Which one... narrow 22" E/W box, or wider E/W & N/S??

[Mr. Kelly]

What do you think?

Jotul Oslo type boxes have a narrow 22" log length box, and many others have more of a "square" box that will do 18" E/W, and perhaps the same N/S.

Any opinions or experiences you'd like to share?

 

[SolarAndWood]

I cracked the glass twice with the old stove loading E/W. Its a non-issue loading N/S.

 

[Dirtgrain]

I would like to read more about this, too (and I've done a lot of searching). I'm looking at a Lopi Republic 1750i, which has a pretty square firebox. It can take max. 18" logs, in either direction, I think. It is 2.2 cubic feet. I wonder if others have been frustrated with these limitations. I've also considered getting an Avalon Olympic, which is wider (can take 24" logs) but not as deep (maybe can take 15" logs front to back (based on my approximations at the shop)). In many ways, the Republic is just right for me (heating ability, efficiency, price), but I wonder if I'll regret not getting an insert that can take longer logs.

 

[firefighterjake]

It's a non-issue. You learn how to place the wood in the firebox to reduce the wood rolling into the glass . . . and even if it does roll into the glass it hasn't been an issue so far with 1+ years of burning 24/7.

While it is true it is harder to burn NS (unless you chunk up your wood to much shorter lengths or only burn chunks when you want the NS fire), the truth of the matter is EW loading has been fine for me . . . I read about loading the firebox one way for the quick, not fire and the other way for a longer burn . . . but what I've found with the Oslo is what I load for wood (softwood vs. hardwood), the size of the wood (small vs. large), how full I load the firebox (small load vs. big load) how much air I give to the fire (more air vs. less air) and how hot I get the firebox gives me control over the fire and whether I want to do a quick, hot fire or a slow, overnighter.

 

[gpcollen1]

I cracked the glass twice with the old stove loading E/W. Its a non-issue loading N/S.

How do you crack it loading E/W??

 

[SolarAndWood]

I cracked the glass twice with the old stove loading E/W. Its a non-issue loading N/S.

How do you crack it loading E/W??

I wasn't present on either occasion. My suspicion is the stove was already hot and that some decent sized splits were thrown in the top load kind of like you would toss something into a burn barrel. Or as the fire was going, a piece on top rolled forward into the glass. There is a fire going 7 months a year 24/7, so anything that can go wrong eventually will. While I don't really care for the industrial look of the BK, it is nearly idiot proof from an operational and robustness standpoint. This is good given the amount of heat we expect our stove to put out every year.

Burning N/S can be much easier depending on the shape of the firebox. I haven't gone E/W yet in this stove and 18" splits are pretty easy for everyone to handle.

 

[drdoct]

N/S burning much preferred over E/W. I can do both in mine and after a few trials.... only load N/S now. It's sooo much easier to burn this way. No worry about a log rolling out or trying to get that last log in. You can see everything right there and can load right up to the tubes. I leave about an inch between my logs and glass but that's about it. I'll never own a stove that is E/W.

 

[Wet1]

Burning N/S can be much easier depending on the shape of the firebox. I haven't gone E/W yet in this stove and 18" splits are pretty easy for everyone to handle.

I think you'll find loading the BKK NS significantly easier than trying to load EW with 20"+ splits. Loading the back EW is easy, but it gets more tricky to stuff the front since the door is only so big. Stick with NS if you have all 18" stuff.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

What I'm trying to ascertain here is - does having a shallower 22" box trump a shorter box that can load both directions? My thought is that having a longer shallower box would be helpful mostly if you have predominantly longer sticks on your pile, no?

Jake... how do you load your box? Do you put mostly longer sticks on for overnighters? With your narrower box, can you actually load anything N/S? How deep do you figure the Oslo's box is? When you load that thing up to the gill, is it mostly the longer pieces? I'm actually considering the Oslo now, even after I insulted your choice earlier! :0

 

[begreen]

The F400 had a shallow box. I still liked it for the long wood length capacity. Occasionally a log would roll up against the glass. Not a big deal though.

That said, I do enjoy having a bigger playground in the T6. The flexibility is nice. I load N/S, E/W and sometimes diagonally if the stick is too long. Last night I was burning chunks, so I guess one could also say I'm burning vertically.

 

[firefighterjake]

What I'm trying to ascertain here is - does having a shallower 22" box trump a shorter box that can load both directions? My thought is that having a longer shallower box would be helpful mostly if you have predominantly longer sticks on your pile, no?

Jake... how do you load your box? Do you put mostly longer sticks on for overnighters? With your narrower box, can you actually load anything N/S? How deep do you figure the Oslo's box is? When you load that thing up to the gill, is it mostly the longer pieces? I'm actually considering the Oslo now, even after I insulted your choice earlier! :0

I still maintain that what matters more is the size of the firebox rather than the dimensions . . . just like some folks like stoves that are top loaders, some prefer soapstone stoves and some folks only swear by stoves with ash pans . . . I think it's a matter of preference to some degree . . . and what stove you first owned. All I've ever had in life were stoves that were long and narrow . . . which is probably why I didn't bat an eyelash when I realized the Oslo's firebox being long and narrow pretty much eliminated many NS burns.

Since I cut my wood 18-20 inches or so in length I'm still getting a lot of wood into the firebox . . . now if the dimensions were such that I had to cut shorter length wood and could go with either NS or EW loads I might experiment some . . . but as I said in my earlier posts . . . for me . . . what determines if my fire is a quick, fast fire or a long one is the fuel and air.

For your specific question . . . I always load EW unless I have some chunks to burn up in which case I may go NS with them. All my wood is around 18-20 iniches (give or take some inches . . . I'm not a perfectionist and don't really care if my wood pile is pretty or not . . . for me I'm not planning on entering my wood into a beauty contest or need to keep the stacks pretty to make the neighbors happy) so it doesn't matter if the fire is for the overnight or during the day. During the day however I generally do not use the larger rounds and splits (talking diamater here, not length) . . . I save them for the overnight.

So to summarize: If I want a quick, hot fire: I'll select smaller splits and rounds, not load up the firebox as much and generally select woods that are softwood or soft hardwoods such as poplar. Like most every other load, the load is EW, but the key being here the wood is smaller in diameter (length is a constant ... unless I have any of the aforementioned chunks to burn up.)

If I want a long, overnight burn: I'll select larger rounds and splits (diameter, not length) and select good hardwood (in my case, having no oak, hickory or locust . . . I go with red or sugar maple, elm or white ash.) Again, the load is EW but this time the firebox is loaded up (leaving 1-3 inches of space from the top.)