Keeping a Jotul Oslo going for more than 4 hours

[simisita]

I have just recently had a Jotul Oslo installed;I think I'm coming up on 2 weeks with the stove. It runs hot when the wood is in it - I have great wood - well seasoned oak I split this fall - but I can't seem to get the thing to run through a whole day while I am at work or a whole night asleep. I fill it as much as a I can, move the air lever all the way to the left to keep it running low but it's down to barely any embers in the morning or when I get home, and sometimes none at all. I wonder if I have another air leak that is causing the stove to run through the wood so fast if or if my old stove was so less efficient at burning that it took it that much longer to burn through a load of logs. I find the "upside steps" at the top of the inside of the stove to prevent me from filling the Oslo quite as much as I'd like.

Anyone have any tips on how to get this puppy to have some hearty embers in the morning? I seem to have to restart the fire twice a day. I am not used to this..having grown up with a stove and having had another one just recently which didn't require this. Or is this life with a new stove? Or with the Oslo?

 

[JimWalshin845]

First of all I am surprised your wood is well seasoned after just splitting it this fall, but it sounds like you might have spit it too thin. How large are the splits at the circumference?

 

[simisita]

I seasoned the wood in cut lengths for about 15 months and then split it this fall. The pieces are about 20" long and I'd say the widest part of the wedge is about 4".

 

[JimWalshin845]

Try some wider splits.. I like 8-10+" for longer burns. 4" are nice for start ups, but whimpy for extended/unattended burning.

Good luck!

 

[begreen]

Welcome simista. Can you describe the flue that the stove is connected to? How tall is it?

What type of stove were you burning in previously? Perhaps it had greater capacity?

 

[simisita]

My previous stove was a steel Garrison, 1979. it probably did hold a few more logs.

The stove is connected via a short L to a stainless steel liner that runs 17 or 22 feet up through the chimney. I've forgotten the exact height, will go check. Honestly this new stove is very powerful...I call it the furnace..when it is running as hot as I describe I can't be in the room with it. Luckily my new "fan in the corner of the door frame" is pushing the heat around the house and making other rooms quite comfortable.

 

[begreen]

By all accounts, the Garrison was an awesome stove. Wish I had the opportunity to run one for awhile. It did have more capacity, which = longer burn.

You will get to know the Oslo better. Jim's suggestion of using larger splits to regulate it for a longer burn is a good one. Adding a draft damper might help a little too.

 

[jbrown56]

Hi Simisita, I've had my new stove two months and the best way to get long burn times for me is to put two 8" splits on the bottom and fill the rest with whatever you can squeeze in there. The stove gets filled at 10p and at 6a there are plenty of coals to get the fire going again. The stove is an amazing heater! Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[ansehnlich1]

I stick a big fat square hunk of white oak in the back, east/west, and then as much big stuff as I can fit in after that, trying to put a crooked piece or something in front of that air inlet so as not to block it off.

I normally have a bed of coals in the morning after 8 hours, but the stove temp is only at 200 degrees.

I've only had my Oslo up to 700 degrees one time, most of the time it stabilizes at 650 degrees with the air wide open.

I'm vented into an outside brick chimney with an 7x7 inch inside diameter clay liner.

I plan to shove a 6 inch liner down there in the summer, or an insulated one though I doubt it will fit. Maybe a 5.5 inch? There's an idea, anybody know if the Jotul Oslo will take a 5.5 inch liner?

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

I use small splits,medium and xtra big chunks. I mix and match my overnight loads. I pack it (about 2 inches from the burn tubes.) How long are your cuts ? Because that makes a huge difference. I cut my stuff to 20" I've been burning pignut Hickory at night and have gotten 11 hr burn times if I pack it good. My average is between 8-11 hrs depending on the wood and the size of the load.

WoodButcher

 

[jpl1nh]

I use small splits,medium and xtra big chunks. I mix and match my overnight loads. I pack it (about 2 inches from the burn tubes.) How long are your cuts ? Because that makes a huge difference. I cut my stuff to 20" I've been burning pignut Hickory at night and have gotten 11 hr burn times if I pack it good. My average is between 8-11 hrs depending on the wood and the size of the load.

WoodButcher

Pignut hickory..Nice stuff! Simisita, how you pack it makes a big difference too. For a long burn you waznt to fit your wood together tight like a jigsaw puzzle, the idea being that air can't get through it all at once and it burns from the outside of the pile and slowly works its way in. For a hot quick fire, you load it loose with lots of air spaces.