I have a tear in my eye........

[GAMMA RAY]

I have been gone all day for about 12 hours. Long day at work then had an appointment afterwards. The husband was busy and left early today to plow and then work. Well, I came in the door and went to the stove immediately and guess what? The firebox was black. I knew it would go out. It was hungry and no one was here to feed it I am too tired to start it now. The husband said he will start it when he gets home. I wish we had the long 8-10 hour burn time but our stove is small and usually we can keep it going because of my early start and his late bedtime. It is an empty feeling inside................................But I am home tomorrow because of the weather forcast here in nepa, so I will have some good time to learn the new stove!!

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I had some nice big hickory splits from Dave (Captain Hornet) One biiiig split, a couple of small splits, plus 1-2 ecobricks in the small leftover spaces and I was able to get coals after 12 hours a couple of time with the same stove.

 

[xman23]

With a red hot stove, a big bed of coals, a full load of unsplit rounds and the air closed down most of the way. With all this the best I can do is about 6 hrs. and still have coals that can relight a split. The problem is that slow burn may not be enough to keep the house temp up on real cold days or nights. What these stoves need is a built in propane gas igniter. I have one on a outdoor fire-pit, it's great. We in the North East can all play with our stoves tomorrow, I don't think were going anywhere. Where in NEPA are you? We are part time burners in Lackawaxen.

Tom

 

[PapaDave]

GAMMA RAY, if the weather cooperates, load that puppy up as if for an overnighter while you're home. You'll get a real good idea what it's doing when you're sleeping or gone for the day.
Time for some experiments! BWAHAHA! :cheese:

 

[wkpoor]

WOW! How did you do that! I didn't think you could ever get rid of the coals in an EPA stove. To go completely black in only 12hrs sounds like a door seal problem or a leak somewhere in the front. Its been too cold for me to test just how long the coals will last but judging by what I saw after 9 I would almost guess 20+ and still have something to relight. Once they get a covering of ash they will set hot for a very long time.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

If I really wanted to I could have re-started it but I had a long day and was very tired. There were some coals in there, very minimal but don't forget I am a newbie and still learnin!

 

[Wood Duck]

I can have coals in my stove after 6 hrs, maybe 8 if I used good hardwood. No way I'd have coals after ten hours. My stove is about the same size as yours. With a normal load my stove is pretty cold in 4 or 5 hours, so it goes dark every couple of days. Don't worry, a few splits, a handful of kindling, and a chunk of super cedar and it will come back to life. My stove doesn't seem to hold a grudge even though I kill it from neglect every couple of days.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Thanks wood duck

 

[wkpoor]

Reminds me of a short story about coals. Several yrs ago my FIL had burned a lrage brush pile. About a week later and it had rained we through out an old coffee table on the ash pile for the next burn. Later that night we both smelled something burning. Looked out and the coffee table was on fire. Thats when I learned the power of ash.