Reloading Times

[Woodsplitter67]

Yes, they do a lot of name-switching among their brands. Their Ashley insert used to be sold under the Vogelzang brand.

I looked at Ashley for my brother's home.. whats your opinion of how thay are today

 

[appointed EPA deviant]

Also vogelsang is just one of the many names ussco sells products under. It's the same stove

Sure. And you link USSCO to china as being low quality. So the Germans are in bed with China....who isn't?

 

[appointed EPA deviant]

Now back to reloading times. I loaded the stove yesterday around 900 am. Got home today about 545 pm and the stove top was at 250 shoveled out ash and threw wood in. It was up to temp and heating the house in 15 mins

So what?...no disrespect but you left out a lot of info as to how effective your claimed burn time was in heating your entire house. So what was the point?

I find the cat stove long burn times bragging on here is so vague as to be absolutely worthless.

 

[begreen]

I looked at Ashley for my brother's home.. whats your opinion of how thay are today

It's a decent basic tube stove. I think this used to be a Vogelzang TR004 or something like that. With care it should work ok. My sister's is not running yet. They shipped it without the door, so they're waiting on it. Disappointing in this cold snap.

 

[bholler]

Sure. And you link USSCO to china as being low quality. So the Germans are in bed with China....who isn't?

What??? The Germans have absolutely nothing to do with this.

 

[bholler]

So what?...no disrespect but you left out a lot of info as to how effective your claimed burn time was in heating your entire house. So what was the point?

I find the cat stove long burn times bragging on here is so vague as to be absolutely worthless.

It wasn't heating my house much at all I never said it did. I simply turned the stove down low before we left. I was just talking about my loading times which is what the thread referenced.

Please show me a single time I have bragged about cat burn times when actually heating my home. Infact I typically do the complete opposite.

 

[begreen]

In my opinion, the OP is an expert of HIS stove in HIS domain.

Drop it. This appears to be one's own, singular opinion and disproven by the OP.

Everyone has an opinion, and I like to hear them all. I might think Im a jack of all trades, but I am new at this, so its great to have this site. Im no expert.....yet!! lol

 

[Woodsplitter67]

It's a decent basic tube stove. I think this used to be a Vogelzang TR004 or something like that. With care it should work ok. My sister's is not running yet. They shipped it without the door, so they're waiting on it. Disappointing in this cold snap.

around here there seems to be low stock on stoves.. the ones I was looking at earlier aren't available

 

[begreen]

Yes, the demand has been high and inventory is low. It may not catch up until spring for some companies.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Given that a good portion of the cold rolled steel supply came from Russia and Ukraine, it may be price increases that ultimately get supply and demand under control. I dont see heating fuels changing their price in the next few years.

 

[BillBurns]

Trust me, I know about oil prices, lol....I dont see how people can even afford it now. It was up to 5.79 about a month ago. I will use mine SOME, but not much. Wood is better, bone warming heat. Heats up all the wood and the bones of the house great.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Trust me, I know about oil prices, lol....I dont see how people can even afford it now. It was up to 5.79 about a month ago. I will use mine SOME, but not much. Wood is better, bone warming heat. Heats up all the wood and the bones of the house great.

When I started burning years ago, I actually thought that I would just be burning on the weekends and here and there.. boy was I wrong.. Yes.. a totally different kind of heat.. It quickly grew to 24/7 and my primary heat source..

 

[BillBurns]

Going to be in the 40s and 50s for a week or so, so thats great news. Lows in the 20s....we can all save a little fuel or wood.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Im not saving anything.. I have as much free wood as I can burn.. unlimited supply.. If I have to burn 4 cords to keep the house up to temp and the wife happy, thats what Ill do.. I started splitting today for 2026

 

[Prometeo]

HI, when to reload, i see some recommend moving coals in front, near glass, but this could delay the second combustion, wouldn't it be better to move the coals to the bottom ? I mean reload for a long night burn, on coals, thanks for opinions

 

[bholler]

HI, when to reload, i see some recommend moving coals in front, near glass, but this could delay the second combustion, wouldn't it be better to move the coals to the bottom ? I mean reload for a long night burn, on coals, thanks for opinions

Most stoves atleast those sold here have the startup air come in a port right under the door so pulling the coals Infront of that makes them heat up the fastest and get the wood ignited as fast as possible. This isn't right for every stove though everyone needs to figure out what works best in their situation

 

[Prometeo]

Most stoves atleast those sold here have the startup air come in a port right under the door so pulling the coals Infront of that makes them heat up the fastest and get the wood ignited as fast as possible. This isn't right for every stove though everyone needs to figure out what works best in their situation

Thanks, now I understand. This air you say front, at the bottom it is open in normal operation, or is only for starting?

 

[bholler]

Thanks, now I understand. This air you say front, at the bottom it is open in normal operation, or is only for starting?

That varies from stove to stove

 

[Prometeo]

That varies from stove to stove

thank you!

 

[Ashful]

Bringing the coals to the front gets fresh air on them, and this serves two purposes:

1. Getting maximum wattage out of old coals at the end of the load, trying to keep the house warm as you burn down the old coals to make room for the next load of wood.

2. Getting any remaining coals red hot, to aid in ignition of the next load.

For the former problem, keeping the house warm while burning down old coals, this is particularly a problem with very dense hardwoods (eg. oak). They can have a long coaling phase, and heat output during that phase is often lower than your home may need to stay warm. To combat this, many like to rake the coals to the front, and then throw one piece of wood (preferably softwood) on top. The fresh wood gets the secondary burn system (cat or tubes) firing, to increase stove output, while burning down the coals. Softwood is preferred, because it produces less new coals.

 

[Prometeo]

Bringing the coals to the front gets fresh air on them, and this serves two purposes:

1. Getting maximum wattage out of old coals at the end of the load, trying to keep the house warm as you burn down the old coals to make room for the next load of wood.

2. Getting any remaining coals red hot, to aid in ignition of the next load.

For the former problem, keeping the house warm while burning down old coals, this is particularly a problem with very dense hardwoods (eg. oak). They can have a long coaling phase, and heat output during that phase is often lower than your home may need to stay warm. To combat this, many like to rake the coals to the front, and then throw one piece of wood (preferably softwood) on top. The fresh wood gets the secondary burn system (cat or tubes) firing, to increase stove output, while burning down the coals. Softwood is preferred, because it produces less new coals.

Thank you! I noticed that also in my F500 eco in the area under the door there is a flange with two bolts, totally closed, I believe it may be a front air prep for US variants I assume. My stove I could use the ash drawer, to push up the coals, but in the end I have the internal grate totally closed, and therefore even with the drawer open I have no infiltrations. This is the only way I get long burns. If I leave the internal grate open, even closing the ash door, I have air infiltration. I use the side door, to quickly start up the coals.

 

[Ashful]

If the F500 is like the larger Firelight, then that plate below the door covers the air control mechanism. The oldest stoves did not have this access plate, but this caused a huge problem when the air control would jam, you'd literally have to split apart the entire stove to get in there and repair it. So they added that plate in the mid-1990's, as a repair access hole. It should always be installed (with 4mm gasket, I think) when running the stove.

The grate works best if you let some ash accumulate on it, rather than raking it thru. But of course, if you've closed yours off completely, even better. The ash pan doors can leak, and even localized air currents within the ash pan tray don't help long burns.

 

[Prometeo]

If the F500 is like the larger Firelight, then that plate below the door covers the air control mechanism. The oldest stoves did not have this access plate, but this caused a huge problem when the air control would jam, you'd literally have to split apart the entire stove to get in there and repair it. So they added that plate in the mid-1990's, as a repair access hole. It should always be installed (with 4mm gasket, I think) when running the stove.

The grate works best if you let some ash accumulate on it, rather than raking it thru. But of course, if you've closed yours off completely, even better. The ash pan doors can leak, and even localized air currents within the ash pan tray don't help long burns.

Thanks! Yes, that's right, under the plate, there is the air mechanism that moves itself with the only front air control, with gasket. Initially my grate for the ash was open, because I didn't load the stove full and without air from below the fire died then I started loading the stove full and yes, it works great.

I was thinking of giving it a try, loading the stove full, and place a perforated plate on large logs on the bottom, and starting from the top, this should prolong the burning time, the fire should move from top back to front, then go down to the floor and back to the bottom. today i will try

 

[Prometeo]

bad idea perforated plate, better to light near glass on the coals or from scratch I suppose it's one of the best ways to lengthen burn time, if you don't need too many btus

 

[begreen]

The air control slider mechanism is under the doghouse at the bottom front of the stove. Our F400 ran best when I stopped using the ashpan and let that fill up with ash. The burns were longer and more even-tempered.