Expected Heat Cycle Time Buck Stove Model 80

[Karottop]

Hey guys - got another question:

I'm new to burning with a wood stove and learned a ton this year about what NOT to do - especially as it relates to what kind of wood you should NOT burn...

With that said I'll probably run out of wood this year due to all the crappy poplar I'm chewing thew at an alarming rate. in preparation for next year, I'm trying to get a handle on how much wood my stove will burn through with good quality dry hardwoods (locus, oak, ash, etc..). I have only burned willow and poplar in the stove so far and burned through many cords of wood trying to keep the house warm without using oil heat.

I have a stash of locus I'm drying out now for next year but I'm wondering what a typical burn cycle time for a Buck Stove model 80 should be when its an average of 20 - 30 degrees outside burning quality dry wood? I've read on the forum that some guys with blaze kings are getting 30 to 40 hours! Thats nuts! I think my stove is an older cat stove with less efficiency (72%) than the modern stoves but if I could even get to 12-24 hours I'd be thrilled. I can't find these numbers online but it would really help with estimating how much wood I'll need for next winter. I'm particularly interested in anyone who has experience with this stove or a similar buck stove. Thanks for any help!

 

[bholler]

Hey guys - got another question:

I'm new to burning with a wood stove and learned a ton this year about what NOT to do - especially as it relates to what kind of wood you should NOT burn...

With that said I'll probably run out of wood this year due to all the crappy poplar I'm chewing thew at an alarming rate. in preparation for next year, I'm trying to get a handle on how much wood my stove will burn through with good quality dry hardwoods (locus, oak, ash, etc..). I have only burned willow and poplar in the stove so far and burned through many cords of wood trying to keep the house warm without using oil heat.

I have a stash of locus I'm drying out now for next year but I'm wondering what a typical burn cycle time for a Buck Stove model 80 should be when its an average of 20 - 30 degrees outside burning quality dry wood? I've read on the forum that some guys with blaze kings are getting 30 to 40 hours! Thats nuts! I think my stove is an older cat stove with less efficiency (72%) than the modern stoves but if I could even get to 12-24 hours I'd be thrilled. I can't find these numbers online but it would really help with estimating how much wood I'll need for next winter. I'm particularly interested in anyone who has experience with this stove or a similar buck stove. Thanks for any help!

There really is no way for us to know. It all depends on your btu load. I am currently running a bk and yes i could easily get 24 hours. But if i actually want to heat my house with it in 20s or 30s with high winds ( which we always have) i am only running it at 8 to 10 hours.

 

[mellow]

If you have a BK King and have an 8" exhaust then yea you can load that sucker up and the metered incoming air will make for extra long burns, but with a Buck 80 with a 2.6 CF capacity you should expect 7-8 hours real burntime with meaningful heat with a good combustor.

 

[BKVP]

Hey guys - got another question:

I'm new to burning with a wood stove and learned a ton this year about what NOT to do - especially as it relates to what kind of wood you should NOT burn...

With that said I'll probably run out of wood this year due to all the crappy poplar I'm chewing thew at an alarming rate. in preparation for next year, I'm trying to get a handle on how much wood my stove will burn through with good quality dry hardwoods (locus, oak, ash, etc..). I have only burned willow and poplar in the stove so far and burned through many cords of wood trying to keep the house warm without using oil heat.

I have a stash of locus I'm drying out now for next year but I'm wondering what a typical burn cycle time for a Buck Stove model 80 should be when its an average of 20 - 30 degrees outside burning quality dry wood? I've read on the forum that some guys with blaze kings are getting 30 to 40 hours! Thats nuts! I think my stove is an older cat stove with less efficiency (72%) than the modern stoves but if I could even get to 12-24 hours I'd be thrilled. I can't find these numbers online but it would really help with estimating how much wood I'll need for next winter. I'm particularly interested in anyone who has experience with this stove or a similar buck stove. Thanks for any help!

So where did you get the 72%? The reason I ask, the EPA, prior to 2015, assigned a default value of 72% on all catalytic stoves. So the real efficiency could be lower or even higher. Just don't assume the 72% value is correct....

 

[Karottop]

Thank you for the replys! 7-8 hours of real burn time would do fine, over the following 4 hours the temp in the house would drop enough to start the stove again. I'm hoping to keep it within 2 loads a day comfortably. Lately if I was pushing it, I could go through 3 pretty easily. 2 loads a day would cut down on the amount of wood I need by a lot.

Thank you BKVP! I didn't know that about the efficiency ratings. That rating came from their website. Since this model stove has been around for quite a while, I'd bet your right, its probably just a standard efficiency rating. In that case, I have no idea how efficient the stove is.

 

[bholler]

Thank you for the replys! 7-8 hours of real burn time would do fine, over the following 4 hours the temp in the house would drop enough to start the stove again. I'm hoping to keep it within 2 loads a day comfortably. Lately if I was pushing it, I could go through 3 pretty easily. 2 loads a day would cut down on the amount of wood I need by a lot.

Thank you BKVP! I didn't know that about the efficiency ratings. That rating came from their website. Since this model stove has been around for quite a while, I'd bet your right, its probably just a standard efficiency rating. In that case, I have no idea how efficient the stove is.

The ammount of wood needed and number of reloads will vary greatly depending upon your btu load.

 

[Karottop]

The ammount of wood needed and number of reloads will vary greatly depending upon your btu load.

Is there an easy way to calculate a BTU load?

 

[bholler]

Is there an easy way to calculate a BTU load?

Yes there is but involves getting a full energy audit of your house. Or you can look at past years heating requirements and find an average that way.

 

[Karottop]

Yes there is but involves getting a full energy audit of your house. Or you can look at past years heating requirements and find an average that way.

yikes, that sounds expensive. This is unfortunately our first winter in this house

 

[bholler]

yikes, that sounds expensive. This is unfortunately our first winter in this house

There are programs in some areas that do them free or at low cost. Check with utility companies and local govt.

 

[Woody Stover]

our first winter in this house

Did you buy the stove new?
In lieu of an energy audit, maybe you could describe the home in terms of room layout, sq.ft, insulation and air-sealing?

 

[Karottop]

Did you buy the stove new?
In lieu of an energy audit, maybe you could describe the home in terms of room layout, sq.ft, insulation and air-sealing?

No, my fiance spotted it on the curb, we brought the trailer and picked it up for free.

Terms of the house: its 1800 sqft single story rancher (1954) with a basement that has daylight on one side. Not sure what the insulation is behind the walls, but if I had to guess I'd say its probably not the best. I air sealed some of the attic (closed all the big holes and sealed can lights) based on some advice I received on this forum. There's spray insulation fluff in the attic to about 6"

 

[Karottop]

There are programs in some areas that do them free or at low cost. Check with utility companies and local govt.

that would be awesome, thanks for the advice!

 

[weatherguy]

We have Masssave up here that does it for free through the electric company. It's not a sin to let the furnace pick up the slack now and then, it doesnt work too hard and doesnt use much oil to kick on once in while to even the heat out.

 

[Woody Stover]

No, my fiance spotted it on the curb, we brought the trailer and picked it up for free.
Terms of the house: its 1800 sqft single story rancher (1954) with a basement that has daylight on one side. Not sure what the insulation is behind the walls, but if I had to guess I'd say its probably not the best. I air sealed some of the attic (closed all the big holes and sealed can lights) based on some advice I received on this forum. There's spray insulation fluff in the attic to about 6"

The stove should handle that house. Two loads a day sounds about right for a 2.5 cu.ft. stove in MD, three in cold, windy weather. However, although they claimed 4.4 cu.ft. for the 91, I measured closer to 3 of usable space. I guess they were counting the space above the cat flame shield. If the same inflation holds true for the 80 firebox, maybe three loads is closer to the norm. Next time the stove is out, maybe you can measure the usable space and report back. If you are trying to heat from the basement, that will be harder to do.
Since it's a used stove, let's make sure it's performing as it should. If you would, describe how you load the stove, how you start a full load in a cold stove, air settings at different stages etc. What about your procedure for loading on a coal bed?
If the cat is working well, the cat temperature probe should climb to 1000-1500 after the stove is up to temp and you've closed the bypass, if your cat probe is in decent shape and the tip isn't corroded too badly. You might also be able to see the cat glowing if you look into the bypass rod hole at the correct angle, or you may be able to see a glow between the gap above the heat shield.
Does it seem like you have good control over the air entering the stove? Can you get it burning quite low if you cut the air way down? Are you using the shotgun air at all?
On the 91, I had to re-do the ash pan gasket, since air was entering there and glowing the coals over the ash dump lid. I also had to adjust the plates that close off the intake air openings as they were letting in too much air, even when closed all the way. Once I got better control of the air entering the stove, burn times got a bit longer.

 

[Woody Stover]

You definitely need better wood than Pooplar and Won'tLow. Grab as much of the White Ash as you can, split (not too big) and stack it now, top-covered and in the wind, and you might have some fairly dry wood by next winter. The Oak and Locust will need at least two years...if you don't split it too big (4-5" on a side.) Soft Maple dries quickly but doesn't burn as long. Still beats Tulip though.

 

[weatherguy]

If you can get ash it definitely will be ready next year, I have 5 cords cut and split in March and its all under 20%, its what I'm burning this year, its really decent wood to, steps above poplar.

 

[Karottop]

The stove should handle that house. Two loads a day sounds about right for a 2.5 cu.ft. stove in MD, three in cold, windy weather. However, although they claimed 4.4 cu.ft. for the 91, I measured closer to 3 of usable space. I guess they were counting the space above the cat flame shield. If the same inflation holds true for the 80 firebox, maybe three loads is closer to the norm. Next time the stove is out, maybe you can measure the usable space and report back. If you are trying to heat from the basement, that will be harder to do.
Since it's a used stove, let's make sure it's performing as it should. If you would, describe how you load the stove, how you start a full load in a cold stove, air settings at different stages etc. What about your procedure for loading on a coal bed?
If the cat is working well, the cat temperature probe should climb to 1000-1500 after the stove is up to temp and you've closed the bypass, if your cat probe is in decent shape and the tip isn't corroded too badly. You might also be able to see the cat glowing if you look into the bypass rod hole at the correct angle, or you may be able to see a glow between the gap above the heat shield.
Does it seem like you have good control over the air entering the stove? Can you get it burning quite low if you cut the air way down? Are you using the shotgun air at all?
On the 91, I had to re-do the ash pan gasket, since air was entering there and glowing the coals over the ash dump lid. I also had to adjust the plates that close off the intake air openings as they were letting in too much air, even when closed all the way. Once I got better control of the air entering the stove, burn times got a bit longer.

Ok I'll measure next time it cools off - that flame shield does get in the way sometime when loading wood - but you sure can stuff a bunch of it in there if you're good at tetris. I'll answer your questions one by one below:

"describe how you load the stove, how you start a full load in a cold stove, air settings at different stages etc. What about your procedure for loading on a coal bed?"

- I load the stove both E-W and N-S depending on the length of the splits - since I got these for free I didn't choose the length of the rounds. When cold I add a home made fire starter made from parafin wax, dryer lint and a cut up egg carton. I leave the by pass wide open until its 500 degrees and then shut it completely. I don't often use the shotgun air control unless the fire is having trouble starting. Once the bypass is closed I damper the stove down usually by half immediately if its burning well. It its burning really well I damper to 3/4 and then all the way a little while later. When its burning well I can see the cat glowing red through the rod hole like you described - but this doesn't happen on every burn or throughout the entire burn. I replaced the cat before I used it this year as well as some other maintenance. I also had a chimney sweep look at it when he inspected the liners and he said it looked fine, though he didn't spend very much time looking at it.

"Does it seem like you have good control over the air entering the stove? Can you get it burning quite low if you cut the air way down? Are you using the shotgun air at all?
On the 91, I had to re-do the ash pan gasket, since air was entering there and glowing the coals over the ash dump lid. I also had to adjust the plates that close off the intake air openings as they were letting in too much air, even when closed all the way. Once I got better control of the air entering the stove, burn times got a bit longer"

- I did the same thing bc I had the same problem - I actually had to disengage the cat once because it was past 1800 degrees with the stove completely dampered down. Once I sealed the ash pan with stove cement it seems to work a lot better. It will burn if its completely dampered down, but I don't often get those awesome secondary burns like I see on the cat stoves on youtube videos - I always assumed it was the crappy wood I was burning. I'm not sure if burn times improved bc right after I sealed the ash pan I ran out of willow and moved to poplar (from bad to worse) and my burn times unfortunately got shorter rather than longer with less heat

 

[Karottop]

You definitely need better wood than Pooplar and Won'tLow. Grab as much of the White Ash as you can, split (not too big) and stack it now, top-covered and in the wind, and you might have some fairly dry wood by next winter. The Oak and Locust will need at least two years...if you don't split it too big (4-5" on a side.) Soft Maple dries quickly but doesn't burn as long. Still beats Tulip though.

I like your names for Pooplar and Won'tLow - they definitely earned their place on my $#%& list

OK I'll keep an eye out for Ash and let the locus sit another year. Thanks for the advice! I have a giant silver maple thats dying in my back yard. I want an arborist to fell it so I can cut it up for next year.

 

[Woody Stover]

Sometimes I would pull the coals into a N-S row, then load the box. That way just the wood in the center would start instead of the entire load flaming up right away. It might get you a little extra burn time but let's face it, Poplar is never gonna last real long. I used that coal method to keep a lot of wood from gassing at the beginning of the burn, and keep the cat from going to the moon. I didn't like to see those 1500+ temps. Once I was able to get the air control issue ironed out, I didn't need to worry about that as much.

 

[BKVP]

I like your names for Pooplar and Won'tLow - they definitely earned their place on my $#%& list

OK I'll keep an eye out for Ash and let the locus sit another year. Thanks for the advice! I have a giant silver maple thats dying in my back yard. I want an arborist to fell it so I can cut it up for next year.

Don't mention Silver Maple on the site! It just get's some folks blood boiling. (I burned it for 3 years and it was just fine, but don't tell anyone.)

 

[bholler]

Don't mention Silver Maple on the site! It just get's some folks blood boiling. (I burned it for 3 years and it was just fine, but don't tell anyone.)

Yeah it burns fine not great btus but certainly way better than poplar.

 

[mellow]

People around here view Gum as junk wood, I burned it for years, just gotta know when to split it. Good filler wood for Oak.

 

[Woody Stover]

Don't mention Silver Maple on the site! It just get's some folks blood boiling.

Yeah it burns fine not great btus but certainly way better than poplar.

Yeah, not gonna get much "boiling" with Silver Maple.
Maybe it's just my imagination but it seems to me that Red Maple is noticeably better than Silver even though both are "soft Maple." I haven't burned a lot of Silver though..

 

[bholler]

Yeah, not gonna get much "boiling" with Silver Maple.
Maybe it's just my imagination but it seems to me that Red Maple is noticeably better than Silver even though both are "soft Maple." I haven't burned a lot of Silver though..

I agree most other maples are far better but if choosing between poplar and silver maple the choice is clear.