Show Your Night Load

[Woodcutter Tom]

I am hoping to start a thread that will be beneficial to a lot of users. For those that want to participate, please show photos and comments related to how you load your stove for an overnight burn. I'll start:

At 8:30pm I loaded my stove as in the first photo. The stove had been running all day; so it is not a cold start. I moved all the coals to the left side of the firebox. My stove is a DROLET Escape 1500. I cut most of my wood to a length of 11". That way I can load it N-S in this stove. In this photo you can see that there is space for more smaller splits. The fire burns from left to right throughout the night.
The next photo is at 6:30 am the next morning. I raked the coals a bit and left the door open for a while. The next 2 photos show the coals; one with no flash to show them glowing.
I then raked the coals toward the left side of the firebox and loaded the stove again. (prior to loading I could removed excess ash if I wish.) After a bit and the touch of a match, the wood started burning. See last photo.

I hope this is helpful and that other share their methods.

 

[bholler]

I am hoping to start a thread that will be beneficial to a lot of users. For those that want to participate, please show photos and comments related to how you load your stove for an overnight burn. I'll start:

At 8:30pm I loaded my stove as in the first photo. The stove had been running all day; so it is not a cold start. I moved all the coals to the left side of the firebox. My stove is a DROLET Escape 1500. I cut most of my wood to a length of 11". That way I can load it N-S in this stove. In this photo you can see that there is space for more smaller splits. The fire burns from left to right throughout the night.
The next photo is at 6:30 am the next morning. I raked the coals a bit and left the door open for a while. The next 2 photos show the coals; one with no flash to show them glowing.
I then raked the coals toward the left side of the firebox and loaded the stove again. (prior to loading I could removed excess ash if I wish.) After a bit and the touch of a match, the wood started burning. See last photo.

I hope this is helpful and that other share their methods.

View attachment 303100 View attachment 303101 View attachment 303102 View attachment 303103 View attachment 303104

I load for overnight exactly the same as I load any other time. (Unless it's just a small quick chill chaser fire). Pack as much wood into the stove as possible usually with a mix of large and small pieces.

 

[Snagmaster]

I do the same when its colder, but this time of year -5 to -10 °C (23 to 14 °F) I just grap one of the ugly logs with strange shapes and load it with some smaller spilts. Those big suckers last all night.

 

[stoveliker]

This was a load of pitch pine. A large 8*8" piece, slightly too long so it got jammed between the bricks before I could position it better in the corner.

 

[Enplater]

I wish I had come across this Post while I was loading. I have a nice mix of black birch, hickory and soft maple (I think) in the 30. Not a full load but probably 80% tonight since the house is already pretty warm. Everything is about 4 years seasoned so it takes off quick and burns hot, gotta pay attention.

 

[PAbeech]

I only have a 1.6cf box so I load up shorter pieces n/s and try to grab logs that are shaped flat that stack nicely. All beech wood. Will most definitely leave a hot bed of coals for re lite at 6am. Loaded at 10pm

 

[Wood1Dennis]

One thing I find helps with my PSG Caddy furnace is to control the ash. If the stove is cleaned out it won't hold coals as well. Even when I clean the ashes out I do not remove them all. Of course there is a limit. When the bulk of the firewood burns down, the ashes will hold a surprising number of coals. I stir them up, rake them to the middle of the firebox and load her up. Staring with the biggest pieces on the outside, hot coals in the center. I pretty much load the same every time, mixing in bigger and smaller pieces. Volume changes with the need for heat.

 

[weee123]

I only have a 1.6cf box so I load up shorter pieces n/s and try to grab logs that are shaped flat that stack nicely. All beech wood. Will most definitely leave a hot bed of coals for re lite at 6am. Loaded at 10pm

View attachment 303394

You’re getting an 8 hour burn out of that little firebox? Man I wish I could get that with my 1.85!

 

[PAbeech]

You’re getting an 8 hour burn out of that little firebox? Man I wish I could get that with my 1.85!

Well it depends on how you look at it. I'm sure the wood in the fireplace burned out and was riding on coals by 4am. So probably 4 or 5 hour burn. But in that 5 hours the fireplace produces so much heat that my house is super warm when I wake at 6am. Most times I don't need a fire till 11am

 

[Ashful]

If I want to pack the firebox for max time (30 hours, on my stove), I grab all splits that have rectangle cross section, rather than wedge shape. You get rectangles when you slab and split big stuff that you can't hope to lift onto a splitter whole, like 1000 lb. oak rounds over 30" diameter. These rectangles, if chosen right, can fill the stove within 1/2" of each firebox dimension, with a nearly-solid block of wood. I'd guess I've approached 100 lb. of wood in that firebox, many times.

My normal loads are almost exactly 80 lb., each time I've checked, being made up mostly of triangular wedge pieces varying 4" to 8" per side.

 

[BillBurns]

Wow! 80lbs? I could burn that for a week, lol....I bet your house is warm!

 

[stoveliker]

Or leaky,.or large.

In this case the latter for sure and possibly the former.

 

[weee123]

Well it depends on how you look at it. I'm sure the wood in the fireplace burned out and was riding on coals by 4am. So probably 4 or 5 hour burn. But in that 5 hours the fireplace produces so much heat that my house is super warm when I wake at 6am. Most times I don't need a fire till 11am

Well im more saying that you had coals after such a long time to restart is impressive. I usually wouldn’t have anything and would have to restart from scratch

 

[weee123]

Big fat e/w load of walnut at 10:30. Should hopefully have some coals last until I wake up at 540am for pheasant hunting.

 

[Ashful]

Wow! 80lbs? I could burn that for a week, lol....I bet your house is warm!

I average 240 lb. of wood per day, supplementing the oil heat and two heat pumps. Note that this is not very hard to do when you're burning oak, which is heavy even when dried 3 years in a shed. House varies 62F to 79F, depending on where you stand. It's 78.2F in my office right now, which is where one of the Ashford 30's is installed, but only 71F in the living room next door.

Or leaky,.or large.

Our biggest enemy is 20" thick stone walls, which tend to be cool. Not very drafty, all things considered, it's hard to push wind thru 20" of stone and mortar and all of our window frames are mortared in tight. House is on the bigger side, but not nearly as big as our fuel usage would suggest.

 

[30WCF]

Not much going on here. Maybe 10-15#

 

[PAbeech]

Big fat e/w load of walnut at 10:30. Should hopefully have some coals last until I wake up at 540am for pheasant hunting.

View attachment 303841

The more wood stuffed in that thing will leave a better chance of coals. Don't be afraid to stuff it to the gills

 

[Ashful]

Not much going on here. Maybe 10-15#View attachment 303848

Photos can be deceiving, but that looks like a heck of a lot more than 10-15#, unless it’s pine or cedar.

 

[30WCF]

Photos can be deceiving, but that looks like a heck of a lot more than 10-15#, unless it’s pine or cedar.

Yeah m, I don’t know. I was just goofing, because it’s no where near your 80-100# loads. I would say mine was 20 though.

 

[BillBurns]

Yeah, with walls that thick, I bet they do stay cool. I have friends with deer camps, that are realy old....kinda never gets warm in them, but bearable, lol....most are so drunk they could care less.

 

[Ashful]

Yeah m, I don’t know. I was just goofing, because it’s no where near your 80-100# loads. I would say mine was 20 though.

Maybe, but you'd be surprised at how much wood weighs. The first time I threw out that 80# number, it was off the cuff, just a guess. I had never weighed my wood. Several challenged the post, saying there's no way I'm putting that much wood in an Ashford.

So I spent the next several days weighing each load, wondering how close my initial guess was. I literally set my wife's bathroom scale by the basement door, where I bring in the wood, and weighed myself with and without each load. I was happy to find my guess of 80# was pretty much right on the money, like within ±3 pounds on most loads.

My 100# number above would be for those less frequent occasions when I have the stove mostly emptied of ash and coals, choose all square spits, and play some serious Tetris for maximum packing density. Just a guess, but given my past guessing accuracy, I'd bet I'm not too far off.

 

[nola mike]

Maybe, but you'd be surprised at how much wood weighs. The first time I threw out that 80# number, it was off the cuff, just a guess. I had never weighed my wood. Several challenged the post, saying there's no way I'm putting that much wood in an Ashford.

So I spent the next several days weighing each load, wondering how close my initial guess was. I literally set my wife's bathroom scale by the basement door, where I bring in the wood, and weighed myself with and without each load. I was happy to find my guess of 80# was pretty much right on the money, like within ±3 pounds on most loads.

My 100# number above would be for those less frequent occasions when I have the stove mostly emptied of ash and coals, choose all square spits, and play some serious Tetris for maximum packing density. Just a guess, but given my past guessing accuracy, I'd bet I'm not too far off.

Now I'm curious. Guessing I get about 20# max in the jotul. A pack of bricks is 20# and it's about the volume of my firebox. Wood is lighter and can't be stacked as tightly. Gonna have to weigh it next time. Also not sure what I'm burning ATM. Burning pretty quick, maybe maple?

 

[Ashful]

Now I'm curious. Guessing I get about 20# max in the jotul. A pack of bricks is 20# and it's about the volume of my firebox. Wood is lighter and can't be stacked as tightly. Gonna have to weigh it next time. Also not sure what I'm burning ATM. Burning pretty quick, maybe maple?

Remember that oak at 20% MC weighs 42-59 lb per cubic foot, depending on species. Doesn’t take much skill in packing to add up to serious weight in a 2-3 cu.ft. stove.

 

[nola mike]

Remember that oak at 20% MC weighs 42-59 lb per cubic foot, depending on species. Doesn’t take much skill in packing to add up to serious weight in a 2-3 cu.ft. stove.

I'm at .8, so...

 

[Ashful]

I'm at .8, so...

0.8 cu.ft.? Cool! I’ve seen yacht stoves that are this small, but never saw a normal house stove that size!