Ever Load and EAST/WEST stove NORTH/SOUTH?

[jqgs214]

Was wondering as to the results. I tried it on one load last night and seemd to work ok. Stove holds wood 20" sideways 12" front to back. Had some long splits that I cut in half with my mitre saw. Just wondering if anyone else has experimented with this and what the results were.

 

[HalJason]

Was wondering as to the results. I tried it on one load last night and seemd to work ok. Stove holds wood 20" sideways 12" front to back. Had some long splits that I cut in half with my mitre saw. Just wondering if anyone else has experimented with this and what the results were.

This is how I load my jotul kennebec when I have a bunch of shorter pieces. For me, it works much better than trying to load the short ones east/west and ending up with the secondary only firing on one side.

-Hal

 

[Rhone]

I tried it, it did not go well. Here's some snippets from a recent post I made. What causes dirty glass is steam, and it sprays out the ends of logs. Loading Front/Back with the ends facing the glass the steam sprays into the glass, and you need a high power focused air wash to overpower it and keep things clean. Side/side units, the steam coming out the logs spray into the sides first, the air wash doesn’t need to be as powerful it only needs to create an air barrier so moisture rich exhaust doesn't contact the glass. That lets side/side units have wider glass I believe, not to say I’m right. I came across that when I loaded my unit up front/back to see what happens (when it’s designed to be loaded side/side) and my air wash was woefully inadequate in overpowering the moisture coming out the ends of the logs spraying into the glass and it got absolutely covered in crap. I won’t do that again, loading side/side as my unit was designed my air wash keeps my glass nearly spotless. Also, I found I could not turn the air down low enough for fires in that configuration. I think side/side units have their air handle set higher than normal because the logs placed sideways impede air movement slowing things down so they compensate for that. Well, load them front/back and there's very little impedment to air flow. My fire started, and burned very fast even at the lowest air setting I couldn't turn it down enough. So, because of the dirty glass and I didn't have a lot of control of the fire I don't burn front/back anymore along with the 13" logs Side/side I use 21" logs. I recommend you try it at least once, don't pack it too full incase you find you can't turn the air handle down enough. Filling it 75% to try it out is probably a good start and make sure you have some wood stove/insert glass cleaner onhand!

 

[HalJason]

I tried it, it did not go well. Here's some snippets from a recent post I made. What causes dirty glass is steam, and it sprays out the ends of logs. Loading Front/Back with the ends facing the glass the steam sprays into the glass, and you need a high power focused air wash to overpower it and keep things clean. Side/side units, the steam coming out the logs spray into the sides first, the air wash doesn’t need to be as powerful it only needs to create an air barrier so moisture rich exhaust doesn't contact the glass. That lets side/side units have wider glass I believe, not to say I’m right. I came across that when I loaded my unit up front/back to see what happens (when it’s designed to be loaded side/side) and my air wash was woefully inadequate in overpowering the moisture coming out the ends of the logs spraying into the glass and it got absolutely covered in crap. I won’t do that again, loading side/side as my unit was designed my air wash keeps my glass nearly spotless. Also, I found I could not turn the air down low enough for fires in that configuration. I think side/side units have their air handle set higher than normal because the logs placed sideways impede air movement slowing things down so they compensate for that. Well, load them front/back and there's very little impedment to air flow. My fire started, and burned very fast even at the lowest air setting I couldn't turn it down enough. So, because of the dirty glass and I didn't have a lot of control of the fire I don't burn front/back anymore. I recommend you try it at least once, don't pack it too full incase you find you can't turn the air handle down enough like I did. I was pretty glad I hadn't stuffed it as much as possible as it would've been out of control.

I imagine different stoves will handle it differently. It does burn faster than usual (due to the airflow? Due to more surface area? not sure), but I didn't notice any issues with the glass getting gunked up.

-Hal

 

[ozarkjeep]

right, wet wood spits on the glass.

but in an insert like mine, with the cat combustor intake in the upper front, then as long as the TOP layer of wood is north/south, I can get the cat lit easier.

( the flames lick right into the combustor)

 

[jqgs214]

I tried it once and the glass remained clear, Actually my glass never gets dirty unless a log falls against it. Its even a complaint of mine about my stove, the air wash lets in too much air when I damper down all the way in my opinion. I did notice a slight faster burn rate (not too much faster though, but also a hotter fire because of it. Iwas wondering with all the experimentation that these guys do here that someone may have tried it more than once. Maybe that will be me.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I have the same dimension firebox, give or take, and every now and again I grab up a bunch of 12" logs and stick them in front-back. Frankly, it's a lot easier to load that way (but a bigger pain to cut and stack all 12" lengths). Didn't ever have any glass problems, it did seem to burn a little better because there are all those air channels between the logs. With east-west loading it's all too easy to block the air from heading to the back by putting a big split in the front.

 

[Roospike]

Here is a thread talking about front to back.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/4346/

 

[precaud]

Yes, I highly prefer it. But I don't do it much cause I've already burned all the shorties. However... since my new chainsaw is arriving any day, this might be the only good excuse for using for it right now! ;-)

 

[Jay H]

Hmm, I kind of burn in alternating patterns, I'll throw splits in N-S and then when I add another layer, it would be E-W. I think my Quad 3100 is somewhat squarish. It is easier to throw logs in N-S cause you don't need to stick your hand in as far and one can get away without the fireplace gloves. The secondary tubes though are running E-W and are in the back 2/3rds of the top, however, I think the Quad is made for N-S loads or so, cause they advertise something like the logs don't roll out of the firebox and in the very front of the firebox, before the door, is a little notch which I can only think it's purpose is to direct a split to it's "flat" side.

Maybe MSG will chime in here...

Jay

 

[scfa99]

My firebox is 24" wide in front and 21" wide in back, its angled. front to back is 14". I'm actually cutting most of my wood to 14" now so I can pack in more wood. Stacking front to back I can pack the entire firebox. Going east west there are always alot of gaps.