First 24 Hour Burn!

[Parallax]

Today we had our first 24 hour burn in the Ashford. Loaded it up pretty good around 9 a.m. yesterday. Not fully fully loaded because there were large hot coals at the bottom taking up a couple inches of space. Now, 20 minutes shy of 24 hours later, it's still humming away and there's quite a bit of wood remaining. It could easily go two or three more hours (or more) without a reload so, if fully loaded, I've no doubt the 30 hour rating would be realistic.

Even someone completely new to wood burning can appreciate how extraordinary this is. Could not be happier with my Ashford. Thanks to Webby for recommending it and for talking me out of the Cape Cod. Thanks to everyone who weighed in to agree with him. This site has allowed me to make wise choices far above my pay grade.

 

[Rossco]

Voodoo magic.

What wood are you burning?

 

[HotCoals]

Outside temps?

 

[Parallax]

Voodoo magic.

What wood are you burning?

I have a stash of what passes in the PNW for hardwood that I picked up from a neighbor late last winter. It has been drying for a while. Got around 3/4 of a cord for $30.

Once that runs out, I'll be burning the 16 or so cords of Douglas fir I purchased over the summer (two log truck loads), about 10 cords of which is cut and stacked and drying like this:

 

[Parallax]

Outside temps?

Right now about 55 degrees. A bit colder last night.

 

[Jags]

Voodoo magic.

Actually - it is alien technology.

 

[Rossco]

Actually - it is alien technology.

Ah. I seen allot of fancy technology on TV. Time travel, warp drive, teleporter etc etc but the still couldn't get a 24hr burn out of there stove in Star Trek.

 

[HotCoals]

Right now about 55 degrees. A bit colder last night.

Your house must have warmed up pretty good!

 

[begreen]

Is that alder in the shed? It doesn't appear to be heavily checked yet. Opening up the sides would help. The doug fir is likely to be even damper. It takes a year to season after splitting and stacking. This season it may burn, but not cleanly and the heat output will be notably less.

 

[ddahlgren]

A lesson I learned my first year. Don't burn the good stuff first! Mix in some of that smaller stuff with some cut up pallets or similar. Around here pallets are free and very easy to process into firewood. Just don't run a firebox full of them as it will be very hot. They are good kindling if you have to relight the stove again as well.

 

[Parallax]

Your house must have warmed up pretty good!

The room with the stove is probably in the mid to upper 70s. Don't have a thermometer but was comfortable last night in a cotton t-shirt and flannel pajama pants. The lower level further away from the stove was probably mid to lower 70s. Upstairs was cooler -- perfect for sleeping -- maybe mid-60s. The stove is great because the low but steady output heats very evenly. I don't think we're going to have to do any fancy ducting though winter temperatures will be the real test. I imagine we'll be looking at far shorter burn times once the weather outside drops into the 30s and lower, and also because we'll soon run out of hardwood and will be burning fir.

 

[Parallax]

Is that alder in the shed? It doesn't appear to be heavily checked yet. Opening up the sides would help. The doug fir is likely to be even damper. It takes a year to season after splitting and stacking. This season it may burn, but not cleanly and the heat output will be notably less.

It's all doug fir. What does heavily checked mean?

No way I'm opening the sides. That siding was expensive and looks nice. I've heard Doug fir dries faster than other woods. I guess we'll see.

 

[Parallax]

A lesson I learned my first year. Don't burn the good stuff first! Mix in some of that smaller stuff with some cut up pallets or similar. Around here pallets are free and very easy to process into firewood. Just don't run a firebox full of them as it will be very hot. They are good kindling if you have to relight the stove again as well.

I'm sort of afraid of burning pallets because I don't want to hurt our new stove. How much pallet wood can one safely mix in?

Should I do it now, with the well dried hardwood, or wait until I'm burning the not-so-thoroughly-dried fir?

 

[jeff_t]

I'm sort of afraid of burning pallets because I don't want to hurt our new stove. How much pallet wood can one safely mix in?

Should I do it now, with the well dried hardwood, or wait until I'm burning the not-so-thoroughly-dried fir?

You could probably load up a Blaze King, but I think I would mix it with some less than dry cordwood.

The biggest issue with burning pallets in a cat stove is the nails. Any chemical treatment wouldn't be good either. Watch what you burn.

 

[Parallax]

Would be sure to remove all nails first and would do my best to avoid treated wood. Not crazy about the idea. Hoping my fir is dry enough by the time I need it.

 

[blacktail]

I imagine we'll be looking at far shorter burn times once the weather outside drops into the 30s and lower, and also because we'll soon run out of hardwood and will be burning fir.

Unless you are lucky enough to have Madrone, the "hard woods" in our area aren't much better than fir. Birch has a little higher BTUs, maple is about equal to fir, and alder is lower. Honestly, I don't think it matters much.
My neighbor bought a few dump truck loads of "mostly fir" from a logging outfit last winter. When I looked at it I saw mostly hemlock. Nothing wrong with hemlock but it isn't Doug Fir.

 

[Parallax]

Unless you are lucky enough to have Madrone, the "hard woods" in our area aren't much better than fir. Birch has a little higher BTUs, maple is about equal to fir, and alder is lower. Honestly, I don't think it matters much.
My neighbor bought a few dump truck loads of "mostly fir" from a logging outfit last winter. When I looked at it I saw mostly hemlock. Nothing wrong with hemlock but it isn't Doug Fir.

Someone on this site told me Douglas fir is what the wood snobs burn around here. Managed to score 16 full cords of logs for $1,000. I guess you've explained why that's so. If it burns as well as the bit of hardwood I've got, will be very happy indeed.

 

[begreen]

That does not look like doug fir at all. Doug fir's grain is orange and the bark is thick. I think you have a batch of alder in the shed, but it could be soft maple. Hard to tell from the picture. Checking is when the end grain starts to split.


Fir looks more like this

 

[Parallax]

That does not look like doug fir at all. Doug fir's grain is orange and the bark is thick. I think you have a batch of alder in the shed, but it could be soft maple. Hard to tell from the picture. Checking is when the end grain starts to split.

Here's some of it before it was cut up. I don't think it's alder but it could be something other than fir.

 

[begreen]

Is this the same wood that is in the shed? It looks quite different, but maybe that is just the lighting in that picture. The logs look like a mix of alder and some softwood. Can't tell if it's fir or hemlock. Alder has a silver grey bark. Once it's dry it will burn well in your stove regardless.

 

[Parallax]

Yes, it's the same stuff that's in the shed. Went directly from the pile to the splitter to the shed. I don't think there's any alder. It looked to be pretty much uniform throughout the load. I would think it's most likely fir because hemlock isn't as ubiquitous around here. It came from a site they were thinning. The truck driver told me the larger logs get set aside to be sold to wood mills for furniture. The small stuff gets sold for firewood.

 

[HotCoals]

Yes, it's the same stuff that's in the shed. Went directly from the pile to the splitter to the shed. I don't think there's any alder. It looked to be pretty much uniform throughout the load. I would think it's most likely fir because hemlock isn't as ubiquitous around here. It came from a site they were thinning. The truck driver told me the larger logs get set aside to be sold to wood mills for furniture. The small stuff gets sold for firewood.

That right there tells me it's prolly not seasoned enough. Once cut/split the wood needs to be out in the open with sun/wind for like a year or close to it..at least 6 months depending on what wood.

 

[blacktail]

The hardwoods we have around here are not like the hardwoods people burn back east. Take a look and compare alder and big leaf maple (our most common hardwoods) to things like oak, beech, locust, and hickory which are burned by many people on this site.
(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm)
But, our winter weather isn't as extreme as many parts of the country either so it kind of evens out.
I may have said before that the wood snobs I know only burn Doug Fir. It dries quick, provides good heat, and doesn't produce much ash. The wood snobs I know can be that way because they have access to a lot of fir through their job or a friend's job. If they had to burn something else they would be just as warm.
Many people have their favorites but I think most of us burn what we have access to.
Some of your wood has grey bark like alder, but young fir can have smooth grey bark too. Fresh cut fir will smell like a christmas tree. Whatever you have, it'll burn fine.

 

[Simonkenton]

Would you post a big pic of your fine new wood stove? Is that the Ashford 30?

 

[Parallax]

How long does it take for fir to dry (assuming it is fir)?