Warmer Weather Burning

[Mike Wilson]

So its been 50 degrees during the day, and 25 degrees at night... for a month now. Usually in this situation I'll start a fire at about 4:00PM, and let that go overnight. The last load of wood goes in at 11:00PM. At 7:00AM the house is a nice 70 degrees or so, and I have enough coals to keep the stove (not the house) warm until about noon. Not bad. Then 4:00 rolls around again, and I start a new fire, from cold. The stove has cooled down at this point, and more importantly, so has my fireplace, which is 6' wide by 3.5' thick... its a lot of masonry. Usually the granite surround heats up pretty well, especially on the top and top-sides of the stove, and it certainly helps heat the house, plus, the granite retains heat for a good time time after the stove is out. (external fireplace, yes, I know, internal is better, its a giant heat sink, etc.)

The problem is this... when I restart the fire from cold at 4:00PM, it generally takes one load of wood, burned in a rip-roaring-heat-up-the-stove-and-masonry way to get the fireplace nice and hot... and I am thinking this load of wood could be better used. Instead of letting it die in this weird weather pattern, I am experimenting with just dropping in another load at 8:00AM, and letting that burn lightly for 8-9 hours, until 4:00PM, when I load it again for the night. Not so much for keeping the house warm, the solar will keep it at 74 degrees all day, but more for just keeping the stove/fireplace/flue warm, and not having to reheat that whole mass. I probably won't even turn the fan on in the insert, no need for the heat, just want to keep the system hot.
Basically, it comes down to adding one more load of wood per day, that's all.

So, what does everyone else do in this weather, let it die and restart, or just keep her chugging along?

-- Mike

 

[babalu87]

We let it die , hell Monday night I didnt even light it off and it was 68 when I woke up.

I get a decent load going and bank it down for the night letting it go out during the day. We have the same good solar working for us and if its sunny it maintains the heat all day.

All we have to heat up is the concrete board hanging off of spacers and the stove. No masonry brickwork to heat up.

I havent fully loaded the firebox yet this year
When I say fully loaded I mean I scrounge for bits that I can jam in the spaces between the rounds and big splits.

 

[ChrisN]

Mike I'm doing pretty mcuh what you are experimenting with. I get home from work about 5pm and there is a smallish bed of coals. The house is pretty warm 68 to 70. I throw on a stick or two and maintain a small fire throughout the evening. Before bed I load the stove up, let it get burning good and then shut the damper down. in the A.M. I still have a good bed of coals, load it up again and let it establish a good burn and then shut it down to simmer for the day.. I've been a bit concerned about the low-level burns, accumulating creosolte, but so far my viewing glass has stayed pretty clear. I'm planning on doing my mid-season brush-out the chimney/pipe in the next week or so to see how my buring style has affected the chimney.

 

[tw40x81]

We let it die. I try to keep lots of little dry kindling around and have discovered the value of cardboard, thanks to someone on this fourm. This makes for quick startups when the house starts getting cold.

 

[DeanBrown3D]

Sometimes I let it die, sometimes I throw some on in the morning. Depends how cold it is in the AM and what the weather looks like for the rest of the day. You're right, it does seem like it takes a whole load to get the house up to temperature after work. What I do is try to decide if I will be home an hour earlier than the rest of the family, and if so I may leave it to burn out, because I'll have time to light it up and get the house warm before they come home.

A few sticks on the hot coals (dead fallen twigs on the lawn) are great to get it going again, with a chunk of pine on top of that, makes for a nice air space for a short time. A bit of kerosene too works wonders

 

[Gunner]

We have been letting ours die, and as a result have been using WAY more kindling than we thought.

 

[tw40x81]

It started with a pile of cardboard shipping boxes that I had been saving for no reason. All my stick kindling was damp and it was raining outside. A couple of damp smaller splits were smoldering in the stove and it was taking far too long to get up to temp. One box added to the stove and poof, almost instant secondary igniton. I cut the air to limit the flames. The box burned longer than I imagined it would and it certainly dried out the splits in the stove. They were just damp mind you, perhaps a little exterior mosture from the rain, but very well seasoned. On my last visit to the grocery store, I was oogling at two hand trucks loaded with nice cardboard. I wonder if cardboard has a favorable BTU per pound than cord wood? Favorable only because of its moisture content I suppose. It's just that it so bulky.

 

[tw40x81]

If I have bright yellow flames licking up past the baffle I've got too much primary air for the available fuel. True? My aim was to slow the burn rate of the cardboard as much as possible since it is so quick. I assume that cardboard gassifies in the same fashon as wood, only it does so in a very short period of time. There should be enough secondary air to burn all the gasses that are released, since I can't control the secondary air.

Suppose the stove was very hot, hot enough to gassify the solid fuel, and I could close both secondary air and primary air. Would the unburned gas appear as smoke in the stove? I guess what I'm asking is is smoke and unburned gasses one in the same?

 

[suematteva]

Where we are we had to keep the stove going,,had a couple days when we could let it go out, but for the most part have been keeping the fires small during the day..

In between Christmas and New years we actually had two nights when it got cold..-2 one night and 2 the next...actually got to load it good..

 

[MrGriz]

I've been letting the fire die out and re-lighting in the evening. If I am going to be home in the office all day, I may keep a small fire going.

 

[Mike Wilson]

I played around with running a small fire today while I was out of the house (put a load in at 8 am, let it heat up, then dampered down), and then adding a load at about 4:00PM. Forget it. I was in and out most of the day, and yes, it burned, but it really didn't make that much of a difference when I reloaded it at 4. Yes, the masonry was still hot, but I still had to heat the stove up from about 250 degrees, with a hot fast fire for 20-30 minutes or so. Used cardboard to start the evening fire, worked well... need more cardboard now. Overall, I don't see an advantage to running it during the day, so long as its sunny outside. I'll let it die in the morning, and just restart her at 4.

-- Mike

 

[laynes69]

Before I go to bed, I will full up the furnace. I get a good overnight burn and I wake up at 5:00 am which is still very cold out. I will throw 3 to 4 decent splits on the fire and go to work. When my wife wakes up, around 7:30 am the furnace is still going. Around 10 or 11am she will add 3 small splits to the fire. This will keep coals for hours probably till 4:00 to 5:00 pm. I'll add a couple splits and that will work till bedtime when its time to reload. She burns maybe 4 to 6 pieces of wood while im at work. So in other words we will feed a couple splits here and there to keep a fire. I hate relighting the fire all of the time, so we try to keep it going.

 

[elkimmeg]

Mike excellent post. Besides frequent lighting and letting the fire burn down lower and smolder, We all are increasing the propensity of creating creosote.
Our draft is weaker when warmer, we are starting it up and letting it die down. The flue cools down and has to be warmed again, all conditions for creosote development
This weekend, I consider this mid season ,and will clean out the flues, connector pipes, and stoves. While down, the Cat combustors too

 

[babalu87]

This weekend, I consider this mid season ,and will clean out the flues, connector pipes, and stoves. While down, the Cat combustors too

The fact that it is projected to be 65! makes that perfect timing

SIXTY FIVE in JANUARY I think I am already ahead on 07-08 wood

 

[zzr7ky]

I've taken the warm weather as a sign that The little Poplar, and Sassafrass I've got should be burned now. It looks like a nice rip-roaring fire, but just doesn't kick out the BTU's like real hardwood.

I also load it well with good hardwood for overnight. Ket it go out during the day and restart if needed in the evening on weekdays.

ATB,
Mike P

 

[Mike Wilson]

Supposed to be 60 here on Saturday... God I love this Global Warming stuff... have to go to the cemetery and thank the grandparents.

-- Mike

 

[babalu87]

Thanks again Mike that is a dandy

Maybe we should all leave thank you notes at the gates of all the power plants and foundries as well?

 

[tw40x81]

Aren't volcanos deserved of any thanks? The cows?

Moo...

 

[wg_bent]

Aren't volcanos deserved of any thanks? The cows?

Moo...

<Sarcasm bits on> Just because a single volcano eruption is responsible for more greenhouse gasses in 10 minutes than all the coal plants over the next 10 years? Why should we consider that? ;-) <Sarcasm off>

Ash can subject at this point.

 

[babalu87]

Ash can subject at this point.

That would depend on what way you lean politically

 

[Robbie]

I put this here since it has to do with warm weather..............see, I'm saving room on the forums. :lol:

It's sunny and 68.9 here in Tenn. at 11:00 am...............what in the world is going on ?

Had no fire last night, just a little ceramic heater, temp in the house at bedtime were 76 with this little heater.

I here frogs hollering around my pond, birds are every where.

No blooms yet but I'm sure they will follow soon.



Robbie

 

[tjg911]

There is no way I could keep a fire going with these temperatures. I had a fire in the woodstove Thursday night and did not have another until Monday night! From Jan. 4-8 I should normally have the stove going 24 hours a day unless it's full sun and temps are above 35, under those conditions I use the passive solar during the day but would always use the stove at night. Saturday it was 72 here, prior record was 70, normal is 34 and these are daytime temps. Bizzare to go out at 4 am with the dog and it is 57 degrees! So far my wood usage is on par with late November, I have used just 1 cord. I saw snow flurries 2 times and there is no snow anywhere, yet to see any snow on the ground. The ground has frozen a couple of times and thawed out. When it rains I am getting worms out of the lawn on the driveway like in the summer. Tonight they are calling for 17 - we have had 31 consecutive days above normal.

As tax payers the warmth is saving a ton of money but as someone that likes cold winter temps and snow this is a disappointing winter.

Tom