How High to Stack Wood in Stove

[grandyellow111]

I have a Lennox Country Canyon 310 Woodstove with non-catalytic reburn tubes. How high can I stack the wood in the stove? And for what reasons? Also, if I burn for a day or two without removing any ash, embers, or coals then obviously the next piece of wood is already closer to the burn tubes. Once I had the bar that holds the reburn tubes glowing red, is this ok? It was only glowing for about one hour. The stove top thermometer said about 550 farenheit.

 

[Big Al]

I have a Lennox Country Canyon 310 Woodstove with non-catalytic reburn tubes. How high can I stack the wood in the stove? And for what reasons? Also, if I burn for a day or two without removing any ash, embers, or coals then obviously the next piece of wood is already closer to the burn tubes. Once I had the bar that holds the reburn tubes glowing red, is this ok? It was only glowing for about one hour. The stove top thermometer said about 550 farenheit.

I think the general rule is no higher than the firebricks. I heard this is so there is ample air space between the wood and the tubes for secondary combustion. I've also heard more wood than that could cause an overfire. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm off base. My tubes glow red too or so it seems they do, and come to think of it so does my baffle which would be weirdcuz it's not metal. I tend to think it's reflection of the red hot coals and logs. In any event, so far no harm done. Btw, welcome to the forum.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have a Lennox Country Canyon 310 Woodstove with non-catalytic reburn tubes. How high can I stack the wood in the stove? And for what reasons? Also, if I burn for a day or two without removing any ash, embers, or coals then obviously the next piece of wood is already closer to the burn tubes. Once I had the bar that holds the reburn tubes glowing red, is this ok? It was only glowing for about one hour. The stove top thermometer said about 550 farenheit.

You need to leave a few inches below those burn tubes.

I wonder about your statement on removing ash, embers or coals? A day or two? How about a week? In the coldest part of winter we may clean out some ashes maybe every 4th or 5th day but certainly no more. Also, when we clean ashes, we do not clean out any embers or coals. That would be a waste of good heat. Also when you clean ashes, be sure to leave a couple inches of ash in the bottom of the stove. Your fires will be better for it.

Stove top at 550 is not bad. We routinely take ours to 650. Sometimes very close to 700 but we start getting a bit nervous at that point.

 

[shawneyboy]

I stack my wood up to just under the tubes, now I do not have any bricks since the stove is one big rock. But I will stack damn close to the tubes, not up against them, but darn close. You do need a small area of air but IMHO not a couple inches. Maybe a half to one inch.

 

[firefighterjake]

I generally leave an inch or so between the burn tubes and the wood . . . that said . . . I have had some odd shaped wood that has been touching the burn tubes . . . and it has burned fine with zero issues . . . but generally I find that I don't really gain a whole lot by cramming wood into every square inch of the firebox.

 

[Battenkiller]

Most stoves (but I'm sure not all) are designed to allow a mixing chamber of sorts above the wood. If you look at the EPA test loads, they don't just pile the wood in there. Without that space, there will be zones of excess air and zones of excess fuel gases. The better they mix, the better than they will burn. You'll have to figure just what works for you, it will vary from stove to stove, day to day, and load to load. It won't hurt things much to err on the side of a bit less wood IMHO. I try to keep mine between 1/2 and 2/3 filled at all times except before retiring for the night, when I load it pretty full.

 

[Mcbride]

If your an inch under the tubes, should be good to go.