i have been following this forum for sometime now and learned more than i ever would have imagined. One thing i'm a little confused on is ocassionally i read about a stove designed for burning 24/7 i'm just curious what are the characteristics of one of these stoves?what type/brand stoves are designed for this and which are not ( i realize this may be personal opinion) i guess i just assumed they were all tested for the most extreme use before being released and certified. thankyou in advance for any info!
what exactly qualifies a stove as a "24/7" stove?
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There is no official designation for a 24/7 stove. The person(s) loading and running the stove are the 24/7 part. But the term is sometimes used to indicate a stove that is designed to be run continuously and will hold a good fire for a long time, especially overnight.
A 24/7 stove should be tough, able to take running at sustained high temperatures for months. Although there are a lot of stoves that are built this way, some are not.
A 24/7 stove should be tough, able to take running at sustained high temperatures for months. Although there are a lot of stoves that are built this way, some are not.
Burning 24/7 is like having a member of the family that needs fed and cleaned out several times during that 24 hour period.
I think virtually all soapstone stoves are really meant to be used 24/7 since their heating and cooling cycles are so long. They take a long time to start to produce heat from a cold start so when you have one you prefer to never have it go out. Most large size stoves are good 24/7 stoves since their fireboxes hold enough wood to burn for a long time so they don't need frequent loading to burn continuosly. The smallest stoves in the cast and steel lines generally aren't used as 24/7 stoves since they need to be loaded much more frequently which is hard to keep up with. 24/7 stoves are designed for people who use them to do the majority of their home heating with a stove.
jpl1nh, I wouldnt exclude cast iron or steel stoves but I do agree on firebox size. Anything 2 cubic feet or larger is a "big" stove and capable of heating the average sized house, assuming it doesnt have air spaces between the shingles 
Ashes?
Every day?
That would take a stove off my list. I am a big fan of ash pans, having to rake coals and remove ashes every day would drive me cuckoo especially after having a stove with a riddling grate and BIG ash pans. Every other day at most is how often we empty our ash pans.
Ashes?
Every day?
That would take a stove off my list. I am a big fan of ash pans, having to rake coals and remove ashes every day would drive me cuckoo especially after having a stove with a riddling grate and BIG ash pans. Every other day at most is how often we empty our ash pans.
Babalu, you're right, didn't mean to exclude cast and steel, just the smallest cast and steel as oppossed to even the small soapstones which really only work well when burned 24/7. My Keystone only has a 1.5 cubic foot firebox but with the cat and the soapstone, it's absolutley a 24/7 burner. The only other stove that small that some might qualify in cast or steel is the VC intrepid cat though I think that's pushing it a bit. And the ashpan thing, couldn't agree more. If having a 24/7 stove is like tending a baby, I'd want a better 24/7 stove!babalu87 said:jpl1nh, I wouldnt exclude cast iron or steel stoves but I do agree on firebox size. Anything 2 cubic feet or larger is a "big" stove and capable of heating the average sized house, assuming it doesnt have air spaces between the shingles
Ashes?
Every day?
That would take a stove off my list. I am a big fan of ash pans, having to rake coals and remove ashes every day would drive me cuckoo especially after having a stove with a riddling grate and BIG ash pans. Every other day at most is how often we empty our ash pans.
A 24/7 stove is any stove that you tend often enough to keep it nurning...even a Frankin stove can be used 24/7...or an open fireplace for that matter if you feel like getting up every 2 hours at night to feed it. Ideally a stove used 24/7 will have a large enough firebox and can be damped down enough to burn unattended on a full load for 8 hours.
I would say the down draft type stoves are 24/7 burners. My Oakwood runs great when used this way, always a nice bed of coals for that secondary burn and if not run to hot you only have to load it twice a day, the nice benefit of the top loading feature. Ash removal is definitely once a day on this stove, but it's easy, a grate in the bottom of the fire box and and ash pan, no shoveling required.
I am new here, but consider a "24/7" how the stove is used, one that never reaches room temperature (or a very low temp) during the heating season. This is now my 4th continuous day of burning, house has been 71-74* over that time, with the exception of this morning at 68*, going to shovel the 3" of ash/coal now and re-load.
I would hope all decent stove would be built well enough to be burned 24/7. I think it is more how you use the stove then the stove it self.
Some would be eazier then others to burn 24/7.
Some would be eazier then others to burn 24/7.
A 24/7 stove is one in which the Miracle of Chanukah takes place, that being where a small amount of wood ends up lasting a long time
(sorry John, that is a play on your signature )
(sorry John, that is a play on your signature )
I think that is really what the question is... what stove features make it more amenable to 24/7 burning.johnsopi said:
Performance-wise, I think the most important is firebox geometry. "Squat" fireboxes will work better, i.e. the area of the firebox floor should be large. If it's small then coals buildup in the stove is more likely to be a problem.
But wouldn't a squat firebox also present more bottom surface area for the wood to be touching coals and burning anyway?
Yeah, I was going to dispute that squat firebox theory - I think this stuff "depends". If a stove has a design where the whole load burns at once, then a squat box would seem to work against the idea of longer burns. I think none of these rules are hard and fast.....but in general a taller box and/or one with end to end burning would seem to have advantages.
My workday is started, I'll explain my position later. In the meantime, can you show me an example of a tall-geometry firebox that has a good reputation as a 24/7 burner?
Encore
All the old VC's
Jotul Firelight (top loading)
Quad top loading units
Most central heat units, including both older and newer (downdraft)
I think the actual reason for large "base" geometries is due to two things:
1. EPA - it is easier to attain and keep critical mass, because not as much "cold space" in the firebox
2. Fit - since stoves have to match fireplace heights (as hearth stoves) and often fit into relatively low crocks, the fireboxes cannot be high.
My stab at a guess, anyway. If you think about it you can understand how a stove with a small base and tall firebox would be tough to pass EPA non-cat standards...especially a regular updraft non-cat since the wood load would large in relation to the quantity of cold wood on the top. So large bases do favor the passing of EPA (IMHO), but not always the length of burn.
All the old VC's
Jotul Firelight (top loading)
Quad top loading units
Most central heat units, including both older and newer (downdraft)
I think the actual reason for large "base" geometries is due to two things:
1. EPA - it is easier to attain and keep critical mass, because not as much "cold space" in the firebox
2. Fit - since stoves have to match fireplace heights (as hearth stoves) and often fit into relatively low crocks, the fireboxes cannot be high.
My stab at a guess, anyway. If you think about it you can understand how a stove with a small base and tall firebox would be tough to pass EPA non-cat standards...especially a regular updraft non-cat since the wood load would large in relation to the quantity of cold wood on the top. So large bases do favor the passing of EPA (IMHO), but not always the length of burn.
OK, I'm not familiar with any of these, except the VC, and am not a big fan of downdraft designs. I should have qualified my statement to refer to updraft non-cats.Webmaster said:
Should we be discussing anything non-EPA? So - make that current-production updraft non-cats...
That was exactly what I had in mind. And once the load is burned the coals get distributed over a smaller base area, hence the buildup issue.
I have two stoves here which illustrate this. The Quad 2100 is as you say a large-base geometry, the Nestor Martin X33 is small-base. The 2100 is a great round-the-clock burner. The X33 is not, unless you like feeding it small loads hourly...
wood4heat said:
I think any stove can be used 24/7 with some caveats. I think a good 24/7 stove has a large firebox so you only load it up every 8 hours or so on a low burn. It should also have a large ashpan that doesn't require emptying every day. I'd also like to see one that has an easy side or top load feature (personal preference). It should also be able to run overnight (10 hours) and still have good hot coals in the morning so you don't have to start the fire from scratch.
For instance, my Vermont Castings Defiant Catalytic is fairly trouble free 24/7. I can load it before I leave the house and still have hot coals when I return. It burns all night without problems. I only have to empty the ashpan every few days. It is a top loader which is really nice and produces less mess while allowing me to pack in a huge load of wood. Finally, it has a thermostatic damper that keeps the temperature exactly where I want it without having to worry about a manual damper.
I've seen many other stove brands with similar features (except for perhaps the thermostatic damper). I definitely wouldn't purchase a 24/7 stove with a small firebox, small ashpan and can't keep a fire for at least 8 hours.
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