Just trying to understand burn times more - can I get some more advice?

[Amin1992]

Hey guys. Another burn time post. I still feel like I'm going through wood way too quickly!

Loaded my stove up this morning about half way, East West, with 5 splits, in total weighing about 13 lbs. Put some kindling and newspaper and got a top down fire going (no coals in firebox from last burn).
Got it hot and closed air control all the way down.

Came back an hour and a half later and it was already down to coals!

Just loaded 2 Large splits at 9 lbs total so we ll see what happens

 

[AndrewU]

What stove?

Have you checked the door gasket for leaks? When you turn the air down how does the fire behave?

 

[brenndatomu]

What kind of wood?
13 lbs is not a lot of wood...

 

[Amin1992]

Heatilator eco choice insert. Door gasket is fresh and tight, no leaks there. Air control does affect the flames but I've got a strong draft regardless.

The wood is dry oak. My firebox is 2 cubic feet and I can't get more than maybe 22 lbs in there fully stuffed.

If I fully stuff it, the stove gets too hot even with air all the way down so I do half fills.

 

[AndrewU]

How big are the splits? Smaller splits will generally burn hotter as there is more surface area for a given weight of wood. If you can try some larger splits. Sounds like you may want a damper if the draft is a little too strong.

 

[Amin1992]

The splits range from 3" to 6" thick. I was thinking about it but I have an insert so wouldn't really work sadly.

 

[thunderhead]

Hey guys. Another burn time post. I still feel like I'm going through wood way too quickly!

Loaded my stove up this morning about half way, East West, with 5 splits, in total weighing about 13 lbs. Put some kindling and newspaper and got a top down fire going (no coals in firebox from last burn).
Got it hot and closed air control all the way down.

Came back an hour and a half later and it was already down to coals!

Just loaded 2 Large splits at 9 lbs total so we ll see what happens

That sounds fairly reasonable if you had a good amount of coals still producing significant heat. My stove is also about 2 cu feet and consumes about 5 pounds of decently seasoned wood per hour. If i loaded 13 pounds in 3 splits id expect about 1.5 hours of active flame and another hour or so of hot coals before i reloaded... a total of 2.5 hours later. 13 pounds in 5 splits... those are pretty small splits i think and id expect them to burn even faster... although your east west loading might counteract that.

 

[Dix]

Got it hot and closed air control all the way down.

Here is a part of your problem.

You cannot just "shut it down". Try turning the air control in increments. Cycle that puppy !!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

5 splits at a total of 13 lbs is not alot of wood.. the would mean that 1 split =3lbs. thats pretty small. 1 medium split of mine will weigh about 5.25 lbs while a large split will weigh from 7 to 9 lbs. my lenth of wood is 18 inches. Big wood equals long burn time. My firebox size is 2.3cuft and I can fill it up and get 12 hours on it if I want. You need to split larger. Also you need to stack the wood in the box tightly so there is no gap between the splits.

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

I'll echo what a lot of others are saying about using larger pieces of wood and tight stacking within the firebox, especially when you know you want to get a lot of heat and a long burn time, such as during the night time load or during very cold weather. In my stove I run two loads per day, when I wake up and the second full firebox reload will be about 2 hours or so before bed. Each of these loads I strive to at least get 6 logs into the firebox if loading E/W. If I have enough pieces that'll work for N/S loading I can fill the firebox much fuller. But even at 6 splits, they're good sized splits or rounds and they all easily weigh more than 7 pounds. The smaller pieces of splits usually only come out when a small coal burn down load is needed or if its super cold outside (like below zero weather during the day) and I want to keep the stove temp up. Species of wood of course will also dictate burn times.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I agree. Bigger splits. Your heat will be more steady as well instead of all at once with the small splits. Try four or five splits that you can barely palm....stacked tightly together.

 

[Caw]

My firebox is 1.85 cu feet and on a 25 degree day its ususally 7 am, 1 pm, 7 pm or so ill do a small load to get me to the overnight load around 10 pm. I could probably cut that down by 1 fire if I really stuffed it during the day but we are always home during the pandemic and sometimes it can get too hot inside. Easier to just do fairly full, but reasonably sized fires. Frequency increases and decreased with weather.

I always save my biggest splits for overnight and have coals left 9-10 hours later if I packed it well. Might need some kindling CPR to help reignite but its not a full restart. The goal for overnight is to get as much mass as possible in the box.

Bottom line is with a 2 cu ft box or so you should be getting at least 4-6 hrs with a decent load. Longer if you don't need tons of immediate BTUs. You should also be able to stuff it to the gills overnight and have coals early am 8-10 hours later.

 

[Amin1992]

Thanks all for your help. I just get worried with mine.

Tonight I stuffed it with 6 huge splits, totalling around 28 lbs!

I got it roaring, once the splits ignited it was an inferno so I cycled like you guys recommended: knocked air down a notch, 5 min later down another notch, then 5 min later down to the lowest air control setting.

Firebox was still raging for quite a while. I'm 2 hrs in and the stove top is 575*F, liner is 715*F. And that's with the air control all the way down. Fire still going but flames look more like secondary ones (though still rapid whipping flames, not the slow ghostly ones I wish I could get). Will report back and see how long 28 lbs lasts me. At the rate it's going and from my own experience, I think flames will be out in another 2 hrs, so 28 lbs in 4hrs, or 7 lbs an hour. Not too great.

Room is nice and hot but I don't like not having that much control over it. I don't think I'll be loading it that much anymore. I rather load twice as often and be able to keep the temps cooler.

 

[Amin1992]

Flames went out and I'm down to coals spot on at 4 hour mark. That was with air all the way down.

Room is very warm - went from 67F to 77F in 4 hrs - but I rather there be a slower heat and a longer flame for ambiance.

 

[EBFIRE]

I think you need to turn air down sooner in the same steps. I don't wait for blast furnace then start shutting down.

 

[Amin1992]

OK thanks for the advice. I had been told by others to take my time cycling to do it properly but I think you're right.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

if your liner is in the 700s your drafting hard and pulling in alot of air.. lots of air = a faster burn.. Id turn id down faster and not get it so hot..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Me personally Burn time =s heat. I dont go by active flames. if that was the case my burn times really suck.. This morning I get my stove up to them and load it up with wood and turn the air back to half way. I will see flames in my stove for 4 hours or so.. but after the flames go away in my stove is probably 25/30% filled with coles. When I get to the coaling stage I will turn my air back even more. My house at this point is plenty warm and I just need some heat to keep the temp steady. My stove will burn another 4-5 hours at 350/400 keeping the house warm.. so was my burn time 4 hours because I only saw flames for 4 hours.. or was it 8/9 hours because that's how long I actually heated for.

 

[Amin1992]

That makes sense. Thanks for sharing. Yesterday I had only a few hours of flames but was able to keep the lower level of my home pretty warm.

At midnight the fire was down to coals. I threw a log on, turned air down, and went to bed.

Had a busy morning - checked the stove at 10am (10 hours later) and not a coal left. Just ash. So I suppose that's to be expected?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

That makes sense. Thanks for sharing. Yesterday I had only a few hours of flames but was able to keep the lower level of my home pretty warm.

At midnight the fire was down to coals. I threw a log on, turned air down, and went to bed.

Had a busy morning - checked the stove at 10am (10 hours later) and not a coal left. Just ash. So I suppose that's to be expected?

Yes.. Y should expect that if you put in 1 log that 10 hours later your stove is cold and down to ash.
I often need to let my stove go out as it has not been cold enough. Last night I let my stove go out. Probably went out at 8 last night. At 5am my home had cooled off some .. like 66/67 degrees and I started the stove at 5am.. got it up to temp.. got the cat running... loaded it like 3/4s turned the air 1/2 way back... later on I had a thick layer of coles and turned it all the way down, and right now its 3.14 pm and my cat is 325.. my house is 73 degrees .. These coals will.stay lit all day and some time tonight I'll open up the air.. let the coles recatch.. throw on some logs.. get it up to temp.. then cut the air back down for the night

 

[thunderhead]

I'd include the hot coal phase in burn times for sure. They provide a lot of heat.

 

[firefighterjake]

As others have eluded to . . . "burn time" is a phrase often used by the manufacturers. We all fall for the marketing . . . and I suspect more than a few of us (myself included) imagine "burn time" to be that time when the fire is roaring away. However, it seems that there really is no one accepted definition of "burn time."

Is "burn time" the time from when the first match is lit until the final coal is cool?

Is "burn time" the time from when the flames are visible?

Is "burn time" the time from when the stove reaches X degrees and stays at or above that point?

For me -- and I suspect many other hearth.com folks -- "burn time" is the time from when I get meaningful heat from the stove . . . or in other words when the stove reaches X degrees and begins to warm the house until the temp falls below Y degrees and the house begins to cool.