For people that have “EPA” wood burning stoves
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Anytime it’s above 30 I can run low and slow and it heats the whole house. 24 hour burn time on hardwoods usually. Between 20-30 I tend to run a little warmer there may be occasional whispy flames and those loads are more 12-18 hours. Below 20 I use the fan on various speeds depending on how far below 20 it is and those are usually 12 hour reloads. Heating area is 3ksqft with lots of glass but good insulation 2008 construction.
It’s in my signature that’s why I didn’t post it, but if you can’t see the signature line on the forum posts it’s what is now called a blaze king 40. Is used to be the blaze king “king”
With my bk princess I very rarely run it low. With the previous tube stoves they were pretty much always shut completely
An "EPA Stove" can encompass different technologies/designs. Most common are catalytic stoves, but there are also non-cat stoves that meet current EPA standards with secondary burning, "tube stoves," and also hybrid stoves, which have catalysts but also have secondary burning in the design.
My Woodstock Progress Hybrid is the latter. It's got a lot of mass in the soapstone, so it doesn't seem to matter so much how quickly or slowly I get the heat into the soapstone, but I guess obviously for an overnight burn I want to do it as slow as I can.
Now that it's warm my version of running low is to use a small load of wood, like 5 to 8 pounds, to warm the stove up to about 200 F. It'll stay there for quite a few hours and take the chill off the room and make it comfortable when the mini splits are running or provide all the heat if it's mild.
In real cold, like zero and below. I'll load 15 to 25 pounds of wood and let the fire burn down, coast on coals, and reload between 5 to 12 hours or so. 20 to 25 pounds of wood overnight and I wake up to the room at 72 degrees even at 0F and a deep bed of coals to start the next fire.
My Woodstock Progress Hybrid is the latter. It's got a lot of mass in the soapstone, so it doesn't seem to matter so much how quickly or slowly I get the heat into the soapstone, but I guess obviously for an overnight burn I want to do it as slow as I can.
Now that it's warm my version of running low is to use a small load of wood, like 5 to 8 pounds, to warm the stove up to about 200 F. It'll stay there for quite a few hours and take the chill off the room and make it comfortable when the mini splits are running or provide all the heat if it's mild.
In real cold, like zero and below. I'll load 15 to 25 pounds of wood and let the fire burn down, coast on coals, and reload between 5 to 12 hours or so. 20 to 25 pounds of wood overnight and I wake up to the room at 72 degrees even at 0F and a deep bed of coals to start the next fire.
When on mobile you don't see signatures unless you turn the phone sideways which I do not so I never see anyone's signature.
What is "on low".
I have a range of thermostat settings. To me "low" is no flame. But running that way is not the lowest.
I almost always run without flame, unless it's below 25 F.
And yes, it does heat my whole house - because I don't set it on low because I want "low", I set it where it needs to be to heat the house at the weather (heat loss) of the moment.
I have minisplits (and free electrons from solar). While they can heat my home at 15 F, I tend to only run them when it's 40-45 F during the day or higher, and 35 during the night or higher. (Unless I''m running out of wood as this year, then I'm using the minisplits sometimes even when it's 25
)
So, I can run without flame and get an easy 20 hrs of burn time with my Chinook 30.2.
But I can also run so low that I get 36-37 hr burn time. I've done that. But that only makes sense when the weather is "minisplit weather".
So what's low?
Low enough to keep my house at 70 F and not overheat when it's 36 F.
What's high?
High enough ... to keep my house at 70 and not cool down below 69.5 F when it's 5 F and howling.
That said, I'm not even mentioning my thermostat (air inlet) position on the dial, because that has no relation to how low the stove actually runs - because the draft in my flue will be different from that of e.g. Dieselhead, leading to a different burn rate at exactly the same thermostat setting.
All in all, an ill-posed question imo
I have a range of thermostat settings. To me "low" is no flame. But running that way is not the lowest.
I almost always run without flame, unless it's below 25 F.
And yes, it does heat my whole house - because I don't set it on low because I want "low", I set it where it needs to be to heat the house at the weather (heat loss) of the moment.
I have minisplits (and free electrons from solar). While they can heat my home at 15 F, I tend to only run them when it's 40-45 F during the day or higher, and 35 during the night or higher. (Unless I''m running out of wood as this year, then I'm using the minisplits sometimes even when it's 25
)So, I can run without flame and get an easy 20 hrs of burn time with my Chinook 30.2.
But I can also run so low that I get 36-37 hr burn time. I've done that. But that only makes sense when the weather is "minisplit weather".
So what's low?
Low enough to keep my house at 70 F and not overheat when it's 36 F.
What's high?
High enough ... to keep my house at 70 and not cool down below 69.5 F when it's 5 F and howling.
That said, I'm not even mentioning my thermostat (air inlet) position on the dial, because that has no relation to how low the stove actually runs - because the draft in my flue will be different from that of e.g. Dieselhead, leading to a different burn rate at exactly the same thermostat setting.
All in all, an ill-posed question imo
This is me, right now. Low tonight is 25. I'm going to run the mini splits instead of keeping the stove hot overnight. First time running the mini splits at night this heading-into-shoulder-season.(Unless I''m running out of wood as this year, then I'm using the minisplits sometimes even when it's 25
It'll probably feel chilly in here in the morning and I'll have to make a fire then...
(I have some limited very dry wood, and I also have lots of summer cut ash which is sort of dry, 20% toward log edges but 25% in middle)
I run the stove to heat the house, rather than at a specific setting - the more warm days we get, the more it runs on "low". I've got a Fireview, and it keeps the house comfortable (70-75 in the living room, 65 in the bedroom) from -10F to 45F outside. I've got a mini-split without the cold weather inverter that can take over from 40F+, or just let the furnace run at that point (doesn't use that much oil when it's warm out).
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
I will define low as anything less than 30% open.
So this is almost any time I have a full load. So 90% of the time. If I need more heat I start the basement stove now. With a stove set nearly flush into the fireplace anything above low needs a blower running medium speed or higher.
I consider my setup a a much higher than average thermal mass install. It keeps radiating well after the fire is out for warmer days. When it’s colder its just more frequent reloads and run on low.
So this is almost any time I have a full load. So 90% of the time. If I need more heat I start the basement stove now. With a stove set nearly flush into the fireplace anything above low needs a blower running medium speed or higher.
I consider my setup a a much higher than average thermal mass install. It keeps radiating well after the fire is out for warmer days. When it’s colder its just more frequent reloads and run on low.
Low for my Fireview is around #.5 air setting which is just a smidge open. This gives me consistent 12 hour burns with around 25 lbs of hardwood. This heats my 1000 sq ft log cabin when high temps are 20 and above. Once in the 40’s or higher I can get away with one fire. When temps are colder the stove gets fed more often with smaller loads and higher air settings around #1.
I run it at 12 hrs until it gets into the lower 20s then 8 hours. I like it because of the more even heat through the burn but dont think it is worth the extra maintenance cost to me
At this time of year I don’t find those results surprising. Driving around Vermont in cold-ish but not very cold weather, so much dense gray smoke slowly coming out of chimneys. The other night I went to a board meeting in the part of town that is named after a “hollow.” It’s a pocket where smoke collects. People who live right there need to have about five air purifiers in their houses if any outdoor air gets into their houses, which, of course it does. It was rank.
Vermont has a very high rate of wood burning, but the problem is it’s an also a very long cultural tradition, going back way before there were decent stoves and modern burning techniques. Green wood, shut it right down. What’s that there catalyst thing for anyway?
Is that the stove someone gave you to use many years ago on one of the annual “blaze king performance thread” posts or was that someone else who was lent a stove?
It is that stove. 4 or 5 years ago. Which is about my average for running a stove. I have a quad to go in its place this spring. For a new experience.
Running on low is running the stove to meet your heating needs. Mine usually runs at around 450-550 SST. If its warmer out, I'll crack a window and get some fresh air. If super cold, then other heat loads have to run, but in most cases the wood stove keeps us pretty warm. I heat more now from propane, am fortunate to get it very reasonably priced. I still like (and have definitely needed my wood stove this year here in CT) my now older wood stove, but she still performs wonderfully. Stay warm all, they're calling for 50+ this coming weekend, yippee.
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