Why do you think I will burn more wood........

[mtcates]

Why do you think I will burn more wood the first year after I switch from an old stove to a new one? I mean, I know I will save some wood the first year but why do you think I would save even more the next year? I've heard this many times on this web sight. I mean if i just get the wood burning good and damper down what else can I do.

 

[NH_Wood]

I don't think you'll burn more wood in year one with the new stove as compared with your old stove - unless perhaps you have poorly seasoned wood and you have to burn inefficiently. But, you likely will burn more during year one with the new stove vs. year two. I suppose mainly due to getting used to the burn characteristics of your new stove and how to burn most efficiently. For example, this will be my first full year with my new stove and, in particular, I will need to figure out how to best manage the burn cycle - in other words, how to best let the stored heat in the soapstone do its thing and not reload earlier that I should. I'm certain I'll waste wood this winter learning how to get the best burns and best use of the burn cycle - next year should use less wood once I now the best practices with the stove. Cheers!

 

[burntime]

You will burn more wood in year one with a new stove then later years because you are learning the stove. I know I did and its very normal. The new stoves are run differently then the old smoke dragons... Either way you will find out in 9 months! Like NH said, there is a learning curve with each stove. You may only be able to damper it down 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, all the way? It depends on your stove and chimney set up and how the draft is...

 

[mayhem]

I can't imagine going through more wood by replacing an old stove with a new one. Sure there is a learning curve and you have to figure out how to make it work best for your home, but I wouldn't expect that to take more than a couple weeks to get to the 90% or so point where you have a really good idea how to get the most out of it. After that point you're fine tuning but already should be burning less wood...unless your new stove is considerably upsized from the old one.

This doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[burntime]

I did not say more then his old stove, just more the first year then other years. I have burned wood since 1980, my first year I burned more and it is very common to burn extra your first year.... Like I said, he will find out the end of the season how much he burned and can compare to year 2...

 

[oldspark]

Learning curve is all they are talking about here, so enjoy the ride, I too have been burning since 1980 or so and with a new EPA stove this year I expect to learn a lot of new things.

 

[iceman]

Most people burn less as time goes on .... epa stoves are more efficient and most people gseason their wood more . Many people who use dragons usually. Burn wood that has a higher moisture content than what a epa stove wood like

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Mayham- if you had an old, non-EPA certified stove and switched(wisely) to a new, more efficient stove, obviously you will burn MUCH less wood. What members are trying to say is that this year(your 1st with the new stove), you will slip and slide a bit on the learning curve, and will burn more this 1st year (kindergarten) than compared future years (college), not compared to your old stove. :cheese:

 

[firefighterjake]

Why you will burn more wood in the first year of running an EPA stove compared to subsequent years.

1) You will learn how to better load your stove . . . for some of us we learned in the first year that in the shoulder season and that first evening the temps dip to 32 degrees F or so we don't need to necessarily load our stoves to the gills with well seasoned sugar maple . . . and then re-load it every 2-3 hours . . . we have learned since then to do a single fire in the shoulder season and let the heat radiate from the stove for the rest of the day/night.

2) Your wood will be better seasoned . . . after realizing that your wood is not as well seasoned (at least many of us will discover this) as you hoped with fires that are a challenge to get started, sizzlers in the stove and having to run the air open more . . . you will make sure your wood for subsequent years is well seasoned . . . and as a result you will be able to close the air more (in my own case I now routinely shut the air all the way "closed" vs. running it a quarter ways open in my first year) which will result in longer burns and less wood burned.

3) You will learn how to run your stove better . . . you will learn when and how to close the air so you get good secondary combustion instead of thinking you need to see lots of flames in the firebox to stay warm . . . and you will learn to read the fire cycle and know when to put on a fresh load of wood -- not so early that you end up with too much heat and too many coals and not too late so that the fire doesn't take off very quickly . . . instead you will become one with the stove and will become a Jedi Woodburner.

 

[kenny chaos]

I never thought about it but my new stove did alot better in following years.
I actually wasn't real sure I'd made the right choice to upgrade.
No regrets now.

 

[shawneyboy]

Why you will burn more wood in the first year of running an EPA stove compared to subsequent years.

you will become one with the stove and will become a Jedi Woodburner.

LOL ObiaWan..... I love this line !

 

[fire_man]

Why you will burn more wood in the first year of running an EPA stove compared to subsequent years.

1) You will learn how to better load your stove . . . for some of us we learned in the first year that in the shoulder season and that first evening the temps dip to 32 degrees F or so we don't need to necessarily load our stoves to the gills with well seasoned sugar maple . . . and then re-load it every 2-3 hours . . . we have learned since then to do a single fire in the shoulder season and let the heat radiate from the stove for the rest of the day/night.

2) Your wood will be better seasoned . . . after realizing that your wood is not as well seasoned (at least many of us will discover this) as you hoped with fires that are a challenge to get started, sizzlers in the stove and having to run the air open more . . . you will make sure your wood for subsequent years is well seasoned . . . and as a result you will be able to close the air more (in my own case I now routinely shut the air all the way "closed" vs. running it a quarter ways open in my first year) which will result in longer burns and less wood burned.

3) You will learn how to run your stove better . . . you will learn when and how to close the air so you get good secondary combustion instead of thinking you need to see lots of flames in the firebox to stay warm . . . and you will learn to read the fire cycle and know when to put on a fresh load of wood -- not so early that you end up with too much heat and too many coals and not too late so that the fire doesn't take off very quickly . . . instead you will become one with the stove and will become a Jedi Woodburner.

This is an excellent post, it sums up the major points real well - worthy of printing and mounting next to every serious woodburner's stove! It would be nice to come up with a single post/link that collects all of the great tips and troubleshooting techniques for proper burning for newbies and old-timers. It could be posted as a link on the main hearth forum page. Maybe I'll make a suggestion to Craig?

 

[mayhem]

Mayham- if you had an old, non-EPA certified stove and switched(wisely) to a new, more efficient stove, obviously you will burn MUCH less wood. What members are trying to say is that this year(your 1st with the new stove), you will slip and slide a bit on the learning curve, and will burn more this 1st year (kindergarten) than compared future years (college), not compared to your old stove. :cheese:

I apparently misread the first post. The first sentence led me to beleive that the OP was under the impression that he would be using more fuel in his new stove than his old one. My mistake.

Reading Is Fundamental!

 

[Got Wood]

Why you will burn more wood in the first year of running an EPA stove compared to subsequent years.

... because you want to play with your new toy

 

[gpcollen1]

You MIGHT burn more wood your first year but that does not have to be the case and, if you do burn more, it might not be all that noticeable. For starters, it is going to depend on the type of wood you are burning and how well it is seasoned. The it might depend on your personality, like if you will be playing with it all the time or content to lead it up, get it burning and crank it down for a long burn. I think I may have used less wood my first year because I did not really fill my Olympic to the gills until the following years. Year one was about 4 cords and following years have been right around 4.5 cords. It is hard to say with any certainty though...

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We did not burn more wood the first year we had our new stove. In fact, we burned about 1/2 the amount we had burned the year before.

Methinks some might get this mixed up. It is new wood burners who go through a lot of wood their first year before they settle down and start burning right. Someone with experience usually does just fine.

 

[oldspark]

We did not burn more wood the first year we had our new stove. In fact, we burned about 1/2 the amount we had burned the year before.

Methinks some might get this mixed up. It is new wood burners who go through a lot of wood their first year before they settle down and start burning right. Someone with experience usually does just fine.

Kenny said he had problems the first year and he had burnt before but my guess is you are correct for the most part, slight adjustment and the learning curve goes away quickly, (at least I hope so).

 

[fire_man]

Why do you think I will burn more wood the first year after I switch from an old stove to a new one? I mean, I know I will save some wood the first year but why do you think I would save even more the next year? I've heard this many times on this web sight. I mean if i just get the wood burning good and damper down what else can I do.

I think the first year of increased wood usage applies if its your first year of burning and you also have unseasoned wood. Most people have lousy wood their first year of burning because they get the stove and wood the same year. If you have seasoned wood and a new stove you might burn a little more getting used to the new stove, but it pales in comparison to the waste in burning unseasoned wood in any stove.

Here is my theory: unseasoned wood puts out the same total energy as seasoned wood, but a lot of the energy goes into heating and then evaporating water. The heating and evaporation of water robs the useful heat that would have gone into heating the room. The tendency is to crank open the draft to get more heat and this burns down the wood even faster - Wallah! wasted wood! I'm no Thermodynamics Engineer, but it seems to make sense.

 

[mtcates]

Thanks for the good points made. I am by no means a first time burner. I have been heating with wood for years. I have 5 cords of wood that has been seasoning since last January or February. I have about 1.5 cords that is 2 years old. The old smoke dragon worked well for me. I did burn well seasoned wood in it and the homemade insulated baffle that I installed as well as the insulated 6 inch flue liner made it perform fairly well. It will be interesting to see the difference between the old setup and the new. The main reason I upgraded was the view of the fire through the glass door. The downside of my upgrade is that all 7 cords of my wood is about 3 to 4 inches too long to work in the new stove. I'll have to cut it shorter as I burn it.

 

[Dix]

We did not burn more wood the first year we had our new stove. In fact, we burned about 1/2 the amount we had burned the year before.

Methinks some might get this mixed up. It is new wood burners who go through a lot of wood their first year before they settle down and start burning right. Someone with experience usually does just fine.

Dennis, for shame You need to just keep practicing ..again I remind you of this %-P

I went through so much wood my first year, and had the chimney cleaned 3 times. Scandalous, I tell ya !

2nd year.... better, all around. I did not count on the blizzard before Christmas last year, nor the never ending cold that followed, along with the other monster snows. Ate most of the wood I had planned on for this year, as the oil burner had issues from January on, and I was pushing the PE to heat the whole house. It got the apartment to 65F in 20F, but after that it can't do it.

3rd year.... looking at some awesome firewood, mostly scrounged, and I have enough to run 2 stoves.


You will just naturally burn more wood the first year with a new stove. Learning curve, days when you shoulda left it alone, instead of loading a couple of splits all day long. You use alot of wood that way.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

I think they mean mostly newbies like me who have first year woodburning syndrome, aka, no seasoned wood. =P

~Rose

 

[Slow1]

Why you will burn more wood in the first year of running an EPA stove compared to subsequent years.

... because you want to play with your new toy

x2

Even if you have burned for years you will likely want to experiment with your new stove a bit to see what it can do. How does it burn with this load? this air setting, that one. How much heat can I get out of it? How high can I get the house temp? How fast? If replacing another stove the questions may be comparing new with old.

Call all this 'playing' or call it serious experimentation but whatever it is it will take more wood than once you settle down and just use the stove to heat up the place in a nice boring steady manner...

Edit: forgot to add - don't forget that when you have a new stove in the house burning season seems to start earlier... somehow you just feel colder faster when that stove is sitting there waiting for the first few fires...

 

[oldspark]

I agree with Slow1, my summit has me scratching my head as to how it is going to work when it gets cold.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We did not burn more wood the first year we had our new stove. In fact, we burned about 1/2 the amount we had burned the year before.

Methinks some might get this mixed up. It is new wood burners who go through a lot of wood their first year before they settle down and start burning right. Someone with experience usually does just fine.

Dennis, for shame You need to just keep practicing ..again I remind you of this %-P

I went through so much wood my first year, and had the chimney cleaned 3 times. Scandalous, I tell ya !

2nd year.... better, all around. I did not count on the blizzard before Christmas last year, nor the never ending cold that followed, along with the other monster snows. Ate most of the wood I had planned on for this year, as the oil burner had issues from January on, and I was pushing the PE to heat the whole house. It got the apartment to 65F in 20F, but after that it can't do it.

3rd year.... looking at some awesome firewood, mostly scrounged, and I have enough to run 2 stoves.


You will just naturally burn more wood the first year with a new stove. Learning curve, days when you shoulda left it alone, instead of loading a couple of splits all day long. You use alot of wood that way.

Thanks for reminding me that I am not normal Eileen! My wife has a tendency to remind me of that every now and then too! Still no shame though.

 

[iceman]

Edit: forgot to add - don't forget that when you have a new stove in the house burning season seems to start earlier... somehow you just feel colder faster when that stove is sitting there waiting for the first few fires...[/quote]






Now that's the truth!