White oak vs Maple

[bmwbj]

Ok, this is my 5th. year of burning my Interpid II and I am just starting to
burn up all my Maple, so I'm now into 1 year old White oak. Wow what a
difference between the burn rates and adjustments. I would always engage the
cat when the stove reached the proper temps and everything worked perfectly
but my stove temps always fluctuated alot.
Now when I'm burning Oak, and I engage the cat. the stove temps seem to
steady themselves and the burn times have increased to double the time. It is a
whole new ball game, with different wood...I had to learn the burning process all over
again, but I must say I do like the oak better. I have no backpuffing issues and the
stove works much easier with a slower burning wood like oak. My Cat. convertor
is also running cooler and seems more to be easier to light off and stay lit with oak.
I can also put more wood in the stove now, with less chances of over-firing due to
the steadier burn temps of oak. Just an FYI...

 

[jetmech]

First season using the intrepid 1303.. yesterday loaded completly full with seasoned oak. After cat engagement stove around 500 deg in about 2 hours started to climb to almost 700. adjusted air almost all the way off and it cooled to 475. Looked inside and had massive amount of coals burning with blue flame. Made me a little nervous thats first time really loaded her up. Will be a little cautious in the future. Stove was above 300 degrees for about 51/2 to 6 hours during this burn, still learning about this bad boy but having fun in the process. The Jet

 

[Backwoods Savage]

As many will learn, just putting "wood" in the stove is much different from knowing what you will get from which fuel! Hard maple is different than soft maple. White oak is different than red oak. Oak is different than maple. And of course, elm, cherry, ash, birch, pine, locust, poplar, etc., etc. They all burn differently. It is all a part of the learning process and takes time.

Glad this is working out good for you.

 

[bmwbj]

Jet, I have noticed mine spike in grittle temps as high as 750, but I know
it's not the whole stove temps, but just where the fire was concentrated.
I try to keep mine right around 600 most of the time, minor spiking
is normal, but It was much more common when burning the maple.
Not so much burning the oak. I have never loaded mine completly,
I only put in about 3 to 4 small splits at a time on top of the coal bed.
I to am afraid of over firing it and not being able to do anything
about it...

 

[oldAGE]

I believe that white oak and black locust have similar densities (why they burn slower) yet the white oak has a higher btu property. "Maple" is a loosely termed wood as the Acer has a myriad of different properties depending on the subspecies -- silver vs. sugar vs. red vs. Martian... In other words -- one man's "maple" is soft while another man's maple is "harder." (No puns intended -- well, maybe ;-) )

So, pound per pound, you will get longer burns and greater heat from a cord of white oak than any species of maple. Since you will generate more heat per stove load, you will light off your cat a bit earlier and then the stove will be as efficient as it can possibly be since it will consume less wood with more heat needing less air keeping the draft up and remain consistent through the entire burn.

So, as others have written -- Know Thy Fuel for each fire you make. I actually use different species for my needs (quick burners for a little heat to take the edge off, long burners for slow, long duration for consistently colder days, etc.).

ps to BMWBJ -- is this stove new to you? Can you actually cool your stove down with the primary air control? With the primary air completely closed, will your fire douse (go out)? If so, knock it down to 450 after you have a nice coal bed and see if it holds -- then fill it up and open your air to 1/3 opened and see what happens. While the new fuel begins it's consumption, your stove temp should drop for a bit. As it rises to 550, back down the air more and see what happens. Can you keep it at 550? Find that sweet spot between the CAT damper and the primary air. You may see a 50 degree flux but if you have an airtight stove and a functioning CAT, with good fuel, you can tweak this bad boy without concern.

 

[bmwbj]

ps to BMWBJ -- is this stove new to you? Can you actually cool your stove down with the primary air control? With the primary air completely closed, will your fire douse (go out)? If so, knock it down to 450 after you have a nice coal bed and see if it holds -- then fill it up and open your air to 1/3 opened and see what happens. While the new fuel begins it's consumption, your stove temp should drop for a bit. As it rises to 550, back down the air more and see what happens. Can you keep it at 550? Find that sweet spot between the CAT damper and the primary air. You may see a 50 degree flux but if you have an airtight stove and a functioning CAT, with good fuel, you can tweak this bad boy without concern.

Oldage, Yes I can regulate the tmps with the primary air supply, it just takes 1/2 hour to see the change, and
if I shut it back too far the cat will turn off. So it seems 550 to 650 is a good running
temp on the grittle surface for the cat to "purr" properly (pardon the joke). If I load her up with too
much wood she seems to run way to hot and cutting it back will only cause backpuffing.
Small loads and hight temps seem to make a perfect match between cat operation and primary air supply.

 

[oldAGE]

Well this just does not seem right. You can choke off the burn completely with your primary air -- which means that the stove is tight -- no air leaks. Next, if you add wood to it, it gets "too hot" but cutting it back causes backpuffing (which is a sign of air starvation). So, to me, and hopefully others, this means that you have a bit of a quagmire but I don't know what that is. What do you consider too hot. I can only assume that when you see back puffing, you open her up just a minute hair??? Very very small increments.

When my Encore runs correctly (I have a bit of a leak that I still can't find), I will get a bit of back puffing (very rarely does anything leak out -- maybe just a hint of a wood fire) and I move my air forward (in my case) two millimeters (literally -- just a hair) and the backpuffing subsides and she sits at 550ish -- maybe moves up to 625 a bit and then back down -- and just sits there.

Have you experimented with very very minor adjustments? This is more ART than science.

AGE

 

[jetmech]

Thanks for the info bmwbj, The learning experience goes on and on... I need to figure out how to move air from room stove is in to the rest of my house. My stove sits in a sun room about 16X20 and joins a room same size with a 6 foot opening between them. Yesterday it was 77 in sunroom and 71 in living room, when i bought this stove i didnt realize the heat it can produce. Im looking at those fans that mount in doorway corners to try and move some air. Although it hasnt been really cold here yet so who knows..