How many are running their stove hard!

[corey006]

We had cold snap b4 Christmas that hit -44 celcius(Yes that is below -40 F). I was running it pretty good then.

It is -30 here so yep, keeping it stoked every 3-4 hours. My internal stove temps(as measured with laser therm) are usually between 600-700 D Far. Sometimes a little more but that is approaching over-firing.

I just got up in the middle of night to use facilities, and decided to stoke my stove. It will usually burn through the night but after 2-3 hours the BTU output drops off significantly.

I will say this about Osburn 2400.

It throws heat like crazy. But dry pine is not the best wood in the world for having a long fire. If I load it up at 11 pm and choke back air I will still have decent amount of coals @ 6 AM but I am sure from 3 AM to 6 AM it doesn't throw alot of heat. I have 2 cords of Birch but it isn't seasoned enough. We have alot of wood in Northern Sask, but most of it is Jackpine, Spruce, White Popular, Tamarack and Spruce.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I think that my fuel is not as good as I thought it was and that may be shortening my cycle and increasing my coaling. I have 3/4 of next years Ash, Cherry, and Maple mix split and stacked already so next year should be better. I'll also have some Oak for next year as well. The stove is doing great, my drafty old house seems to be the problem.

I wouldn't necessarily put it all on the wood. I had the same coaling effect when we went to running hard mode from easy going mode. If you come across some pine in your travels, grab a few cord. It is nice to have around to both accelerate the burn down and generate more heat while you are doing it.

 

[eba1225]

Yep, been running hard, 24x7 for the past month except for the warmish spell just after x-mas.

 

[Swamp Fox]

At this time I am running a little higher thermostat setting than normal. We are in the middle of a record "cold spell" (so far seven days of night time temps in the low to mid teens and day time temp has not gotten out of the thirties, and at least another week of this is forecast}. I know this is nothing compared to what many of you endure, but it is a long cold spell for us. I have been burning 24/7 since the beginning of Nov. Have only used one match to start the initial fire. Prior to retiring two and one-half years ago I used to load the stove twice a day, full load at night and a little in the morning prior to leaving for work. Now I am loading three times a day, a full load at night and half loads twice during the day and turning the thermostat up higher for the day time burns. I am using a little more wood this year than previous years (because it is colder out). I usually burn two cords a season. However, I am thinking I will need to rob some from the 2010-2011 wood pile (I am now cutting/splitting for the 2012-2013 season). The heat pump has come on only once...I keep it set at 68 degrees...we took off for three days to go to the beach for New Years...loaded the stove prior to leaving, came back and had bed of coals and only needed to put a few spits in to get her fired back up.

 

[Battenkiller]

Where did you get your IR thermometer? I have a BIS Tradition and don't have access to the chimney temps but it would be nice to see how hot the face is getting. Thanks!

Sorry for the delay in responding. I got mine at Instrumart. It is the one in my sig line, and it has a lot of bells and whistles you may or want (I wanted them), so it was a bit pricey... $119 + free shipping.

You can get the same brand in a stripped down version for $49.

http://www.instrumart.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=10228

I'm sure it uses the same sensor, but is just "neutered" a bit to sell at a lower price point. I really wanted the ability to read temps up to 1400ºF, which you can with mine. Plus, mine accepts K-type thermocouples if you want to use a probe.

 

[fattire]

Kind of cold winter in Colorado since about December 1, but not the best snow, which is a crappy combination. It was -13F this morning at our place. When it is this cold the wood pile appears smaller, and when I look at it I can't help but extrapolate: "These two rows for the rest of January, that row and that row for February, that row for March", and so on. And always about this time of year I start to worry a bit about my wood supply...

 

[RIDGERUNNER30]

I had me about three cords of black locust put back for these cold snaps we get around here, but this cold spell is lasting longer than any other winter i can remember, but having some locust around sure helps to get longer burn times , I load the stove full of black locust and have plenty of really hot coals to get fire back up and running hard

 

[cornbread]

Just let stove cool down enough to clean out the ashes.

I’ve been running it hard.

 

[Flatbedford]

Just let stove cool down enough to clean out the ashes.

I’ve been running it hard.

You have a stove? I thought you were only registered here to post links in the ash pan.

 

[bfunk13]

It was -32 this morning when i left for work.
Need i say more?

 

[PapaDave]

Just let stove cool down enough to clean out the ashes.

I’ve been running it hard.

You have a stove? I thought you were only registered here to post links in the ash pan.

Good catch. :lol:

 

[Dix]

Lost the OB for 2 days (clogged everything ). No heat in the apartment, and no HW for the whole house.


The insert stepped up to the plate, kept the apartment at @ 60- 62 °F , and the main house was 65-68°F . Amazing the pull of heat when the apartment is not heated.Thinking about a smallish wood stove for in there.

I had to load it 5 x's a day, but it got the job done. An open floor plan, instead of the totally seperate apartment, and the Pacific would have handled it.

 

[Bone1099]

Not sure why everyone is whining about cold here and cold there. I mean it got down to like +15F here this week and they're callin for 13 tomorrow night i don't know about ya'll but here thats cold. I mean damn cold but not to worry the old fish will keep the fam warm tonight floorplan kinda sucks for distribution but a temporary (for 3 yrs) blower and ceiling fan keep the furthest bedrooms in the 66+ range and dining/stove room in the 80+ range. Oh yeah just kidding about the cold it really is gonna be an unseasonably cold +13F tomorrow night but i do realize where many of you are it gets much colder that that maybe even below ZERO LOL(Again just kidding Canada) Anyhow fisher insert runs here as soon as weather gets below +40F at night and 24-7 operation begins when it does'nt get above +40F during the day good news is i can run "hard" for about 6-7 hrs "insane" 4-5 hours then reload. about every 5 days let it burn down below 400F surface temp shovel out the front of the stove (as most of the coals are at the back) then reload and it takes about 30-45 min to reach "insane" again. By the way "Hard" is 550F- 600F on the Rutland stove-top thermometer (accurate or not it still gives an idea of whats goin' on) "Insane" is 650F + (at 700 the top starts to glow at the back) I realize these figures arent correct as to what temp steel glows at but the thermometer is a rutland unit and it is as far back as i can put it without needing a mirror to read it and the glow comes from a bit further back in the circulator box just fwd of the flue exit.

 

[BrowningBAR]

I'm not running the stove nearly as hard as I was last year. With a fan behind the stove I have found that I can run the stove as low as 450 degrees and can still keep the room at 80 degrees even in single digit weather.