Evening starts at 46 and slides to mid to high 30's for a few hours. Burning hardwood the house gets hot to the point of stuffy yet without it oil heat kicks and drones away for too long for me. I have tried small fires in a small stove and they either do not get the stack hot enough for my taste or if pushed do not last long and just waste wood. I am thinking just break out the long johns and tough it out until a good time to light a fire and get some useful work out of it. To add insult to injury the wind blows a dozen different ways so if burned slow gets blown out and smokes. Maybe the bio bricks get hot enough for the stack yet do not go crazy for heat?
Is this the time of the year that bio bricks make sense?
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I see no need for what you are describing. Our only heat is wood heat and we have no problem at this time of the year. Yes, there are some times when it has got a bit too warm but it is actually rare. For starters, we rarely put more than 3 small splits in the stove at at time. Mostly this time of the year it is 3 splits in the morning and 3 at night. That keeps the house warm enough with no problems.
If you are trying to burn a low fire and the fire goes out it is a problem with the wood. You do not state what temperature you want in the flue so we can't help you there. Perhaps you are worried too much over this. As for the wind blowing in different ways, we too have this but are able to overcome it.
You can use some biobricks if you want and they will work but I have never seen a need for them. We simply burn wood the way the stove was meant to burn. But we don't fill the stove at this time of the year. By using smaller amounts of wood and keeping a good draft there is no problem having enough draft for the fire and the flue stays warm enough so there is also no problems there.
So I would look first at the wood and second at the chimney. Even the chimney cap can have some bearing on drafting, especially if you get some downdraft.
If you are trying to burn a low fire and the fire goes out it is a problem with the wood. You do not state what temperature you want in the flue so we can't help you there. Perhaps you are worried too much over this. As for the wind blowing in different ways, we too have this but are able to overcome it.
You can use some biobricks if you want and they will work but I have never seen a need for them. We simply burn wood the way the stove was meant to burn. But we don't fill the stove at this time of the year. By using smaller amounts of wood and keeping a good draft there is no problem having enough draft for the fire and the flue stays warm enough so there is also no problems there.
So I would look first at the wood and second at the chimney. Even the chimney cap can have some bearing on drafting, especially if you get some downdraft.
KodiakII
Minister of Fire
This is the time of year when softwoods like poplar and willow are most useful.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
That's what I'm doing. Alder now and fir later.
Still, like Dennis, I'm surprised that you can't get a hot enough flue with a small fire of good wood, say half a load, although I haven't used a 1.3 cf stove. How hot are you aiming for on the flue and how are you measuring it?
I have a stack of small maple rounds maybe time to dig into them. Backwoods Savage I like the stack over 500 with a probe and yes the chimney is painfully short but only a problem when the wind is gusting from different directions every couple of minutes.
Build shorter hot fires and let them go out. And don't worry if the stack drops down to 400F. That is plenty hot enough.
Like everyone else I can get a bit lazy and the relight the fire 5 times a day can get a bit old. Working with 1.3 cu.ft. of firebox can be a challenge and have no idea how Avalon can claim a 7 to 8 hour burn as I have never come close to that, maybe 6 with extended coaling time included. I do work out of a few different wood piles and currently burning the poorest of it all as I don't feel bad burning a bit hotter and faster as it is marginal at best. As I sort through it the good stuff goes into the pile for the real cold weather and the wood that refuses to season of a bit punky gets burned now. I also have about 1/2 cord of large very well seasoned oak for January and February along with a couple of small stacks of small rounds of mixed wood that gets burned along with the crap wood.
I have found using a stack probe and stove top thermometer have helped a bunch in getting t he most heat I can out of what I have to burn. I generally burn hot and fast until the stack gets up to around 500 or a bit more then cut the air in small steps until finally close to completely down to as low as it can go. With my short chimney I can not get enough draft to fully closed down but will when it stays in the 30's and below. If I had it to do all over again I would not have bought this stove but something larger as long as it could be turned down to the output of the small one I have now. If I had the money I would be temped to buy a coal stove to be honest but it is way outside my current budget. From everything I have read and heard they are the ultimate in long slow burns with low maintenance to keep them going. Some of the older designs can easily go 24 or more hours between loading other than shaking the grates every 7 or 8 hours but another long learning curve as well.
I have found using a stack probe and stove top thermometer have helped a bunch in getting t he most heat I can out of what I have to burn. I generally burn hot and fast until the stack gets up to around 500 or a bit more then cut the air in small steps until finally close to completely down to as low as it can go. With my short chimney I can not get enough draft to fully closed down but will when it stays in the 30's and below. If I had it to do all over again I would not have bought this stove but something larger as long as it could be turned down to the output of the small one I have now. If I had the money I would be temped to buy a coal stove to be honest but it is way outside my current budget. From everything I have read and heard they are the ultimate in long slow burns with low maintenance to keep them going. Some of the older designs can easily go 24 or more hours between loading other than shaking the grates every 7 or 8 hours but another long learning curve as well.
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