Late night reload

[Highbeam]

My wood is usually medium soft. I have a lot of fir, some alder and maple, some fug wood. I only open up my draft when I start the fire, otherwise it is kept fully closed.

Oh and I should point out, buntime on the non-cat was just that I could relight without matches. It wasn't a big bed of left over coals! The Stove is rated for 9 hours and that's what I could get with softwoods. It sure was a pretty one.

 

[electrathon]

Get a different stove or fix your setup so you get the burn times you should be getting have you tested the draft? Have you installed a key damper? What wood are you burning? How full do you pack it? Have you checked for leaks?

I have not installed a damper, will likely give it a shot this summer when I can pull it out. It is pretty tight in the opening so the damper is going to have an extension setup. I can only reach behind it when it is cool. If I pack it full of half way full the burn time is only slightly different. I have looked for leaks and never located any. If there are any they have been there since it was new, I have not seen any significant changes in the stove since I have had it.

 

[weatherguy]

Blaze king and a nanny, problems solved.

 

[bholler]

I have not installed a damper, will likely give it a shot this summer when I can pull it out. It is pretty tight in the opening so the damper is going to have an extension setup. I can only reach behind it when it is cool. If I pack it full of half way full the burn time is only slightly different. I have looked for leaks and never located any. If there are any they have been there since it was new, I have not seen any significant changes in the stove since I have had it.

The only way that adding more wood would not increase burn time is if there are massive leaks or you have way to much draft. I don't understand why you complain about it so much but have really done nothing to address the issue.

 

[electrathon]

The only way that adding more wood would not increase burn time is if there are massive leaks or you have way to much draft. I don't understand why you complain about it so much but have really done nothing to address the issue.

I have always felt that the issue is form over function with the stove.

 

[bholler]

I have always felt that the issue is form over function with the stove.

But there are plenty of people with the same stove who get decent burn times. So why not try to diagnose the issue instead of just complaining about it? Have you tried restricting the air inlet?

 

[firefighterjake]

I dont i load around 930 or 10 then reload around 6 before i leave for work. I would not burn wood if i had to get up in the middle of the night.

Ditto ... I time the last load for 9:30 or 10 ... reload when I wake up around 4 or 5 a.m. On very cold nights my oil boiler might kick on, but most nights the wood stove provides enough heat through the night without having to reload in the middle of the night.

 

[xman23]

My wife doesn't sleep well, so she feeds the beast at night. When she's not there I get the house temp with the stove up to 75, set the thermostat to 63. Depends how cold it is out, but many nights I can make it to morning without the heat coming on. Occasionally if I wake up and not to lazy I load her up.

 

[jetsam]

Getting up out of bed to do anything with a stove means you are doing it wrong. Either the wrong equipment, or wrong method of operations, or possibly you left the doors and windows open!

I actually did that one night this winter. Got up to pee and it was about 60 degrees, so I went to check on the stove... and the front door of the house was open about a foot....

 

[BradleyW]

After one year of getting up in the middle of the night to reload, I got a larger stove, and I decided I no longer cared if the furnace turned on in the wee hours of the morning.
This year I've used less than an 1/8 of a tank of oil, and I always sleep through the night. I think it's a good trade-off.

 

[venator260]

As others have said, I have a large enough stove that this isn't a problem.

I think if my stove did go out in the middle of the night, I'd refine my fire building technique so that I could get one going again quickly in the morning.

 

[ohlongarm]

Just a little curious about what everyone does when they have to get up and reload the wood stove. Sometimes it seems like forever before the stove is up and running. Probably because all I can think of is falling back to sleep. What is everyone method for staying awake and getting up and running again.


Woodpro WS-TS-2000

AAAHHH the beauty of owning a Blaze King.

 

[jcapler]

AAAHHH the beauty of owning a Blaze King.

One of these days I will break down and go get one. [emoji848]


Woodpro WS-TS-2000

 

[jcapler]

Not wanting to start another thread I am going to toss out a question. What is everyone's opinion on load direction. I notice a big difference on the fire starting up on a hot bed of coals depending on the direction I load the stove back up. I usually split/cut both sizes so I can load as much as possible in the firebox. I will start up cutting/splitting shortly so I will have to burn a year before I see the actual results of what I cut this year. Just curious.


Woodpro WS-TS-2000

 

[Dobish]

Not wanting to start another thread I am going to toss out a question. What is everyone's opinion on load direction. I notice a big difference on the fire starting up on a hot bed of coals depending on the direction I load the stove back up. I usually split/cut both sizes so I can load as much as possible in the firebox. I will start up cutting/splitting shortly so I will have to burn a year before I see the actual results of what I cut this year. Just curious.


Woodpro WS-TS-2000

my stove looks like a poorly played game of tetris lately... up, down, left right, diagnol.

beep neerr blarg

 

[Highbeam]

Not wanting to start another thread I am going to toss out a question. What is everyone's opinion on load direction. I notice a big difference on the fire starting up on a hot bed of coals depending on the direction I load the stove back up. I usually split/cut both sizes so I can load as much as possible in the firebox. I will start up cutting/splitting shortly so I will have to burn a year before I see the actual results of what I cut this year. Just curious.


Woodpro WS-TS-2000

Loading straight in (aka north/south) is far superior for many reasons. The one drawback is that if your stove is one of these modern decorative types that the firebox will be really short in the N/S direction but wide to allow for a large window. I would not want to deal with little 12" long splits. If you can load regular splits N/S then do that. Primary combustion air feeds in from the front on all stoves that I know of and this air can then pump right into the heart of the fire. Some folks seem to think that burn times can be extended with an E/W load because the combustion air can't easily access the center of the fuel load. I suppose that this is true if you are unable to regulate primary air and limit this from occurring.

The good news is that you can try it and see what you like.

Chucking wood in sideways and hoping it doesn't roll out or roll into the glass is not my idea of fun.

 

[Dobish]

Loading straight in (aka north/south) is far superior for many reasons. The one drawback is that if your stove is one of these modern decorative types that the firebox will be really short in the N/S direction but wide to allow for a large window. I would not want to deal with little 12" long splits. If you can load regular splits N/S then do that. Primary combustion air feeds in from the front on all stoves that I know of and this air can then pump right into the heart of the fire. Some folks seem to think that burn times can be extended with an E/W load because the combustion air can't easily access the center of the fuel load. I suppose that this is true if you are unable to regulate primary air and limit this from occurring.

The good news is that you can try it and see what you like.

Chucking wood in sideways and hoping it doesn't roll out or roll into the glass is not my idea of fun.

my stove is 22" E/W, 10" N/S. Super annoying

 

[Highbeam]

my stove is 22" E/W, 10" N/S. Super annoying

And a VC Not much choice on that one. I have a coworker that cuts his wood at 12" to load N/S. It must be really hard to keep his stacks from falling.

 

[ohlongarm]

Loading straight in (aka north/south) is far superior for many reasons. The one drawback is that if your stove is one of these modern decorative types that the firebox will be really short in the N/S direction but wide to allow for a large window. I would not want to deal with little 12" long splits. If you can load regular splits N/S then do that. Primary combustion air feeds in from the front on all stoves that I know of and this air can then pump right into the heart of the fire. Some folks seem to think that burn times can be extended with an E/W load because the combustion air can't easily access the center of the fuel load. I suppose that this is true if you are unable to regulate primary air and limit this from occurring.

The good news is that you can try it and see what you like.

Chucking wood in sideways and hoping it doesn't roll out or roll into the glass is not my idea of fun.

I actually experimented with both techniques,my experience has been east west allows me to stack monstrous 25 in long splits to the roof of the stove.My results in all cases show an increase in burn time of from 1.5 to 3 hrs,weather and wood dependent.Most times north south suffices ,i'm not looking for any burns longer than 16 hours,although they're certainly possible.

 

[BKVP]

Another advantage of N/S loading is not having to place your hand into the firebox to load the fuel. Depending upon firebox temps/coals etc., the wood can ignite quickly and no one wants to get burned.

Also, as Highbeam noted, cutting wood to max length may allow you to get more wood in the stove, but the air wash can get impinged and the glass can get dirtier as well.

Off to Ireland for the rest of this month!

 

[ohlongarm]

Another advantage of N/S loading is not having to place your hand into the firebox to load the fuel. Depending upon firebox temps/coals etc., the wood can ignite quickly and no one wants to get burned.

Also, as Highbeam noted, cutting wood to max length may allow you to get more wood in the stove, but the air wash can get impinged and the glass can get dirtier as well.

Off to Ireland for the rest of this month!

Been there for three weeks,great country,hunted with terriers in Tipperary. Enjoy.

 

[tpenny67]

But there are plenty of people with the same stove who get decent burn times. So why not try to diagnose the issue instead of just complaining about it? Have you tried restricting the air inlet?

I've had similar issues with my Lopi. Most of the time flames are gone in a bit over an hour, and coals don't last more than about 6 hours. Putting in more wood is a bit of a challenge (E-W loading with very low headroom below the air tubes) and many times results in the stove wanting to burn nuclear hot rather than longer.

For years (before finding hearth.com) I thought this was just normal, and that the stated burn times were exaggerations by the marketing department. I've since removed the stop screw on the air adjustment, and while that allows me to slow the burn down as often as not the fire just smolders. I'm contemplating putting a damper in the chimney connector but wondering if that will be much different than just turning the air down.

So while I have been able to get longer burns, it really has been quite a challenge and right now I'm cursed with a lot of smaller round logs that just like to roll back out when you put too many of them in the stove.

Compare that with my experience with the Quad. Toss 3 or 4 logs in N-S, set the primary control in the lower half of its range, and it will flame for a few hours and keep coals forever. This past weekend I loaded it at 7pm and still had coals at 6am, though negligible heat output at that point. It just seems to do a much better job of keeping heat in the firebox on low than the Lopi does.

 

[BKVP]

Been there for three weeks,great country,hunted with terriers in Tipperary. Enjoy.

PM me the hunt details please. I'm there for 4 weeks.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

After one year of getting up in the middle of the night to reload, I got a larger stove, and I decided I no longer cared if the furnace turned on in the wee hours of the morning.
This year I've used less than an 1/8 of a tank of oil, and I always sleep through the night. I think it's a good trade-off.

Same here. The propane furnace is set at 65 and will kick on around 4-5 am when it's really cold. It's easier and doesn't really cost much more since I always pre-buy propane during the summer when it's cheap.