Jotul F55 Tunnel of Love

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Sailrmike

Feeling the Heat
Sep 20, 2017
296
06371
I used @BrotherBart 's Tunnel of Love fire starting method tonight, with great success! Just a Super Cedar, 6 small kindling, 6 larger kindling, and 9 splits. Cruising at 600F
IMG_20171103_222846474.jpg IMG_20171104_000633078.jpg
I'm expecting 10hrs before reloading. Thanks for all of your help here.
 
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Actually begreen gave it that name.

Nice burn. Enjoy.
 
A few days ago I wondered where is Brother Bart. Here he is.
 
Cool. I may try this out.
 
Tunnel of Love™ starts are standard procedure here. The difference though is there is nothing horizontal (E/W) at the bottom of the pile. The idea is to allow air to get under the wood bed front to back as quickly as possible. Here is another variation using kindling as a kind of bridge for the wood laid on top so that air is still able to circulate front to back. By the time the "bridge" collapses the wood is burning vigorously.

IMG_1328_fire start.jpg IMG_1329web.jpg IMG_1330web.jpg IMG_1333web.jpg IMG_1334web.jpg IMG_1335web.jpg IMG_1337web.jpg

This is for a cold start. On a hot restart with nice dry wood I just rake the hot coals to the middle front and reload the stove full.
 
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Nice. I've been top down for my start ups here. But lately have just been putting three rows of 2 splits each criss crossed with the smallest on top and tossing in a firestarter. Heats up fast and I get 2-4 hrs on startup. Also with the firestarter I don't have to leave the door cracked at all. Toss it in and close the door, air on high and walk away.
 
A variation for E/W loading stoves like the Castine is to rake coals forward toward the front center of the stove. Then take two ~2" diameter short splits (about 12-14" long) and place them N/S about 4" apart centered in the middle of the stove. Then place your normal load of wood on top of those two splits. Branch material works great as a source of those short sleepers, but so does a 2x4 scrap split in half. Loading this way will allow air from the boost manifold to get under the bed of wood. This will greatly improve quick lighting.
 
That’s how I start my fires too. Never realized it had a name. It just seemed to make sense and was always a pretty dependable way to get the fire going. But I do like it better when I am burning 24/7 because then I never need to actually get a fire started.


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I started burning this way with the Castine. It was the first E/W loader we owned and I got tired of slower smoky starts. Putting a pair of sleepers under the wood made a big difference. The trick is to allow air to easily travel from front to back under the kindling and firewood. This method translated to the N/S loading T6 for easy quick starts. This Oct. for shoulder season fires I was placing two bottom splits a couple inches apart, loaded N/S with a few balls of newspaper between them and kindling on top of the newpaper. Then I put two splits loaded E/W on top with a 1-2" gap between them. Light paper and off she goes. A 1/4 of a SuperCedar can be used in lieu of the newspaper with equally good results.
 
freddy said:
Man I wish I could do that. How long does it take to heat up enough to shut the air down?
Click to expand...
I move the air damper halfway at about 15mins after lighting, fully shut at 30mins in. All secondaries at that point. My bridge in the front never collapsed allowing for outstanding air flow. Thank goodness I have a pipe damper!
 
Nice, this will be my second year with the F55. I've had a few 11 hour burns with mine last year.
 
Newburnerwisconsin said:
Are you getting ten to twelve hour burns with this stove? Thanks
Click to expand...
12 hour burns is a little bit of a stretch with this stove- not quite enough coals for a standard reload. 10 hour cycles work great, plenty of coals for reloading. When I've stretched it to 12hrs, or my coal base is too small for a reload, I simply add 4 pieces of kindling first, let them catch good and heat up flue, when they are fully burning, load stove like normal.
 
I've noticed that once I get a well established ash bed I can start eliminating the N/S tunnel wall pieces. Instead, I use the poker to form a channel in the ashes down the middle of the stove - front to back - from the doghouse to the rear of the stove. Then I load my normal E/W direction and the ashes hold up the wood enough for air to move under the splits using the ash channel.
 
Sailrmike said:
12 hour burns is a little bit of a stretch with this stove- not quite enough coals for a standard reload. 10 hour cycles work great, plenty of coals for reloading. When I've stretched it to 12hrs, or my coal base is too small for a reload, I simply add 4 pieces of kindling first, let them catch good and heat up flue, when they are fully burning, load stove like normal.
Click to expand...
I am burning hardwood, but I have to reload every 4 to 5 hours or so. So I am looking at possibly the f55. How often you you have to reload? Thanks
 
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Sailrmike said:
I used @BrotherBart 's Tunnel of Love fire starting method tonight, with great success! Just a Super Cedar, 6 small kindling, 6 larger kindling, and 9 splits. Cruising at 600F
View attachment 215141 View attachment 215142
I'm expecting 10hrs before reloading. Thanks for all of your help here.
Click to expand...
How often do you have to reload then? I am looking for a stove with at least s 10 hour burn on a full firebox. Currently I have to reload every 4 or 5 hours.
 
Newburnerwisconsin said:
How often do you have to reload then? I am looking for a stove with at least s 10 hour burn on a full firebox. Currently I have to reload every 4 or 5 hours.
Click to expand...
With a full firebox of well seasoned wood, I get 10 hours of burning before I need to reload.
 
Sailrmike said:
I used @BrotherBart 's Tunnel of Love fire starting method tonight, with great success! Just a Super Cedar, 6 small kindling, 6 larger kindling, and 9 splits. Cruising at 600F
View attachment 215141 View attachment 215142
I'm expecting 10hrs before reloading. Thanks for all of your help here.
Click to expand...
How do you like your F55? What do you like most about the stove? What do you dislike about the stove? How many sq. Ft are you heating? Any problems with your stove or Jotul? Thanks
 
Newburnerwisconsin said:
How do you like your F55? What do you like most about the stove? What do you dislike about the stove? How many sq. Ft are you heating? Any problems with your stove or Jotul? Thanks
Click to expand...
I really like this stove. Mostly, it just looks great in my home, like a timeless piece of art work. The glass stays very clean during all phases of the burn cycle. The F 55 can throw a ton of heat when I need it to, and the blower is quiet but moves a good amount of air. If I had a criticism of the F 55, it would be that no ash system is available for it. Normally, ash removal isn't a problem while burning 24/7, but I made a mess of it this morning. I am heating approximately 2,400 square feet, my oil burner starts to assist the stove when we go below 20F outside. No issues with the stove or Jotul (Very well rated at BBB)
 
Sailrmike said:
I really like this stove. Mostly, it just looks great in my home, like a timeless piece of art work. The glass stays very clean during all phases of the burn cycle. The F 55 can throw a ton of heat when I need it to, and the blower is quiet but moves a good amount of air. If I had a criticism of the F 55, it would be that no ash system is available for it. Normally, ash removal isn't a problem while burning 24/7, but I made a mess of it this morning. I am heating approximately 2,400 square feet, my oil burner starts to assist the stove when we go below 20F outside. No issues with the stove or Jotul (Very well rated at BBB)
Click to expand...
How so you clean out the chimney on the f55? Can you remove the baffle and go up through the stove with a chimney brush?
 
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