Burn Time Question..

[Firedancer]

Hi all...if my insert says it has a 10hr burn time, what does that actually mean? Does it mean I will have an active flame or just heat for that long??

I've not "packed" the box full yet but my nightly loads are getting bigger as I become more comfortable with the stove. I'll wake in the morning to a bed of coals and my blower still blowing nice, warm air.

I'm a little confused to what "burn time" actually means.

Thanks for your input!

 

[hobbes105]

I've been wondering about this too. I would guess that the burn time ends when the remaining coals aren't producing significant heat or when you can't start the fire up again by just putting another log in there. Would this be the correct way to state what my "burn time" is?

 

[USMC80]

you will get many different answers. Just know that you could get more or less than what is stated for your stove/insert. So many variables

 

[begreen]

You will find countless threads on this topic by searching on 'burn time' here. Basically it's a marketing term with no set definition. Assume it means that the stove is still warm to the touch and has enough coals for a restart. Note that this time is often very different from the period of meaningful heat from the stove.

 

[Grisu]

Most people here define burn time as the time from loading the stove to when you still have enough coals left for an easy reload. The stove should still give off a little bit of heat then. When you wake up in the morning to a stove that still gives off heat and has plenty of hot coals you seem to do it right.

 

[brakatak]

i am getting overnight "burn times" of 8+ hours (time I load at 10pm until i have bed of hot coals left at 6am). But, I'm probably only getting significant heat for 5-6 hours of the 8+ "burn time"... Go to bed at 72d and waking up to 68d. During the day, I am reloading after 5-6 hours, just the overnight burn do i shoot for the 8-10 hours.

not sure what others are doing or getting, but this cycle is working for me so far.

 

[Firedancer]

Thanks much..very helpful.

 

[Chris_Up_North]

I had a VC Resolute that was 20+ years old (until this morning actually). I has an advertised 9 hour burn time. My experience with it was if I loaded it up with hardwoods when I went to bed at 11pm there would be coals *just* adequate enough to start a fire with smaller sticks the next morning around 7 AM. It would take about 20 minutes from that point to get a real fire going that actually warmed the house. Actual heat producing time when it was actively warming the house (not just keeping it a constant temperature) was likely around 5 hours. I'd imagine you'll have similar results with your insert unless it's a fancy catalytic model or something.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hi all...if my insert says it has a 10hr burn time, what does that actually mean? Does it mean I will have an active flame or just heat for that long??

I've not "packed" the box full yet but my nightly loads are getting bigger as I become more comfortable with the stove. I'll wake in the morning to a bed of coals and my blower still blowing nice, warm air.

I'm a little confused to what "burn time" actually means.

Thanks for your input!

Firedancer, I don't know what my stove says for burn time and don't really care. But one has to be very careful when talking about this. For example, I have no problem at this time of the year putting 3 splits in the stove before I go to bed and the house is still comfortable when I get up. There are also coals for the next fire. However, come January or even in December, those 3 splits would never carry us through the night and it would be cold when we got up the next morning. However, I can fill the stove in January before going to bed and our house will be very warm the next morning and there also will be coals for the next fire. So, what is our burn time? You see it really is not as simple as stove makers and sellers would have you believe.

In the end what really counts is what temperature do you want your home to be? Most seem to be happy with 70 degrees. That just won't get it in our home. We want more comfort than that and unless we are doing some work in the house, we keep our home 80 degrees or more. So then, comparing our burn time with the temperature we prefer to keep our home would be much different than most so therefore, not much to judge by.

About the best you can do is fill that thing up and see what happens. In addition, you need to learn which type of wood will give you the best heat. In addition, you need to know that wood needs to be dry enough to burn properly. For example, I could fill our stove with something like soft maple or cherry or something similar and get x number of hours of heat. Yet, if i had 3 year old oak and filled the stove, I would get a much longer burn time. As stated, it really isn't all that simple.

I do hope this has not confused you or others but it is given only as an example. So when a salesman tells you your stove will give you a 10 hour burn, some questions have to be answered and I'd bet less than 10% of them would understand this. So, we are on our own for most of this stuff but it is easy to learn. It just takes time. I'm still learning but have burned wood only 50 and a few years. Some day I'll get this down pat.

Good luck.

 

[etiger2007]

All that think Backwoods Savage should be in the wood burners hall of fame say "I" ,,,,,,,,,,,,, I

 

[BrotherBart]

To add to the hall of fame post, burn time has nothing to do with heating your house. That is a stove size issue. What you are trying to do is have a maximum stove temp for the longest time. If that doesn't heat your house then you have the wrong size stove or other issues with the house.

 

[Firedancer]

Thank you all for the input. I'm no longer confused I didn't know if I should wake up to a flaming fire still or what. I now understand.

My Clydesdale is doing a wonderful job heating my house. It's actually cooking now. The stove room is a little too warm for me at the moment-down the hall to the bedrooms are perfect and the family room where we spend most of our time is quite comfortable too. I do have a fan in a more central location of the house blowing past stove room, kitchen and hallway to bedrooms. So far so good!

Thanks again!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

All that think Backwoods Savage should be in the wood burners hall of fame say "I" ,,,,,,,,,,,,, I

No Ed Not at all. But thanks for the thought. I still have much to learn.

 

[Macpolski]

All that think Backwoods Savage should be in the wood burners hall of fame say "I" ,,,,,,,,,,,,, I

"I" or "Aye" ... anyway a definite yes!

 

[dyerkutn]

No Ed Not at all. But thanks for the thought. I still have much to learn.

We are all lifelong learners--but nevertheless each of us has some kind of special knowledge that deserves recognition and respect--especially when that person is willing to share their knowledge for the benefit of others. A true gift that the world needs more of.