do you load to max every time?

[Jotel me this]

still trying to learn all this. i read in here a lot that many stuff their boxes full for max efficiency/longest burn.

but do you ever just throw one or two logs in? and then when those burn down you just keep adding 2 at a time?

id think youd use more wood by adding smaller loads.

is the number of splits equal to the heat of the fire? can you have a hot fire with only 2 logs? is this how you control the temperature in a room? by having less wood in there.. or is it by adjusting the air ?

thoughts?

 

[Highbeam]

Full loads every time, well almost every time. The cat stoves can be turned down to slow their output. The big noncat I own gets run hot all the time so load her up!

 

[Rickb]

I very very rarely load full because of my btu load and the stove I have... Mine I normally load with 3-4 splits, about 1/3 full.

But every stove and situation will be different.

 

[begreen]

There are many variables in heating with wood. This is going to vary a lot from house to house and stove to stove. For 24/7 burning most folks run full loads, but in the shoulder seasons many burn just one or two fires a day, often with partial loads.

 

[FPX Dude]

Yep da MAX, full load or at least 3/4 every time, meaning at least 4+ splits. When I've tried to baby it up to 3 or so and it just seems like I'm wasting wood, and watching fire burn. If I go 4+ splits and full load, then the cat engages, stove is blazing, get great heat, then coals and longer time before a reload.

 

[Jotel me this]

Yep da MAX, full load or at least 3/4 every time, meaning at least 4+ splits. When I've tried to baby it up to 3 or so and it just seems like I'm wasting wood, and watching fire burn. If I go 4+ splits and full load, then the cat engages, stove is blazing, get great heat, then coals and longer time before a reload.

dumb question. but when people say 'splits' are they referring to a round log that was split once in half? how big is a 'split'? you can have a 5" diameter round log.. but can also have a 14" diameter round log

 

[weatherguy]

dumb question. but when people say 'splits' are they referring to a round log that was split once in half? how big is a 'split'? you can have a 5" diameter round log.. but can also have a 14" diameter round log

Splits are the round logs split, rounds are before you split.

 

[Jotel me this]

Splits are the round logs split, rounds are before you split.

thanks. is this split in half? cause my splitter can split one round into 4 pieces in one go. so are those 4 pieces called splits?

confused

 

[weatherguy]

thanks. is this split in half? cause my splitter can split one round into 4 pieces in one go. so are those 4 pieces called splits?

confused

Yes. And big rounds can be cut into multiple splits.

 

[blacktail]

I often only load 1 or 2 pieces when I'm home for the day. That's how I burn the crooked, twisted, and knot-filled chunks.

 

[Jotel me this]

I often only load 1 or 2 pieces when I'm home for the day. That's how I burn the crooked, twisted, and knot-filled chunks.

thanks. do you think you end up burning more wood with only 2 pieces at a time vs loading it to the max and letting it burn all day?

and is there a higher risk for creosote when youre constantly adding wood in smaller batches? it seems the fire is much cooler with only 2 pieces in. doesnt creosote form when its cooler?

 

[1000degree]

My stove can get real fussy when i open to just add 1 or2 pieces.
Usually catalyst will "stall "unless i baby sit until temp is back into normal range, also known as catalyst re-ignition. So i load full, then control temp using primary air adjuster. Which usually means 12 to 14 hrs later stirring coals to reload.
Catalyst stove with secondary air combuster.
Hybrid type stove

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I do both. During the week before i leave for work i load it up full and let it burn for 8 hrs while im gone. On the weekends when im home i leave the air open and throw in a couple logs at a time throughout the day. I need to keep the heat output low or it bakes me out of the den where the stove is and where i spend most of my time. I use way more wood doing it a few pieces at a time but it keeps the house comfy.

 

[FPX Dude]

Sorry, you're right that might be confusing when I said splits. I guess I should have said for me it's a mostly full firebox, as opposed to an overnighter when it's a completely full packed firebox. For me, if I just feed it a few logs throughout the day then it's just watching a few burn w/o much heat. Maybe because it's an insert vs. a free standing stove. Anyway, that's how I run it.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Full stoves with hot fires burn cleanest. If I loaded 2 splits at a time I'd have a smouldering mess clogging my chimney.

To get around this I build up the bottom of the stove, physically lifting the fire up to the top of the firebox.

Fire bricks are a cheap, safe way to do this.

As the temp outside goes down, it's easy enough to remove a layer of bricks.

This strategy also allows me to use the thermal mass of my stove to even out heat delivery.

 

[jetsam]

I often only load 1 or 2 pieces when I'm home for the day. That's how I burn the crooked, twisted, and knot-filled chunks.

I do that too, all the odds and sods get burnt on my days off.

 

[Hogwildz]

Just be mindful if you toss a couple on at a time. Some like myself, tend to load full load, get it established and forget about it till the next full load. Continually tossing in splits, can lead to major coal build up.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

I load the F600 3/4 to all the way full each time.

 

[blacktail]

I do that too, all the odds and sods get burnt on my days off.

I'm so easily entertained that I set ugly pieces to the side and look forward to burning them on my weekend.
When burning uglies, I often just leave the air half open the whole day. Doing this in our mild climate can have the house warmer than I like by day's end, so a packed box at night isn't necessary and the coals will burn while I'm sleeping.

 

[Woody5506]

For me it depends how cold out it is and how much heat I need. Really this time of year im not loading the stove up much because I dont need the living room to be 100 degrees. But I will fill it for a good overnight burn. I'm not going through more wood with smaller fires....I'm going through less.

 

[jetsam]

Days off are also often wood getting and processing days, so I am often burning whatever came out of the woods and didn't make it into the stacks. You know, that one round that looked perfectly good aside from the carpenter ant holes... and oh yeah, this piece was off the ground, sure it's ready....

 

[Jotel me this]

Just be mindful if you toss a couple on at a time. Some like myself, tend to load full load, get it established and forget about it till the next full load. Continually tossing in splits, can lead to major coal build up.

thanks. so one thing im having a hard time on is... im still getting blasted out of the house with the heat. is part of owning a woodstove knowing that your house is going to get super hot and you just have to deal with it?

the house last night was 81F. the spouse was.. lets just say.. noooot soooo happy. the box was loaded full for a long burn, i cut back the air, got secondary burns... but how do you live in your house without ridiculous temperatures? if i do smaller fires , that makes more coals, and also... more creosote?? maybe we have too big of a stove? Jotel Carabasset. but my house is over 2200sqft.

 

[ColdNorCal]

We, the wife manages the stove more than I, throw in 1 one, maybe 2, splits at a time. Where we live is always shoulder season compared to others. After the stove is up to temp, say 500 stove top temp, one split will burn for about an hour. We load splits before the stove drops to 400 creosote temp. Burning oak, noncat stove, open floor plan with temp at ~72.

Not sure why, but their are absolutely no coals in the morning. Seems strange given the comments about coals.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

thanks. so one thing im having a hard time on is... im still getting blasted out of the house with the heat. is part of owning a woodstove knowing that your house is going to get super hot and you just have to deal with it?

the house last night was 81F. the spouse was.. lets just say.. noooot soooo happy. the box was loaded full for a long burn, i cut back the air, got secondary burns... but how do you live in your house without ridiculous temperatures? if i do smaller fires , that makes more coals, and also... more creosote?? maybe we have too big of a stove? Jotel Carabasset. but my house is over 2200sqft.

You're firebox is too big for your current needs.

Make it smallee.

 

[firefighterjake]

No.

Rarely.

No.

No.

Maybe.

Partly.

Partly.

Many.