When is it Safe to go to Bed?

[isipwater]

I am trying to figure out how to know when it is safe to stop watching the fire so I can go to bed.

Currently, I am waiting about 2+ hours after my final load for the night but it seems a bit long. I usually wait this long so that most of the wood gas has released and been ignited.

What I find confusing is that sometimes when I think I have the stove in the safe range (cruising at 500 - 600F) so I can stop monitoring, the stove temp can have a surprise spike. I think this is due to the secondaries gradually/slowly getting things hotter. These surprise temp spikes make it hard for me to relax and go to bed.

What helps you judge when it is safe to go to bed? What should I be looking for?

Thanks.

 

[begreen]

You should stay within your comfort zone. I have the reloading down now so that there are no surprises and am comfortable with 30-60 minutes after reloading. But we haven't had a surprise spike in a couple years. In the past, as I was learning about EPA stoves with a big fuel charge this was not always so.

 

[Charles1981]

Time and experience I think. I'm at the point were as long as there is a decent bed of coals I can pack it 20 minutes before going to bed, shut down the air after it has taken off and go to bed without concern, but my stove never sneaks up over 600-650 on its own however. If it did start doing this on me, I would be concerned fora leak or faulty gasket.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Only experience looking at the fire will give you an idea of what the fire will do. And faith in your stove to contain it. And a good smoke detector.

It comes in time. I wait for an hour or so until I'm comfortable with this stove. There is a lot of wood burning in it. I don't want to make a mistake.

Now, with the Century with the 1 cubic foot firebox I didn't worry as much.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I load the stove and close the air down a good amount and go to bed. The coals will heat the wood until it reaches ignition temps. It takes it about a half hour to light off. When it does, you can hear a quiet whoosh as the secondaries light off and then it cruises at about 700 on the outside of the stovepipe. Sometimes it will hit 800+ and then it throws off some heat.
It is 88°F in here right now and it is 7.5°F outside. Yep, nice and toasty. It will get loaded with some nice oak chunks before bed. I like wet oak because it lasts a little longer. The dry stuff burns up too fast. No problems with creosote so far, and I sweep the chimney at least once a month, but there is hardly anything there.

 

[lopiliberty]

I give my stove and hour or so before I go to bed. I load the night load between 250 and 300 with the coals raked to the front but still sometimes it takes off like a rocket. There was a time on my night loads the air tubes would be glowing red stove at 700 and I would not go to bed now it doesn't really bother me that much. There is a point into my night load when I can look at the fire and tell I can close the air all the way and still have a good clean burn. How high are the surprise temperature spikes?

 

[Jdog]

I'm right there with ya isipwater must be a green horn thing all the vets are like oh well time for sleep me I close my eyes and I make my self hear things so I'll get up go set in there for a bit I know it's fine but just new and my grandpa told me boy when u invite fire in ur house treat him well.

 

[firefighterjake]

10:02 p.m.

For me personally . . . I try to time things so the final reload is about 1/2 hour to an hour before heading to bed. Usually 30 minutes is all I need . . . sometimes longer . . . but there have been times when I didn't like what I was seeing and I stayed up far longer.

Short answer . . . whatever time it takes to make you feel comfortable.

 

[Mr A]

Don't reload too tired and leave the door cracked open.

 

[begreen]

It's not safe to go to bed until the monsters under the bed are asleep.

 

[MJFlores]

For what it's worth, I'm in bed within 5 minutes after putting in the final load for the night. Shut the door, make sure the air is cut back for a long burn, flip the combustor lever up and then I'm headed to the bedroom. Try this sometime...stuff the stove full during the day when you're around doing stuff, crack the air more than you wood at night and then check it every once in a while...it'll all go smooth, so there's no reason doing the same will cause an issue just because you're asleep right? No worries, stoves were designed to hold very hot fires, and with air cut back you wont run into excessive temp.

 

[Jdog]

I tell my self that all the time mjflores that's what it's made for and iv did what u said during the day time and for the most part all was well but I still find myself in the stove room just watching till wee hrs

 

[northwinds]

I never go to bed unless it's under 700 and levelled off. Usually, that takes about 30 minutes or so. If it is creeping up, I stay up. Doesn't happen often.

 

[xman23]

For what it's worth, I'm in bed within 5 minutes after putting in the final load for the night. Shut the door, make sure the air is cut back for a long burn, flip the combustor lever up and then I'm headed to the bedroom. Try this sometime...stuff the stove full during the day when you're around doing stuff, crack the air more than you wood at night and then check it every once in a while...it'll all go smooth, so there's no reason doing the same will cause an issue just because you're asleep right? No worries, stoves were designed to hold very hot fires, and with air cut back you wont run into excessive temp.

That's what I do. But I rarely need the stove to run more than 400 max, so its choked down before it lights the reload on a bed of coals.

 

[egclassic]

Oh Yes, the night load! I have had many nights where I load up the stove an hour or so before bed and end up staying awake 2-3 hours longer than intended, because the stove took off. I have even had times where I got the stove settled in, went to bed and woke up an hour or so later to get some water, checked on the stove and found it blazing away.
I am still learning and experimenting myself.

 

[Lumberjack]

Don't reload too tired and leave the door cracked open.

What Mr A said....you don't want to fall asleep before turning the air down. For me that usually means 10-15 minutes until I turn the air down. I bought a manual kitchen timer with a bell as a reminder.

I fell asleep once and that was enough....not sure how hot things got as I caught it on the way down.....

 

[Valhalla]

I head for the sack when Oslo is loaded, but in a stable secondary burn, with the primary air shut down.

 

[Sinngetreu]

It's not safe to go to bed until the monsters under the bed are asleep.

You make your kids sleep under the bed?
Just kidding.
I have a 5 year old, I couldn't help myself.

 

[begreen]

Make sure they don't grab your ankles if you need to get out of bed and pee in the middle of the night.

 

[isipwater]

I give my stove and hour or so before I go to bed. I load the night load between 250 and 300 with the coals raked to the front but still sometimes it takes off like a rocket. There was a time on my night loads the air tubes would be glowing red stove at 700 and I would not go to bed now it doesn't really bother me that much. There is a point into my night load when I can look at the fire and tell I can close the air all the way and still have a good clean burn. How high are the surprise temperature spikes?

My temp spikes can go over 750F, and this is when I have been careful about monitoring the air intake and even have it closed all the way. I was looking at my manual last night, trying to figure out why I am having these problems. The manual says that my stove top thermometer should be above the stove door. However I have been having it in the middle of the stove top. Perhaps I have been having misleading thermometer readings that are higher than they would be if the thermometer was above the stove door.

 

[BrotherBart]

Do what it takes. My target is an hour. The 30 sometimes makes that a pipe dream with a full load.

 

[WiscWoody]

I load the stove and close the air down a good amount and go to bed. The coals will heat the wood until it reaches ignition temps. It takes it about a half hour to light off. When it does, you can hear a quiet whoosh as the secondaries light off and then it cruises at about 700 on the outside of the stovepipe. Sometimes it will hit 800+ and then it throws off some heat.
It is 88°F in here right now and it is 7.5°F outside. Yep, nice and toasty. It will get loaded with some nice oak chunks before bed. I like wet oak because it lasts a little longer. The dry stuff burns up too fast. No problems with creosote so far, and I sweep the chimney at least once a month, but there is hardly anything there.

Holy smokes! 88! I'd be out in the cold cooling off, well not tonight since it is -25 now and going to -40 they say.
I keep my house a 68. It's whatever your comfortable with I guess.

 

[Cynnergy]

We've loaded the stove, watched it until it seemed to stabilize around 500 stovetop with the air all the way shut, and gone to bed. I woke up and checked on it 2 hrs later and it was at 725! No idea what temps were in the meantime.

I still don't know why and haven't been able to make it happen again. I think our wet wood taking time to cook out the moisture had something to do with it. I've started to turn down the air much quicker (to half at 300 and inching it down slowly all the way at 400) and that seems to have helped. Also trying to load at lower temps (under 300).

I can now tell quite easily when the stove is heating up fast by what it sounds like so that helps with fine tuning.

 

[rdust]

When I had an Endeavor it liked to run hot on a full load. After burning it for a while it was somewhat predictable, it would run hot but not too hot. One of the main reasons that stove is no longer on my hearth, too hot and too little control.

 

[rwhite]

Once you learn your stove you'll figure out how long it takes to burn dowm with the air in different positions. I try and time my last load to go in about an hour before bed. That means I have to sometimes open the primary air 2 hours before and let it burn down to my liking before loading the last one. Either way I always make sure it is shut down before I head off.