How much wood to load

[eburne]

I've had my wood burner for about a year now and I've always loaded one log at a time or occasionally two. But I've noticed on the forums people talk a lot about loading their stove with many logs and am wondering if there's some logic there that I'm unaware of.
I've found that one log usually generates enough heat for me to be comfortable and while two will push the room up by a few degrees the small amount of extra heat doesn't justify burning through twice as much fuel.
Are all the posters who are loading many logs just living in very cold locations that require the extra heat, or is there some fuel efficiency trick to burning multiple logs that I'm missing?

 

[bholler]

I've had my wood burner for about a year now and I've always loaded one log at a time or occasionally two. But I've noticed on the forums people talk a lot about loading their stove with many logs and am wondering if there's some logic there that I'm unaware of.
I've found that one log usually generates enough heat for me to be comfortable and while two will push the room up by a few degrees the small amount of extra heat doesn't justify burning through twice as much fuel.
Are all the posters who are loading many logs just living in very cold locations that require the extra heat, or is there some fuel efficiency trick to burning multiple logs that I'm missing?

An efficient stove sized properly with good control can be loaded full and let to burn for long periods of time unattended. I typically load 2 or 3 times a day depending on the outside temps

 

[ABMax24]

Generally most stoves don't burn cleanly if only load with a piece or two of wood. The firebox needs to reach a certain temperature to completely burn the wood and avoid the dreaded white or blue smoke out the chimney.

Almost all of us live in a colder climate than you do, and as such simply require more heat in the winter to keep our homes warm. Around here our daily average temperature is below freezing for 5-5.5 months of the year, we seen 40.8C (105f) this summer and I fully expect to see -44C (-47f) again this winter.

Many of us also burn on a cycle, right now my stove is lit once a day, and the temperature of the house can fluctuate up and down 3-4 degrees C over the course of the day, as winter sets in I'll begin having multiple fires a day until the stove runs continuously and then indoor temperatures are more stable again. At temperatures below -20 it's not uncommon for me to burn 3-4 full stove loads of wood in a 24hr period, at -40 I can push 5 loads a day through my stove, but at that point I'm loosing lots of heat up the flue so I often let the furnace share the load.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

My stove is a cat stove so I load wood in it and set the air once the stove it to temp and the cat is engaged. My stove will burn for several hours. I dont like adding one piece at a time nor do I like stoves with a short burn times. I dont want to be a slave to the stove, I just want heat.

 

[stoveliker]

Also, opening the stove up (to fill it) blasts a lot of pollution out of the chimney; poor combustion, fast gas flow. It takes time to reach the best temperature after reloading, during which the stove does not run optimal (and exhausts more pollution). Therefore, loading it fully is not only efficient for me (less stove tending) but also for heat and the environment.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

We're also heating a larger area by the sound of it.

 

[PaulOinMA]

I only add a log or two. Your burning may be similar to mine.

I have a smallish insert: Lopi Answer. It is perfect for my needs. I am not looking to heat a whole house nor burn 24/7. I am only looking to heat two largish rooms for the evening. House is not set up to heat with the insert.

I have a fire evenings. Light it late afternoon and let it die down around bedtime. It is only to heat he den and kitchen so that we can have the thermostats lower for both the ground floor and second floor (first floor to you, according to what we hear on Escape to the Country ).

The den is 24 x 18 and kitchen 22 x 16 (that's feet). 7-1/2 foot ceiling in kitchen and three steps down to den. Kitchen has French doors to living room which are just cracked if insert is burning so cats can get through. Doorway at far end of kitchen. French doors in den to porch. Small insert burning a few logs is great for my needs.

I average 157 fires a year. First fire averages October 23. Last fire averages May 9.

 

[kennyp2339]

Chances are the OP's stove is one of the smaller Euro stoves that take small pieces, think like one of those 5kw models where the splits are no larger then 12" long, aka a stick burner, when temps rarely drop below freezing these type of stoves are great, plus the houses are smaller and chances are this stove in a living room set in a converted fireplace (think of those brochures new people see and want to mimic with a alcove) makes sense if thats what your living in.

 

[PaulOinMA]

That's what I was thinking, too. Most of the woodburners I see on Escape to the Country are smallish. They are usually older homes on the show, too. And old by England standards is hundreds of years older than we have here. Lower ceilings, smaller rooms. We like the homes we see on the show a lot! I see a woodburner in a snug on the show and think it must be nice and toasty. They actually have them burning in a lot of the episodes.

eburn ... My Lopi Answer's firebox is 1.6 cu. ft., which is on the small side small for here. Can you post some pictures?

 

[begreen]

I've had my wood burner for about a year now and I've always loaded one log at a time or occasionally two. But I've noticed on the forums people talk a lot about loading their stove with many logs and am wondering if there's some logic there that I'm unaware of.
I've found that one log usually generates enough heat for me to be comfortable and while two will push the room up by a few degrees the small amount of extra heat doesn't justify burning through twice as much fuel.
Are all the posters who are loading many logs just living in very cold locations that require the extra heat, or is there some fuel efficiency trick to burning multiple logs that I'm missing?

It depends on several factors like the size of the stove, the area being heated, the outside temps and stove design. If the stove is on the small side and not a secondary burner and it is heating just a room of say 2-300 sq ft, in a relatively mild climate like southern England, then burning a log a time may be fine. If the stove is medium-sized and an efficient secondary burner and if it's heating a larger area of say 900 sq ft when it's 30ºF outside, then batch burning a full stove load works better.