Newb questions...

[marky_mark896]

Hey guys,

When I'm done with a burn cycle, and rake my coals forward, then I load my wood in east-west. Do I need to leave the flue open and open up the air intake again, or can I leave everything closed down since the stove is already hot, and the ashes are igniting the wood well?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[lotust]

Hey guys,

When I'm done with a burn cycle, and rake my coals forward, then I load my wood in east-west. Do I need to leave the flue open and open up the air intake again, or can I leave everything closed down since the stove is already hot, and the ashes are igniting the wood well?

Thanks,
Mark

Im new as well. Im going to say it depends on the stove you have and how much red hot coals are left in there.

 

[marky_mark896]

Yeah, I should have said coals are igniting the wood well, not ashes. There were a lot of red hot coals in this last burn. I actually broke up the final larger chunks of coals to finer ones (from about 3" diameter to less than an inch). The bad thing is, the last burn cycle only lasted about 3 1/2 hours, and I thought I had it going pretty well.

 

[fish]

i have a quadrafire 2100. with that stove if kept nice and hot i dont need to touch the adjustment for iether air controll when add more wood.i also wait till the coals turn to ash and push them to the back of the stove to give more time between removing the ash.what kind of stove are you running. also you should get more burn time with you stove . i would think at least 5 hours on a full load or large pieces. but i could be wrong.

 

[marky_mark896]

Hi fish,

I'm running a Lopi Freedom Bay. The spec's on it says I should be able to do a 12 hour burn. I'm sure it's just that I don't know what I'm doing yet.
t

 

[philaphire]

as many here will attest, manufacturers define burn time as having enough hot coals to start a fire again. Actual "real heat" burn time is probably half of what the manufacturer states. Having said that, you've got a big stove and should do better than 3.5 hours. There are a lot of variables such as how well the stove is packed, diameter of wood, species, dryness of wood - as you burn you'll learn and figure things out. This is my first year burning too but feel like I've learned a ton. THere's a lot to learn on the forum, but experience, as always, is the best teacher. Have you come across the video link of how to burn a stove? If you haven't seen it, check it out:

http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

then, if you still have questions, please ask or search the forum - best wishes!

 

[marky_mark896]

Thanks philaphire. I figured they exaggerated the burn times some. I actually just woke up and checked. There was still a log shaped coal in the back of the stove, still putting off good heat. I broke it up, and moved all but the biggest pieces to the frunt with the rest of the coals and reloaded. That was a 6 hour burn. I had watched that video earlier yesterday, and it was great for learning how to burn in the stove. I'll see how this next burn goes. I shut the air down just a little bit more than last burn.

Thanks again,
Mark