I've just returned from four days at the cabin, where the lows were 3-4 degrees and the highs around 12 degrees. I was heating with the Shelburne, using well-seasoned wood. I'm beginning to get the hang of using the stove now, after several seasons.
I'm happy to report that my longest burn started by loading the stove with six splits at 8 o'clock in the evening. At 6 o'clock the next morning, the stove top and internal flue temp both read 175 degrees. There were plenty of hot coals to relight the next load. I consider a 10-hour "burn" to be admirable for this relatively small, non-cat stove.
The downside of a long burn, however, is that you have a fairly long period where the stove is not putting out a lot of heat (a long, gradual downslope of the temperature curve, if you will). Under more common winter temps this wouldn't be a problem, but with the recent frigid temperatures, the cabin was getting pretty chilly by the next morning (I was too snug/lazy to get up in the middle of the night and spend 30-60 minutes reloading and waiting for the stove to stabilize).
The result was that when the outside temp was 4 degrees in the morning, the cabin inside was about 48 degrees. This 44 degree differential between inside and outside temps has been pretty constant, though, given the size and insulation of the cabin. With more normal overnight lows around 15-20 degrees, I'm happy to have the cabin at 60-65 degrees in the morning.
I guess my takeaway is that I'm happy with the stove and would recommend it to anyone who needs an attractive, small stove which can produce good burn times with dry wood. I've also learned to think of it as producing a 44-degree differential over outside temps, in my particular situation, rather than it having the ability to keep the cabin at a certain temperature.
I'm happy to report that my longest burn started by loading the stove with six splits at 8 o'clock in the evening. At 6 o'clock the next morning, the stove top and internal flue temp both read 175 degrees. There were plenty of hot coals to relight the next load. I consider a 10-hour "burn" to be admirable for this relatively small, non-cat stove.
The downside of a long burn, however, is that you have a fairly long period where the stove is not putting out a lot of heat (a long, gradual downslope of the temperature curve, if you will). Under more common winter temps this wouldn't be a problem, but with the recent frigid temperatures, the cabin was getting pretty chilly by the next morning (I was too snug/lazy to get up in the middle of the night and spend 30-60 minutes reloading and waiting for the stove to stabilize).
The result was that when the outside temp was 4 degrees in the morning, the cabin inside was about 48 degrees. This 44 degree differential between inside and outside temps has been pretty constant, though, given the size and insulation of the cabin. With more normal overnight lows around 15-20 degrees, I'm happy to have the cabin at 60-65 degrees in the morning.
I guess my takeaway is that I'm happy with the stove and would recommend it to anyone who needs an attractive, small stove which can produce good burn times with dry wood. I've also learned to think of it as producing a 44-degree differential over outside temps, in my particular situation, rather than it having the ability to keep the cabin at a certain temperature.
