North South East West

[MRJMG]

i am new to burnign and was wondering does it matter the way you load your insert with wood i heard load it east-west for a all day burn load north-south for shorter hotter burn
i have a quadrafire bodega bay insert

 

[begreen]

You have the essence of it. Have you looked at this video?

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

 

[BrotherBart]

I load my NC-30 North/South when I want a fire and heat. I load it East/West when I want to go through a six pack cussing it and trying to get the wood to burn.

 

[begreen]

I load my stove east-west because that's the way it's made. My preference is to go through a fine cabernet enjoying the warmth of the wine and fire

 

[BrotherBart]

I load my stove east-west because that's the way it's made. My preference is to go through a fine cabernet enjoying the warmth of the wine and fire

I can fire off both Jotuls east/west in a heartbeat. I can't burn the 30 that way for squat. I end up turning a pile of half scorched splits around and burning it N/S every time. Glad it is a big firebox so I can grunt, groan and get'em turned.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, there is many a time when I wished I had that extra working space. But I do like being able to squeeze in those longer splits.

 

[adrpga498]

Yeah, there is many a time when I wished I had that extra working space. But I do like being able to squeeze in those longer splits.

Ditto on the longer splits. When I have to waste some time on the next "fullload" I'll grab that 20" split and run it Catty Corner to get it burnt. When I say waste time, that is my prejudgement error on loading 1 load prior to the overnight load. I hate to see the coal bed ready too soon. Such as 9pm rather then my usual 11pm last load.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Hey it's east west in the Oslo for me for sure, but I gotta say I've thrown a few out in the yard that were too long

 

[ROYJ24]

Hey what happens if u put it northeast to southwest criss-cross?

 

[begreen]

The coriolis effect kicks in and spins your stove off the hearth! Be careful! ;-)

 

[DiscoInferno]

I do N-S up to about 15", E-W up to maybe 21", and NW-SE for the few above that. I find E-W is helped immensely by digging a N-S trough in the coal bed, so that the "startup air" outlet at the bottom blows right under the logs all the way to the back of the stove, then turns up and comes back over the tops of the logs. Otherwise I wind up like BB but with no way to turn them around.

Even though I can put longer logs in E-W, I can pack more wood in N-S because I can just slide the logs in right up to the tubes vs. what seems like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle in the stove E-W. If all logs were rectangular it wouldn't matter, but with wedge-shaped pieces E-W is a pain to pack.

 

[babalu87]

I buck my wood at 20-22" for a reason they fit in the firebox. How the hell would you load a stove the other way, with 12" logs?

 

[Willhound]

North South, 'cause that's the way my Summit likes it, and it keeps logs from rolling off the top onto my toes when I open the door. Happened more than once in the old fireplace that I loaded East to West.

 

[Henz]

you got it! However, when I load E/W I have to keep the primary air open alittle more than N/S for it to keep a good burn going.

 

[babalu87]

So some of you guys are working with 10-12" splits?

 

[Henz]

10-12"?? Uh, mine are anywheres from 16-23"

 

[Rich M]

How would you load a stove the other way, with 12" logs?

I guess if your firebox is only 12" deep you would but not all stoves are that small. Mine is 17-1/2" deep so a 16" piece fits north/south with room to spare.

 

[dtabor]

Yeah, my Defiant said it takes 18" so I bucked mine to 16" thinking that would leave wiggle room (before I actually got the stove installed). Now that its in there, N/S certainly wouldnt fit 18", not even my 16" so I lay them E/W and there is a ton of room on either end! I had a long, like 21" split from my wood furnace at my other house and that fit in there perfect.....Im thinking any new wood will be bucked at 21"!

D

EDIT: Well looking at the manual again, says 24"!! where did I get 18" from? hmmm

 

[babalu87]

My firebox is 2.5 cubic feet

 

[jbrown56]

Hi, I load E - W because I think I can load more wood in that way always using the side door. Jotul says that the stove will take 22' splits and while this is true, you would never be able to put more than two pieces at a time. My splits are cut at 18' and that leave some room at the side door. The only time I ever use the front door is to load one of those big ugly pieces. It seems to me that cutting the wood shorter to load N - S would be a lot more work as my firebox isn't that deep.

Jim

 

[Rich M]

My firebox is 2.5 cubic feet

Total cf doesn't have anything to do with n/s log length. How deep is your firebox? That determines n/s log size.

 

[babalu87]

Not deep enough to worry about, cutting logs to 12" aint my cup of tea. The secondary burn plate extends down from front to back so I couldnt load half as much N/S

 

[MrGriz]

When I first started burning last year, I was loading E/W (not sure why, it's just what I started out doing). Learned pretty quick that N/S is much easier with my insert. I can pack it much better, get a good burn going quicker and don't have pieces laying up against the glass or rolling out onto the hearth with N/S loading.

 

[Rich M]

The secondary burn plate extends down from front to back so I couldnt load half as much N/S

That makes sense.

2.5 cf is a big stove, I was wrong to imply only smaller stoves might have a depth issue.

 

[drhiii]

This video was great. Had not seen it before. Was following most of the techniques suggested already, but it helped alter two minor tweaks in my method and yet again, it made another big diff. Was in the mid teens last eve, not that cold in my book, but enough to remind you that things still freeze, and ended up utilizing a couple of these tweaks to the protocol I just learned and ended up with even more warmth and added very nicely to my burn time. On less wood. Fantastic. Was able to realize approx 11 hrs on a single load, scant ash as a result, and could have coaxed longer if I didn't have to be outta the house for a few hours, hence needed to tweak it up a little.

But this video helped think about a couple of things slightly differently and voila.... even made looking at some wood types in a more positve manner, stuff that I have plenty of but are in the middling range for efficiency hence reserved for mild days. Didn't last eve, used some of it as part of the process, and zow, nice. Yet again, an old dog can learn new tricks.

You have the essence of it. Have you looked at this video?

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