Questions about woodstove performance Englander 13-NC

[pastorbmp]

Hello, this is my first year with a woodstove. I bought an EPA-approved, Englander 13-nc. I am having a situation that do not seem to be right and wanted to ask you all for advice.

One thing to know in advance. Since this is my first year, I bought my firewood. I know it has not been seasoned for a year. I am cutting and buying wood this winter - stockpiling it for next winter, so I will have some good seasoned wood!

My problem:

I can only get a maximum of about 3 1/2 hours before my fire is out. If I wait 4 hours to check it, there are not enough embers to start a fire back. That seems like an awful short time. What do you think? Will good seasoned wood extend that time?

Any advice is certainly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

With fat dry hickory splits I often still find coals at 5:30pm from a 6am load.

 

[pastorbmp]

Wow I wonder what the difference is? I burned hickory and oak - but don't get near that much time.

 

[begreen]

How much air do you need to give the fire? Is it almost closed off once the stove is hot and the wood is fully aflame?

 

[pastorbmp]

How much air do you need to give the fire? Is it almost closed off once the stove is hot and the wood is fully aflame?

When I have had some good, seasoned wood - I damper the air almost all the way down. This would give me my longest life for a fire. But, around 3 1/2 maybe 4 hours would be the most.

 

[wkpoor]

How much air do you need to give the fire? Is it almost closed off once the stove is hot and the wood is fully aflame?

When I have had some good, seasoned wood - I damper the air almost all the way down. This would give me my longest life for a fire. But, around 3 1/2 maybe 4 hours would be the most.

I figured it out! You obviously don't know the real meaning of burn time. Seeing fire is but a small part of burn time. Its all about how long can you go and still have enough coals to do a relight. Sounds like to me you are doing quite well afterall.
oops sorry I reread your original post. You are down to very little coals. Well then just how do you accomplish not having a thick bed of coals that last for days?

 

[begreen]

How much air do you need to give the fire? Is it almost closed off once the stove is hot and the wood is fully aflame?

When I have had some good, seasoned wood - I damper the air almost all the way down. This would give me my longest life for a fire. But, around 3 1/2 maybe 4 hours would be the most.

That sounds correct. Is the draft unusually strong? How tall is the flue on the stove?

PS: Welcome to the forum!

 

[pastorbmp]

How much air do you need to give the fire? Is it almost closed off once the stove is hot and the wood is fully aflame?

When I have had some good, seasoned wood - I damper the air almost all the way down. This would give me my longest life for a fire. But, around 3 1/2 maybe 4 hours would be the most.

That sounds correct. Is the draft unusually strong? How tall is the flue on the stove?

PS: Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! My flue is approximately 14 feet tall (total). From where the stove pipe enters the flue - it is probably 6-8 ft to the top of the flue. The draft is sufficient, I wouldn't say unusually strong at all.

When I say fire lasts 3 1/2 - 4 hours, I mean after that point...there aren't enough hot embers to relight the fire. The stove does have a pretty small firebox. It might just be the way it is.

 

[rbrown]

I have the same stove and my burn times are much like yours and I agree that it has a small fire box. Make sure the door is latched tight for a good seal so you will have more control with the draft rod.

 

[dave11]

I have the same stove but bigger, and I can't really get more than 4 hours between loads either, even with the air nearly closed.

Putting more wood in, as in a bigger load, will give you longer burn times, but you'll use more wood, and more of it (relatively) will go up the flue. So if you load it up good, you can get better burn times, you'll just need to keep more wood on hand.

How many splits are you loading now at a time?

 

[pastorbmp]

I have the same stove but bigger, and I can't really get more than 4 hours between loads either, even with the air nearly closed.

Putting more wood in, as in a bigger load, will give you longer burn times, but you'll use more wood, and more of it (relatively) will go up the flue. So if you load it up good, you can get better burn times, you'll just need to keep more wood on hand.

How many splits are you loading now at a time?

Thanks guys for the input. I can put about three splits max, with some little stuff too. I do think I could get a little more if I had some good, seasoned wood. Hard to damper it down with the "greenish" wood I currently have. I am going to give it another year. If I can't get more than 3 or 4 hours, I think I will get something that will hold fire longer. I am tired of getting up 2 or 3 times a night to load the woodstove!