Consistent Heat

[Burn Time]

How can I generate consistent heat in an EPA stove?

I'm still learning my Hearthstone Mansfield soapstone stove. Thanks to great advice from BrowningBAR and others, I've mastered re-firing from live coals and maximizing the burn time using the pipe damper and primary air control. I'm using between 5 and 7 splits of seasoned ash on each re-fire.

Even so, the advice to burn in complete cycles produces a wide range of temperatures at top center. I would like to keep the temperature more steady.

I re-fire when the stove top temperature has dropped to between 200 and 250 degrees, not lower, because that assures that I still have a deep, hot bed of coals. After fast ignition of the new splits, I will shut the stack damper full and shut the primary air control to about 40% open after about 20 or 30 minutes and about 425 degrees (or higher if I forget to monitor the stove). Then I shut the primary air full after another 5 or 10 minutes, so that I get plenty of lava-like, lazy flame and secondary combustion.

The problem, in my opinion, is that the stove top temperature then goes in to a steady decline until I re-fire. Apparently it is poor practice to re-stoke the stove with a couple of splits in mid-cycle. With my 25 year old VC Resolute Acclaim, I can keep the stove top temperature rather constant by adding new splits from time to time until I let the coals burn down for ash removal.

Why is it poor practice to add a split or two to my Mansfield in mid-cycle if there is a deep bed of live coals that immediately ignite the new splits? I do need to open the pipe damper and primary air supply to maintain the draft before I open the door. However, there is very little drop in stove top temperature (maybe 50 degrees) and no smoke. Adding one or two splits keeps the temperature at an even keel.

Thanks for your opinions and advice.

 

[BrotherBart]

Nothing wrong with putting a couple of medium splits in after it is down to coals if you have the time and patience to do it every three hours or so depending on the split size. What fills a stove up with live coals and causes the problem is shoving it full as you can every time the temp starts to go down. Eventually you have a firebox full of live coals and no room for wood.

What you do is what I do between five pm and nine or ten o'clock reload time to keep the house warm but have a low coal bed at night load time.

 

[Ashful]

If you want more even continuous heat out of your stove, you'll need to buy a catalytic stove. But, most don't find that necessary, finding the charge/discharge cyclical operation of a non-cat plays fairly well against that large capacitor you call a house. The one case where we see this not working well is in small spaces, where that capacitor is just too small.

 

[LocustBurner]

What fills a stove up with live coals and causes the problem is shoving it full as you can every time the temp starts to go down. Eventually you have a firebox full of live coals and no room for wood.

What you do is what I do between five pm and nine or ten o'clock reload time to keep the house warm but have a low coal bed at night load time.

I've been getting used to the Ideal Steel Hybrid and am finding I can let it "soak" between adding wood for a long time, 5 to 7 hours (with oak and locust) between fill ups. Like now; loaded 4 pieces @ 1:30 and can easily go another hour before another fill up. Temp inside between 75 and 79 all day while the hi outside was 39.

 

[jatoxico]

Kinda surprised to hear that particular complaint w/ that big soapstone stove. As Ashful says, cat stoves excel at even heating but even then if the stove is at the limit of its heating capacity that goes by the wayside too.

As BB said nothing wrong with adding a couple splits if you're around. If I'm home I run my stove like that all the time. But I'm curious why you need to do this, is the house too cold?