How long does it take to get a new load of wood going

[ejwoodward]

Just wondering how long it should take to get a full load of wood going good enough to start burning up the smoke before it exits the firebox I feel like I am putting a good bit of smoke up the stack while the fire gets good and going. I am burning a Jotul F400 with decent wood and a fairly new chiminey running about 20 ft straight up. Sometimes I have to load wood that is just brought in from the cold. My concern is that the new load of wood is putting too much smoke up the stack

 

[Todd]

I think it depends on your stove temps and amount of coals inside when you reload. If you throw big splits on top of a small coal bed it will take longer to get going and smoke more. Try a couple small splits mixed in front of the load if you only have a small coal bed.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah put a small dry split on the coals in front of the load and it will start eating that smoke in just a few minutes.

 

[begreen]

The F400 will take off quickly if you can put a couple small, short dry splits or kindling pieces on the coals. These pieces should be oriented N/S, that is parallel to the sides of the stove, about 8" apart, centered in the firebox. Then put your larger splits on top of these "sleepers" in the normal E/W orientation (parallel to the front of the stove). That will allow a good wash of air from the front of the stove, under the bigger splits. This will jumpstart the bigger splits and get them burning much faster.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Are you talking about reload or starting a fire from cold?


If reloading, try reloading before the fire burns down to coals.

If starting from cold, starting with small kindling and add progressively larger wood as each smaller stage is engulfed in flames is a quick way to get the stove temp up.

Matt

 

[Jags]

Cold stove to 550F stove top is about 20-25 min. for me. I do as BG was saying. couple of small pieces N-S, then load up the rest in an E-W fashion. Full open primary, full open startup air and a small chunk of fire starter. One thing I have observed from other posters is starting small and then adding larger, then larger. I load up the whole firebox in one shot.

 

[Birch Boy]

I realize I'm heating with a different type system. I fired this Beast up some time in late October and just keep adding birch.
Yesterday evening about 5 I tossed in half a load, 18 hours later the Beast is still breathing fire and pumping 160 degree
water. Have yet to remove any ash this winter thats why I can only get half a load down it's throat! Low last night was
12 below F. and calm, heating a shop/barn at 45F. and log shack 70F. total area over 4500 sq feet. I have also had a fireplace
burning in the shack since Christmas, more for pleasure then efficient heat I would think. Most mornings I just put some pine
on the embers and away she goes for the day! With this operation, where there's fire there's smoke. Never had any complaints,
closest neighbor is three miles east. :coolsmile:

 

[gpcollen1]

Yeah, the cool to hot timing on my Castine will vary depending on how hot the stove still is, how big the coal bed is and what i am going to put in there. I usually just slide in a few small pieces and a split on top and leave the air open to get it going. this way i can take a shower and come back to it firing up and add a full load to get it going before I leave. Regardless, as much as i would like there to be no smoke, there is always going to be some smoke when getting it cooking again.

 

[stejus]

As stated, coal bed and or stove temp make a big difference. I have an HI300 (2.4 cf) and burn off most moisture within the first 10 to 15 minutes after loading. Obviously, the more wood loaded, the longer it takes to burn off the moisture. Once the secondary burn kicks in, virtually no visible smoke. On really cold mornings, I get a vapor trail, not to be confused with with smoke (steam). These times are from a warm stove, not a cold start.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just wondering how long it should take to get a full load of wood going good enough to start burning up the smoke before it exits the firebox I feel like I am putting a good bit of smoke up the stack while the fire gets good and going. I am burning a Jotul F400 with decent wood and a fairly new chiminey running about 20 ft straight up. Sometimes I have to load wood that is just brought in from the cold. My concern is that the new load of wood is putting too much smoke up the stack

I'm surprised more have not commented on your wood. You do not say what you are trying to burn nor when it was cut and split. If you think you are putting a good deal of smoke up the chimney, maybe that is because there is so much moisture yet in the wood. It doesn't matter how good of a stove and chimney you have, if your wood is not dry it just will not burn right.

 

[firefighterjake]

Just wondering how long it should take to get a full load of wood going good enough to start burning up the smoke before it exits the firebox I feel like I am putting a good bit of smoke up the stack while the fire gets good and going. I am burning a Jotul F400 with decent wood and a fairly new chiminey running about 20 ft straight up. Sometimes I have to load wood that is just brought in from the cold. My concern is that the new load of wood is putting too much smoke up the stack

A wise (and not very old) Fire Inspector once told me that a good answer for most of life's questions is "Depends" and in this case I can say with no hesitating that this would apply to your question.

Depends . . . depends on whether this is a cold start vs. throwing wood on hot coals (more smoke and time with a cold start)

Depends . . . depends on the amount of coals . . . lot of hot, large coals vs. few, small coals (less smoke and time with hot, large coals)

Depends . . . depends on size of the wood . . . smaller splits vs. larger splits (less smoke and time with smaller splits)

Depends . . . depends on the moisture content of the wood . . . semi-seasoned/green wood vs. seasoned wood (less smoke/time with seasoned wood)

Depends . . . depends on the type of wood . . . splits vs. rounds (all things equal size/moisture wise) splits seem to catch fire faster than rounds

Depends . . . depends on the state of the wood . . . wood covered in snow/ice/rain vs. wood totally dry (less smoke/time with dry wood . . . although typically the wood I use doesn't have much snow/ice on it to make a large time difference)

Depends . . . depends on the species of wood to some degree . . . softwood vs. hardwood (all things being equal moisture wise, size wise, etc. softwood tends to "catch" faster and burn faster

For me I can get a good fire roaring in 5-10 minutes or so by placing smaller splits that are well-seasoned pine, fir orr cedar (no snow or ice on them) on to a nice hot bed of large coals . . . but realistically I tend to save the dry smaller softwood splits for getting a fire going from a cold start and typically place regular old splits/rounds on to the coals when they've burned down a bit and sometimes there is a bit of snow/ice on them in which case I figure on 15-20 minutes to get a fire roaring to the point where there is no smoke and I can start to turn down the air.