All night non-epa burn advice

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schlot

Minister of Fire
Nov 21, 2011
771
Iowa
Been burning for a year now. Been through the typical problems and learned from them.

Learned about making sure I have plenty of good dry wood this year.

Learned about getting air circulated towards the stove to heat the other rooms the best I can.

I've been burning 24/7 and during the day I'm pretty pleased with it.

But I still struggle with getting a good all night burn. I wondering if I can even do so.

I have a cheap US Stove that only has the flue damper as air control. Because of our small one floor house and it's floor layout. we put it in our bedroom. The main floor consists of bedroom, living room, bathroom, den, and kitchen.

Since it's in the bedroom, I really can't stuff the stove full with wood for a good hot fire before we go to bed, or we will melt.I've been using hard wood for the over night burns but I get maybe 3 hours out of it. Any ideas on burning technique? Would an EPA stove with better air control help? If an EPA stove helps would a non-cat be better since my stove temps on average will be lower?
 
You need a better stove with air inlet control and you need to remove it from your bedroom, the last place it should be.
 
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You need a better stove with air inlet control and you need to remove it from your bedroom, the last place it should be.

Unfortunately the bedroom is where it has to be.
 
From front facing vents, but I don't see any way of modulating how much air enters. It was cheap, solid but cheap.
 
. It was cheap, solid but cheap.

Well, there's your problem.

Not saying you have to drop a couple of thousand on a wood stove. You could get a great VC Vigilant for a few hundred dollars and it will certainly do the trick, though there is no way you could operate it out of your bedroom, which is not ideal for any application. Our Vig heats our 4000 square foot house quite nicely.

To get a long overnight burn you have to have a lot of wood in there. You can't have it both ways. Long burn and low heat, especially without air controls.
You can have a small, hot fire but that will only last a short while. You can have a long, low fire but without air controls it will be smoky and smoldering.

Post more info on your stove: brand/model. Maybe someone can offer some suggestions to help a little bit.
 
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Well, there's your problem.

Not saying you have to drop a couple of thousand on a wood stove. You could get a great VC Vigilant for a few hundred dollars and it will certainly do the trick, though there is no way you could operate it out of your bedroom, which is not ideal for any application. Our Vig heats our 4000 square foot house quite nicely.

To get a long overnight burn you have to have a lot of wood in there. You can't have it both ways. Long burn and low heat, especially without air controls.
You can have a small, hot fire but that will only last a short while. You can have a long, low fire but without air controls it will be smoky and smoldering.

Post more info on your stove: brand/model. Maybe someone can offer some suggestions to help a little bit.

Yes, I figured when I bought it there would be sacrifices because of the low cost. Glad I did it though, as I've learned I really enjoy the stove and will upgrade in a few years. I can't complain about the any smoke, or the heat it throws out, just the ability to keep it burning at night stinks.

I saw that it's a US Stove, but need to take a closer look for the model number.
 
When you say you can't keep it burning all night, do you mean that the fire goes out as in... won't stay lit? Or that it burns down to ash quickly, needing frequent reloads?
 
When you say you can't keep it burning all night, do you mean that the fire goes out as in... won't stay lit? Or that it burns down to ash quickly, needing frequent reloads?

Frequent reloading, even if I arrange the logs so they burn slowly I get about three hours out of it. I shoot for a stove temp peak around 400 degrees, so the room doesn't get too warm. I know having it in the bedroom is a big limitation but I can't change that unfortunately.
 
Yes, I figured when I bought it there would be sacrifices because of the low cost. Glad I did it though, as I've learned I really enjoy the stove and will upgrade in a few years. I can't complain about the any smoke, or the heat it throws out, just the ability to keep it burning at night stinks.

I saw that it's a US Stove, but need to take a closer look for the model number.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...kw={keyword}&gclid=CPfEvdOwyrQCFUQw4AodNC8AOQ

Is it like the one in the link?
 
What kind of wood are you feeding that thing? Iowa is filthy with hedge, black locust, and oak. Those will be your best bet for a longer burn.

Also, your split size will have some influence too. If I'm going for a long burn I'll put in a couple big'uns fill the rest in with smaller splits.

Big splits of high quality firewood will go a long way to lengthening your burn times. Good luck.

BTW, I think a wood stove in a bedroom is a code violation.
 
What kind of wood are you feeding that thing? Iowa is filthy with hedge, black locust, and oak. Those will be your best bet for a longer burn.

Also, your split size will have some influence too. If I'm going for a long burn I'll put in a couple big'uns fill the rest in with smaller splits.

Big splits of high quality firewood will go a long way to lengthening your burn times. Good luck.

BTW, I think a wood stove in a bedroom is a code violation.

It's been a mix of ash, locust, elm and hickory. I definitely see the hickory and locust burning longer. I try to use larger rounds or splits for over night burns.

I checked on the code and it was ok in our neck of the woods.

I haven't been home to check on the stove yet, but I'm 90% sure this is the model.

http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Wood-..._a_7c3500006&gclid=COu-yoXLyrQCFZGPPAodHCAAXw
 
If its the Stove in Zaps link, it has an air control on the front of the door. Almost all stoves, non EPA, have a control. Most are of the knob type.

They were operated with an intake and a Flue damper. On modern stoves its just an intake (Primary, Secondary, nd Doghouse for most) with a flue damper here or there (tall, strong drafting chimneys :)).
 
The 35:1 EPA exempt stoves don't have air controls. The air input is fixed and the only control is the key damper built into the flue collar.
 
The 35:1 EPA exempt stoves don't have air controls. The air input is fixed and the only control is the key damper built into the flue collar.

Why wouldn't they give you some control of the air input, even if they are EPA exempt. Seems like it would help the operation so much.
 
Why wouldn't they give you some control of the air input, even if they are EPA exempt. Seems like it would help the operation so much.

The 35:1 stoves were a jump through a loophole in the EPA regs back in 1988. There was a problem in that there are a lot of fireplaces out there in the country. So the regs were written where in a situation where there was at a minimum 35:1 air to fuel ratio the device was exempt. Or friends at Vogelzang ran right through the hole like a freight train and started making stoves with fixed air intakes great than a 35:1 ratio and certifying them as exempt from EPA rules just like fireplaces. So others got in the act too.
 
The 35:1 stoves were a jump through a loophole in the EPA regs back in 1988. There was a problem in that there are a lot of fireplaces out there in the country. So the regs were written where in a situation where there was at a minimum 35:1 air to fuel ratio the device was exempt. Or friends at Vogelzang ran right through the hole like a freight train and started making stoves with fixed air intakes great than a 35:1 ratio and certifying them as exempt from EPA rules just like fireplaces. So others got in the act too.

Sounds like a classic government SNAFU.
 
Sounds like a classic government SNAFU.

Nah. It was with a lot of industry input. They had to have a way for everybody's fireplaces to stay legal. No matter what ya do somebody is gonna find a loophole. Most of the stove manufacturer's have dropped their 35:1 stoves and the coming updates to the regs should end them.

Pack the splits as tight as you can in that stove and keep some flame going to keep it from crapping up your chimney and that is about as good as it is gonna get. I can't imagine any stove that wouldn't sweat you out of a bedroom.
 
Nah. It was with a lot of industry input. They had to have a way for everybody's fireplaces to stay legal. No matter what ya do somebody is gonna find a loophole. Most of the stove manufacturer's have dropped their 35:1 stoves and the coming updates to the regs should end them.

Pack the splits as tight as you can in that stove and keep some flame going to keep it from crapping up your chimney and that is about as good as it is gonna get. I can't imagine any stove that wouldn't sweat you out of a bedroom.

Thanks...figured my options were limited but I thought I'd get some input. Maybe someone has a "super secret" fix I haven't explored yet.
 
One big old nasty unsplittable crotch piece of oak that will barely fit in the door always worked overnight wonders on my old slammer.

TE
 
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One big old nasty unsplittable crotch piece of oak that will barely fit in the door always worked overnight wonders on my old slammer.

TE

I found the model number, it is a USSC 2007B for anyone interested.
 
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