Loading Stove

[Tectop]

I got to wondering if it makes a difference on what direction you place the wood when loading stove. Is there an advantage or disadvantage to loading East / West or North / South?

Thanks in advance

 

[begreen]

N/S loading allows one to pack more wood into the firebox without concern of it rolling back against the door or door glass. If the stove provides air from the front, especially via an airwash, then the air can get to the back of the wood easier with N/S loading.

 

[paulnlee]

What stove allows you to load 18 inchers like that?

 

[begreen]

Most box style stoves like the Jotul 118 and many 3.0 cu ft EPA stoves, even some 2.0-2.5 models do.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I load my Englander 30 almost exclusively north/south. Load takes off faster that way too. Some say it burns down faster too, which I think would make sense since the air is getting to all of the wood more completely.

 

[BigJ273]

I’ve always heard N/S for hotter, faster fires and E/W for longer more sustained fires. Although N/S does allow for more wood. I find the fire gets considerably hotter when loaded N/S, but doesn’t burn as long as E/W.

 

[Fire Water]

Two nice split logs E\W ,one a few inches from the air inlet. The rest N/S until E/W is burned ,usually 3-4 hrs before adding additional .This allow me to build a ‘ crib’ and maximize air circulation and control the burn without cooling the wood and having smoky fires. The ‘crib’ method builds a coal bed faster than any other way I know. My stove is a Comfoter ‘Fireview’ . I do the crib method for all of our sheep herder stoves during the fall hunting season in 5 tents. I can get all of the stoves lit and the tents comfy quickly without overfiring the stoves.

 

[Tectop]

Thank you all for your reply, just wasn't sure if it makes a difference or not.

 

[SpaceBus]

It's all stove dependent. Just start lighting fires and figuring out what works for you. Having a more square firebox helps.