building a fire and heating the house

[electrathon]

From what I am reading here it seems that most people build a raging hot fire with pretty small pieces of wood, let the fire almost burn out and then cram the stove to the top again with small wood and do it again. I have always got the fire going, then put in a chunk of wood, preferably large, into the stove every few hours. If I leave the house I will fill the stove full with as many and as big of wood as I can. I do not do that when I am home because it seems to consume a lot more wood without gaining a lot more heat. Also experience has taught me that the way to start a chimney fire is to build a raging fire in an already hot stove, I like to keep chimney fires to a minimum. I have only had one with my new stove and it started because I was not paying attention and tossed in a bunch of smaller wood into a hot stove and did not shut down the draft in time and I had fire to the top.

Just looking for input on how most of you are burning.

 

[HighTon]

I have a BK so I generally completely fill the stove on a bed of coals every 12-24 hours depending upon outside temps. If I am starting with a cold stove, I just get my kindling going first before loading completely full. If outside temps are below 50, I usually fill the stove. I have the ability to run super low though.

 

[DougA]

I have read the same thing many times and I do not agree with it as described for my situation. I'm closer to your method but not due to wood consumption comparisons, more for convenience.

When starting from cold, I build a small fire with kindling and add a few smaller splits right at the beginning. Then, I add a few more pieces as the fire grows and at the same time, start turning the air down. Once I am sure everything is going well, I add 3 or 4 larger splits, wait 5 to 10 min., then turn the air down all the way. I only stuff the stove full when I am away for the day or overnight.

As far as I am concerned, the most important part is to get a good fire going and get the air controls turned down fully as quickly as the fire permits to maximize efficiency of the stove. I've done top down and bottom up fires and in MY stove, it makes no difference at all and I prefer to load and light bottom up.

That said, in a few weeks, I will be burning 24/7 until early Spring and I still prefer to add a few splits as needed during the day. Many of the members are away from home all day and the goal is to get a roaring fire going in the morning to warm up the house, then load it full and go to work. In that scenario, the method you posted about makes more sense.

 

[electrathon]

Do you actually get 24 hours out of a fill of wood? I feel lucky to get six hours. Most of what I have fir wood is fir or similar.

 

[DougA]

Do you actually get 24 hours out of a fill of wood?

Most all BK members seem to get 24 hrs. from one load. They are NOT getting maximum heat for that whole time. A given cu ft of oak will only provide a given BTU, no matter whether it is over 1 hr or 24 hrs. BK's are good at stove efficiency but not better than many. Fir and other softwoods are often half the BTU of a good hardwood, so you'll get half the heat.

 

[HighTon]

Do you actually get 24 hours out of a fill of wood? I feel lucky to get six hours. Most of what I have fir wood is fir or similar.

In the shoulder season I do get enough heat on 24 hour loads in my well insulated house. Once the temps stay below freezing I will be on 12 hour cycles. I burn mostly Juniper that is extremely dry with a split or 2 of hardwood in each load.
This is the only wood stove I've ever had so I can't speak to how well it works compared to others, but I can say that it lives up to the BK hype.

 

[bholler]

it really comes down to what works best for you and your stove. my stove works best packed with smaller splits but yours may not. As long as you are getting it hot enough to burn cleanly keep doing what you are doing.

Also experience has taught me that the way to start a chimney fire is to build a raging fire in an already hot stove

This is not really true that may be the quickest way to light off a fire but if you burn correctly there will be very little if any fuel for a chimney fire but if you burn cool and smouldering fires there will be lots of fuel that will eventually get set off

 

[kennyp2339]

Once the temps stay below freezing I will be on 12 hour cycles

Hey how much snow did you guys get over there last night?

 

[blades]

From what I am reading here it seems that most people build a raging hot fire with pretty small pieces of wood, let the fire almost burn out and then cram the stove to the top again with small wood and do it again. I have always got the fire going, then put in a chunk of wood, preferably large, into the stove every few hours. If I leave the house I will fill the stove full with as many and as big of wood as I can. I do not do that when I am home because it seems to consume a lot more wood without gaining a lot more heat. Also experience has taught me that the way to start a chimney fire is to build a raging fire in an already hot stove, I like to keep chimney fires to a minimum. I have only had one with my new stove and it started because I was not paying attention and tossed in a bunch of smaller wood into a hot stove and did not shut down the draft in time and I had fire to the top.

Just looking for input on how most of you are burning.[/QU
If this is a new stove and you are getting a flue fire, your wood is not dry enough. or a combination of less than adequately dried wood and a flue that is cooling the exhaust gases off very quickly to create the scenario described. Be aware that even though most sellers of split wood say it is "seasoned" ( i keep asking what kind of seasoning they use- salt & pepper?) it is very likely not dry enough. On a very rare occasion you might find a seller with material that is in fact dried to less than 20% internal moisture content- Conifers - you need to be doubly sure that it is less than 20% internal moisture content. The sap in conifers is like throwing gas in the stove particularly the real pitchy pines or cedars. The only over fire I ever have had was with a bunch of conifer 6x6 blocks from a pallet co. Heat treated yes - dry no. This was very exciting in a mobile home when your double wall flue pipe is glowing a dull red with lights off up to the transition assembly, almost but not quite in to full freight train sound.

 

[HighTon]

Hey how much snow did you guys get over there last night?

I live in rural Reno about 1000 ft higher than downtown and I got just over 18 inches. I think they got about 8 in town.

 

[begreen]

Not sure where this notion came from but it in general it's a bad idea to fill a stove full of small splits. This could lead to an overfire condition.

 

[bholler]

Not sure where this notion came from but it in general it's a bad idea to fill a stove full of small splits. This could lead to an overtire condition.

That depends entirely on the stove and the setup. Many people do this all the time with no issues at all. You need to find out what works best for your setup.

 

[saskwoodburner]

...

When starting from cold, I build a small fire with kindling and add a few smaller splits right at the beginning. Then, I add a few more pieces as the fire grows and at the same time, start turning the air down. Once I am sure everything is going well, I add 3 or 4 larger splits, wait 5 to 10 min., then turn the air down all the way. I only stuff the stove full when I am away for the day or overnight.

As far as I am concerned, the most important part is to get a good fire going and get the air controls turned down fully as quickly as the fire permits to maximize efficiency of the stove. I've done top down and bottom up fires and in MY stove, it makes no difference at all and I prefer to load and light bottom up.

I found with my stove as well, getting the door closed and the air turned down on a sustainable fire (won't stall) as soon as she'll hold, seems to be more efficient. It won't heat up as fast as with the door cracked for 10 minutes, but then all that happens is a strong draft from blowing the heat through the chimney. And a gassed load in my little stove.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I personally have never had an overfire condition or a runaway stove, no matter how small the wood was nor how much of the wood was small in a variety of stoves and locations. Im sure if i let the door open or kept the air control wide open i i would have a problem. And i burn mostly pine in an NC-30 with a very tall chimney. Sometimes a whole stove full of small pine lathe boards. Stove top never got much farther than 550-600.

 

[firefighterjake]

Now . . . during shoulder season . . . start a fire in the morning and let the fire go out. Burn a fire in the evening and let the fire go out. Only need to warm up the stove and then let the heat radiate off the stove.

Once burning 24/7 . . . I burn in cycles . . . but not by stuffing the firebox full of small wood and then letting it run down to nothing. Once the fire has been going and has burned down to coals (about the size of baseballs or so) I load the stove up with medium to large sized splits and rounds, adjust the air once the temp is up to the proper temp and then let the stove do its thing (i.e. heating the home) until it has reached the coal stage. No need to keep adding a split or two at a time or fussing with the air control once the stove is at "cruising speed."

So far so good . . . zero chimney fires.

 

[DougA]

Sometimes a whole stove full of small pine lathe boards. Stove top never got much farther than 550-600.

The problem here is that you are measuring the temps on the stove top, not the flue gases. I've had way over 1200 flue gasses and the top still measures 600. I am not about to post what the readings were because somehow I think it will come back to bite me.
Dry kindling burns very hot & fast. IOW, super hot, super fast flue temps, then it cools down because the wood has been consumed in a few minutes. If you have a lot of creosote - no one here, I am sure - the high temps will light the creosote and now you have gone from a serious problem to a 911 call.

 

[electrathon]

The problem here is that you are measuring the temps on the stove top, not the flue gases. I've had way over 1200 flue gasses and the top still measures 600. I am not about to post what the readings were because somehow I think it will come back to bite me.
Dry kindling burns very hot & fast. IOW, super hot, super fast flue temps, then it cools down because the wood has been consumed in a few minutes. If you have a lot of creosote - no one here, I am sure - the high temps will light the creosote and now you have gone from a serious problem to a 911 call.

Everything above is what I understand. Hot raging fires burn out fast and shove lots of heat up the chimney fast. Seems better to keep it in the house. Also raging a fire sends flame up into the chimney, right into any accumulated creosote. Also a great way to crack/warp a stove, I do see a lot of comments about people doing exactly that. Keeping the heat range on the constant side seems to be a lot better way all around.

 

[bholler]

Everything above is what I understand. Hot raging fires burn out fast and shove lots of heat up the chimney fast. Seems better to keep it in the house. Also raging a fire sends flame up into the chimney, right into any accumulated creosote. Also a great way to crack/warp a stove, I do see a lot of comments about people doing exactly that. Keeping the heat range on the constant side seems to be a lot better way all around.

No one is recommending raging fires that over fire the stove or send massive amounts of heat up the stove. But some of us like to pack smaller splits in tighter over larger splits. For me with smaller splits i can fit allot more wood in the stove. My stove is easy to control so i don't need to worry about over firing. but for some people that will not work and obviously if you cant control your stove loaded like that you should not do it that way . Neither is right or wrong as long as you get the temperatures up enough with each reload so that you maintain a clean burn do what ever works. And due to your hot water system you probably need to run a little harder to maintain the proper flue temps due to the extra heat being pulled off.

 

[Everhard]

I burn 24/7 thru the winter, and once cold enough typically I'll load the wood stove (Drolet Austral) once in the morning and once in the evening unless it's crazy cold outside (-20c or colder) and depending on how cold it is I might also light up the insert (BIS Ultima) but that one I don't keep going 24/7. Usually I use that one if I've been away from the house for a while and I want to warm up the house quickly then getting both fires going gets the house warmed up fast even on those nasty bitter cold days.
When lighting either stove I'll set it up with a full load and light it up, get it burning hot, slowly back off the air intake until my stove top and stove pipe temps are at operating temp. Depending on my wood that's usually between 15-30 minutes. I do think getting a good hot fire going once a day for a short period is good particularly as I burn 24/7 with the stove fire dialed right back for most of the time. I believe it helps get rid of most any accumulations of creosote in the chimney. I clean my chimneys out once a year and looking at what I end up with I'm happy with my technique.
Oh and with a hot fire I still never let my stove pipe temp ever go crazy high.

E.

 

[electrathon]

My problem with my stove is keeping the fire down, not up. I target the split wood to the side of a 4x6, but often end up with larger. If I filled my firebox with 2x4 and 4x4 I would have cracked stone and warped/cracked metal lake so many post here about. Once my stove is hot it always has the draft turned down, the only time I open it up is when I get lazy and let the fire die down.

I thought the water heating would take extra fire to maintain stove heat when I set it up. It really surprised me that I could tell zero difeannce once it was set up. The coil is not in the fire box, but is above the baffle plate, possibly why.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Dry kindling burns very hot & fast. IOW, super hot, super fast flue temps, then it cools down because the wood has been consumed in a few minutes. l.

A whole stove of lathe boards takes quite awhile to burn through, depending on the air setting. Only burns hot and fast if i have the air wide open,or the door. I dont think 1200 is too hot for flue gasses as it drops fast as it moves up the pipe and by the time it goes from the stove pipe into the flue its several hundred degrees cooler, at least thats what my IR gauge reads. The UPC code price sticker is still on
the pipe near where it enters the flue so i didnt burn that off yet.

 

[electrathon]

... I dont think 1200 is too hot for flue gasses as it drops fast as it moves up the pipe...

Steel and stainless turn red hot at 900 degrees. Red hot (even less than red hot) can alter the steel. Aluminum melts at 900 degrees. These temperatures are well within the range of stove damage. Possibly not every time, but damage does occurre. Even if you pay someone from a stove store to tell you it is not damaged, there is really no way to know till you see warpage or cracks.

 

[cookin2night]

From what I am reading here it seems that most people build a raging hot fire with pretty small pieces of wood, let the fire almost burn out and then cram the stove to the top again with small wood and do it again. I have always got the fire going, then put in a chunk of wood, preferably large, into the stove every few hours. If I leave the house I will fill the stove full with as many and as big of wood as I can. I do not do that when I am home because it seems to consume a lot more wood without gaining a lot more heat. Also experience has taught me that the way to start a chimney fire is to build a raging fire in an already hot stove, I like to keep chimney fires to a minimum. I have only had one with my new stove and it started because I was not paying attention and tossed in a bunch of smaller wood into a hot stove and did not shut down the draft in time and I had fire to the top.

Just looking for input on how most of you are burning.

How long have you been burning? Can you send a picture of your setup? Do you have a thermostat on your setup? A lot of your questions can be answered with time and experience.

 

[cookin2night]

From what I am reading here it seems that most people build a raging hot fire with pretty small pieces of wood, let the fire almost burn out and then cram the stove to the top again with small wood and do it again. I have always got the fire going, then put in a chunk of wood, preferably large, into the stove every few hours. If I leave the house I will fill the stove full with as many and as big of wood as I can. I do not do that when I am home because it seems to consume a lot more wood without gaining a lot more heat. Also experience has taught me that the way to start a chimney fire is to build a raging fire in an already hot stove, I like to keep chimney fires to a minimum. I have only had one with my new stove and it started because I was not paying attention and tossed in a bunch of smaller wood into a hot stove and did not shut down the draft in time and I had fire to the top.

Just looking for input on how most of you are burning.

You will get a lot of different answers from everyone and they might be a general consensus but at the end of the day every setup is unique and you will have to find what works for you. There are so many variables. I was a green horn last year at this time with two stoves burning 24/7. Last year it would take me two stoves burning at full speed to warm the house to 70+, yesterday I had one stove cruising all day and the house was a toasty 73. I can tell you that after 1 year of burning I learned a ton on my own and through reading these forums and asking questions. Take all the advice these great folks give you and see which method works best for you.

 

[Beer Belly]

We usually start with some kindling, newspaper and a couple of small splits....once the fire gets going, we move up the size of the splits and never fully load the stove...maybe 3 decent splits, nothing too big. I don't sleep well, and usually up every 2 hours to reload, or I just shut the bedroom door and pop on the heat....it has it's own zone. I threw in about 9 shorties in our stove once and 10 minutes later, heard loud BANG BANG BANG....stove temps over 900....I believe I over fired it even though there was no red glow.....now when I open and close the door on the stove, it scrapes the lip, but still seals...barely.