Reload Interval

[Craig S.]

When its really cold outside, does anyone shorten their reload interval to help keep the temp up in the house? I know there's less room to load wood when you do, since wood is not burned all the way through the cycle, but in my case, with an insert, I believe it takes a little longer to recover the lost heat.

 

[GeneralBill]

I've recently started building tall stacks of smaller splits on top the coal bed. It starts flaming quickly, then a turn down that still allows more air in, which burns the coals, and secondaries come from the fresh wood. Temp gets pretty high and the coals seem to burn down quicker, too.

 

[madison]

Reload only when completely burned down, otherwise you will eventually end up with a stove full of coals. Which GeneralBill described how to take care of.

 

[Craig S.]

Gotcha ... I've actually been letting more air in towards the later part of the cycle which does just that.

 

[USMC80]

Gotcha ... I've actually been letting more air in towards the later part of the cycle which does just that.

thats what i do

 

[BobUrban]

When it is really cold you sometime have to do what ever is necessary. That includes adding wood at 400 instead of waiting until the stove is at or below 300 for me. I find that adding one or two splits - even large ones - to a heavy coal bed at 400ish gets the 30 back up to 550-600+ in no time and helps burn down the coals. In the world of wood you cannot have it all unless you have side-by-side stoves and alternate refuel times.

The next step in the process for me now that I have the heat system in place is to improve the insulation in my home so that I can retain my heat longer. Especially on windy days.

 

[logger]

Reload only when completely burned down, otherwise you will eventually end up with a stove full of coals. Which GeneralBill described how to take care of.

If you go by this all winter thats pretty hardcore. Im well aware of the burning cycle, but when its cold out and the stove temp has gone down, theres absolutely no reason to hesitate filling the stove. At one point you're going to have to let the coals burn down, but with temps in the teens or lower I find myself loading the stove much more frequently than usual. Its not wasting heat either and I really have never had a coal build-up problem.

 

[logger]

When it is really cold you sometime have to do what ever is necessary. That includes adding wood at 400 instead of waiting until the stove is at or below 300 for me. I find that adding one or two splits - even large ones - to a heavy coal bed at 400ish gets the 30 back up to 550-600+ in no time and helps burn down the coals. In the world of wood you cannot have it all unless you have side-by-side stoves and alternate refuel times.

The next step in the process for me now that I have the heat system in place is to improve the insulation in my home so that I can retain my heat longer. Especially on windy days.

Spot on, good post.

 

[USMC80]

When it is really cold you sometime have to do what ever is necessary. That includes adding wood at 400 instead of waiting until the stove is at or below 300 for me. I find that adding one or two splits - even large ones - to a heavy coal bed at 400ish gets the 30 back up to 550-600+ in no time and helps burn down the coals. In the world of wood you cannot have it all unless you have side-by-side stoves and alternate refuel times.

The next step in the process for me now that I have the heat system in place is to improve the insulation in my home so that I can retain my heat longer. Especially on windy days.

nailed it

 

[JTP11]

I've been letting a little more air in as a load burns down but for the first time yesterday I added 2 shorter splits to the tail end of a 500*-600* fire. I was looking to keep up the higher temp for a longer period as the outside temps were falling.

It seemed to work good. By using only 1 or 2 smaller splits, I was able to extend the peak temp for a little longer and didn't have too many coals for my overnight reload. Had I added my usual sized split I would have thrown off my schedule.

 

[dmmoss51]

I think the only trouble with the big coal bed is not being able to load as much on top of it. I find that a nice deep bed of glowing coals is a good couple hours if heat though

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The chimney drafts harder when it's cold. This burns the load faster. This makes me reload more. And there is the possibility that the house might still get colder.