First off, greetings! I've been faithfully reading the sage advice of you fine folk for several weeks. I feel like I've almost earned a beginner's certification in "Wood Stove Operation" just from absorbing the collective wisdom at Hearth.com.
I noticed the following advice from the Drolet Owner's Manual; this is from section 4.4 Maintaining Wood Fires:
"Wood burns best in cycles. A cycle starts when a new load of wood is ignited by hot coals and ends when that load has been consumed down to a bed of charcoal about the same size as it was when the wood was loaded. Do not attempt to produce a steady heat output by placing a single log on the fire at regular intervals. Always place at least three, and preferably more, pieces on the fire at a time so that the heat radiated from one piece helps to ignite the pieces next to it. Each load of wood should provide several hours of heating. The size of each load can be matched to the amount of heat needed.
When you burn in cycles, you rarely need to open the stove’s loading door while the wood is flaming. This is an advantage because there is more chance that smoke will leak from the stove when the door is opened as a full fire is burning. This is especially true if the chimney connector has 90 degree elbows and if the chimney runs up the outside wall of the house." Emphasis mine.
So anyway, at least during the daytime hours and milder temperatures, I've been doing exactly -- more or less -- as Drolet advices against: loading only a single split (or maybe two splits) into the firebox at a time, as needed. How many others also load only a split or two at a time? Are we bad people for doing this? And what is the possible rationale for advising against this practice?
Do you suppose Drolet advises against this out of a simple concern about the possibility of smoke rolling out of the firebox with smaller and more frequent loads? The second quoted paragraph from Drolet sort of hints at this reasoning.
OR, is there some deeper, fundamental reason (apart from peripheral concerns about smoke escaping, etc.) for only loading a firebox of wood at a time? Am I missing something? And of course, on a cold night, I DO load a full firebox of wood. Basically, I load the stove (whether one split or a firebox full) as temperature and comfort would seem to indicate.
Btw, I don't have an issue with smoke escaping the firebox when I open the door. In fact, I'm not only happy with the draft I'm getting, but with the stove, chimney and the whole installation. Even my dog is happier with this new strange warmth in the house.
Seriously, adding a wood burning stove to my home and to my life has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I noticed the following advice from the Drolet Owner's Manual; this is from section 4.4 Maintaining Wood Fires:
"Wood burns best in cycles. A cycle starts when a new load of wood is ignited by hot coals and ends when that load has been consumed down to a bed of charcoal about the same size as it was when the wood was loaded. Do not attempt to produce a steady heat output by placing a single log on the fire at regular intervals. Always place at least three, and preferably more, pieces on the fire at a time so that the heat radiated from one piece helps to ignite the pieces next to it. Each load of wood should provide several hours of heating. The size of each load can be matched to the amount of heat needed.
When you burn in cycles, you rarely need to open the stove’s loading door while the wood is flaming. This is an advantage because there is more chance that smoke will leak from the stove when the door is opened as a full fire is burning. This is especially true if the chimney connector has 90 degree elbows and if the chimney runs up the outside wall of the house." Emphasis mine.
So anyway, at least during the daytime hours and milder temperatures, I've been doing exactly -- more or less -- as Drolet advices against: loading only a single split (or maybe two splits) into the firebox at a time, as needed. How many others also load only a split or two at a time? Are we bad people for doing this? And what is the possible rationale for advising against this practice?
Do you suppose Drolet advises against this out of a simple concern about the possibility of smoke rolling out of the firebox with smaller and more frequent loads? The second quoted paragraph from Drolet sort of hints at this reasoning.
OR, is there some deeper, fundamental reason (apart from peripheral concerns about smoke escaping, etc.) for only loading a firebox of wood at a time? Am I missing something? And of course, on a cold night, I DO load a full firebox of wood. Basically, I load the stove (whether one split or a firebox full) as temperature and comfort would seem to indicate.
Btw, I don't have an issue with smoke escaping the firebox when I open the door. In fact, I'm not only happy with the draft I'm getting, but with the stove, chimney and the whole installation. Even my dog is happier with this new strange warmth in the house.
Seriously, adding a wood burning stove to my home and to my life has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.