Question on burning

[Sully]

Ok I was reading this morning that people were running stove hard today. Does this mean they are leaving air open more than usual? On EPA stove how do you run it hard. I thought the sooner you can get air down the better? Does leaving air open produce more heat or send the heat up flu? Just curious. Right now house is doing ok. Wouldn't mind seeing better if I could. I'm running same as I do every day. FYI. Osburn 2400 is the new insert still have not changed my info lol a

 

[HotCoals]

To me the more air you let in the more heat that is going to go up the flue.
That said you do what you gotta do.
Some let the furnace help out..some crank their stoves way up and try to raise the delta.

 

[Sully]

Today it has been cold. 15 or so tonight be even lower. Last night burn was a non success so prettying cold stove in morning. I used heat once today. Brought house up to 68. With wife tending the stove and me at work she kept house on 68/67 all day. Feels comfortable inside. I'm good with those temps All other houses around look like they have fires right now but that's coming from a the furnace flue. So I'm happy. Hoping to get this weather next year or year after once I've seasoned my own wood instead of this bought wood that is on the line.

 

[mellow]

I have to push this Jotul harder, giving it a lot more air to get the heat out (giving it about 40% more air than usual), yes you will burn more wood that is the name of the game to keep warm.

Running the stove top at around 550-600 and the blower on high to keep the downstairs at 72 and upstairs 69.

My walls have no insulation so the kids balloons float around inside on windy days like today.

 

[HotCoals]

I have to push this Jotul harder, giving it a lot more air to get the heat out (giving it about 40% more air than usual), yes you will burn more wood that is the name of the game to keep warm.

Running the stove top at around 550-600 and the blower on high to keep the downstairs at 72 and upstairs 69.

My walls have no insulation so the kids balloons float around inside on windy days like today.

(broken image removed)

 

[toddnic]

Sully, I'm putting more wood in the firebox, using more hardwood than softwood, and I might open up the air a little more but that is not really necessary with my stove. I'm also not letting the stovetop temp drop below 350 degrees which means I am adding wood more frequently than usual.

 

[HotCoals]

I keep reading when it's cold everybody gets out the oak or other hard woods.
If your home and can tend to it I would use pine or some other soft wood that burns hot and won't coal as bad.
Save the good stuff for the overnight!

 

[Sully]

Yeah I just grab what I got. It's not bad wood but it's not the primo. It feels good in here I was just curious what the difference was. I have 600 stove top on three Splits right now. Air closed. Started at 300. Coals are starting to pile that's why I went light on the splits , I'm home and going no where so reloading is not a big deal at this point. The goal with this cold is to not have that heat not come on and so far ( aside from 20 min) that has been a success so I'm happy

 

[HotCoals]

Yeah I just grab what I got. It's not bad wood but it's not the primo. It feels good in here I was just curious what the difference was. I have 600 stove top on three Splits right now. Air closed. Started at 300. Coals are starting to pile that's why I went light on the splits , I'm home and going no where so reloading is not a big deal at this point. The goal with this cold is to not have that heat not come on and so far ( aside from 20 min) that has been a success so I'm happy

As long as your happy that's all that matters! Cheers!

You would be surprised how pine will keep your house warm with way less coals to deal with ..yes you will load it more.

 

[mellow]

I wish I had the area to store softwoods and hardwoods, I have turned down probably about 10 cords of pine just since September.

One day I will get out of the city and have a couple acres to have my wood separated by seasoning time.

 

[velvetfoot]

The coals are what driving me bat chit.

 

[HotCoals]

The coals are what driving me bat chit.

Yep..I read the complaints every time it gets really cold.
But soft woods or bio-bricks will not coal nearly as much.

I'm down to getting 12 or so hours out of my ash and the last few hours I have to burn the coals down. I can just hold house temp for that period with full air when it's like 5f out. If I want to boost the temps fast before another 12 hour load of ash I'll burn 4 or 5 smaller splits of pine first for a few hours..works great!
Or just burn the ash down with the pine on top of it.

 

[Sully]

The coals are what driving me bat chit.

Yeah we are loaded with coals right now. Usually I let the cycle go but with this loading sooner stuff I don't have big plans for a good over night burn. Think I might give it a chance to burn coals and go a few hours before touching it again

 

[Laurent Cyr]

I`ve been burning dead standing pine and spruce this winter. It burns hot but fast. With the températures in the minuses, I find I need to leave the air open a little more to really crank the heat out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

With an IR gun you can then really see the difference in the stove temperatures at different air settings. With our stove, giving more air will reduce the stove top but increase the front and sides giving more overall heat.

 

[etiger2007]

Sully did you check your door for gaps? Now that's it's really cold and I'm home for the weekend I'm running my stove harder by loading it with smaller splits , this gives a heck of a hot fire but for a shorter time . I got home at 3pm house at 67 did the kindling burn , let that burn put in four small splits and I'm almost ready to load it up again with four more house is 72, it's 12 outside and dropping .

 

[lopiliberty]

I usually do three loads on a normal day. One in the morning, one around 3 or 4 if i'm home and one before bed. With this cold, high of 16 today i'm still running normal loads 6 to 8 splits at a time and the house is the usual 85 degrees and its 8 out now. Only thing I did different today was the blower was one low all day. One other thing. My front door is open and the only thing between me and 8 degrees outside is a storm door with single pane glass and i'm still able to keep 85 degrees. Next Monday night and Tuesday might be a different story

 

[Sully]

Sully did you check your door for gaps? Now that's it's really cold and I'm home for the weekend I'm running my stove harder by loading it with smaller splits , this gives a heck of a hot fire but for a shorter time . I got home at 3pm house at 67 did the kindling burn , let that burn put in four small splits and I'm almost ready to load it up again with four more house is 72, it's 12 outside and dropping .

Yeah I did seal is good. I've been able to control stove top from getting to crazy by shutting air down a little sooner. I just said to the wife that I don't have high hopes for a long burn tonight due to the large amount of coals produced by today. At least we both agreed that it's our fault not the stove this time. This is coldest it's been since we had stove and I think she jumped gun a little while I was at work loading to often. We are learning and as usual burning not the best wood. Still comfortable though and saving on the heating bill even when learning so that's a plus

 

[mark cline]

The coals are what driving me bat chit.

The coals give me 2 hrs extra burn time in my Mansfield . I only put in 3 - 5 splits at a time ,so I don't need the room . I run the primary air the same , full closed , so an extra split makes the primaries pull harder , giving me more heat.

 

[firefighterjake]

"Run it hard" (for me) = Reloading earlier than normal and using the primo wood in my stack

 

[Sully]

Today I decided run as normal. Let the cycle run. Coals have been manageable fire has been hot and house is warm.

Ps.....let's go eagles.