newbie question, how many woods per load

[ba_jie]

Hi,
This might be a dumb question, but how much wood do you put in per load?
I only put in 2 or 3 pieces. Will putting in too many wood causes too much smoke?

But on the other hand, could too little wood make the stove underperform? ie. not reaching high temperature.

 

[webby3650]

That is something that you will have to figure out. This will depend on your setup, how cold it is, and do you want it to burn all night long?

 

[North of 60]

Minimum three is the golden rule once you have a coal bed on a typical stove.. If your stove has a Cat then its best to fully load it each time.

 

[wellbuilt home]

I like 3 splits at a time but over night i will stuff it full .

 

[SlyFerret]

When reloading with a coal bed...

I usually reload with three. I place two parallel to each other front to back in the stove with the dog house jetting air between them. I place the third centered on top of the first two in order to create a tunnel from the front to the back of the stove. This will usually give me a 4 hour burn cycle.

For the overnight, I usually fit as many in as will fit. This is usually about 6 splits, three on the bottom, and then another row of three.

I try to leave a few inches of space between the top of the wood and the burn tubes in the top of the stove. I want to make sure there's some space there for the air and smoke to mix and burn in the top of the stove.

-SF

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Minimum three is the golden rule once you have a coal bed on a typical stove.. If your stove has a Cat then its best to fully load it each time.

Whoa! With all due repect, North, my cat stove is not best fully loaded each time! If I did that, it would heat us out of house and home!

Heat is best regulated by the amount of fuel you put in the stove. This time of year, the only time I load it full is at night and then sometimes then we don't load it full!

 

[North of 60]

Minimum three is the golden rule once you have a coal bed on a typical stove.. If your stove has a Cat then its best to fully load it each time.

Whoa! With all due repect, North, my cat stove is not best fully loaded each time! If I did that, it would heat us out of house and home!

Heat is best regulated by the amount of fuel you put in the stove. This time of year, the only time I load it full is at night and then sometimes then we don't load it full!

Denise the word I used is BEST. CAT manufactures recommend this to reduce the amount of restarts of your cat. Every time you reload the new burn cycle has to settle in what the cat can handle and minimizes how many times you have to bypass the cat which reduces efficiencies. The amount of wood in a properly drafting cat stove should not dictate heat out-put as you should safely be able to turn down your air adjustment or t-stat to the desired heat output. This is supposed to be the main advantage of running a Cat. Maybe I gave to much info regarding my stoves operation and should have stated that the manufacture of my stove states to only load the stove fully between cycles. My burn times are only affected not heat output when my stove is fully loaded. This is also what my manual states. Sorry to put your stove under my umbrella or create any confusion. Have a boo at my manual to see where I got my info from. Wonder if Todd could chime in with his experience. N of 60

 

[Todd]

I agree with North of 60, cats are designed to burn with a full load with the heat output regulated with the air setting. However there are other factors in work here like what type of wood burned and how well your house holds the heat. A full load of Pine in my stove will top out at 500 and burn out in 6hrs. A full load of Oak can top out over 600 and last 12 or more hours. So there's another way to regulate heat output.

In the dead of Winter I find filling the stove up as much as possible with good hardwood and regulating the heat output with the air control and figure out a loading schedule as needed. Could be every 12hrs, 8hrs, or something else.

In the shoulder seasons spring/fall I could either use a full load of Pine, soft Maple, 3/4 load of Oak or Locust or some wierd mixture to get the chill out and that may be all I need for the whole day.

I never found that adding 1 or 2 splits every couple hours worked well for me with this stove, but I could see how it may work better with a non cat.

 

[DavidV]

I stuff it as full as I can get it to hold
Fill every crevice.

 

[Todd]

I think as far as efficiency and clean burns, you should burn your stove as full as possible. Every time you open that door your cooling the fire box and creating smoke til it comes back up to secondary burn temp whether it be cat or non cat. But I can see where some people feel that adding a split or two every few hours can keep their homes at a more even temp than a full load. Guess you have to find what works best for you.

 

[Jimbob]

I too, fill 'er right up. ;-)
Saves me extra trips to the stove. Plus, the fewer times I open the stove, the less likely I am to get any smoke into the house.