Am I going to Burn More Wood??

[jqgs214]

With my DW2500 and its HUGE 1.3 CF fire box I burned a cord part time. Assuming I have a fire going for the same amount of thime with a new PE Pacific insert (1.85 CF i think) should I expect to burn more wood?? Less wood?? or the same amount and just refill with more wood less often. (my thinking)

 

[Mike Wilson]

I'll guess that you'll use the same amount of wood, less often.

-- Mike

PS - Where did you find a PE dealer around here?

 

[jqgs214]

Well,

Ashwood in farmingville is a PE dealer, but BAC Sales (the local distributor for PE) is supplying my stove. The have said they will replace my stove (i'm to pay yhe difference in price) with any they distribute. Have the Rep and my dealer/installer coming to my house Friday. Will have the confirmation then that all will be replaced. Have been told its really just a formality.

 

[BrotherBart]

My take on it is that you should only have to cover the difference between distributor cost on the DW and the PE. They have both already made money on the first stove and it put you through a ton of grief.

They come out the same way they would have had you been crazy enough to accept another DW insert.

 

[titan]

You may not burn any extra wood,but you will load a little less frequently, and possibly be more comfortable on cold nights-courtesy of the extra btu output of that larger firebox.Enjoy.

 

[Corie]

It depends. If the other stove was capable of heating your area sufficiently, than you already had the required number of BTU's required. Going to a bigger unit doesn't mean you have to produce more BTU's, you can run a larger unit at a lower level to get the same output AND have longer burn times.


If the other stove didn't keep up though, you're obviously going to have to burn more wood.

 

[mayhem]

I may be wrong, but isn't the fuel consumption dictated by the heat output more or less? If you have abigger stove with a higher BTU rating and you burn it hot like you should then you will use more fuel.

To be safe I'd plan on a 50% increase...if you don't use it you've got a good dry stack for next season already started.

 

[Todd]

You will probably burn a little more wood. I noticed this in my old house when I went from a 2 cu ft fire box to a 3.2 fire box. Even though the smaller stove heated the area well, except the very cold days, I got greedy and stepped up to a larger stove. I definately burned more wood, maybe a half cord or so, because I could stuff more in there, and keep the house warmer than the smaller stove.

 

[Bill]

You burn more wood when you get a new stove just so you can use it, even if it isn't cold out.

 

[Corie]

Yeah, even though you won't need all the extra heat, chances are you'll end up burning more wood, just because you'll be able to really pack the firebox for those overnight burns. I doubt you'll go through a LOT more wood though, because your heating needs haven't changed and the efficiencies of the two stoves are about the same. PE stoves seem to run well at lower heat outputs according to those who have them here, so I think you'll be happy with the control you have over the burn rate.

 

[elkimmeg]

I agree with Corie since you will be getting more heat you will adjust to it and that will require more wood

It will take more to fill your larger firebox but you will get longer productive burns so in the end less loading


I think the wood usage should even out about the same but human nature kicks in instead of feeling ok at 66 degrees this stove brings it up to 68 or 70
at that point the 4 extra degrees feels more confortable so you will burn more wood to maintain that temp. The human nature factor, plus the wife being confortable
being 2 egrees warmer. I would plan ahead and prepare an extra cord. any unused means you have a larger stash for the next season.

Being a weatherman, you know the unpredictability of how next winter may play out. What if it is not unusually that warm till mid Jan but normal or colder?

 

[babalu87]

You had a Ford Ranger with a V-6, you just bought an F-250 with a V-8 you are going to use more gas, fuel or in your case wood.

 

[jqgs214]

Babalu,

I disagree with you analogy. These stove rate the same in efficieny. Those trucks do not. If I burn em both low and long I suspect the same burn times

 

[babalu87]

Both trucks have internal combustion gasoline engines and therefore the same efficiency. One uses more fuel because it is larger.
Does that analogy work?

Both stoves are the same efficiency, one will burn more wood because it requires more wood to make the same heat.

We'll all know this time next year

 

[jqgs214]

One burns more fuel because its heavier, they do not have the same efficieny as a machine as a whole. Lets make the analogy this way. Two identical trucks except one has a 10 gallon tank and the other a 20. Both with get the same mileage but one will go longer with less refuels and the other shorter with more refills. I think that analogy fits this scenario better because we are talking different size fuel loads. And in my above post I didnt mean the same burn times I meant same amount of wood, sorry!

 

[Highbeam]

How about the same full sized trucks (like the same house) but one truck comes with a 360 V8 and the other an 8 liter V10 (this is a full sized dodge) You will get lower mpg in the truck with the V10 doing the same work. Chevy also offered identical trucks last year, one with a 6 liter V8 and one with a 496 cubic inch V8. You can bet the 496 sucked more fuel doing the same work.

The efficiencies of these stoves is only the same when they are both burned at full blast. If you run the small one on high it will be more efficient at delivering X btus than the large stove choked down to deliver the same X btus to the room

I vote for more wood used but a small price to pay for the extra capacity and burn times but this will be a great experiment.

 

[jqgs214]

Well,

Its not going to be and experiment at all sorry. There is now way my wood consumption this year will be the same as last year beacuase the wife was home ill for 1.5 months and we burned it 16 hours a day. I was just trying to figure out what you guys thought. Maybe one of our dealers can do this in their shop. Run two stoves of different sizes for a week each. Aim for the same consistent room temp and see if the larger firebox burns more wood. I still say the difference will be small if any.

 

[Bill]

I just upgraded to a much larger stove and I will use a lot more wood. First off I am going to burn the stove hotter to put more heat into the house. Second it will hold more wood so it will burn all night instead of going out or smoldering all night. Third it will be my main heating source, gonna try and not use the electric furnace. Bottom line for me is the big pay off for cutting and splitting wood all summer.

I am going to let her rip all winter.

 

[Henz]

good plan. I love my Olympic, and I can load it up good

 

[titan]

Here-here!Fill-er to the roof and open a window if yer hot!In case of fire,pour on gas!