I am only getting one to three hours of burn time from my new wood stove - is this acceptable?

[Wood Duck]

I have a smallish stove and get maybe four or five hours of heat from it, so you're not too far off if you're getting four hours between reloads. A lot depends on the wood. If you post pictures we can probably tell you the sort of wood you have - show the bark, end of splits, and the side of splits if possible.

I agree with everyone else that you shouldn't load too much wood too soon on hot coals. Try raking the coals to the front and adding just one split on top. I get lots of heat this way and the coals burn down. Sometimes I repeat this several times to get the coals burnt down, and get hours of heat from just a few new splits.

 

[woodchip]

Probably want a CAT stove for longer burn times. I cant get much more than 3 hrs out of my epa stove either.

I easily get over 2 hours burn time using old pallets here, and that's with reasonably small box.

Good quality dry hardwood should last a lot longer than that if being burned to maximum efficiency.

 

[Wood Duck]

You will read it over and over here, but it is good advice so I'll repeat; EPA stoves (at least the non-cat types) work best when burned in cycles. Load the stove, let 'er burn and do nothing but adjust the primary air control as needed, then let the coals burn down a little before you reload. Adding wood mid-cycle is irresistable at times, but not the best way to run the stove. Also, load the stove fully for long burns. I find that having pieces of various sizes and lengths allows me to pack the stove more fully, which tends to make a longer burn. Finally, try to learn the different types of wood and select the most dense types for long burns. There can be a big difference between the most dense woods like oak and hickory compared to the least dense like soft maple or aspen. I think with practice you'll get longer burns, or at least reach a point where you feel like you're getting the longest burn possible with your stove so you'll feel better.

 

[oldspark]

Yep wood duck has it pegged, you are going to learn as you burn, I have a new chimney this year and am still trying to figure out the best way to run my summit.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for all the feedback! It is appreciated. It looks like I put a lot of effort into researching stoves, but not enough on looking into my wood source. When I started calling around in last August, all the local suppliers I found in southern Maine were sold out. I bought this wood from an outfit in NH - I wish I had more information on the wood type, but their main site is down. Next year, I will start the process much earlier. The only problem is that I only have storage for three cords, so it will be tough to "get ahead" on my wood I suppose. If anyone knows of a good supplier of dry wood in Southern Maine ... I'm all ears.

As for the wood storage question from firefighterjake ... it doesn't reference it in my stove's ridiculously small manual. But, before I started using it this way, the bottom of the box would be really hot, and now it's almost cold. The wood gets warm in there, but only the top pieces (which I keep out of contact with the bottom of the fire box). Does this sound reasonable?

I will go on and read more posts about lighting techniques, etc. Thanks!


Mark

Unless the manual says you can store the wood under the stove I think I would be leery of doing so . . . what does the manual say about clearances to combustibles . . . probably doesn't mention clearance under the stove . . . but seeing the clearances for sides, back, etc. may give us a general idea about whether it would be safe to store the wood under the stove.

 

[woodchip]

Trouble about advising people not to keep wood under stoves is you see pictures like this over here......

http://www.infobarrel.com/Media/Wood_stoves

http://www.homewoodfireplaces.co.uk/

And of course, people (especially newbies who want to dry wet wood fast) see it and copy it.

Potentially very dangerous ;-)