Todd and Backwoods Savage are geniouses!!!!

[fireview2788]

I wanted to give kudos where they are deserved. In an earlier thread I posted about how my stove was behaving. They both questioned the size of my splits (keep it clean people) and thought maybe they were too large. So I decided to follow their advice and split the wood smaller. Well, today I easily cruised to a new high temp of 580 °F with FOUR splits in the stove. Wife had the stove to 560 °F last night and she's further behind the curve than I am. So yeah, size does matter.

Thanks for the help you guys! I hope I can repay you sometime.


fv

 

[Todd]

Glad I could help. I've also learned tons here from many good folks. You can pay me back by helping others.

 

[oldspark]

A lincoln log fire with small splits will melt steel. ;-)

 

[Pallet Pete]

I wanted to give kudos where they are deserved. In an earlier thread I posted about how my stove was behaving. They both questioned the size of my splits (keep it clean people) and thought maybe they were too large. So I decided to follow their advice and split the wood smaller. Well, today I easily cruised to a new high temp of 580 °F with FOUR splits in the stove. Wife had the stove to 560 °F last night and she's further behind the curve than I am. So yeah, size does matter.

Thanks for the help you guys! I hope I can repay you sometime.


fv

+1 to that there are many good people here at hearth.com thanks to all !

 

[Jack22]

I am glad I ran into this post because I am having a similar problem with my keystone. I am going to try smaller splits. My average temps on the keystone are in the high 400's. My wood is well seasoned (all splits are below 20% moisture content after re splitting). My chimney draft is great. I get nice long burns but not the high stove top temps I would like to see. Hope it works.

 

[oldspark]

I would think even with big splits the stove would come up to temp but just take longer depending on the type of wood.

 

[Huntindog1]

Jake22 ask oldspark but sounds like you may have too good of draft so try a manual damper about 1/2 to 3/4 closed. I think he had the same issue.

 

[oldspark]

Yea Huntindog! is correct I did improve my stove top temps with a flue damper and I have longer heat cycles.

 

[fireview2788]

I would think even with big splits the stove would come up to temp but just take longer depending on the type of wood.

I've been giving that some thought too. I believe (I'm no physicist though) that it has to do with surface area and release of energy from the wood. With smaller splits you have more area to create fire that will release the energy stored in the wood thus creating more heat.


fv

 

[Todd]

I am glad I ran into this post because I am having a similar problem with my keystone. I am going to try smaller splits. My average temps on the keystone are in the high 400's. My wood is well seasoned (all splits are below 20% moisture content after re splitting). My chimney draft is great. I get nice long burns but not the high stove top temps I would like to see. Hope it works.

My Keystone's get much higher temps if I load 5-7 splits per full load verses 3-4 splits. You will still get the long burn times with smaller splits because of the cat.

Another thing I think a lot of people do with these stove is turn the air down too much too soon. Don't be afraid of the fire, it's got that big glass so you can watch the show. Let her rip for awhile at about 1.5 before turning it down, it will really pump out the heat. The other day when the wind was blowing hard and we had temps in the teens I let a full load rip for a good 2 hours at just under 1.5 and the stove top temp got close to 700 before I turned it down to a lower burn.

 

[HighHeat22]

I am glad I saw this post also. I am going to try the smaller splits. Regarding the flue damper I have just started using mine and what a difference in the heat put out by my fan it does work.

 

[Catspaw]

My rule of thumb is nothing bigger than my arm.

- Rich

 

[DAKSY]

My rule of thumb is nothing bigger than my arm.

- Rich

That's kinda small - starter log size.
I was taught to use kindling no bigger than the size of my fingers,
starter logs no bigger than my forearm & then whatever fits,
once the starters are burning nicely...

 

[Todd]

Depends on the size of the stove. If you had a PE Summit with a 3cu ft fire box you could load some pretty large splits in there like 6-8" and still have good air circulation throughout the box. If you burn a Woodstock Keystone that has about half that sized fire box maybe you should use splits half the size of the Summit or 3-4" to maintain the same air circulation?

 

[realstihl]

There's too many factors to pin down an exact size. Every factor comes into play.

 

[fredarm]

I find that if I buy wood (which I haven't the past couple of years thanks to scrounging and wood bricks) I have to resplit a lot of it for my little stove. Wood suppliers seem to split it for fireplaces and larger stoves.

 

[Slow1]

Another thing I think a lot of people do with these stove is turn the air down too much too soon. Don't be afraid of the fire, it's got that big glass so you can watch the show. Let her rip for awhile at about 1.5 before turning it down, it will really pump out the heat. The other day when the wind was blowing hard and we had temps in the teens I let a full load rip for a good 2 hours at just under 1.5 and the stove top temp got close to 700 before I turned it down to a lower burn.

I have to second this comment.

This year I have been burning my FV a bit differently than the last two seasons. Specifically I have been burning it with more air earlier in the cycle (leaving it above 1 for a while) and enjoying the flames for a while. Then I take it down after an hour or longer and cruise below 1 once the entire stove is much hotter than before.

What I have found is that this has only minimially reduced my burn time in terms of ability to reload on coal bed, but seems to have significantly increased the perceived heat output of the stove. Certainly early in the cycle we feel more heat as the whole stove is hotter (not just the top). Other benefit is that it just looks much nicer - as Todd said, it is nice to watch the show.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've been called many things but never a genius so perhaps fv was referring just to Todd!

We do use smaller splits than we have ever used as our previous stoves were larger than the Fireview. But we found that when we needed to fill the stove completely it was just too difficult to fill it using all large splits. That does not mean we don't use any large splits yet and we even burn a few rounds. But they are still smaller than what we used to use and it works.

Yesterday afternoon is a good example. We had a big coal bed and I wanted to get a fire to last until bed time. 3 splits laid on the coal bed and that stove was up to 600 in no time flat! Then I still had to wait longer than I thought before I could stock it up for night. The wood burns slow in these stoves!

It really pleases me when we learn that we've helped others and it pleases me even more when I learn from others. That is a situation difficult to beat.

 

[iod0816]

I am going to try this fully now... Not to hijack this thread as it could be related but I've cut big old splits this year in quest for a massive burn that lasts for years. Well I get the long burn but unless I blast it with air it's goes out or doesn't budge much temp wise, especially when I turn the blower on. And I need that blower to hear the house.

Any how, I go and dump a load in my fire tonight with what I call smaller splits. I think 3 to 4 to 5 inch triangle splits are small compared to my big ol ones. I've been seasoning my hickory, sugar maple, red maple, black birch splits for no less than a year and a half. My oaks for two plus. This load is full and all red maple, smaller splits. Boom, it's 600 and climbing in 5... Climbing, climbing cruising fan on, house warm.

I used it stuff it with big splits and an occasional small on top... Chugged compared to this! Glad I read this!

 

[WES999]

Another thing you can try is to add some pallet wood, this will help get the temps up and maintain secondary burn with a lower air setting. Just don't over do it until you know how your stove behaves.

 

[fireview2788]

The wife was also very happy to have them smaller! I will be leaving the damper open longer to see if that does it too (I'm sure it will). Of course it's gonna be in the 50s tomorrow so I don't want it cranking too hard.


fv

 

[fire_man]

Another thing I think a lot of people do with these stove is turn the air down too much too soon. Don't be afraid of the fire, it's got that big glass so you can watch the show. Let her rip for awhile at about 1.5 before turning it down, it will really pump out the heat. The other day when the wind was blowing hard and we had temps in the teens I let a full load rip for a good 2 hours at just under 1.5 and the stove top temp got close to 700 before I turned it down to a lower burn.

I have to second this comment.

This year I have been burning my FV a bit differently than the last two seasons. Specifically I have been burning it with more air earlier in the cycle (leaving it above 1 for a while) and enjoying the flames for a while. Then I take it down after an hour or longer and cruise below 1 once the entire stove is much hotter than before.

What I have found is that this has only minimially reduced my burn time in terms of ability to reload on coal bed, but seems to have significantly increased the perceived heat output of the stove. Certainly early in the cycle we feel more heat as the whole stove is hotter (not just the top). Other benefit is that it just looks much nicer - as Todd said, it is nice to watch the show.

Dennis: Your cat temps and times to get those high temps are amazing. I rarely see that kind of response. This year I got it when using my wood removed from the first outer stack facing the wind, but now that I am into the next stack, not so good. The wood sizzles and struggles to get up to temp. The wood (soft maple and oak) has been split for 3 years and covered for the last full year. Go figure??

My 2 year old Cottonwood is burning like a champ, I loaded 4 splits and the cat rocketed to 450. The Cottonwood was stacked so that it was all better exposed to wind.

 

[pen]

My 2 year old Cottonwood is burning like a champ, I loaded 4 splits and the cat rocketed to 450. The Cottonwood was stacked so that it was all better exposed to wind.

If you are talking Fahrenheit, that's low for being a temp to rocket to.

pen

 

[Gasifier]

Just don't over do it until you know how your stove behaves.

+1 on this comment. If anyone doesn't have one, I would suggest some type of temperature gauge for your pipe above your stove. You can find a magnetic type for about $12. Helps to keep your fire in the right temperature range so you are not wasting wood. After a certain temperature, any stove can not readiate out any more heat fast enough, so the extra heat is going to go right up the pipe. Therefor wasting some wood. There is also the real chance of overfiring your stove. This can end up costing you some of that money you are saving. The smaller splits are a nice way to quicker heat. Stay warm and have a good one.

 

[Jack22]

I am glad I ran into this post because I am having a similar problem with my keystone. I am going to try smaller splits. My average temps on the keystone are in the high 400's. My wood is well seasoned (all splits are below 20% moisture content after re splitting). My chimney draft is great. I get nice long burns but not the high stove top temps I would like to see. Hope it works.

My Keystone's get much higher temps if I load 5-7 splits per full load verses 3-4 splits. You will still get the long burn times with smaller splits because of the cat.

Another thing I think a lot of people do with these stove is turn the air down too much too soon. Don't be afraid of the fire, it's got that big glass so you can watch the show. Let her rip for awhile at about 1.5 before turning it down, it will really pump out the heat. The other day when the wind was blowing hard and we had temps in the teens I let a full load rip for a good 2 hours at just under 1.5 and the stove top temp got close to 700 before I turned it down to a lower burn.

Just tried smaller splits and roaring the fire for a little extra time and it worked like a charm. I have been cruising in the high 500's for a couple hours now. Thanks for the advice.