"Overnight" burns one after another 24/7 during cold weeks?

[yuryk]

Dear Community!

I know overnight burn (fully loaded stove and low burn setting) is for the night to have those 8-10 hours of burning. But would it be okay to load another similar load for the day and then keep going like that 24/7? Or should those overnight burns be somehow alternated with some other techniques?

What are you guys doing during those cold weeks? What would be an optimal way? Thank you.

 

[ctreitzell]

I wish I could get an 8-10 hour burn! I'm lucky to get a 3-4hr burn.

So, which stove is getting an 8-10 hr burn? Jotul Oslo F500? Blaze Kings?
I still haven't been able to install a new system and winter is right around the corner. My missus is pushing me to keep using our old, temp install and I'm dreading having to use that another year.

I have been running my Panadero stove 24/7 in the cold months for heat for the past 2 years. It requires near constant attention to do this. I check on it and reload every 3.5hrs overnight and had CO2 issues if I try to slumber mode (shut the air intake way down) to attempt to achieve longer burn times. I set my alarm and tend the fire/ back to bed. My Panadero is not actually suggested to be used in continuous operation by the manufacturer.

It's also critical to not over-fire. I have a fair few posts on this forum about it and my less than ideal (potentially dangerous) flue "system".

I typically run the stove for 4-6weeks constantly and then sweep.

Modern regulations in my country (France) are forcing wood burners to not run big loads for long periods. They want us to make a new fire every few hours, which is frustrating. Large firebox appliances have been discontinued here and are no longer available to buy new. Jotul F500 is the largest available last I looked.

 

[Pinesmoke]

I do I all the time although during the day I will add more air for more heat if I need. If I'm home there is no problem with reloading but if I'm gone for the day it's set pretty much like like an over night loading.

The last couple of loads during the day may be shorter to get an ember bed set for the right time to load for my overnight load.

My overnight loads are normally oak and I'll start running pine during the day which shortens the burn. I try each day when I'm around to run at least 1 hot load just to clear the glass edges up.

Hope that makes sense, I'm still on my first coffee.

 

[gthomas785]

During the winter, I typically always pack the stove full when I load it. I'll adjust the air depending on how warm the room is, which of course affects the burn time. The only time I would do a partial load would be for timing, e.g. if the stove needs feeding around dinnertime just so it will be ready for another full load at bed time.

Edit: do note I have a catalytic stove so I rarely have an issue with it smoking even if it's turned down low.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Yes, many here don’t shut the stove down all winter long.

Sometimes I need a little more heat for a few hours and loading the stove all the way up would put the next reload time around 3am. I’d rather not get up at 3am so I either toss in a split or 2 to provide heat for a few hours until bedtime or choose a quick burning load of wood that will burn down by reload time.

 

[stoveliker]

I second pinesmoke.
Do burn a bit hotter every now and then to clean up the firebox. While this is more needed for cat stoves, it is also good for noncats to not always burn low and slow.

But it's fine to burn 24/7

 

[Todd]

Mostly I can get away with either an 8 hour or a 12 hour reload schedule 24/7. This all depends on the weather of course and there are times when it’s brutally cold where I need to burn hotter and load more frequently.

 

[bholler]

Dear Community!

I know overnight burn (fully loaded stove and low burn setting) is for the night to have those 8-10 hours of burning. But would it be okay to load another similar load for the day and then keep going like that 24/7? Or should those overnight burns be somehow alternated with some other techniques?

What are you guys doing during those cold weeks? What would be an optimal way? Thank you.

I burn the same way around the clock nothing different about overnight

 

[ctreitzell]

Do burn a bit hotter every now and then to clean up the firebox. While this is more needed for cat stoves, it is also good for noncats to not always burn low and slow.

But it's fine to burn 24/7

Yes, I like to burn a bit hotter and keep things a bit cleaner

 

[yuryk]

Thank you everyone for your inputs! It helps a lot - now I have a full picture, this is awesome - thanks!

I wish I could get an 8-10 hour burn! I'm lucky to get a 3-4hr burn.

So, which stove is getting an 8-10 hr burn? Jotul Oslo F500? Blaze Kings?

That's what I heard about new EPA-certified stoves. I hope mine can do it too I know it highly depends on wood quality though.

My overnight loads are normally oak and I'll start running pine during the day which shortens the burn. I try each day when I'm around to run at least 1 hot load just to clear the glass edges up.

Wow, you even chose what to burn... Good to know! But I guess it's next level for me, being a beginner. I just recently stacked 5 cords of wood and did not really care what is it, so it's all together. Unless only it was very "green" - then I just put it to a special "longer-to-season" stack.

Hope that makes sense, I'm still on my first coffee.

It does, thank you very much!

 

[stoveliker]

That's what I heard about new EPA-certified stoves. I hope mine can do it too I know it highly depends on wood quality though.

It depends more on the firebox size (how much wood can you put in), and on the lowest burn rate that the stove has been designed for (while still burning cleanly).

 

[Rickb]

With my 3 year seasoned wood and my heat demand, other then coldest winter days/nights i never burn above low and get 7-8 hours on my little firebox.

 

[ctreitzell]

That's what I heard about new EPA-certified stoves. I hope mine can do it too I know it highly depends on wood quality though.

Is your stove brand new? If you haven't burned in your paint, best to do that when the windows can be open. Regardless, if it was me, knowing what I know now, test your wood stove system long before you need it to work for heat. Even if a pro told you it's all good, test it anyway. I'm talking about after a test to ensure your appliance(s) draw properly, then do a trial run with an all day load and then work up to an overnight. Get your starting method down solid. If you don't know how to build a top down, do some research and figure it out. I learned that here last year and it changed my life.

Wow, you even chose what to burn... Good to know! But I guess it's next level for me, being a beginner. I just recently stacked 5 cords of wood and did not really care what is it, so it's all together. Unless only it was very "green" - then I just put it to a special "longer-to-season" stack.

You don't know wood species? I literally stack species mix as a preparation to fuel the fire. Clearly all of our number one concern is safety and deadly gasses in your dwelling are as dangerous as fire itself...if not more...CO, for example. Next, wood moisture content is as important as species.

This web forum is filled with deep knowledge, so dig into the forums as well.

I mean, I used to think Siberian Elm was junk wood that deposited creosote in the flue and burned dirty. How wrong I was! Nowadays, I set aside my Siberian Elm for really cold periods cuz I don't know of a better species. I used to covet oak as the best. I have lots of french white oak...it's the workhorse...a basic ingredient in the mixes I fuel my stove with. No species, tho, that I have put in my wood burning stove has slathered my stove with creosote worse than oak. It has to be at the correct moisture percentage.

I didn't know that beech is widely regarded as the "best firewood". Beech is special firewood, IME beech burns like the model firewood...as if it has an oil based accelerant naturally within.

None of any species is worthy of its reputation if it isn't cured to the right moisture content.

Good luck! I look forward to reading about how you get on with it

 

[bholler]

Is your stove brand new? If you haven't burned in your paint, best to do that when the windows can be open. Regardless, if it was me, knowing what I know now, test your wood stove system long before you need it to work for heat. Even if a pro told you it's all good, test it anyway. I'm talking about after a test to ensure your appliance(s) draw properly, then do a trial run with an all day load and then work up to an overnight. Get your starting method down solid. If you don't know how to build a top down, do some research and figure it out. I learned that here last year and it changed my life.



You don't know wood species? I literally stack species mix as a preparation to fuel the fire. Clearly all of our number one concern is safety and deadly gasses in your dwelling are as dangerous as fire itself...if not more...CO, for example. Next, wood moisture content is as important as species.

This web forum is filled with deep knowledge, so dig into the forums as well.

I mean, I used to think Siberian Elm was junk wood that deposited creosote in the flue and burned dirty. How wrong I was! Nowadays, I set aside my Siberian Elm for really cold periods cuz I don't know of a better species. I used to covet oak as the best. I have lots of french white oak...it's the workhorse...a basic ingredient in the mixes I fuel my stove with. No species, tho, that I have put in my wood burning stove has slathered my stove with creosote worse than oak. It has to be at the correct moisture percentage.

I didn't know that beech is widely regarded as the "best firewood". Beech is special firewood, IME beech burns like the model firewood...as if it has an oil based accelerant naturally within.

None of any species is worthy of its reputation if it isn't cured to the right moisture content.

Good luck! I look forward to reading about how you get on with it

Good advice but don't forget the stove won't work properly at all with the outside temps being high.

 

[yuryk]

Is your stove brand new? If you haven't burned in your paint, best to do that when the windows can be open

Yes, it is. Thank you, I've read about it in the manual, as well as here somewhere. So, I was waiting for that chilly day to come and it finally came on August 7 believe it or not! It was just below 70F (about 20C) and I did the curing. See details here if curious

Regardless, if it was me, knowing what I know now, test your wood stove system long before you need it to work for heat. Even if a pro told you it's all good, test it anyway. I'm talking about after a test to ensure your appliance(s) draw properly, then do a trial run with an all day load and then work up to an overnight.

I completely agree - I had a similar thought. So far I did 2 burns: 1 for curing, another for testing. I tried to make the second burn an "overnight" one and it did burn everything through the night, but quicker than I expected. I loaded it about 75-80% and after 10 hours there were only non-glowing, but warm coals. The stove was still warm too, but temperatures in the house started to drop about 3 hours before that. And wood was far from ideal, coz my glass and firebricks were all black from soot. I guess I start to understand more and more why people here are talking so much about properly seasoned wood... But even despite not very cold temp outside the stove performed very well (knocking on wood!): the draft was there right away, no smoke was coming through the panels, good heat output and outside chimney was not warm. Will see how it goes in the future but so far so good I would say. Knocking on wood again!

Get your starting method down solid. If you don't know how to build a top down, do some research and figure it out. I learned that here last year and it changed my life.

I learned about top-down few weeks ago, but did not try it yet. Although can't wait to try - people seem to love it and it seem to give less smoke as few folks suggested to me here. I will try and post results in my thread.

You don't know wood species?

I know them, but only by leaves. I watched a video recently how to know which type of firewood it is, but only out of curiosity. I never thought I'd have to stack them based on species... I don't want to be off-topic, but it's really hard sometimes to identify. Like my last delivery there were 3 different types of firewood in general: a) very white wood, which looked really fresh; b) a good heavy seasoned wood; c) some rotten wood with lot of mushy sapwood (like in this post of mine). And among those I think there were couple more different species. But I thought water contents is the most important thing, so I simply put that white fresh firewood aside into its own stack and combined the rest. Should I really sort it next time?

Next, wood moisture content is as important as species.

Yes, that I know thanks to this forum. I keep saying and can't stress enough - I don't know what I would do without this place and all of you guys!

This web forum is filled with deep knowledge, so dig into the forums as well.

I second that and, again, very grateful to everyone contributing!

Good luck! I look forward to reading about how you get on with it

Thank you! I will be using my thread for future media about my stove runs, unless it's so special that it deserves its own post (hopefully not )

 

[stoveliker]

You don't have to stack it by species if you stack the wood for as long as needed to get the slowest drying (densest) wood dry.
It's nice to have access to different types of wood. E.g. oak, locust, or beech for overnight runs, and some lower BTU content (i.e. faster burning at the same heat output) wood to fill a gap between reloads. Some folks like faster burning ("soft") woods in the coldest of winter as you can get the BTUs out faster (more heat in your room) and they often leave less coals so you can reload a full load sooner rather than have to wait for the coals to burn down or reload much less than a full load because of the volume that the coals take.

I have a shed, and a rack in the garage. I season things mixed in the shed, but when I get a few wheelbarrows to the garage (from which I take to the stove, as the garage has a door to my basement), I separate them into oak and pine (or whatever dense and lighter wood I have) in that rack, allowing me to take to the stove what I need for a particular load.

But in the end, you'll make your own way once you get used to it. You'll find what works best for you. And that may be very different from what works best for me.

 

[ctreitzell]

Good advice but don't forget the stove won't work properly at all with the outside temps being high.

excellent point, that didn't even cross my mind

You don't have to stack it by species if you stack the wood for as long as needed to get the slowest drying (densest) wood dry.
It's nice to have access to different types of wood. E.g. oak, locust, or beech for overnight runs, and some lower BTU content (i.e. faster burning at the same heat output) wood to fill a gap between reloads. Some folks like faster burning ("soft") woods in the coldest of winter as you can get the BTUs out faster (more heat in your room) and they often leave less coals so you can reload a full load sooner rather than have to wait for the coals to burn down or reload much less than a full load because of the volume that the coals take.

Yes, I wasn't trying to tell anybody what to do, just my recent experience...which is far more in depth than I had ever gotten before previously in my life

I was certainly saying what works for me. As I've gone into wood burning as a 24/7 heat supply rather than supplement, I would find my self at my wood store wanting to grab some mix of fruit wood or elm, some oak or ash and some beech as a mix. I had stacked it evenly mixed, but that didn't really work. What has been working best for me is to stack species separated; than I can make my mix daily with what I bring in to the house.

I still don't burn pine. And there are a lot of old school procedures which just don't work in a modern, sealed wood burning appliance. For example, putting in some wet with dry to attempt to realize longer burn times. My elders taught me that...whoops, they was wrong!

Something old school which does pertain to longer burn times is letting the ash build up to keep airflow down around coals and that definitely works.

Further, as you say "full load"...this is a different methodology compared to what "modern" procedures explain...I'm in France, so we have
"EcoDesign 2022" "standardized" instructions for running a wood fire appliance. In EcoDesign, they want users to load no more than 2 logs not touching each other or the inside of the firebox onto the coal bed once established. It's very difficult to run a wood stove that way...and certainly is not going to run for 8 hrs unless the 2 logs are huge and perfect moisture content. I see you american guys on here stuffing the stove completely full...I find my self doing something in between...but I would certainly get better results with a better stove.

I did ask one of my local installers about Drolet, they told me the big stoves have gone the way of the dinosaur in Europe and the powers that be want us to burn following EcoDesign202.

 

[BKVP]

Want longer burn times, increase piece size to reduce surface area in your full load.
BKVP

 

[stoveliker]

Yes (for a no thermostat stove), but note that one has to dry wood longer if it's in bigger pieces .

I'd first get.ahead in your wood supply,.and once you have reached the comfort of that situation, then increase the size.of (part of) your splits.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You can also split them square (ish) so they fit together tighter like bricks.

Pallet wood and 2x4s stack really tight.

 

[joop]

if you put more than two pces, do the wood police come?

 

[joop]

burnt 24/7 for 2yrs got lazy gave up, lol but it's doable.