Kozy Heat Z42 burn times

[superbee69]

For Kozy Heat z42cd users. What burn times are you getting with the unit? On on 2 year dried oak I get about 6 hrs. I get secondaries most of the time after I get the unit above 300deg. (measured above the doors center of unit. I have experimented with loading E/W with 22" splits, and N/S with 16" splits and have similar burn times. Please post your experiences with the z42. Thanks

 

[madtrapper]

I have no problem getting 7 hours loaded e/w with ash packed as tight as I can get it with coals raked forward. Still plenty of coals left for easy start up on reload

 

[andybaker]

With Oak I can get around 6 hours with three nice pieces. Packed tight if enough room the coals will last longer. With White Ash, is more like 4-5 hours fully loaded and that won't leave many coals. I had very good burn times this year when I was burning some Hickory. Just a little longer that the Oak. Locust was good too like the Hickory. Silver Maple, forget it. Shoulder season wood. Four hours and even the coals have turned to cold dust by then. I hear some stories about the burn times of some of these units, like the Woodstock Fireview, seems almost unbelievable. Wish we could get that so it would be easier to burn 24/7. How long have you had your unit?

 

[superbee69]

With Oak I can get around 6 hours with three nice pieces. Packed tight if enough room the coals will last longer. With White Ash, is more like 4-5 hours fully loaded and that won't leave many coals. I had very good burn times this year when I was burning some Hickory. Just a little longer that the Oak. Locust was good too like the Hickory. Silver Maple, forget it. Shoulder season wood. Four hours and even the coals have turned to cold dust by then. I hear some stories about the burn times of some of these units, like the Woodstock Fireview, seems almost unbelievable. Wish we could get that so it would be easier to burn 24/7. How long have you had your unit?

I've had the unit about 3 years but the first couple years we had the house under construction. This was our first year with the unit running and living in the house. The unit puts out a lot of heat when you get it up to cruising temperature.

 

[andybaker]

The unit puts out a lot of heat when you get it up to cruising temperature.

Yes, with these temps lately I have a window open.

 

[superbee69]

Yes, with these temps lately I have a window open.

What temps do you see on your z42 and where do you measure? I measure with an IR gun above the center of the doors on the cd model. There are times when I've read 530F above the doors and I'm wondering if this is close to overfiring the unit. I shut the air fully down at or near 300F and it climbs to 530F or so before leveling off and quieting back down. This is with well seasoned wood and a lot of secondaries in play.

 

[andybaker]

I've never tried an IR gun. I have one at work to check the oven sometimes so I'll bring it home and check it out. I have a thermometor same place as you do and it will usually read between 300 -350. I read on here often about these guys running their stoves at 500-600 and I'm always thinkin, "I'm no where near that." Now you've got me thinking. A couple times it fired up to over 400 and that was so hot I did everything I could to calm it down. I've had this for a good 10 years now so I'm pretty comfortable with it and the way it fires. I wish I could get about 2 more hours of burn time out of it per load but all in all I've been very impressed with it. I burn all winter from around Oct. to April and don't even check the chimney anymore till the season is over. After burning about 4 cord of wood I'll sweep the chimney down and have enough ash to fill about half a ball cap. I think that is amazing. After Easter is over I'll check with the IR gun. Right now I'm working like a crazy person and it won't end til friday is over with about a 24 hour shift non stop. I'm getting too old for this.

 

[superbee69]

I've never tried an IR gun. I have one at work to check the oven sometimes so I'll bring it home and check it out. I have a thermometor same place as you do and it will usually read between 300 -350. I read on here often about these guys running their stoves at 500-600 and I'm always thinkin, "I'm no where near that." Now you've got me thinking. A couple times it fired up to over 400 and that was so hot I did everything I could to calm it down. I've had this for a good 10 years now so I'm pretty comfortable with it and the way it fires. I wish I could get about 2 more hours of burn time out of it per load but all in all I've been very impressed with it. I burn all winter from around Oct. to April and don't even check the chimney anymore till the season is over. After burning about 4 cord of wood I'll sweep the chimney down and have enough ash to fill about half a ball cap. I think that is amazing. After Easter is over I'll check with the IR gun. Right now I'm working like a crazy person and it won't end til friday is over with about a 24 hour shift non stop. I'm getting too old for this.

Sounds good. Let me know what your IR results show. I use the IR gun only and it seems to be reasonable in temp observation. I measure just above where the doors come together on the main body of the unit. I have run quite often in the 300-400 range, but I can easily hit 450-550 with well seasoned wood, air all the way closed and the secondaries send the temp way up. Are you able to shut your air lever all the way down during normal operation?

 

[andybaker]

I can shut it all the way down but I usually don't. I find I get a cleaner burn if close it all the way and then back it off just a touch. During waking hours we only leave two or three pieces in at a time and I'll burn it at half closed. At night I'll load it all the way. I mean I stuff everything into it that I can and I'll burn that at almost all the way closed. Right now I'm burning some Ash I got from someone that I just split a couple weeks ago. It was bucked up and sitting for three years and was starting to punk a little. I've got where it's getting a lot of air with no rain hitting it so it's drying fast but I'm burning that at about half open at night just so there's enough air to help burn the coals down. Any other wood wouldn't work like this, it would have to sit through the summer. It's good you mention "well seasoned wood". That is the key to burning this thing properly. When you say you measure just above the doors on the main body do you mean inbetween the doors inside the crack there or above the door?

 

[superbee69]

I can shut it all the way down but I usually don't. I find I get a cleaner burn if close it all the way and then back it off just a touch. During waking hours we only leave two or three pieces in at a time and I'll burn it at half closed. At night I'll load it all the way. I mean I stuff everything into it that I can and I'll burn that at almost all the way closed. Right now I'm burning some Ash I got from someone that I just split a couple weeks ago. It was bucked up and sitting for three years and was starting to punk a little. I've got where it's getting a lot of air with no rain hitting it so it's drying fast but I'm burning that at about half open at night just so there's enough air to help burn the coals down. Any other wood wouldn't work like this, it would have to sit through the summer. It's good you mention "well seasoned wood". That is the key to burning this thing properly. When you say you measure just above the doors on the main body do you mean inbetween the doors inside the crack there or above the door?

I measure on the main steel body 'above' the doors but below the vent portion at the center of the unit. i have the CD unit with 2 doors.