Wood-burning efficiency…

[Mr. Kelly]

Hi everyone…

I’d like some opinions on how to best use my PE Summit to its full potential.

I bet I’ve been running this thing for about 10 to 13 years, and I still don’t think I have it dialed in just right. I use it to try to heat my 2000 square-foot old and drafty farmhouse. I burned 24/7.

Most of the time, I’ll only put three or four splits in there, because it seems to keep the area anywhere near the stove at a pretty reasonable temperature… But I read lots of people say that I should load the stove completely up, which would probably be double the amount of splits.

If I did this, it does produce a fair amount more heat right around the stove area, maybe too much, but the burns don’t really seem to last a huge amount longer… Which means I’d have a whole bunch more heat blasting out in the immediate vicinity, but does that really do much for the rest of the house? And, I’d be using twice the amount of wood.

What would be the most efficient way to burn with this stove to heat a very drafty old 2000 square-foot farmhouse?

Thoughts and opinions would be great!

 

[NickW]

First I'd suggest doing whatever can be done to reduce drafts, which can be a challenge in old homes.

Moving air around is one of the biggest challenges of wood burning. As discussed in other threads pushing cold air from the farthest reaches from the stove towards it creates the best air loop, but if you immediately lose the warm air to drafts it isn't helpful.

Larger loads should last longer by reducing the air a bit more to control output. The area directly adjacent to the stove will obviously be the warmest. For example, in my basement install with an open stairwell, I regularly have the rec room where the stove is over 80 but the upstairs is 68-72.

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

I have operated your Summit's little brother for the last 25 years now, my owners manual states I can put 39-40 lbs of wood in it because it has a small 2 cu. ft firebox only, I will fill it up for overnight burns only ( we are retired and home most of the time so easy to do more frequent reloading ). To obtain longer overnight burns I use larger splits and rounds placed north-south direction over a large bed of glowing coals and will let these larger splits catch and burn well for about 25-30 minutes, when fully and well inflamed I shut my air intake fully, my stove then burns slowly, 8 hours later in the morning I normally have plenty of red coals to re-kindle my fire with.
Your Summit has 2 advantages over my PE Spectrum Classic , 1- EBT Extended Burn Technology, 2- you can load E-W or N-S as you prefer. In my case if I owned a Summit for my needs I would load E-W with larger split or round pieces as normally you obtain longer burns E-W direction in your Summit.
No two installations/setups are the same, too many factors affect all aspects and duration of the burn , however experimenting E-W cost you nothing.
Try it and let us all know your results.

 

[begreen]

There's lots of ways to burn. The good thing is that the Summit is a flexible stove that works well with both partial and full loads.

I have recently come back from a stay at a friend's house with a Summit. It was interesting to compare diffences in burning techniques. Their place is 1600 sq ft, open floorplan, and very well insulated. Ours is an old 2000 sq ft farmhouse which is no longer drafty (it used to be) but still has an absurd amount of windows retrofitted over it's 100 yr life. In New England it would be a bear to heat without thermal curtains. For an old house the floorplan is unusually open which helps a lot with heat distribution.

They only put in 4-5 splits in the stove unless it is very cold out. This is so that the place doesn't overheat. They prefer a cooler house with 68º daytime temps and 65º at night. We keep the house warmer at around 71-72º daytime and 68º overnight. We have a heat pump for backup heat, they heat almost exclusively with the Summit.

We run partial loads when it's 45º outside and full loads when it's below 40º. The T6 warms up slower than the Summit due to the large mass of cast iron surrounding the firebox. It operates more like a big flywheel for heat. The secret to not overheating the house with our stove is to pack the firebox tightly, especially the bottom row or two, using large 6" splits with smaller ones wedged in between. The top can be a bit looser for a top down start. The second part of control is watching the flue temp closely to shut down the air as soon as possible without extinguishing the flames. A digital flue thermometer makes a big difference in control. Running the stove like this leads to a slower buildup of heat and a long decline in stove temp after peak burn. The effect is an initial push to raise the room temp up 3 degrees and then a steady, lower btu output to maintain it. Evening reload is a bit trickier because the house is already up to temp. If I err, the living room temp might go up to 74º in milder weather, but that is ok with my wife and cat. Once temps drop below 35º this is not an issue.

 

[begreen]

Your Summit has 2 advantages over my PE Spectrum Classic , 1- EBT Extended Burn Technology, 2- you can load E-W or N-S as you prefer. In my case if I owned a Summit for my needs I would load E-W with larger split or round pieces as normally you obtain longer burns E-W direction in your Summit.
No two installations/setups are the same, too many factors affect all aspects and duration of the burn , however experimenting E-W cost you nothing.
Try it and let us all know your results.

We burn similarly. The Spectrum has a linked secondary air control which was very good at extending burn times. When Tom's shop tested stoves that stove had the longest burn time of any, including the Summit and our T6.

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

Thank you begreen, did not know that or do not remember Tom mentioning that, as usual you are a wealth of knowledge and information.
What has adding EBT to PE's midsize stoves done as an improvement, if any ?

 

[begreen]

The EBT1 was not a big success. That led to the EBT2 which helps regulate secondary combustion efficiency over a wide burn range. Initially it was only on the large Summit firebox stoves, but with the new EPA rules it appears that PE chose to standardize it on their stoves.

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

The EBT1 was not a big success. That led to the EBT2 which helps regulate secondary combustion efficiency over a wide burn range. Initially it was only on the large Summit firebox stoves, but with the new EPA rules it appears that PE chose to standardize it on their stoves.

One thing I have done to improve my burn time is blocked off the boost air hole below the door with a piece of 1/2'' or 5/8'' diameter left over door gasket about 3.5'' long. In my case it seems to help as my 26 or 28 ft chimney drafts incredibly.

 

[Mr. Kelly]

One thing I have done to improve my burn time is blocked off the boost air hole below the door with a piece of 1/2'' or 5/8'' diameter left over door gasket about 3.5'' long. In my case it seems to help as my 26 or 28 ft chimney drafts incredibly.

Thanks for the thought.

How do you think blocking the holes increases burn time? Will it decrease air circulation?

 

[Prometeo]

in my opinion, fully charging is always better, the air that will pass inside the stove will only be used for burning.... incomplete loads will allow more air to pass, partially to burn and partially just to cool the stove. It's clear it also depends on how you use the air, what you need, in my opinion, full load,
and very hot fires ( in the limits )
to distribute heat even away from the stove

 

[fortune-cookie]

If possible, experiment with different wood loads and burning times to find the optimal balance between heat output and burn duration.
Also, use well-seasoned hardwood with a moisture content of around 20% or less. Dry wood burns more efficiently, produces more heat, and reduces creosote buildup in the chimney.

 

[begreen]

Hi everyone…

I’d like some opinions on how to best use my PE Summit to its full potential.

I bet I’ve been running this thing for about 10 to 13 years, and I still don’t think I have it dialed in just right. I use it to try to heat my 2000 square-foot old and drafty farmhouse. I burned 24/7.

Most of the time, I’ll only put three or four splits in there, because it seems to keep the area anywhere near the stove at a pretty reasonable temperature… But I read lots of people say that I should load the stove completely up, which would probably be double the amount of splits.

If I did this, it does produce a fair amount more heat right around the stove area, maybe too much, but the burns don’t really seem to last a huge amount longer… Which means I’d have a whole bunch more heat blasting out in the immediate vicinity, but does that really do much for the rest of the house? And, I’d be using twice the amount of wood.

What would be the most efficient way to burn with this stove to heat a very drafty old 2000 square-foot farmhouse?

Thoughts and opinions would be great!

Three or four splits is the minimal load I will run in this sized firebox. A full load in the Summit can be 10+ splits depending on the wood size. Have you read this thread? It's in the T6 which has the Summit firebox.

Starting a fire and running an EPA stove

Questions about starting a fire and avoiding a runaway stove come up so frequently I decided to document starting our stove. This is a Pacific Energy Alderlea T6 with about a 3 cu ft firebox. The stove is connected to a straight-up, 20' interior flue. The outside ambient temperature is 34ºF. The...

www.hearth.com

The issue sounds like heat distribution. Can you post a sketch or two of the floor plan(s) that includes the stove location?

 

[Trevor Tahclep]

Thanks for the thought.

How do you think blocking the holes increases burn time? Will it decrease air circulation?

Start with the premise that what works for me, may not necessarily work 100% for you, it may work partially or not at all, too many factors will affect, change or modify the end result.
In my particular case by blocking off the boost air in my stove the one thing it has changed is I get a longer burn time and the load burns more and longer at the top from the secondary air exiting from the baffle, I get less burning at the bottom because less air is supplied to that area. My findings is that there is plenty of air to obtain a strong clean burn even without the boost air.

Try different things with your system, monitor the results, you will quite possibly find some improvement.

 

[joop]

i used to load by packing it full,but i didn't notice much difference in heat to a partial load.mine quite a large stove so partial is probably full load for most.you fiddle you fart find the sweet spot and try and stick with it,but like people have mentioned almost every fire is going to be different