All night burn-what's the trick?

[skinnykid]

So as I learn this new Jotul, I have been trying to achieve an all night burn. More than once I have loaded the fire box as much wood as I can, splits a little bigger in size. Once I have shut the air down all the way and let the design of the stove feed in the air. Once I have left the air open a crack and both times I woke up to just a pile of ash. Last night I loaded the stove up with big splits of Maple and one split off White Birch that the tree was very old in age when cut, the Birch seemed harder and denser than normal.

I loaded it up at 10 or a little after at night and woke up at 5 the next morning. Nothing glowing in the fire box.

Could it be the grate, letting the ashes fall into the pan resulting in not keeping hot ambers in the fire box?
Could it be the wood?
Could it be that I just am a Dork?

opinions would be great! Thanks

 

[wendell]

What kind of maple? With my Morso with less than a cubic foot firebox, I would have enough coals in the morning burning elm to get the fire started so something ain't right.

 

[fossil]

...Could it be that I just am a Dork?...

No way, skinny. You're not a dork. Well, maybe you are, who am I to say? You oughta try it with softwood. Sometimes I got a few embers in the morning...most times nada. For me to get an "overnight burn" would mean reloading about midnight and getting up at about 5:00AM. That ain't gonna happen. I'm retired. Rick

 

[skinnykid]

I was just saying to my Girl friend, I am gonna try a different species of wood, other than last night all my burning has been Hemlock. When I split it all in April. it gushed out water like mad. i figured it would season quick being soft but maybe not.

I think the maple was Red Maple, alot of it was deep red when split.

thanks

EDIT: the reason why I wanna try different wood is because it has been wicked hard to get a fire going, i have to leave the door open for a long time to get a burn to keep. Thats why I wanna try a different wood. As far as the over night burn, that has me stumped.

 

[Hogwildz]

If you load that thing with oak, you might have coals in the morning.
What size firebox does that thing have?
The larger the splits or rounds, the longer it takes to consume the wood.

 

[webby3650]

I have found it hard to get an overnight burn if I empty the ashes very often, the ashes insulate very well. Some people leave the ash pan full and shovel out the firebox. I think if you leave some ashes behind and use hardwood you will have success.

 

[skinnykid]

It is the F500, I forget off the top of my head, I will look it up..

 

[webby3650]

If you load that thing with oak, you might have coals in the morning.
What size firebox does that thing have?
The larger the splits or rounds, the longer it takes to consume the wood.

2.4ish cubic feet

 

[Hogwildz]

I have found it hard to get an overnight burn if I empty the ashes very often, the ashes insulate very well. Some people leave the ash pan full and shovel out the firebox. I think if you leave some ashes behind and use hardwood you will have success.

Agreed, my manual for my insert even states to leave about an inch of ash in the bottom.
I would think with 2.4 you should have some coals for restart in the morning. But I don't have that stove, so can only go by what I am using.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

I get a perfect all night burn by getting up every 4 hours.
lol

 

[Bigg_Redd]

So as I learn this new Jotul, I have been trying to achieve an all night burn. More than once I have loaded the fire box as much wood as I can, splits a little bigger in size. Once I have shut the air down all the way and let the design of the stove feed in the air. Once I have left the air open a crack and both times I woke up to just a pile of ash. Last night I loaded the stove up with big splits of Maple and one split off White Birch that the tree was very old in age when cut, the Birch seemed harder and denser than normal.

I loaded it up at 10 or a little after at night and woke up at 5 the next morning. Nothing glowing in the fire box.

Could it be the grate, letting the ashes fall into the pan resulting in not keeping hot ambers in the fire box?
Could it be the wood?
Could it be that I just am a Dork?

opinions would be great! Thanks

How long do you sleep?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

My 2.0 CF PE Spectrum has no problem with 8+ hour burns. No brag - it burns way better than I expected.

EDIT - on softwoods!

 

[Todd]

Let your ash pan fill up and keep about a 1/2" or more in the bottom of the firebox.

 

[olskool53]

For my stove I found if i use big splits stacked tightly on a hot bed of coals with the air adjusted about 80% closed I can get 6-7 hrs. I like to get the stove temp up(400-450) before i throttle it down. Last night I filled the box at 11, watched the JETS choke & fell asleep. Woke up at 6 to a bed of ashes(300 deg), 1 quick rake and added a few small splits and she was off.

 

[Rob From Wisconsin]

I owned a Jotul F500 also at one time.
Never remember getting an overnight burn (or very rare).

What's your chimney setup??

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Have the girlfriend earn her keep and feed the stove around 2am.


HTH,
Matt

 

[Skier76]

I'd be interested to see what other Oslo owners have experienced.

Right now, I'm burning pine...punky older pine. I usually load it up for the night around 10:30 or 11. I'll get up again around 2 or 3, rake out the coals and toss more wood on. That usually leaves some good coals for the AM. It also seems to keep the house at a pretty comfy temp. Oh, I have a Castine which is smaller than the Oslo. I knew from the get go that the Castine would NOT be an overnight stove...no matter what.

 

[madison]

Check door gaskets for proper sealing?

 

[CrappieKeith]

Dear Skinny...you live in a cold climate compared to some of these other guys.
Your call for heat is great.
You best option is to get the dryest hardwood you can find.
How many square heat are you trying to heat and what is the btu output of your stove?

 

[awoodman]

For my stove I found if i use big splits stacked tightly on a hot bed of coals with the air adjusted about 80% closed I can get 6-7 hrs. I like to get the stove temp up(400-450) before i throttle it down. Last night I filled the box at 11, watched the JETS choke & fell asleep. Woke up at 6 to a bed of ashes(300 deg), 1 quick rake and added a few small splits and she was off.

This is exactly what I do...

 

[logger]

Same stove. My guess is the wood. If you split in April it might not be properly seasoned (a year is much better). Also, hemlock is very soft wood. I usually throw in some oak and fill it at about 10pm. I like unsplit rounds 6-7'' best, but big splits work well too. My damper is left open just a tad after open full for a good few minutes to get going. Im up between 5-5:30 and rake my ashes to the front of stove near air control. Theres always enough reds to throw some wood on and start back up. The house stays warm all night, although the temp definately goes down some. Good luck and try some different wood and give us the outcome.

 

[PunKid8888]

I am fighting a similar problem. I am new to my stove and have been experimenting with different wood and loading to get an over night burn. Currently I am at 7.5hrs with some mixed hardwoods that were smaller in size then I would have liked. I loaded at 930pm, 30mins of charring, then at 5am I have a little less then optimal coals. I put a few smaller splits on the coals and little it heat up for about 10mins then I throw one piece of newspaper in and within 5mins I have a fire again. If I can get it to 8hrs and enough coals to bypass a piece of paper I will be happy. I imagine in the heart of the winter with the heat demand higher I will need to do a reload at some point in the night.

 

[Rob From Wisconsin]

From what I can remember, the ash-grate might be your biggest enemy.
It really keeps the stove from coaling properly.
I remember placing a piece of sheet metal over it, and just scooping-out ashes as needed.
It made the burns a bit longer, but not much.
Maybe 2-4 hrs. at most (medium hardwoods).

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Hemlock and birch are not long-burning woods. Locust, apple, oak and hickory are your best bets in our area.

 

[Joey]

Similar problem for me also with the below listed stove. I load up around 10pm, shut the damper almost all the way,,,and the stove cranks up to about 650-700 degrees before it levels out. A bit to hot for my liking. Get up around 5am,,,just a little glowing red coals in the box, easy to get started again.. Just cant figure why the damn stove gets sooo hot when it is loaded up and the damper is closed. I have a 35 ft lined chimney,,with a fantastic draft. I just get worried the stove is gonna get way to hot. Still learning here also,,,but it is fun experimenting. I never knew these things were so technical !! Its a great machine, dont know how I went this long without one. Joey.