So I've been fiddling with my new Oslo since we got it just before Christmas. We've gone through one cord of wood that came with the house (C/S/S since 8/10 min.) and now we are just starting on the bane of the new burner, bought "seasoned" wood. The trouble I've been having through out this is burn times. I can't get more than 4 hours. (well the wet wood seems to be getting me a bit more, maybe 5, but the temps are much lower) And I am counting useable coals. Stove is always dead cold in the morning and when we get home from work.
When I first started I tried cycling it like I read here, but couldn't get it above 400 (stove top temp). Then my mom started adding wood in the middle of the cycle and we finally started seeing 550-600 stove top temps. We have a larger(2200sq ft heated), older, leakier house, so we need to push the stove up to 600 to get the house temps up, especially when it's been cold for 4+ hours while we've slept/worked. It seems to be able to heat the house (except the kitchen) when we are around to feed it. I quickly noticed that when I started to closed the air down at 550-600, the STT would quickly start droping down to 350. (flames died down a bit, but kept going) And when I'm trying to get the house from 62/65 to 72, that's not going to cut it. I needed the 600 degrees to last for awhile. So I ended up just leaving the air open all the way. I thought, maybe it's the wood, so I waited untill I got this new load. Now, the wood steams, and I can't get it over 400. I am getting slightly longer burns at 5 hours maybe. If the wood is dry, I don't have any trouble starting and maintaining a fire. I did trying leaving the air closed down 90% with the lower temps over night in the begining, but the stove was still cold in the morning, and low coals by 1am (my 5 month old still makes me get up in the middle of the night).
Without 8 hour burn time, I just don't see this working well for us. We are gone from 7-5:30 during the day. We don't always have time to crank the stove enough (and get us and our two kids to bed) between 5:30 and 9:30 to make up for all the time its been cold. I start a fire in the morning before I leave, but I'm not sure how much it's really doing to offset the oil furnance.
Our stack is an interior, central chimney, newly lined, two stories plus an attic straight up. Stove installed into an existing fireplace. (I can actually feel the warmth from the chimney seeping through our bedroom wall.)
Any ideas?
When I first started I tried cycling it like I read here, but couldn't get it above 400 (stove top temp). Then my mom started adding wood in the middle of the cycle and we finally started seeing 550-600 stove top temps. We have a larger(2200sq ft heated), older, leakier house, so we need to push the stove up to 600 to get the house temps up, especially when it's been cold for 4+ hours while we've slept/worked. It seems to be able to heat the house (except the kitchen) when we are around to feed it. I quickly noticed that when I started to closed the air down at 550-600, the STT would quickly start droping down to 350. (flames died down a bit, but kept going) And when I'm trying to get the house from 62/65 to 72, that's not going to cut it. I needed the 600 degrees to last for awhile. So I ended up just leaving the air open all the way. I thought, maybe it's the wood, so I waited untill I got this new load. Now, the wood steams, and I can't get it over 400. I am getting slightly longer burns at 5 hours maybe. If the wood is dry, I don't have any trouble starting and maintaining a fire. I did trying leaving the air closed down 90% with the lower temps over night in the begining, but the stove was still cold in the morning, and low coals by 1am (my 5 month old still makes me get up in the middle of the night).
Without 8 hour burn time, I just don't see this working well for us. We are gone from 7-5:30 during the day. We don't always have time to crank the stove enough (and get us and our two kids to bed) between 5:30 and 9:30 to make up for all the time its been cold. I start a fire in the morning before I leave, but I'm not sure how much it's really doing to offset the oil furnance.
Our stack is an interior, central chimney, newly lined, two stories plus an attic straight up. Stove installed into an existing fireplace. (I can actually feel the warmth from the chimney seeping through our bedroom wall.)
Any ideas?