Burn times idea for overnight burns

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fespo

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Dec 14, 2005
730
South West burbs of Chicago
Good morning everyone. As I'am sitting reading post about burn times, heat out put,etc. I have a idea to help others out with burn times we get overnight.
To start, take a picture of what coals you have left in the stove. Load up the stove as you would for a overnighter and what time you filled it up and another picture. If you know what kind of wood you have that would be great also. Do what you normally do for an over nighter. I know outside temps, winds and all the other facts will play in. For the morning reload, take picture of the coals, check what time it is. After this, post all you info,what kind of stove, burn time, what kind of wood and othe info that might help.This should help others on how some of us get long burn times over night or not. I know it's alot of work but it should be neat to see how other do their overnight burns. Frank
 
So I found this thread after I fired up so no pics but...

I have a Jotul 550 which is a flush mount insert. It is wide (24" log) but not too deep. Been doing the rake the coals forward method and what I get is this; The front log fires across the whole log and the air from the dog house pushes the fire into the back of the box so pretty soon the whole load is going and I get max a 4-6 hr burn, not bad but no cigar burn.

So just I today thought I would try a few things. My first experiment (running now) is to push the coal bed to the back of the box this way the incoming air feeds the fire but does not blow the whole fire through the load. Hoping to get a cigar burn that way.

Next I may try pushing the coals to one side and seeing how that works out. I saw the wisdom of consolidating the coal bed to stop the whole load from going off at once but with my short box depth and the primary air blowing the fire into the load, it is defeating the purpose somewhat.

Anyone try something similar?
 
Good morning everyone. As I'am sitting reading post about burn times, heat out put,etc. I have a idea to help others out with burn times we get overnight.
To start, take a picture of what coals you have left in the stove. Load up the stove as you would for a overnighter and what time you filled it up and another picture. If you know what kind of wood you have that would be great also. Do what you normally do for an over nighter. I know outside temps, winds and all the other facts will play in. For the morning reload, take picture of the coals, check what time it is. After this, post all you info,what kind of stove, burn time, what kind of wood and othe info that might help.This should help others on how some of us get long burn times over night or not. I know it's alot of

work but it should be neat to see how other do their overnight burns. Frank

I think this could be a good idea. Although there are a lot of variables: chimney height, insulation, sq footage, stove location, wood species, MC, etc, this could give people an idea of what to shoot for with their particular stove.
Don't forget to include starting and finishing stovetop temps.
 
I am very interested in getting an efficient/long overnight burn. I believe that at this point my limiting factor is the quality of my firewood. Also my splits are too small and too short to fill the box.

I am starting to realize also that when it gets near 0F outside, I need to run above the minimum burn rate to keep my room temp up. So I may just get up and reload the stove at 4 AM or so. If I do that I can be sure to be able to sleep-in comfortably.

I will be interested to see others participate. I also need to learn how to get a picture up loaded.

Thanks,
MnDave
 
Fabulous idea! The best suggestion I've seen since someone here said to put aluminium foil on the stove's thermometer needle to record the overnight's high temperature.
 
Sorry, I sat down to check out the forums as I loaded the stove. I will try to do it next time...lol. Great idea though.

Merry Christmas to everyone at Hearth.com!!

Andrew
 
Loaded my Grandma Bear just before 10pm lst night, fired it up to about 500 deg. Shut it down at 10:15. Had a good bit of coals left this morning at 8:15.
 

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Loaded up my Keystone this morning after a 12 hour burn. Stove top was just under 200, raked coals forward, packed her full of 3 year old dry Oak and she's good to go for another 12. This little stove still amazes me on how long it can burn and the heat it throws. I'll post some loading pictures tonight if I get a chance.

My BK is back to 24 hour loads and I won't bore anyone with it since there are plenty of reload pics in the BK thread.
 
Loaded up my Keystone this morning after a 12 hour burn. Stove top was just under 200, raked coals forward, packed her full of 3 year old dry Oak and she's good to go for another 12. This little stove still amazes me on how long it can burn and the heat it throws. I'll post some loading pictures tonight if I get a chance.

My BK is back to 24 hour loads and I won't bore anyone with it since there are plenty of reload pics in the BK thread.
Ho hum loaded my King at noon yesterday,locust and oak with a few cherry fill in pieces.It's now 10am Xmas day stovetop 475,cat about the same a few coals golf ball sized guess I'll reload her soon house still at 74.yawn.
 
Been a while since I've been on. 'Had a firewood treat this morning: LOCUST, in the land of beetle-kill pine. The Fireight cb can heat most of the night using just pine -- and can certainly have hot coals with a carefully built pine fire, lasting 12 hours -- but the last 4 hours or so the house will cool. This morning, it was 7*F. I set off a 1/2 pine 1/2 locust full-box fire. It is interesting that it actually "cruises" most happily about 50* cooler with the Locust (500 vs 550 or so), but WOW, it cruises it cruises a LOT longer.

Merry Xmas to all.
 
I packed the fireview to the gills at 11 AM yesterday before leaving with 4 year seasoned oak. Came home at 1 in the morning to find a pile of coals and 180 degree stove top. Easy restart on another full load.

For me, dense wood packed just right, using a slight angle on the turn key and shutting the stove down before too much off gassing is where I find the sweet spot.

If I change one of those factors, my burn time suffers.

Merry Christmas!
 
I had family over for Christmas Eve dinner and everyone said it wad to hot in here, so I had to open the window and a door. So I will try to have pictures tonight.
 
This is a great thread.

I would take pics if my camera was working.
 
My harman once went 27 hours and fired back up just by adding wood without a match. Stove was still fairly warm but not hot. Not sure if thats unusual but my englander 30 never came close to that.
 
So I found this thread after I fired up so no pics but...

I have a Jotul 550 which is a flush mount insert. It is wide (24" log) but not too deep. Been doing the rake the coals forward method and what I get is this; The front log fires across the whole log and the air from the dog house pushes the fire into the back of the box so pretty soon the whole load is going and I get max a 4-6 hr burn on a decent load, not bad but no cigar burn.

So just I today thought I would try a few things. My first experiment (running now) is to push the coal bed to the back of the box this way the incoming air feeds the fire but does not blow the whole fire through the load. Hoping to get a cigar burn that way.

Next I may try pushing the coals to one side and seeing how that works out. I saw the wisdom of consolidating the coal bed to stop the whole load from going off at once but with my short box depth and the primary air blowing the fire into the load, it is defeating the purpose somewhat.

Anyone try something similar?

So loaded the stove pretty well after pushing the coals back into the stove instead of raking forward. After 8 hrs it was still throwing a little heat and decent amount of coals, easy relight. House temp dropped only 2-3 degrees over night. One of my better runs but need to see if I can duplicate or if was just one of those things.
 
Here's a couple pics after a 12 hour burn and fresh reload of Oak. I like to rake the coals forward then stuff a couple bigger splits in back and fill in from there. This little box can be a jigsaw puzzle when loading so it's good to have some smaller splits or rounds for fillers.
[Hearth.com] Burn times idea for overnight burns[Hearth.com] Burn times idea for overnight burns
 
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I loaded up the stove and took some pictures last night and was going to take some in the morning, but my wife got up before me and threw another split on the fire, so I was unable to get a picture of the coals from last night. <>
I'll try again tonight. ;)
 
I don't have any pics handy, maybe later in the week. On a full load I can get 12 hr with enough coals to relight no problem. Last few days I've been doing a full load of my heaviest wood... Oak and hard maple around 8pm, burn hot for 20min, then on cat and shut her down. It will settle in at about 400 griddle and 1200 cat temp. At 6am I probably have 250 griddle and 600 cat. Overnights have been in the 20s, stove room about 75 when I hit the bed, but I do let the gas kick in if it goes under 70 overnight (thermostat in stove room)- that keeps the upstairs from getting below the mid 60s.

I've been firing a half load in the morning, lighter wood. Burn hot on cat for an hour or so will bring the stove room up to 75, then i shut down all the way. Daytime temps have been in the high 30s and a lot of guests and holiday baking have kept the house warm all day without reloading. At 7pm the stove is still about 175 from that half load 13 hr prior! A good stir of the ash bed finds some coals which I pile up in the middle of the stove over the grate, then I open the ash pan door for a minute to goose it back to life. That has been enough to get 'er restarted.
 
I loaded the 30-NC on April the 8th and didn't have to reload until October 12th. Didn't get pics.
 
I loaded the 30-NC on April the 8th and didn't have to reload until October 12th. Didn't get pics.
Brother Bart sounds like you are running a nuclear plant!!!
Kevin
 
I loaded the 30-NC on April the 8th and didn't have to reload until October 12th. Didn't get pics.
When was the last time you loaded your pants? When you do a daily reload on those your in trouble;),cheers and best regards for the holidays BB.
 
I am very interested in getting an efficient/long overnight burn. I believe that at this point my limiting factor is the quality of my firewood. Also my splits are too small and too short to fill the box.

I
Seems burn time is directly related to how much wood you can stuff in the stove. THe stove i can put the most wood in get by far the longest burn times. For example it seems can get way more wood in my harman than in the englander. My harman always out last the englander on burn times. Both stoves are 3.0 Cu ft firebox.
 
I can get 8 or 9 hours out of 3 big red oak splits and i don't smolder the load.
 
I can get 8 or 9 hours out of 3 big red oak splits and i don't smolder the load.

Got your problems worked out then? I know that Magnolia was giving you fits not too long ago.
 
Got your problems worked out then? I know that Magnolia was giving you fits not too long ago.
Yeah I hope nothing else comes up for a long while.
 
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