Hi,
I'm a stove newbie, with about 10 days worth of 'experience' so far. I am loving my stove and have learned so much from this forum, which I am devouring faster than my stove devours logs!
I feel I need to understand more about burn times generally and am hoping some fellow f3 folk or indeed anyone at all may be able to help out...
CIGAR BURNING LOGS
So, my understanding so far of how to achieve this is that, at the very end of a burn cycle, I rake all the last of the embers to the front of the stove, then put on a full load, with a smaller split at the front, partially sitting on the embers (I am loading the logs EW). My understanding is that this will give a longer, more gradual burn by progressively burning the logs from front to back...
I am running the 'cigar cycle' much the same as I have been running cycles generally: add more logs, fully open top draft (I forget if that one is called secondary or primary then, once the stove top hits around 450 deg, I begin to turn down in a couple of stages. There's usually a wind round these parts, so i am usually able to shut right down 100% and get around an hour of secondary burn. The stove continues to heart up from quite a while after I've shut down, it usually rises to around 550 or so before it's begins it's descent.... Once there has been nothing but coals for quite a while and they start to look pretty dull, I get the sense I should open up the draft again just a very little, literally a touch above 100% closed - and then keeps them giving heat for longer without going out....
But.... So far, I cannot see that I am getting a longer burn by raking the coals forward, etc. the longest burn cycle I have ever got with this stove is 2 1/2 hours. What could I be doing wrong? I wonder if it may be related to the log length? The ones I have at the moment are around 12" long, so the flames do creep around the side, thereby igniting the rear logs quite quickly - in fact they are flaming well before the temp hits 400-450 and I start to turn the draft down.... Could log length be the problem?
My assumption that I could be getting longer burn times out of the stove is based on what others have said here and there on this forum... Which leads me to my second question...
OVERNIGHT BURNS?...HOW ON EARTH??
It would seem that quite a few folk here manage them on their F3s... I cannot begin to imagine how.... I am not really looking to get overnight burns - don't think there will be many times I will need them, but what I had been hoping was that the stove would hold enough heat to keep the room it's is just a little warmer overnight.. I go to bed on average around 10.30, leaving a pretty low bed of coals... stove is probably around 250-300 then... When I get up the next morning between 6.30-7.00 not only the stove is stone cold, so is the actual grate. Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations about the length of time cast iron can hold heat? I had, I must admit, expected the stove to still be slightly warm the next morning....
Anyway, this is where I am now with life as a 'Yodeller'... sorry… Couldn't resist... I'm sure I'm not the first...
Can anyone offer any thoughts about cigars, overnighters and burn times generally with the Jotul f3cb?
I'm really enjoying all your company, by the way... What a lovely bunch of folk in this forum!
I'm a stove newbie, with about 10 days worth of 'experience' so far. I am loving my stove and have learned so much from this forum, which I am devouring faster than my stove devours logs!
I feel I need to understand more about burn times generally and am hoping some fellow f3 folk or indeed anyone at all may be able to help out...
CIGAR BURNING LOGS
So, my understanding so far of how to achieve this is that, at the very end of a burn cycle, I rake all the last of the embers to the front of the stove, then put on a full load, with a smaller split at the front, partially sitting on the embers (I am loading the logs EW). My understanding is that this will give a longer, more gradual burn by progressively burning the logs from front to back...
I am running the 'cigar cycle' much the same as I have been running cycles generally: add more logs, fully open top draft (I forget if that one is called secondary or primary then, once the stove top hits around 450 deg, I begin to turn down in a couple of stages. There's usually a wind round these parts, so i am usually able to shut right down 100% and get around an hour of secondary burn. The stove continues to heart up from quite a while after I've shut down, it usually rises to around 550 or so before it's begins it's descent.... Once there has been nothing but coals for quite a while and they start to look pretty dull, I get the sense I should open up the draft again just a very little, literally a touch above 100% closed - and then keeps them giving heat for longer without going out....
But.... So far, I cannot see that I am getting a longer burn by raking the coals forward, etc. the longest burn cycle I have ever got with this stove is 2 1/2 hours. What could I be doing wrong? I wonder if it may be related to the log length? The ones I have at the moment are around 12" long, so the flames do creep around the side, thereby igniting the rear logs quite quickly - in fact they are flaming well before the temp hits 400-450 and I start to turn the draft down.... Could log length be the problem?
My assumption that I could be getting longer burn times out of the stove is based on what others have said here and there on this forum... Which leads me to my second question...
OVERNIGHT BURNS?...HOW ON EARTH??
It would seem that quite a few folk here manage them on their F3s... I cannot begin to imagine how.... I am not really looking to get overnight burns - don't think there will be many times I will need them, but what I had been hoping was that the stove would hold enough heat to keep the room it's is just a little warmer overnight.. I go to bed on average around 10.30, leaving a pretty low bed of coals... stove is probably around 250-300 then... When I get up the next morning between 6.30-7.00 not only the stove is stone cold, so is the actual grate. Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations about the length of time cast iron can hold heat? I had, I must admit, expected the stove to still be slightly warm the next morning....
Anyway, this is where I am now with life as a 'Yodeller'... sorry… Couldn't resist... I'm sure I'm not the first...
Can anyone offer any thoughts about cigars, overnighters and burn times generally with the Jotul f3cb?
I'm really enjoying all your company, by the way... What a lovely bunch of folk in this forum!