Napoleon 1400 burn times and control

[Captain]

Hey all, Napoleon claims that you can get 9 hour burn times out of the 1400. Are you guys that are running these stoves getting those kinds of times? Also, I've read a few posts about run away fires. Does this seem to be a common problem? Makes me nervous as I build up a fire to run while I'm at work. I burn 24/7. Any other thoughts on these stoves?

I'm running my Buck 27000 right now and am looking to upgrade it as I would like one that uses a bit less wood and will burn cleaner than this buck. It also is just too darn big for my 1100 SF house.

Thanks!

 

[Burd]

I have the 1402 napleon insert and I love It. Now run away fires can happen to any one who loads the stove to hot .If I load the stove before I go to bed and the temps are 300 or higher I can't control It. The stove well come up to about 700 and level off in about a half hour to 500 ish For a real long over night burn Ill load up the stove when the temps are under 300 and I can get pretty long burn times. When I wake up at 530 am to go to work I load it up again open up the air to get every thing going shut it down and go off to work for ten hours and come back to a stove temp of 250. Then I'll throw some peaice of wood on the coals to get it going agian in the evening till Its time to go to bed like now.
Allso It all depends on what your burning hard or soft woods will determin your out put.
This stove burn pretty clean and I ve been burning 24/7 with no problems
If your look for a napolean there a company in Ohio called dynamitebuys.com.That were I got my stove now they deal with every brand and for the money this stove is great deal
Ive only burned 1 1/3 cords since October and a lot of it was pine doring the days when im at home. GOOD LUCK
BURD

 

[Captain]

Thanks Burd that's some good info. Sounds like your schedule would be about like mine so that is good it is working out for you.

What's interesting is that I've only burned 3/4 of a cord so far with my Buck. Maybe that's not so bad after all. Been burning mostly oak, hickory and maple.

 

[HittinSteel]

I am getting a good 7-8 hour burn from mine, I think 9 hours would be stretching it. However, I am new to burning this year and am still learning. Burning mostly Cherry and other assorted hardwoods.

As far as run aways, like Burd said, I think the key to this is letting the stove cool some before reloading. I have a magnet thermo on my single wall pipe and usually like to see the stack temp come down to around 200 or 250 before reloading, rake coals to the front at that point. It will take some trial and error, but wife and I are getting pretty good at judging the proper amount of coals before we reload. Sometimes we will rake the coals to the front and realize there are to many. We then open the air all the way to burn some off. Stove still throws some decent heat during this time and a much lower risk of having to deal with a runaway after reloading.

As far as your consumption on the Buck, it sounds like you are doing quite well. We are heating 24/7 with no supplement in our 1500 sq. ft. and I'm pretty sure we have burned at least a cord. Our only question is should we have gotten the 1900 with the bigger firebox? Drafty older house.

Also, as to your original question about leaving a fire when you go to work. I don't think you should have any problems as long as you can load 30-45 minutes before you leave. By that time, the load should be charred and settled in enough to be choked all the way down for a nice long burn.

 

[Jim R.]

I am on my third season with a napolean 1401 insert. It burns clean, and heats a decent part of my house. I tend to get 7 hours of good heat with good hardwood splits, maybe stretching it to 8 with a larger piece of hardwood in the mix. Burn times are much less with crappy wood.

So far, it has been a good stove for my first wood stove. I have a new blower on order to replace one noisy one, and wish it was bigger for more heat on those real cold days..........

Jim

 

[HittinSteel]

Jim, do you think a blower is worth the investment? Seem to get differing opinions from they are great to they are a waste of money?

 

[Skooter]

I have a 1400 and haven't gotten that long of a burn time yet. Although we aren't packing it full either. I usually have a hot fire once a day and then add wood as needed to keep it burning. Then really get it going in the evening so we can keep an eye on it. Around bedtime (10:30 ish) the temps are around 500-600 in the pipe and 450 in the stove(and hotter then you know what in my house
), we load around 4 split pieces of Cherry or Maple and open the air up to 5 to get it going, then back it off slowly to about a 2. It levels out and stays around 400 degrees in the stove. By morning everything is burned down quite nicely and not much ash to deal with. I usually just move it around to make the bed flat. There is usually enough coals to get it started again easily by throwing on some bark and small chunks I hoard from hubby splitting the logs. I am afraid of loading it up and going to bed. I would hate for all that wood to catch while I am sleeping. Maybe I am just paranoid. My dad tells me to load dry wood in first then throw some semi wet logs on top to dry out and burn after the dry is gone. Not thrilled with that either because of the creosote that I am also afraid of. Geez I guess I am really no help am I? Should have named myself Scaredy instead of Skooter.

Oh and I am not Jim but we have a blower on ours and love it! I do wish we had a thermostat though!

 

[HittinSteel]

The manual says that once a bed of coals has been established, wood can be safely loaded to the top of the door. This used to worry me, but that is what the stove is made for. I load it up, make sure it is charred and shut it down. Who knows what is going on inside the stove at night, but if burning "according to the manual" causes warping or anything else associated with overfiring I am pretty confident Napoleon will be replacing my unit or refunding my money.

 

[Jim R.]

Jim, do you think a blower is worth the investment? Seem to get differing opinions from they are great to they are a waste of money?

The 1401 insert that I have (and I believe the 1402) comes with dual blowers. They are really needed with an insert, not so much with a freestanding stove.

Jim

 

[Captain]

Well it seems like there are plenty of satisfied napoleon owners out there. Thank you guys for sharing your info. I think I might just finish the year out with the buck and see how it works out for me. Still gonna do some research to be ready for next year. I'm curious to see how much wood I use but so far I'm on pace to burn about 2 cords. It has been plenty cold around here fairly early too. Been burning since mid October.

One thing I've noticed is how much creosote the buck is making. Don't like this at all, I'm sure it's from me not burning it hot enough. If I burn it real hot my house will seriously get around 90°. Are these Napoleon's keeping your chimneys good and clean? Also, to those that have had them a while, how much wood do you go through in a season?