Doesn't seem like you can fit a whole lot of wood in there under the baffle. Seems like only 5 or 6 split pieces stacked tightly. Then I need to crank open the damper to get them to burn because there's so little air space between them. I appreciate the advice though and I'll continue to keep trying things. I'd love to see anything orange in the box after 8 hours. I'm happy to hear that it's even a possibility. I'm going to try closing it down to about 10% tonight at bedtime. It's supposed to be 13 degrees tonight so I'd love to keep it alive through most of the night.
Smokey Glass in the Isle Royale
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Sometimes, I fill the stove with 3 splits. I only do that on a reload because it would take a long time to get really big pieces of wood going up to temps. This is where wood
moisture really comes into play. If it's taking more than an hour to get the fire up to 500 degrees, the wood may not be quite as dry as you think. If you can get a full firebox
stabilized at 550 in under an hour with the air cut to 5-10%, you should be able to cleanly coast through the night. In the morning, you might get a dusting (like flour dust)
on the stove glass, but nothing that requires a cleaner. If I wipe off the glass, it's with a water-damp paper towel just to keep the glass crystal clear.
Good luck on the cold night. It's already minus two degrees here.
moisture really comes into play. If it's taking more than an hour to get the fire up to 500 degrees, the wood may not be quite as dry as you think. If you can get a full firebox
stabilized at 550 in under an hour with the air cut to 5-10%, you should be able to cleanly coast through the night. In the morning, you might get a dusting (like flour dust)
on the stove glass, but nothing that requires a cleaner. If I wipe off the glass, it's with a water-damp paper towel just to keep the glass crystal clear.
Good luck on the cold night. It's already minus two degrees here.
Good Morning! So I had the stove blazing up until about 9:30 last night...then I loaded it up full with about 6 pieces of split wood. I let it run with the damper open for about 20 minutes and then I shut it down to about 20% so I could go to bed. At 5:00AM I still had enough hot coals to ignite some paper and some kindling to get the fire started again. I probably could have done it without paper, but I was in a bit of a hurry. I threw on some split pieces and opened the damper to 100% right before I left forwork at 5:30. Called the wife around 7:00 and she said that it was running strong at about 550 degrees. She was going to load it up and then drop it down to 20% before she leaves. With little fine tuning of our methods, I think we might just be able to keep this thing burning around the clock - at least on days when we're not working 12 hour shifts. Luckily, I have half a mountain of 2x4 scraps to use for kindling in the mornings.
Once you get the hang of it, there is no reason that you won't be able to crank off a reload of new splits at the 10 hour mark. I am often gone from home for 10-12 hours. I have gone weeks without having to strike a match (and I am the only one operating the stove).
jack_90125
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I am still learning with mine but have yet to light a match after overnights.I raised the temp two degrees opening the air full blast to burn the coals down for about a half hour now.pretty little blue flames.and after awile will throw some splits on.the other half loves how easy it is to throw splits in open the air and there is fire.
hmmmm...
I suspect that my wood may be a contributing factor. I've been taking from one stack that's about 2-3 years old as its my oldest wood and I believed it to be the driest. It started and burned just fine, but I couldn't maintain any flames or significant heat below about 25-35% open damper. Today I grabbed a couple armloads from another stack of wood that I cut about 12-15 months ago. It started and burns good too, but now I can close the damper all the way and still maintain flames and over 500 degrees on the top of the stove. It seems to be burning slower, but I'm getting the same amount of heat. I may have to get more serious about my wood supply now that I'm not burning it in a wide open fireplace with infinite air supply and no objective measurement of heat output.
I suspect that my wood may be a contributing factor. I've been taking from one stack that's about 2-3 years old as its my oldest wood and I believed it to be the driest. It started and burned just fine, but I couldn't maintain any flames or significant heat below about 25-35% open damper. Today I grabbed a couple armloads from another stack of wood that I cut about 12-15 months ago. It started and burns good too, but now I can close the damper all the way and still maintain flames and over 500 degrees on the top of the stove. It seems to be burning slower, but I'm getting the same amount of heat. I may have to get more serious about my wood supply now that I'm not burning it in a wide open fireplace with infinite air supply and no objective measurement of heat output.
You wouldn't be the first person to find that their wood supply isn't quite what they thought it was. For the record, you wouldn't be the 2nd, 3rd or 4th either.
You wouldn't be the first person to find that their wood supply isn't quite what they thought it was. For the record, you wouldn't be the 2nd, 3rd or 4th either.
However, you seem to have a rapid learning curve, so I'm sure you'll get that straightened out. The wood shed sub-forum is a great place to make sure you have the best fuel for your stove.
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