Load timing?

[Sconnie Burner]

I have trouble guessing how much wood I need to get me from the time I get home from work till the load up for overnight. I usually end up with too much and have to force it to burn up so I can reload.

Can I put just a couple decent logs on at a time as long as I leave the air set so it doesnt smolder? The reason I ask is because the stove is in the lower living room where we spend most of our evening playing with the kids and watching tv. I end up cooking us out trying to force burn the overload. Im thinking I can keep the temp more stable/comfortable and be able to load for overnight when I'm ready vs waiting till late into the night (10-10:30) and then spending another 30 mins tending the air control. My only concern is more creosote from the multiple reloads.

I have thermos on pipe and stove so I can keep an eye out for too cool of flue. I shoot for surface flue temps of 300-350 on a small load as long as I can. But it dips to 225-250 for most of the burn. Stove top is usually 400-500. Are those temps ok?

 

[mark cline]

I keep my flue temp above 300F and never have a creosote problem. My Mansfield is way too big for my present home but we bought it for our 3000 sq ft loghome , so now I burn 3 to 4 splits at a time . Burning it hot and letting it burn down before the night reload of still only 3 -4 splits , keeps the house about 72-74F. Plenty of coals in the morning , for a reload that will take about 30 to 50 min. to be comfortable to leave it until I can reload about 8-10 hrs later.

 

[CenterTree]

OP: Great question. I need the same info.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I don't know if it's correct or not but when i get home i throw a few splits on the coals to keep the heat up and maintain the fire til i go to bed. I leave the air about 1/4 to 1/2 open to keep the box hot and by bed time those splits are burned down to the beginning of coal stage and i can break them up with the poker for a nice coal bed to reload on for the night burn.
When im home on the weekends i'll burn 2 or 3 splits or half full just to maintain a medium heat output on the stove so i don't heat myself out of the house. Might make a bit more creosote but what are you gonna do? I'll clean the chimney once or twice more during the season if need be.

 

[mass_burner]

I have sort of the opposite problem, I don't burn overnight so I feed log by log from ~10:30 till I go to bed. I keep those bigger, wider splits for these times.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I have trouble guessing how much wood I need to get me from the time I get home from work till the load up for overnight. I usually end up with too much and have to force it to burn up so I can reload.

Can I put just a couple decent logs on at a time as long as I leave the air set so it doesnt smolder? The reason I ask is because the stove is in the lower living room where we spend most of our evening playing with the kids and watching tv. I end up cooking us out trying to force burn the overload. Im thinking I can keep the temp more stable/comfortable and be able to load for overnight when I'm ready vs waiting till late into the night (10-10:30) and then spending another 30 mins tending the air control. My only concern is more creosote from the multiple reloads.

I have thermos on pipe and stove so I can keep an eye out for too cool of flue. I shoot for surface flue temps of 300-350 on a small load as long as I can. But it dips to 225-250 for most of the burn. Stove top is usually 400-500. Are those temps ok?

This is something you'll just have to get a feel for. Different species of wood are going to behave differently and few of us are lucky enough to only have stacks of 1 species. It's far from a science in getting the right size load! In your case I think I'd just do more reloads and check the flue every month or so until you figure everything out.