Hello I have a Hampton HI300 Insert. My problem is that I can’t get a good overnight burn or any lengthy burn before all the wood I load turns into coals. I get the stove up to a good temperature and gradually lower the air intake and the fire is burning good, but only seems to produce flames for a 2 – 3 hr period before the t just turns to a bunch of red coals. I load the stove up with a good amount of wood with a variety of wood. Does anybody have any suggestions? I’m sure this question has been asked a bunch of times, I’m sorry for the redundancy.
Extended Burn time
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You'll only get active, secondary combustion for that amount of time (2-3 hrs). After that, you're into the coaling stage. Such is the nature of heating with wood. A cat stove might leave it in "log" form a little longer, but I can't speak with any authority on that.
Yep. About one third of the heat in that wood comes out of the coaling stage. Even the big fireboxes don't have flame much longer. Just a bigger pile of coals giving off heat longer.
It was warm yesterday and today..but I got over 17 hours of burn time with my new BK cat..there still was some wood left yet.
The bi-metal thermostat is a thing of beauty!.
Little better then half load.
The bi-metal thermostat is a thing of beauty!.
Little better then half load.
cptoneleg said:
The burn time they advertise is to when there are just enough coals left to start another fire. The only ones that I know that advertise "heat time" are a couple of soapstone stove makers. With my steel stove having coals left to reload and having around two hundred degree stop top temp is around twelve hours.
Burn times depend alot on what kind of wood you have and how large the pieces of wood are. Bigger pieces obviously burn longer so be sure to have some large pieces when trying to get overnight or extended burns. I think your stove has 2.3 cu ft firebox so if you get that thing filled up with some good sized splits you should have good heat for 5 or 6 hours and plenty of coals at 8-10 hours, provided you have hardwood fuel. Another thing that helps extend your coals life is having an inch or two of ash in their, when inclean my stove i always leave an inch or so of ash in there, by doing so i can usually find enough coals to get some kindling going a good 15 hours after loading my stove full. A friend of mine has the same stove, really nice looking stove and a great heater.
As newbie burners "burn time" is the one thing that I think so many of us focus on when buying a stove . . . and none of us ever really think to ask what the manufacturer's definition is . . . instead we all tend to have our own definitions -- I mean is it the time from first light to when the last coal winks out of existence, the time from first flame to where no flame is present, the time from when you start getting X degrees of heat from the stove until the stove dips down below that number?
My own definition for burn time is the time from when I get usable heat to the time when I still get usable heat and can reload the stove by putting kindling or small splits on the coals and having it light up again without having to strike another match . . . other folks' definitions however might be quite different.
My own definition for burn time is the time from when I get usable heat to the time when I still get usable heat and can reload the stove by putting kindling or small splits on the coals and having it light up again without having to strike another match . . . other folks' definitions however might be quite different.
Take your best wood and load it up with the good stuff, that will be as good as it gets. Big difference between even a good wood (green ash) and a great wood (oak) for me.
I consider it to be the time from when I add wood up to the time I have enough coals left where I can still add normal sized splits to the coals and get the fire going again. With my stove if I load it full I can expect that I will get 8-10 hours of burn time. I may still have some scattered coals after 12 or more hours but I will need to add kindling to the stove to get her going again.
we learned the hard way about burn time. Do not buy a Pleasant Hearth from Lowes, unless you want to constantly feed the stove. The manufacturer has it listed for 8-10 hours of burn time. There was nothing left in the morning. Had to start from scratch. So we took it back to lowes for a full refund and went to Tractor Supply and bought a US stove, Magnolia. It works fantastic, no complaints. The real Winter hasn't hit yet but all last week the temps went down into the 20's at night and I woke up to a warm house and a great bed of coals to just add a few small logs to and I was back in action.
Rule of thumb for burn time:
1. larger splits (6-8" splits) will burn longer than smaller splits (2-4")
2. Good hardwood (oak, hickory) will burn much longer than lower energy content wood
3. Stoves that have cats can have air turned down more fully and burn longer than non-cat stoves
4. Stoves that have larger fireboxes provide longer burns due to more fuel being in the firebox.
My old stove was a 3 CF cat stove and provided substantially longer burn time than my new non-cat F 500 which has a smaller firebox (~ 2-2.5 CF). I also only get maybe 3-4 hours of visible fire before it goes into coal stage. But it has a couple more hours of good heat output from the coals.
The trade off is that I get much better light shows and a clean window to view the fire with my new stove. It also heats up faster. Still experimenting as this is my second season with the stove. I think I will be using less wood as well.
1. larger splits (6-8" splits) will burn longer than smaller splits (2-4")
2. Good hardwood (oak, hickory) will burn much longer than lower energy content wood
3. Stoves that have cats can have air turned down more fully and burn longer than non-cat stoves
4. Stoves that have larger fireboxes provide longer burns due to more fuel being in the firebox.
My old stove was a 3 CF cat stove and provided substantially longer burn time than my new non-cat F 500 which has a smaller firebox (~ 2-2.5 CF). I also only get maybe 3-4 hours of visible fire before it goes into coal stage. But it has a couple more hours of good heat output from the coals.
The trade off is that I get much better light shows and a clean window to view the fire with my new stove. It also heats up faster. Still experimenting as this is my second season with the stove. I think I will be using less wood as well.
I have had the HI300 for the past few years. I found the best way to get heat, and extended time for me, is to try and get 2 layers of wood in, 3 logs going one way, the the next layer crossing the other way.
For time, make sure the bottom later is going left to right, then the top layer goes butt in. In the dead of winter, fill the gaps with some small round ones (the 2"-3" everyone else but me runs thru the chipper). Seems if you put the bottom layer in butt first, the air flow starts at the bottom and it burns too fast. For my method, you need a good coal base, load it and go to bed. Do not wait for it to flame. It may take a couple hours to catch, the longer the better, since no one is up anyway and the room will hold some heat. You want it to be warm in the AM.
For heat,I leave the fan on Low, not auto, since the layer on the bottom sometimes keeps the brick to cool, and the sensor shuts off. I also leave the damper open 1/4 inch. I used to close it right down, but I think the wood just smolders and gives no real heat.
good luck
For time, make sure the bottom later is going left to right, then the top layer goes butt in. In the dead of winter, fill the gaps with some small round ones (the 2"-3" everyone else but me runs thru the chipper). Seems if you put the bottom layer in butt first, the air flow starts at the bottom and it burns too fast. For my method, you need a good coal base, load it and go to bed. Do not wait for it to flame. It may take a couple hours to catch, the longer the better, since no one is up anyway and the room will hold some heat. You want it to be warm in the AM.
For heat,I leave the fan on Low, not auto, since the layer on the bottom sometimes keeps the brick to cool, and the sensor shuts off. I also leave the damper open 1/4 inch. I used to close it right down, but I think the wood just smolders and gives no real heat.
good luck
This is regarding the comment on "learning the hard way" about buying a pleasant hearth from lowes, I have one and couldnt believe what I read, it was 27 degrees out side last evening at 9 oclock, I loaded my stove with 2 small splits and a decent size bigger split, at this time it was 77 in my home, I waited a few minutes and turned the stove down ten went to bed, I awoke at 5 am it was 22 out side still 75 in my home, a large bed of coals and just threw about the same as i did the night before, I just got home from work at 2pm and still 73 in the home , 35 outside and a nice bed of coals, as I type at 215 i have a beautiful fire going. I think this stove is awesome. I have owned a englander cat, a dovre cat and this is just as good if not better.
If I was to do it over, I would go free-standing stove over insert in a second. More long term radiant heat.
I never had coals when I woke up in the morning. Had to start from scratch. I thought it heated our house up just fine but because we had to keep feeding it. We had the one that would heat up to 1800 sq ft. The firebox was only 11 inches deep by I think 18 inches by 11 inches high, not very big. When we got home from work there were no coals left and the house was right around 60 degrees. There was no room to make a big enough fire to last any amount of time. The stove that we bought right after I have no complaints about. US Stove, Magnolia. The firebox is more than doubled in size and I have an awsome layer of coals that are there in the morning and after work. The house is usually 70 degrees each time. In fact I can go to bed an hour earlier than in the past because I know the house is going to be heated nicely and I will have a beautiful bed of coals in the morning. I'm glad you enjoy your stove. I'm not saying that the stove is a bad stove, not at all. It didn't work for us. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
nickn and dkf5, may I suggest you edit your signature line in the "Your Control Panel" (at the top of the page). Please put in there what stove you have and any other pertinent information. It will be a big help for folks who are trying to help you out. Thank you.
Yep - there's burn times and useful burn times.
It's funny how you become REALLY educated about the ins/outs of woodstoves AFTER you buy and install one - it would be nice to have some of this info when looking at stoves for the first install!
Some things you can do to prolong your burn time such that you have some coals to re-kindle your fire in the morning after an overnight burn and that is to have a bed of ashes and bank you stove with rounds vs splits.
Good luck,
Bill
It's funny how you become REALLY educated about the ins/outs of woodstoves AFTER you buy and install one - it would be nice to have some of this info when looking at stoves for the first install!
Some things you can do to prolong your burn time such that you have some coals to re-kindle your fire in the morning after an overnight burn and that is to have a bed of ashes and bank you stove with rounds vs splits.
Good luck,
Bill
Being relatively new to this site, I am amazed at all the different opinions and help you can receive from here,it makes for good reading and entertainment. To dkf5 i am glad I didnt read your post a couple months ago as much as I was reviewing new stoves to buy, at that time I couldnt find jack about these new stoves from lowes for reviews, I know I wouldnt have bought one. That magnolia is a real nice stove, and that was one of the ones that I was considering, but something (probably price tag) lol, told me to buy the pleasant hearth, In the store I thought the firebox seemed small but once in the home not so bad,as I said so far Ive been really happy. I guess I lucked out, Im hoping that luck continues and I dont post negative remarks about my stove as winter sets in, anyway you and your family also have a great thanksgiving and enjoy the warmth.
I have to say that is one of the reasons I purchased the Pleasant Hearth, because of cost, and also the manufacturer said it produced 8-10 hours of burn time. Actually when it came down to buying the Magnolia the difference ended up being less than 200.00 more that I paid. So for that much extra that I had to come up with it has made a huge difference in performance. One that we are very happy with. I just didn't feel that the Pleasant Hearth was going to give us what we needed once Winter actually set in. I know for sure that the Magnolia will. I agree with this site. It is a fantastic place to learn so much. I love to just hop on and read the stories out there.
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