ones right next to the fuel you are using. Sure - a 200* stove is useful heat for me today (didn't even light up actually, high is near 60 and house is warmer anyway), but come January I doubt I'll let the stove get down to 200* very often as the house will be cooling down at that stove temp. Likewise that will affect the burn time - have to consume more fuel to keep up the heat in January so it won't go as long. You can't have the max output of a stove and the maximum burn time simultaneously.

Now - what is a "long burn time" ? I would say any time I get a significantly longer "useful heat" or greater "time between reloads" than I expected then that would be a "long burn time". "Long" is subjective - will change with the seasons...

Well said.
We load up at 8 or 830 at night and if I only need kindling at 6am to get it going again, success!!

 

[burnt03]

Newbie here trying to figure my stove out....

Can I turn the stove right down before bed (3/4 or so closed) after I get it up to temp (can hit 600 stovetop pretty quick)?

I try turning the stove down slow and all I get in the firebox is coals, no flames.... plus I thought that turning it down too much caused smouldering/creosote?

Thanks!

 

[rkshed]

Newbie here trying to figure my stove out....

Can I turn the stove right down before bed (3/4 or so closed) after I get it up to temp (can hit 600 stovetop pretty quick)?

I try turning the stove down slow and all I get in the firebox is coals, no flames.... plus I thought that turning it down too much caused smouldering/creosote?

Thanks!

Well, I may be heartily critisized here, but I stuff the stove at night and close the air inlets to 1/4 turn open.(almost no air).
The stove idles at 250 to 300 all night and in the morning it lights right back up with a small split. I did this all last winter and didn't have a tremendous amount of creosote to sweep out. House is toatsty too.

 

[nate379]

I thought I knew what a long burn was until I burned a Blaze King! Lol sorry couldn't resist.

My Dad still doesn't believe I only have to load the stove 2x a day. I wouldn't heat with wood if I have to mess with the stove every few hours!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

At our house, I load a full load about 9pm, air down to about 5% in 20-30 minutes, stove top around 550, go to bed. Get up around 7:30, open air, open door, 3-4 small splits on the coal bed, close door, walk dogs. By the the time we are back from the walk, those splits are burning wide open, load stove for the day, air down when stove is up to temp... House NEVER below 70, stove room never below 78 or so.

That said.. what do I consider a long, or overnight burn? That right there. A burn that keeps the house warm overnight. With the Homestead, coals in the morning was easy, but a 5 degree heat loss (or more) was the norm. I was asking it to heat a lot more house than it's rated for.. The Mansfield is a much better fit for our space..

 

[Wood Duck]

Newbie here trying to figure my stove out....

Can I turn the stove right down before bed (3/4 or so closed) after I get it up to temp (can hit 600 stovetop pretty quick)?

I try turning the stove down slow and all I get in the firebox is coals, no flames.... plus I thought that turning it down too much caused smouldering/creosote?

Thanks!

I'd try the same procedure during the day when you can watch what happens. If you don't have a catalytic chamber on the stove then yes, a smouldering burn is prone to create creosote in the chimney and smoke up the neighborhood. My non-cat stove smoulders if I set the air too low too soon.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Newbie here trying to figure my stove out....

Can I turn the stove right down before bed (3/4 or so closed) after I get it up to temp (can hit 600 stovetop pretty quick)?

I try turning the stove down slow and all I get in the firebox is coals, no flames.... plus I thought that turning it down too much caused smouldering/creosote?

Thanks!

A smoldering fire is bad. But you shouldn't be getting one with a modern stove, good wood and proper operation. Your stove has secondary burn tubes..

Once your stove top is up to temp, you air down in steps.. you should see secondary ignition up at the top of the firebox.. Once you are aired down and secondaries are burning.. you are in cruise mode. Once all the volatiles are burned off, you will lose secondary burn, and be in coaling stage, no/little flames, just the coal burning down.. this is a good thing, lots of heat there.

 

[WellSeasoned]

Long burn for me is as others have stated. Loading the stove before bed and waking up to warmth. However, on those extra cold nights, when those winds are blowing (overnight lows in the low teens or less, myself or my wife gets up to add splits, and its a quick process, maybe 20 minutes tops) to keep the heat up, (house isn't insulated that well). It does make for a quicker startup when I leave for work around 5:20 am.

 

[burnt03]

A smoldering fire is bad. But you shouldn't be getting one with a modern stove, good wood and proper operation. Your stove has secondary burn tubes..

Once your stove top is up to temp, you air down in steps.. you should see secondary ignition up at the top of the firebox.. Once you are aired down and secondaries are burning.. you are in cruise mode. Once all the volatiles are burned off, you will lose secondary burn, and be in coaling stage, no/little flames, just the coal burning down.. this is a good thing, lots of heat there.

Perfect. I didn't know there was a difference between smoldering and the coaling, just sort of assumed that if I shut down the air all the way, I'd be smoldering it. So if it's coals and not smoking like crazy, I guess I'm good to go!

 

[begreen]

A long burn is totally relative to the stove and the season. A long burn in a 1 cu ft may be 6hrs, where a long burn in a 3 cu ft stove might be 16 hrs. We generally go for 8 hr burn cycles in the winter. The stove can easily do 12 hr burns, but we find 8 hr cycles reduce room temp swings to a minimum and it keeps the glass nice and clean. In the shoulder season we shorten burns down to 4-6 hrs, with less wood/reload.

 

[firecracker_77]

With a small firebox, any burn that I can relight easily in the morning from coals remaining is a success.

 

[Mo Par]

I can get 10 more hours more or less out my old Fisher Grandma Bear.

 

[corey21]

A long burn is totally relative to the stove and the season. A long burn in a 1 cu ft may be 6hrs, where a long burn in a 3 cu ft stove might be 16 hrs. We generally go for 8 hr burn cycles in the winter. The stove can easily do 12 hr burns, but we find 8 hr cycles reduce room temp swings to a minimum and it keeps the glass nice and clean. In the shoulder season we shorten burns down to 4-6 hrs, with less wood/reload.

I would like to go for 10 hour burn this year.

 

[rideau]

I've had 16 hours easily with the PH. Going for 24 one day this winter, just for the heck of it. Have never done so, but will load with the intention of getting an extraordinarily long burn...8 inch ironwood round in the back on ash, no coals, and go from there. Use primarily rounds. Fill the firebox (Have never come close...burned 16 inch wood rather than 22 last year )first year), and even then only filled about 3/4 height, and not densely packed....Will post my results, positive or not so...

 

[Wildo]

We got 8-12 consistently out of the 007 when we were in the trailer. Yes it was ridiculous size for a 12x70 mobile home. In the new house with it in the basement will be a different story I'm sure. I'll let you know now that it is installed here, but Feeding at 10pm and having to shuffle coals so you can feed at 6 or 7am is a great thing The new house is 300sq.ft bigger not counting the basement. Tonight is my first run, I finished the install at 10 and touched her off. The temp is up 3deg. so far and the outside temp. is 34