It is a voyageur grand and we're loving it .still haveing a little learning curve about it. We have about a 2200 square foot Ranch. we had the living room up to 70 degrees over the weekend and the rest of the house about 68 . Very easy to light and maintain. Having a hard time to get long burn times. Should be getting 8 to 12 hours tapping out around 5 or 6 hours.
Markie123's burn time
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
Assuming you have dry wood, you're likely just seeing the burn time vs. horsepower conundrum. There's only so many BTUs in a load of wood, all you control is the rate at which they're dished out.
Now, if you can't hit the advertised burn time on the lowest setting on good wood, then it's time to look at your draft. Unusually tall chimney?
Advertised burn time is often marketing based on the most ideal conditions. All stove burn times are going to vary, often dramatically, from mild weather burning to much shorter times when it's very cold outside. Try burning thicker splits to extend the burn time.
Thank you for the repost. The the liner is 15 ft long.. Mostly Oak, maple and Birch moisture content is 20% or less. We burn on low. The sale rep/ Owner that sold it to me. Told me i should be getting a minimum of 8 hours per burn. Manufacturer ideal conditions say up to 14 hours. They had suggested to make sure that I'm packing the unit tight and putting some Fuller logs towards the front. It's going on two weeks and with all the expert advice that you guys give. I'm sure I'll just keep tweaking it and I'll get there. Thanks
Oh no, 2.4 cf noncat, you would be lucky to get an overnight burn and enough coals to relight in the morning without a match. 8-10 hours tops. 2.4 is about the minimum size noncat I can recommend for a full time burner due to being just barely big enough to make it overnight.
There are some exceptions. I have more than once seen a Super 27 have a decent coal bed after 10 hrs.
Yes, I would expect there to be after 8 hrs., but not after 14hrs. like the marketing dept. would like you to believe.
You should be thrilled. Lucky to get what you’re getting. Nothing to fix.
I can get 8 hours or more out of a 1.1 cu ft (actual measurement) non cat stove. Proper draft and an OAK are essential. Heres what I do:
- burn two medium pieces consecutively with primary air fairly open, definitley more than 50%. You want to build heat in the house and build a large bed of hot coals for the next step
- dont quite fully burn the wood, just enough so you can smash them apart and spread the remains. You dont want any flames whatsoever for the final reload
- spread the coals evenly around the bed. Then push them back from the front an inch or two and build an open channel straight down the middle for primary air to get in
- you dont need large pieces for the final load. You want pieces that fit together tight. I try to find wedge shaped pieces. You really want to pack the stove tight AND inhibit air movement as much as possible. A bunch of gaps everywhere is not what you want. use your oak for this. You may find that you want to split them differently for overnight burns.
- close the door and choke the primary air 100%. the goal is to prevent any and all flames as long as possible. this is where the correct draft is key. This really depends om the setup.
I can get a pretty big bed of coals after 8-10 hours doing this in a puny stove that is only 10" deep. Maybe its because im loading east west?
- burn two medium pieces consecutively with primary air fairly open, definitley more than 50%. You want to build heat in the house and build a large bed of hot coals for the next step
- dont quite fully burn the wood, just enough so you can smash them apart and spread the remains. You dont want any flames whatsoever for the final reload
- spread the coals evenly around the bed. Then push them back from the front an inch or two and build an open channel straight down the middle for primary air to get in
- you dont need large pieces for the final load. You want pieces that fit together tight. I try to find wedge shaped pieces. You really want to pack the stove tight AND inhibit air movement as much as possible. A bunch of gaps everywhere is not what you want. use your oak for this. You may find that you want to split them differently for overnight burns.
- close the door and choke the primary air 100%. the goal is to prevent any and all flames as long as possible. this is where the correct draft is key. This really depends om the setup.
I can get a pretty big bed of coals after 8-10 hours doing this in a puny stove that is only 10" deep. Maybe its because im loading east west?
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Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
I can get 10 hours overnight in my Avalon Rainier insert, 1.9 cu ft. Oak, outside temp high 30's, no blower (yet).
Thanks for detail on the load. I will try it this weekend and will cut some wedges give it a shot.
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
I wonder if this comes from a perspective of western softwood burning rather than eastern hardwoods. With our 2.2 cubic foot Insert with fans on we pretty much always had overnight burns. After 10 hours we certainly didn’t need a match to relight. There was naturally a big temperature spike at the beginning of an overnight burn, and the stove blower would sometimes be on at the end but more likely to be off, but we had a good coal bed at ten hours. In unusual circumstances like including some Liberty Bricks or 8” dry beech rounds in the burn, we could go almost 14 hours, but that was not the norm. There was certainly a difference in burn times depending on the species we used. Oak was certainly great for overnight.
The OP mentions oak, maple, and birch. I haven’t had a lot of experience with birch, but some of the burn time might be diminished if less of the load is oak and more is a soft maple. Also, I’m not sure we’ve nailed down what exact definition of burn time is being used in this particular situation. It sounds as though there are coals in the morning but that they need some stirring.
Our nextdoor neighbor gets easy 10hr fires with good coals to relight in his 2.0 ft Spectrum. This is burning alder and doug fir.
My burntimes come from actual experience with medium btu hard and softwoods in a few of non-cat stoves over decades. We don't have oak or hickory so you might be right about slightly longer burn times in these medium sized noncats with the better fuel.
Everybody defines burntime from a noncat differently it seems. People make up things but I always consider burn time of a noncat time from starting to being able to relight full size fuel without kindling or matches. None of this Period of Meaningful Heat, or time above 400 jive.
In my experience, that is 9-10 hours max on a 2.3 CF noncat. It is the reason I upgraded to a cat stove and now get 24 hour burns with the cat above 500. As I told the OP, he's doing great to get plenty of coals for relight after an overnight burn. That's great.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I propose its more the perspective of what constitutes “burn time”. Having a good coal bed at ten hours might mean a 6 hour burn time. I have a good coal bed at 40+ hours in my stoves, but I’d never call that their burn time, they’re not doing much heating at that point.
What I just said. “Good coals to relight” might be 2x the useful heating period. Heck, my stove set to run 24 hour loads will sometimes have enough coals to relight at 48 hours.
“Coals” does not equal “burn time”, in my opinion. Anyone marketing it as such is just trying to fool potential customers.
In our climate, having a stove at 250F with a good coal bed after 10 hrs when it's 40F outside is often just fine. That's typically where we are at in the larger T6 after 12 hrs. Not everyone is heating a cavern and in need of a 500º stove after 12hrs.. That level of heat would drive us out of the house or force opening of windows. The soft heat in pulse and glide 12hr increments is perfect for keep our 2000 sq ft house at a comfortable temperature on our average winter days. YMMV.
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These are good points. I can get 10+ hours out of a single load but it starts with a big coal bed and not much burning and ends with the same. A bed of coals can heat the house fine in all but the coldest weather. Those with castles dont have that luxury.
Also the way I do it you cant keep doing it conescutively. you need the smaller hotter and faster fires to clean everything up.
I should make a goof scientific post woth lots of data on how I get away with long burn times. Take a picture at each hour and record indoor, outdoor and stove temps.
One thing ive found is our stove is naturally regulating. i would imagine most stove would be. As it gets colder the draft increases which increases the output for the same primary air setting.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Totally with you there, man. I also wasn't trying to imply anyone needs a burn time longer than 12 hours, or anything like that. I was just giving some specific examples on the difference between what we might call "burn time" and "coaling time", much in agreement with the line of thinking started in your post #3; marketing folks rarely disclose their definitions on such matters.
They say you can get 14 hours burn time from that 2.35 cu.ft. box, but do they spell out their definition of burn time?
Either way, Markie reports topping out at 5 - 6 hours. No matter how you slice it, that ain't a great lowest-setting burn time, even at 2.35 cu.ft.
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Well after several weeks of experimenting in many tries. I am happy to say My overall burn time is 9 to 10 hours. I am so happy with all the feedback and expertise you guys have fed me over this last 3 or 4 weeks. Thank you so much and happy burning
Well done! Sounds like you have got the hang of it now. Enjoy the warmth of that good looking stove.
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