Quotes taken from another thread - starting a new topic as I'd like to read others thoughts on this and don't want to go too far off on a tangent from the other topic....
[quote author="SolarAndWood" date="1262880800"][quote author="Flatbedford" date="1262851498"]I think that my fuel is not as good as I thought it was and that may be shortening my cycle and increasing my coaling. I have 3/4 of next years Ash, Cherry, and Maple mix split and stacked already so next year should be better. I'll also have some Oak for next year as well. The stove is doing great, my drafty old house seems to be the problem.[/quote]
I wouldn't necessarily put it all on the wood. I had the same coaling effect when we went to running hard mode from easy going mode. If you come across some pine in your travels, grab a few cord. It is nice to have around to both accelerate the burn down and generate more heat while you are doing it.[/quote]
I've been wondering about this - One of the great things I hear about burning oak is that it makes such great long lasting coals (at least that is what I was told back in the campfire cooking days). Now softwoods are not known for this. So, does it stand to reason that during the times one is driving the stove hard and you don't want large beds of coals perhaps softer woods may actually be better for burning? Would it make a difference if you are burning a cat vs non-cat stove? I'm thinking in terms of getting the most heat out of the stove at a sustained rate here primarily, but then question of efficiency comes into play too - and naturally I'm assuming equally well seasoned wood.
So any thoughts here? Might it be better to at least mix in some soft woods that don't coal up very well when driving the stove hard (frequent reloads) so reduce coaling?
[quote author="SolarAndWood" date="1262880800"][quote author="Flatbedford" date="1262851498"]I think that my fuel is not as good as I thought it was and that may be shortening my cycle and increasing my coaling. I have 3/4 of next years Ash, Cherry, and Maple mix split and stacked already so next year should be better. I'll also have some Oak for next year as well. The stove is doing great, my drafty old house seems to be the problem.[/quote]
I wouldn't necessarily put it all on the wood. I had the same coaling effect when we went to running hard mode from easy going mode. If you come across some pine in your travels, grab a few cord. It is nice to have around to both accelerate the burn down and generate more heat while you are doing it.[/quote]
I've been wondering about this - One of the great things I hear about burning oak is that it makes such great long lasting coals (at least that is what I was told back in the campfire cooking days). Now softwoods are not known for this. So, does it stand to reason that during the times one is driving the stove hard and you don't want large beds of coals perhaps softer woods may actually be better for burning? Would it make a difference if you are burning a cat vs non-cat stove? I'm thinking in terms of getting the most heat out of the stove at a sustained rate here primarily, but then question of efficiency comes into play too - and naturally I'm assuming equally well seasoned wood.
So any thoughts here? Might it be better to at least mix in some soft woods that don't coal up very well when driving the stove hard (frequent reloads) so reduce coaling?