Cold Weather and Shorter Burns

[DavidV]

wife commented last night that she thinks the stove tends to burn longer when it's warmer. Thinking on this she may be right. It may just be coincidence. when the nights didn't get down too low (35-45) degrees I would load up around 11 at night and get up in the morning around 630 and still have a nice bed of coals. It didn't take too long to get going again. Went to I seem to get shorter burns now that the nights are in the 20's. I think it may be conincidence though, because you never have the same load of wood from time to time. pieces vary in age, size, type of wood, dryness, etc. There is another thing to consider. Since it's cold I tend to run that thing wide open. when it was warmer I would damp down the air a bit so it wasn't quite as hot.

 

[Todd]

I've noticed with my stove it burns better on the lowest damper setting when its colder outside (<20). Me thinks the lower outside temps create a stronger draft, so shorter burn times.

 

[quads]

the lower outside temps create a stronger draft

Yes.

 

[Corey]

... Since it's cold I tend to run that thing wide open. when it was warmer I would damp down the air a bit so it wasn't quite as hot.

Well, there is your problem! Running wide open will definitely burn the wood faster and lead to a shorter burn time.

Corey

 

[Roospike]

... Since it's cold I tend to run that thing wide open. when it was warmer I would damp down the air a bit so it wasn't quite as hot.

Well, there is your problem! Running wide open will definitely burn the wood faster and lead to a shorter burn time.

Corey

i second that .

 

[Corie]

all other things equal though, cold air makes a stronger draft and burns wood (or coal) faster.

 

[DavidV]

Well I have noticed an increase in draft. Yeah I realize the full open makes it burn away quick but I'm tring to damp it down a bit so I can find that "sweet spot" where i get longer burns and hot fires.

 

[quads]

Longer burns and hot fires are not usually possible at the same time. About the best you can do at night or when away is to damp it down to get the longer burns but less heat. When able to tend the fire, you can open it up to get more heat but you will end up with shorter burns. The "sweet spot" isn't really a spot at all. More like a "sweet routine". You learn after awhile when to damp it down and when to open it up. Wood stoves like to be fiddled with.

 

[Eric Johnson]

In my case it's pretty straightforward. When it's colder out, my house requires more heat to maintain the temp that the thermostats are set for, which means that a load of wood in the boiler burns faster. Simple as that. I turn down the stats at night, and get a longer burn as a result.

I have noticed that I get more coals when the temp outside is colder and I assume this has something to do with the draft. Completely uneducated and ill-informed speculation leads me to believe that a stronger draft causes the wood to pyrolosize (sp) more quickly, resulting in more coals.

 

[Roospike]

The best way to get longer burn time and higher heat is load up your box to full ( whatever max full is on your make and model of stove ) load up the box and turn it down . We run our P.E. stove by pounds of wood . the less heat needed the less wood , more heat more wood. We always run our stove at 15% to all the way down on the air inlet damper. one split log at a time for low heat or 6 rounds for high heat.