When is burn time done?

[Smokey Bear]

When you discuss a burn time of 8 hours or whatever. When do you consider the burn time to end?

 

[rdust]

This comes up pretty often. Everyone has a different definition of burn times, get ready for a bunch of different responses. Some say if you can load up without using a match that's the burn time, others go by usable heat some may go by a certain stove top temp.

I don't believe the stove manufactures have defined burn times. If I had to guess they go from when the first match is lit until the stove needs another match to relight.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Oh you're going to get a whole host of opinions on this....

The definition of "burn time" that makes the most sense to me is basically the time from a full load to the time that load is burned down to coals. Now there is debate about stove temps regarding this whole thing about burn times, meaning, a load can burn down to coals and the stovetop be 400 degrees, then falls to 300 degrees, then falls to 200 degrees, but STILL has enough coals to restart a fire without paper/kindling, and a match.

I'm sayin' my Oslo burn time is about 10 hours, I load it at 5:30 in the morning and build another fire at 4:00 in the evening. It's really probably a little shorter than 10 hours as the house temps on a 20 degree day fall to 68 degrees or so, but hey, who's countin?

Stay tuned for more input on this fine question that you can also gather more info. on by using the search button...

 

[Todd]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

 

[BrotherBart]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

Yep.

 

[rdust]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

This is also how I view it.

 

[grommal]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

Ditto. Using this definition, we get 8-10 hours with the Oslo, depending on wood species, split size, and how carefully the firebox is packed.

 

[pen]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

Another vote for this definition.

pen

 

[precaud]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

Me too. I think it would help if we also had one for the length of the flaming stage of the burn cycle. Like, ummm, flame time?

 

[hareball]

Well...It started mid November and I'm hoping another month at most lol

 

[LLigetfa]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

That then can spawn another debate on what constitutes kindling. What some call kindling, I call small splits. IMHO kindling is sticks no fatter than your thumb.

 

[pen]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

That then can spawn another debate on what constitutes kindling. What some call kindling, I call small splits. IMHO kindling is sticks no fatter than your thumb.

My "kindling" would go up to about the size of 2 fingers put together.

For me, kindling is especially cut for that purpose from nice straight wood. Regular wood is everything else out on the pile.

pen

 

[grommal]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

Me too. I think it would help if we also had one for the length of the flaming stage of the burn cycle. Like, ummm, flame time?

3-4 hours with a full load of DRY wood. Semi-dry wood takes an hour off that.

 

[summit]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

I am also in agreement: for another twist on it, its as long as I can get something going on the coals AND the snap switch on the back of the stove for the fan is still kicking the blower on and off from the heat left in the firebox.

 

[wendell]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

I use to use this definition but I'm now drifting toward the usable heat life.

 

[Todd]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

I use to use this definition but I'm know drifting toward the usable heat life.

There's another can of worms.

 

[Smokey_da_Bear]

For me it's having enough coals to just reload with more splits and not have to use kindling.

I use to use this definition but I'm know drifting toward the usable heat life.

There's another can of worms.

For me lately that is one in the same. When it's as warm outside as it has been here lately then all I need is coals in the stove to keep the house warm. So by "definition" enough coals to light the fire again without a match is plenty of "usable heat".
A constant burning fire in the stove is too much heat.
So I would go with Todd's definition of burn time as well.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I never let the fire go down to where I need kindling from early October to early May. So, I guess my definition is usable heat which is both extremely subjective and arguably not all that relevant to anyone else. My only real comparison is that the old stove didn't burn long enough when it was cold/windy out and the new one does.

 

[Battenkiller]

What some call kindling, I call small splits. IMHO kindling is sticks no fatter than your thumb.

I with you on that. Kindling is the stuff that does not absolutely have to be in contact with other burning wood or coals to sustain its own combustion. The size limit on that has been observed to be about 3/4" for most species... about the size of a man's thumb.


Burn time is the cycle from load time to load time. That varies depending on where you live and what you need to get out of the stove. If you live down south and you only need to get a small fraction of what your stove can deliver, shutting it all the way down halfway through a burn might give you a 24 hour coal bed that is enough to ignite splits from. Some poster from KY just achieved that in his Buck, but that stove won't be putting out worthwhile heat to me in the end of January when it's -20ºF and the wind in howling. When he tells me his Buck has a 24 hour burn time, I'll think "Well, yeah, I'm sure it does... for you."

So for me, burn time changes as my needs change. It's already 38º at 9AM, the sun is shining brightly into my 7 SE facing windows and I am basking in my favorite type of heat - sunlight. I won't check the stove until afternoon sometime. Yesterday it was 2 PM and there were still a few glowing embers in it that I was able to scrape together to start the fire. Did I achieve a 15 hour burn? Well, I guess so by some definitions... including my own. But I would have been bitterly disappointed to go down there on a January afternoon and find the same miserly amount of coals. Burn time is about five hours for me in the coldest part of winter. Both stove and flue temps will have dropped significantly (below 500º and 200º respectively) and it's time to refill. Much beyond that, I may still be able to easily start some decent size splits, but I waited way too long to add wood IMO.

 

[Flatbedford]

It is relative. I suppose I could say that burn time for my Fireview is 20 hours! Usable heat in January would be more like 5 hours.

 

[firefighterjake]

When you discuss a burn time of 8 hours or whatever. When do you consider the burn time to end?

As others have mentioned this definition is pretty elusive . . . it's one of those things we all look at when buying our first stove . . . and yet we all have different ideas of what that definition is . . . and never think to ask the dealer what their definition of burn time is to them.

My original burn time definition was the time the stove would have visible flames to the time when the flaming stage moved into the coaling stage.

I later changed that definition to the time when meaningful heat was being produced (typically around 300 degrees) to the time when the stove stopped producing meaningful heat to warm up my house (typically around 300 degrees stove top.)

Nowadays I often consider burn time to be the time it takes from when I reload the stove and get meaningful heat and get good heat to the point where I have enough coals to easily restart the fire with either kindling or small splits . . . of course, as mentioned, this brings a whole other problem . . . how does one define kindling, small splits, meaningful heat, etc.

Best advice . . . take the whole burn time numbers folks throw out (and the brochures and website promote) with a grain of salt . . . realizing that definitions are a bit vague . . . and in the case of the manufacturers they are no doubt burning in optimal conditions with optimal fuel.

 

[PapaDave]

When you discuss a burn time of 8 hours or whatever. When do you consider the burn time to end?

As others have mentioned this definition is pretty elusive . . . it's one of those things we all look at when buying our first stove . . . and yet we all have different ideas of what that definition is . . . and never think to ask the dealer what their definition of burn time is to them.

My original burn time definition was the time the stove would have visible flames to the time when the flaming stage moved into the coaling stage.

I later changed that definition to the time when meaningful heat was being produced (typically around 300 degrees) to the time when the stove stopped producing meaningful heat to warm up my house (typically around 300 degrees stove top.)

Nowadays I often consider burn time to be the time it takes from when I reload the stove and get meaningful heat and get good heat to the point where I have enough coals to easily restart the fire with either kindling or small splits . . . of course, as mentioned, this brings a whole other problem . . . how does one define kindling, small splits, meaningful heat, etc.

Best advice . . . take the whole burn time numbers folks throw out (and the brochures and website promote) with a grain of salt . . . realizing that definitions are a bit vague . . . and in the case of the manufacturers they are no doubt burning in optimal conditions with optimal fuel.

Aye, and there's the rub.
Meaningful heat in January when it's 2 deg. below and the wind is blowing is not the same as meaningful heat in April when it's 45 and sunny. In the Jan. scenario, it's gotta be at LEAST 500-600 degrees from the stove or the house gets cold.........fast. In April, I can get by with a cooler stove for a longer period of time.
The stove at 600 is still 600 no matter what time of year, but I don't need it in April, but want that and then some in January.
It's all relative to the conditions at hand.
OK now, someone define cold, ....or hot. :lol:

 

[BrotherBart]

OK now, someone define cold, ....or hot. :lol:

Easy. There is no such thing as cold. Just an absence of heat.

 

[fossil]

Burn time's done when I can't get another drag without burning my fingers or my lips.

 

[PapaDave]

OK now, someone define cold, ....or hot. :lol:

Easy. There is no such thing as cold. Just an absence of heat.

Thank you, professor Bart.
I get it now, when I get up in the morning and the house is 55, I'm not cold. I just need to start a fire.
So, I've been doing it sorta' correctly, at least.
I must not be old either, just have an absence of youth.