Is it my wood? Summit performance

[vwmike]

Hi guys,

I think I know my answer but looking for some feedback. I’ve been burning in my new used summit for a little over 2 weeks now and am finding it hard to keep it going 24/7. I was dreaming of 8, 10, 12 hr burn times I’ve read about here.

This is what I am burning, 2nd or 3rd growth Douglas fir, been cutting on a wood lot where these are thinned and deck up free for the taking. They’re small fast growing trees. They’re cut to 16” long and I split them smaller than I should of as when I cut it I still had my little Vista at home.


I cut them in the spring and by fall they are plenty dry. They light off right away, very little
Smoke and lots of heat. Here’s a freshly
Split piece at room temp.


Basically I’m only getting 6-7hrs of burn time to a 200f stove and just enough coals to light it off again. Stove burns great and heats the house just fine. I like to sleep 8hrs so I have to restart with kindling every morning which I was kind of bummed about!

 

[vwmike]

Here’s a load last night. Open door, rake coals, load up, time I come back in with 1 last piece to pack it full she’s already burning. STT 250f


4:00pm close door, air wide open.
4:10pm. close air 50% STT 300
4:20pm close air 75% STT 550
4:25pm close air 100% STT 650
5:00pm peak STT 750
5:30pm STT 700
7:30pm STT 550

Here’s a pic about 5:30 when it’s just cruising, turns down just fine not burning that hard.


Once it’s cruisjng I went and did some other stuff and left it alone. Walked by a couple times just to check on it and it just slowly but surely burns down to coals and the temps slowly drop. 6 hrs latter about 10:30pm come down to a 250 stove and do it all over again, this is what was left after 6hrs.


Any pointers appreciated!

 

[jatoxico]

What would you say your typical peak and cruising temps are? You can usually cut the air a bit earlier and harder on reloads since the flue and stove is warmed up. That can gain you some time. Ex. by cutting air earlier I can have a clean burn but keep my peak lower and cruise 450-500 instead of 600-700.

Edit: you were too fast for me!

Cut the air earlier, try for a lower peak temp. Go outside and see how clean you're burning while you do that.

 

[vwmike]

What would you say your typical peak and cruising temps are? You can usually cut the air a bit earlier and harder on reloads since the flue and stove is warmed up. That can gain you some time. Ex. by cutting air earlier I can have a clean burn but keep my peak lower and cruise 450-500 instead of 600-700.

Edit: you were too fast for me!

Cut the air earlier, try for a lower peak temp. Go outside and see how clean you're burning while you do that.

Still playing with it a lot! I will say this load took off a little faster than I was expecting but the weather has cooled off a lot over the last few days so it was drafting great! Previous loads I typically see a peak temp closer 700.

 

[jatoxico]

My practice and experience goes like this; on startup I have to, cut the air slowly in small increments always keeping a vigorous fire. This is needed to get the fire established and clean and to get everything warmed up top to bottom. But on reloads I cut much much faster and more aggressively so first cut may be to 50% w/o waiting for the fire to build nearly to the same extent as I do when starting. Just giving ex. since each stove day and load are a bit different but you get the idea.

 

[Woody5506]

Door and window gaskets are all good?

 

[Hogwildz]

Load it with more splits and tighter together. In the future, split most of your splits as large & larger than the middle top one. Try closing the air all the way down at 300-350, and see how it responds.

 

[Pertzbro]

Seems normal to me with doug fir. You'll need a harder wood for max burn time

 

[mar13]

Great pictures to help people understand your problem!

 

[vwmike]

Door and window gaskets are all good?

Yes I replaced both, the door gasket is the factory black one, seem to have lots of control of the air so I don’t think I have any leaks

 

[vwmike]

Load it with more splits and tighter together. In the future, split most of your splits as large & larger than the middle top one. Try closing the air all the way down at 300-350, and see how it responds.

Will do, still in the honey moon stage so having some fun playing around with it.

 

[begreen]

Seems normal to me with doug fir. You'll need a harder wood for max burn time

We burn doug fir almost exclusively. In this firebox, doug fir can provide a 12 hr burn in mild weather and 8hrs in colder weather. The difference I see agrees with Hogwildz suggestions. We burn thicker splits, pack it tighter and shut down the are sooner.

Surprisingly we don't see much longer burn times when burning madrone, cherry or locust. Just more heat.

 

[begreen]

FYI this year we are having somewhat similar issues with a load of wood I bought to help out a guy. It's still doug fir, but not as nice as previous years' wood and with too many small pieces. Our burn times have been less predictable, just like the wood. This morning's fire only lasted 7 hrs. .

 

[vwmike]

FYI this year we are having somewhat similar issues with a load of wood I bought to help out a guy. It's still doug fir, but not as nice as previous years' wood and with too many small pieces. Our burn times have been less predictable, just like the wood. This morning's fire only lasted 7 hrs. .

Good to know I appreciate hearing other experiences! I have some better bigger split hemlock burried in the back of my shed, will be curious to try it out once I get to it. Nothing feels better after working outside on a beautiful but cold day like today coming home to 74f in the basement by the stove!,

 

[vwmike]

Oh I forgot to mention I also foil taped over the ebt, like others have found I watched it a couple times from below and it only added more air right as the stove came up to peak temps, not useful to me with my dry small splits!

 

[begreen]

Is this a new Summit? If it is I wouldn't tape over the EBT. That is only on the model A units which had the EBT regulating the boost air. On a new Summit B&C models the EBT is on the secondary air. Having it wide open at peak burn is a good thing if the goal is to make the most heat the cleanest way possible. The only change you may have to make in that case is turning down the air much sooner to slow down the massive outgassing of 3 cu ft of wood.

 

[vwmike]

Is this a new Summit? If it is I wouldn't tape over the EBT. That is only on the model A units which had the EBT regulating the boost air. On a new Summit B&C models the EBT is on the secondary air. Having it wide open at peak burn is a good thing if the goal is to make the most heat the cleanest way possible. The only change you may have to make in that case is turning down the air much sooner to slow down the massive outgassing of 3 cu ft of wood.

This is a 2006 Summit so the old A series. I taped it off after reading a bunch of your feedback on it ! I bough this one kinda beat up for $100 and fixed/cleaned it up a bunch, not cause I’m cheap but cause I couldn’t make
up my mind between a summit or a princess, and figured I could try this first....

 

[begreen]

OK, sorry. I read dozens of threads a day and quickly lose track of who has what.

 

[blacktail]

The fast growing Doug fir of today's industrial forests won't burn as long as old growth fir or high BTU hardwoods. It's simply not as dense. You're getting fewer pounds of fuel in the box per load.
I burn lots of replanted fir. It weighs less and has much wider growth rings than the old growth I've burned. On the plus side, it splits easier and dries faster.

 

[begreen]

Everything in our area is 2nd and 3d growth. There still is a lot of variation depending on where the tree grew. With 3 yrs of drought summers I suspect the growth rings are tightening up now.

 

[blacktail]

Everything in our area is 2nd and 3d growth. There still is a lot of variation depending on where the tree grew. With 3 yrs of drought summers I suspect the growth rings are tightening up now.

The seedlings replanted on state and timber company land in more recent times have been selectively bred to grow fast. That, and being specifically spaced in clearcuts, makes for a big difference between industrial fir and fir found in non-timber producing land.

 

[begreen]

The seedlings replanted on state and timber company land in more recent times have been selectively bred to grow fast. That, and being specifically spaced in clearcuts, makes for a big difference between industrial fir and fir found in non-timber producing land.

Yes, almost all of what we have around now is naturally seeded. There is no state or timber land in our area. The old growth here was cleared a long time ago to build ships and the cities of Tacoma and Seattle.

 

[vwmike]

The seedlings replanted on state and timber company land in more recent times have been selectively bred to grow fast. That, and being specifically spaced in clearcuts, makes for a big difference between industrial fir and fir found in non-timber producing land.

We see lots of this in our area, and is exactly what I am burning!

 

[vwmike]

Had my first overnight burn success! Thanks for all the advice, packed it just a little bit tighter, and turned the air down sooner. 8.5 hrs woke up to this


Plenty left to throw on a couple splits and get it ripping again, stove was still 300f.

 

[vwmike]

Another successful day of 24/7 burning. I am surprised at the temp swings in my house 67 when I wake up, up to about 72 at bedtime. Granted the weather here has been in the 30s during the day and down in the 20s with wind at night which is cold for my part of the world.