overnight burns

[Jesepi]

My question is....My wood stoves firebox is not deep enough to load my wood N-S. I must load E-W or I have to cut all my wood to 13 " lengths in order to load N-S. so to get a nice overnight burn in my 1.78 sq ft firebox or at least 6 to 8 hr burn what should I do ?My E-W length is about 20 inches wide.
Thanks in advance.

 

[begreen]

Some stoves have shallow fireboxes that are designed for E/W burning only unless one cuts short pieces of wood.

 

[GrumpyDad]

My question is....My wood stoves firebox is not deep enough to load my wood N-S. I must load E-W or I have to cut all my wood to 13 " lengths in order to load N-S. so to get a nice overnight burn in my 1.78 sq ft firebox or at least 6 to 8 hr burn what should I do ?My E-W length is about 20 inches wide.
Thanks in advance.

I am a newbie but I would consult your manual and read what others do with your specific stove.
I think it might come down to how much you pack the stove, how well air control keeps alot of wood to a slow burn, how big a pieces you put in, the venting and air intake, the stove itself, how dry or wet the wood is.
As my instruction manual put it, wood burning is more of an art than a science.

 

[begreen]

The wood needs to be stacked E/W in such a manner that the wood doesn't roll into the glass as the fire burns down. If the stove has andirons, they can help reduce this issue. Otherwise, this means loading higher in the rear of the firebox than in the front.

 

[Highbeam]

Burning lower density PNW firewoods in a modern 2+ CF noncat, I could barely make an overnight. And that was after staying up late and packing it full right before bed and choking the air way down. I'm afraid that you will be lucky to have heat overnight from such a tiny stove unless it's a cat stove.

 

[Todd]

Try raking all the coals forward and place a large split in the lower back then pack it in as tight as you can. This way you will get a somewhat front to back burn and hopefully some coals left the next morning from the large split in the back.

 

[RomanW]

Some stoves have shallow fireboxes that are designed for E/W burning only unless one cuts short pieces of wood.

Is one able to even do this with an E/W? Would the burn time be the same, or reduced because you're now using shorter pieces?

 

[stoveliker]

I.do think that cutting shorter pieces and packing them as tightly N/S as possible will give.you the longest burn.

It sucks needing two lengths of splits, but it is what it is.

 

[jalmondale]

Is it a cat stove? I can get overnight burns from a similar setup (1.85 cu ft firebox) without having to do any crazy shenanigans (it's a side-loading stove, so it's easy to pack it full, but once it's loaded the wood is E-W from an air intake/flue exhaust perspective). If it's not a cat stove, I think your firebox may just be too small to get that long of a burn. I wouldn't expect E-W/N-S to make a ton of difference once the stove is really dialled down - my impression is that for modern stoves, they aim for minimal airflow and maximum turbulence based off the firebox and flue design, so there wouldn't be a ton of increased/decreased turbulence from the orientation of the logs.

 

[EbS-P]

Here are my tips. Get a good deep coal bed (but not too deap)for the last load of the night. Use you biggest most dense splits pack it tight and I usually stuff two pieces of k kindling on top just so they can keep the secondary combustion rolling for the first part of the burn while the rest of the load gets up to temp. Bio bricks worked ok too. Look it’s a small firebox. If your wood isn’t perfectly dry and draft not perfect it could be hard to get 6+ hours of decent heat. I’ll stay up /wake up if it’s a weekend to reload on the coldest nights. Weekdays I just let the heatpump kick on.

 

[fvhowler]

I have a similar size stove and from my experience you can achieve an overnight burn with E/W stacking. Try packing it E/W, larger log(s) in back an smaller in front, rake coals forward and the wood will burn front to back and repeat in the morning if desired. This has worked for me and by 6am I still have plenty of coals to restart but heat output is low by then.

Cutting your wood to fit N/S (in my case 12 inches) means more cutting and more time to process. I use scraps and "shorties" to load N/S sometimes on a restart. Bottom line, use the stove as designed. It's a learning process no matter and you'll be amazed how efficient you become when opertating the stove.

 

[Jesepi]

Here are my tips. Get a good deep coal bed (but not too deap)for the last load of the night. Use you biggest most dense splits pack it tight and I usually stuff two pieces of k kindling on top just so they can keep the secondary combustion rolling for the first part of the burn while the rest of the load gets up to temp. Bio bricks worked ok too. Look it’s a small firebox. If your wood isn’t perfectly dry and draft not perfect it could be hard to get 6+ hours of decent heat. I’ll stay up /wake up if it’s a weekend to reload on the coldest nights. Weekdays I just let the heatpump kick on.

Thanks to all ! My stove is non-catalytic. I will try all the above methods. I have never tried overnight before but plan on trying to get whatever I can this heating season. Again thank you all and I will of course keep a tab on my thread here for additional help/hints !

 

[Highbeam]

Just do your best and let the furnace pick up the slack. No need to be 100% wood unless the power is out.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Thanks to all ! My stove is non-catalytic. I will try all the above methods. I have never tried overnight before but plan on trying to get whatever I can this heating season. Again thank you all and I will of course keep a tab on my thread here for additional help/hints !

The best way to achieve the longest burn times is 2 parts. 1.. is the type of wood.. hickory, beach, white oak, will burn long as the more dense the wood the more BTUs are in it .. dense wood lasts longer.. 2.. is the way its split.. You want this wood split thick.. Like 4x4 or 4x5inches.. you also want to split it square or rectangle.. this will allow you to stack the box tightly, with little space in-between. The more wood you can pack in the longer the burn.. My stove is a cat stove and in the dead of winter I've gott 16 hours out of my burns.. my box is 2.3 cuft..

 

[Jesepi]

The best way to achieve the longest burn times is 2 parts. 1.. is the type of wood.. hickory, beach, white oak, will burn long as the more dense the wood the more BTUs are in it .. dense wood lasts longer.. 2.. is the way its split.. You want this wood split thick.. Like 4x4 or 4x5inches.. you also want to split it square or rectangle.. this will allow you to stack the box tightly, with little space in-between. The more wood you can pack in the longer the burn.. My stove is a cat stove and in the dead of winter I've gott 16 hours out of my burns.. my box is 2.3 cuft..

This will be my second winter with wood. I am abit timid of loading my stove full and tight with wood. I am thinking that I could have an "over fire" situation.I just need to get over that I guess.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

This will be my second winter with wood. I am abit timid of loading my stove full and tight with wood. I am thinking that I could have an "over fire" situation.I just need to get over that I guess.

If your looking to burn overnight.. that's the only way to do it.. get it going and turn the air all the bay back.. the air controls the burn.. The less air you put in the chances of a runaway fire in slim at best.. I can put like 50 lbs of wood in mine.. the stove temp will drop to like 350 degrees because of so little fire..

Do a test burn during the day for a few hours and see how the stove operates..

Also what your kinda hinting at is that you have no control of how your stove operates.. that with it half full your stove burns at a higher rate.. or.. have you been able to put wood in it and control the burn with the air..

 

[Jesepi]

If your looking to burn overnight.. that's the only way to do it.. get it going and turn the air all the bay back.. the air controls the burn.. The less air you put in the chances of a runaway fire in slim at best.. I can put like 50 lbs of wood in mine.. the stove temp will drop to like 350 degrees because of so little fire..

Do a test burn during the day for a few hours and see how the stove operates..

Also what your kinda hinting at is that you have no control of how your stove operates.. that with it half full your stove burns at a higher rate.. or.. have you been able to put wood in it and control the burn with the air..

I have had the stove temp on top at 550 f before and the stove was about 3/4 full. It never went higher and yes i used the air control as i remember to help regulate it. I need to replace my door gasket and window gasket this season. Also Im burning cherry,oak and some maple and black walnut. All verywell seasoned. All about 2.5 - 3 yrs old.

 

[EbS-P]

This will be my second winter with wood. I am abit timid of loading my stove full and tight with wood. I am thinking that I could have an "over fire" situation.I just need to get over that I guess.

Ignore the 3 star rating. These Auber at200 temp alarms are worth every penny. I have the regular and the wireless version so I can read my downstairs stove upstairs. Highly recommended. Double wall probe reacts faster but the washer can be just about any where. I have both. I use my ir gun on the stove top with the probe and the stove with the washer I wish I had a probe.

Auber Instruments Thermometer for Stove Pipe,Chimney,Outdoor Wood Boiler (Washer Sensor for Single Wall (TC-K-WS)) https://a.co/d/47BLS1n