Small fire box short burn times what to do?

[blacktail]

It shouldn't take an hour to get a fire settled in. A lot of fuel is burning up in that first hour before getting the air turned down.

 

[johnsopi]

Got 5 hrs last night off a load. 9pm-2 am so shorter pieces helped

 

[Doc C]

One thing I learned (from this site) is after insulating my home and putting in a block off plate is that I did not need a bigger stove. This may not be the case for you but I sealed up every nook and cranny in my home and my .09 cu ft firebox keeps my 1200 sq ft home nice and warm. I am lucky to see flames for 3 hours but can usually start up after 8 hours using kindling. Using NEILS I can start up using regular splits after an overnight burn. Hard woods at night and soft to start usually works well. Like you, I have contemplated getting a bigger box just cause it is easier but my last place had an Osburn Matrix (2.1 cu ft) and even though I could get longer burn times, my current stove puts out more heat and has no blower. The true test I suppose would be to put the Matrix here but I cannot do that. I would also fear that getting a bigger box would heat me out of the home after all the insulating.

Amen! This is the most important point I found as well!

 

[Doc C]

I would guess that with the suggestions above and your firebox size, your maximum will probably be 5 hours. It'll take some time figuring it out to get to that point along with good, dry wood, but 4 hours is a good goal.

To add to this, I have a 2.3 cuft box but most times I'm only putting in 4 splits loaded E-W. On cold starts, I'll probably get 3-4 hours out of it, on reloads, closer to 5 and sometimes longer. Especially if I put in hardwood, there's still enough coals after 6 hours to restart a new load if I need to let the temperature fall a bit to be comfortable.

I have a 1.8 CF box. I can load it at 2100hrs before bed and easily have enough coals at 0600hrs to throw some wood on and let it take off.

I won’t have a ton of heat in the morning but my house will be plenty warm enough.

The hardest wood I have is white birch.

 

[Ben Stark]

I wanted to offer some tips, as an owner of a a small insert. I have an Osburn 1600, with a small firebox, but I can easily get 8 hours of heat, with glowing coals left over to start the next load. I suggest:

Use hardwoods, Maple, Ash, Cherry, Beech, Oak and Elm.

Cut your wood 14-16 inches to avoid headaches loading it.

Split the wood in various sizes. And let it season all summer long. Save your bigger splits for overnight.

Always load East to West.

Leave a healthy layer of ash in the stove bottom (1 inch or so.)

Rake the coals to the front of the stove, and place your thickest split in the back on the floor of the stove.

Place another split on top of this one. Then a smaller split in front of those two on the coals. If there is room left place more wood toward the back on top.

Let the fire get blazing until you have the secondaries firing (15 minutes or so.) then gradually close the air intake until it is about 1/4 inch from closed. Make sure you still have some active flames.

This should give a few hours of active burn... 3 or so. But the glowing embers give off a tremendous amount of steady heat. After 8 hours, use the poker to break up the embers and you should have a nice bed of coals and it’s ready to load again. I seldom shut my insert down once I start it.

 

[Hogwildz]

None of those hardwoods are going to be ready to burn over a summer, sketchy at 2, oak 3.

 

[Ben Stark]

Two years seasoning would be best, I agree. I like to stay at least a year ahead it avoids a lot of headaches.

 

[Hogwildz]

Burn time. I am calling seeing flames. If heat out put/coals I get 6hrs restarting with fatwood. The wood Im using is 2yr old oak and hickory.
Im cutting up some trees going to cut 14" long.

2 years is not long enough for Oak or Hickory. Hickory can sometimes take longer. Unless you're splitting that stuff super small. Do you have a lot of unburnt coals at reload time?

 

[Hogwildz]

Two years seasoning would be best, I agree. I like to stay at least a year ahead it avoids a lot of headaches.

3 years or more ahead eliminates the headaches. And makes splitting time more enjoyable & leisurely, with no stress of playing catch up. Of course some folks may not have the room for that amount of wood.

 

[Ben Stark]

I would love to be 3 years ahead! I plan on building another wood shed in the spring, and I have several Maple trees to keep me busy, lol! Just have to find the time to get it all done.

 

[yooper08]

Got 5 hrs last night off a load. 9pm-2 am so shorter pieces helped

Glad to hear you're getting some improvement.

I have a 1.8 CF box. I can load it at 2100hrs before bed and easily have enough coals at 0600hrs to throw some wood on and let it take off.

I won’t have a ton of heat in the morning but my house will be plenty warm enough.

The hardest wood I have is white birch.

This isn't a knock on you personally, but this is part of the problem of trying to describe burn times as we're crossing the line of is it possible for me to start a new load with coals and do I have the heat output I need? There's a balance there that needs to be considered. At night, it may be ok but during the day it may not be. I can go 10+ hours at night and reload in the morning on some coals, but when I'm up and at em during the day, I don't do this because I need/want the heat.

 

[Doc C]

Glad to hear you're getting some improvement.



This isn't a knock on you personally, but this is part of the problem of trying to describe burn times as we're crossing the line of is it possible for me to start a new load with coals and do I have the heat output I need? There's a balance there that needs to be considered. At night, it may be ok but during the day it may not be. I can go 10+ hours at night and reload in the morning on some coals, but when I'm up and at em during the day, I don't do this because I need/want the heat.

I agree completely. I don't think as a whole we will ever agree on what constitutes burn time. For me it's not needing kindling when I add wood.

I spent several thousand dollars making my house hold heat. New windows, doors, insulation, caulking, and more.

If I had a drafty house I think burn time would be when my stove top drops below the point of having enough heat coming out to keep the house warm.