Too hot a house when burning their BK?

[BC_Josh]

Dear Abby,

My relationship with my wood stove is on rocky ground.... and flaming coals!

2nd season into my BK burning. Love the stove, but am struggling this warm(ish) shoulder season. Warm in the day, cold at night. Either seem to have too small a fire for the whole night or too hot. Have to open the door and now the bedroom window to cool things down when doing the initial burn. Can't really use my small livingroom when I'm doing the initial hot burn on the wood, quite the drag. I've cut some vents in walls, got smaller splits, blah blah blah, tried all the variables I can think of. Just not satisfied with this set-up right now. Getting exhausted from waking up freezing cold when I forget to leave the bedroom door open to let in heat. Ended up buying another oil-filled space heater to fill in for now, but still choked at not being able to really enjoy the livingroom for an hour or so, every fire up, from both hot or cold startups. Trying to make the ancient gas furnace in the basement last as long as possible.

I don't remember such issues last year, but I remember winter came on strong and quick by the time I installed this stove. I think the wood I'm using might be drier than last years by a titch as well.

Yours Truly, Hot and Cold in British Columbia
P.S. My house is 900 sq ft, the minimum size for my Sirroco 20 stove and BC can be pretty mild.

 

[BC_Josh]

BTW, I did a search through this site and didn't find any advice. Sorry if I missed something.

 

[stoveliker]

How long are you charring the load?
The drier the wood is the sooner you can incrementally dial down.

 

[stoveliker]

On it's very lowest heat output, the thing only puts out the heat of 3.5 times a 1.5 kW plug in heater ... If that's too much, maybe it's not yet burning season...?

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Have only owned a wood stove since the spring and it's a BK, so I have no experience with any other brand, or type of stove. But with that said I can imagine that the issue(s) you're having in the shoulder seasons is something that isn't exclusive to a BK, and kind of comes with the territory when using wood stove compared to something like forced air on a thermostat. Usually in early shoulder season I simply used my forced air at night and nothing during the day. The deciding factor to start using the wood stove is when the temps dip at night and stay cold cold during the day, but makes more sense to jsut used the forced air at night when it's still warning up a bit during the day.

I have a Sirocco 30.2 with a 920 sq ft. main floor, 400+ sq ft loft above it and a 920 sq ft unfinished and uninsulated (for now) basement. I have six small casement windows up in the loft that I kind of use as vents and have them anywhere from all 6 open in the summer to let heat escape to just two of them cracked open with the rest closed to keep heat in depending on the outside temp and how warm I want it, along with a ceiling fan up at the apex of the loft that's always going.

I also have an old 48 year old Sears forced air furnace that is still going strong that I just use as a backup for days I'll be out of town and can't keep the stove going, or if the temp inside dips and the fire goes out while I'm at work, etc. It's still going strong and the only thing I recently replaced was the thermostat. I did this to be able to just run the fan without having the heat on. This works pretty well at circulating the warm air and more evenly distributing it throughout the house, especially in the basement. Warm air gets pulled in through the return and distributed to the areas that don't get as warm like the bedroom and bathroom hat are on the opposite side of the house and also helps reduce the living that gets way warmer because that's where the stove it.

It's pretty easy to install a modern thermostat even with an old furnace. I can cycle the fan without heat intermittently, can monitor the temp inside my place remotely and can even turn the fan and heat on and off and change the thermostat remotely now via wifi. Might be something you want to look into along with possibly installing a ceiling fan.

 

[BC_Josh]

How long are you charring the load?
The drier the wood is the sooner you can incrementally dial down.

As per manual; 20 min's on a hot load, 25 to 30 on a cold load.

 

[BC_Josh]

On it's very lowest heat output, the thing only puts out the heat of 3.5 times a 1.5 kW plug in heater ... If that's too much, maybe it's not yet burning season...?

As per manual, the heat settings are individual depending on the chimney draw, the wood, size of house, etc. In order to keep my fire going, I have to put the temp gauge at about half, maybe a little less, sometimes a little more, or the fire will burn out, but, yeah, I read ya, after my initial char, and I turn it down, it is ideal. It's just that first fire.....

But, it's not that warm here yet. Around 5 C at night.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

2nd season into my BK burning. Love the stove, but am struggling this warm(ish) shoulder season. Warm in the day, cold at night. Either seem to have too small a fire for the whole night or too hot.

That's just sort of how shoulder season goes sometimes. My house tends to have bigger swings in terms of warm and cool during shoulder season as I refuse to burn propane or electric. Give it a few more years you will figure out what works for you in terms of load size but you may need to be doing more cold starts with smaller loads you may not be able to get those big long BK Burns until it's cooler.

 

[stoveliker]

As per manual, the heat settings are individual depending on the chimney draw, the wood, size of house, etc. In order to keep my fire going, I have to put the temp gauge at about half, maybe a little less, sometimes a little more, or the fire will burn out, but, yeah, I read ya, after my initial char, and I turn it down, it is ideal. It's just that first fire.....

But, it's not that warm here yet. Around 5 C at night.

Yes, the thermostat *setting* will depend on the system etc. But what I'm saying is that the lowest output (which might need a higher Tstat setting if draft is minimal for whatever reason) is not below three and a half 1.5 kW plug-in heaters.

If that is too much, then it's not yet stove time.
I only *start* burning when it's below 5 C for 24 hrs or more. If it's 0 C at night but 10 C during the day, I don't burn.

As per manual; 20 min's on a hot load, 25 to 30 on a cold load.

Yes, but the need for this will vary with the dryness of your wood. The manual looks at 20% I believe.
It is my experience that with 16% wood, this can be drastically shortened. More so if you have less-dense wood (e.g. fir, seeing you're in the NW).
Others (@Highbeam I believe) have the same experience if I recall correctly.

 

[BC_Josh]

Have only owned a wood stove since the spring and it's a BK, so I have no experience with any other brand, or type of stove. But with that said I can imagine that the issue(s) you're having in the shoulder seasons is something that isn't exclusive to a BK, and kind of comes with the territory when using wood stove compared to something like forced air on a thermostat. Usually in early shoulder season I simply used my forced air at night and nothing during the day. The deciding factor to start using the wood stove is when the temps dip at night and stay cold cold during the day, but makes more sense to jsut used the forced air at night when it's still warning up a bit during the day.

I have a Sirocco 30.2 with a 920 sq ft. main floor, 400+ sq ft loft above it and a 920 sq ft unfinished and uninsulated (for now) basement. I have six small casement windows up in the loft that I kind of use as vents and have them anywhere from all 6 open in the summer to let heat escape to just two of them cracked open with the rest closed to keep heat in depending on the outside temp and how warm I want it, along with a ceiling fan up at the apex of the loft that's always going.

I also have an old 48 year old Sears forced air furnace that is still going strong that I just use as a backup for days I'll be out of town and can't keep the stove going, or if the temp inside dips and the fire goes out while I'm at work, etc. It's still going strong and the only thing I recently replaced was the thermostat. I did this to be able to just run the fan without having the heat on. This works pretty well at circulating the warm air and more evenly distributing it throughout the house, especially in the basement. Warm air gets pulled in through the return and distributed to the areas that don't get as warm like the bedroom and bathroom hat are on the opposite side of the house and also helps reduce the living that gets way warmer because that's where the stove it.

It's pretty easy to install a modern thermostat even with an old furnace. I can cycle the fan without heat intermittently, can monitor the temp inside my place remotely and can even turn the fan and heat on and off and change the thermostat remotely now via wifi. Might be something you want to look into along with possibly installing a ceiling fan.

Thanks Mustard Tiger. I have the same situation with my furnace. And oldie but a goodie. They don't make 'em like they used to. Last year, I used it more in the shoulder season, methinks. And, I have used it with only the fan, during wood burning time. I have a ceiling fan, for sure.

Yesterday, I did something that seemed to work better. I just lit a fire at night, before bed (in the daytime used oil-filled radiators/space heaters) but I laid the pieces of medium sized splits in a hashtag fashion, instead of all front to back. This way, there was more air flow, and as it burned down, always one piece touching another, so it doesn't go out if turned down a little low, the coals kept burning all night long, just right. I had an oil-filled heater also turned on, in case the stove went out, but to my satisfaction, it did not. Then I opened up the door and window close to the stove, turned on all the fans in the house which help circulate the air, got the initial char, then turned down the stove, let it cool down, then closed off the house, added more blankets to the bed, wore a toque which I love doing in the winter in bed, because I can also pull it over my eyes for a sleep mask.

I would've turned on the furnace fan, but I first need to put in a fresh air kit, because the stove is like a foot away from the air intake vent to the furnace. Great for sucking off heat into the basement which is needed, but lousy for the draft in the woodstove. I know, I know, it's not code in the US (not sure about here), and it's not the best but it does help in some ways.

Anyway, a lot of trouble, but then again, the gas company keeps wanting more money all the time and I love seeing my monthly bills (on equal payment plan) go from $160 Cdn a month to now $60/mo. Saving $1200/year (minus wood costs of $500/yr and insurance for wood heat at $200/yr). So, still saving $700/yr. Only another ten years to pay off the stove and really save money. LOL

 

[Murray01]

We have the same issue as you’re having. I’ll start the stove in the evening and let it burn itself out the following morning.

 

[stoveliker]

Do make sure you have a working CO detector in the stove room and on every floor (also right outside your bedroom).
Whether it's code or not in CA, it can be dangerous to suck air away from nearby the stove. CO kills you without you knowing it, especially in your sleep.

 

[BC_Josh]

We have the same issue as you’re having. I’ll start the stove in the evening and let it burn itself out the following morning.

I know, right? So do you also have a catalytic style stove so you have to do the initial hot burn?

 

[BC_Josh]

Do make sure you have a working CO detector in the stove room and on every floor (also right outside your bedroom).
Whether it's code or not in CA, it can be dangerous to suck air away from nearby the stove. CO kills you without you knowing it, especially in your sleep.

Yes, thanks for reminding me! I do have one in my bedroom, part of a smoke detector CO detector combo. And, one in the living room outside my bedroom which is very sensitive and picks up any smoke off the stove in the next room. I should do more frequent checks on them.

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

Here's another thought, I have no worries about opening a window if I get things too hot. I scrounge cut and split all of my own wood so it only cost me my time. I have kept a window slightly open for the first hot hour of a burn and then shut it as the burn calms down. Yes you are technically wasting Heat but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't seem to bother me.

 

[EbS-P]

What’s wrong with a small fire at night. Let it go out and cold start the next time you need heat. I know this isn’t the BK way but from a wood burner living in a coastal moderate climate two cold starts a day is normal operation for me. Top down lots of kindling. Second suggestion is a heatpump. Easier and possibly cheap if you are buying firewood.

 

[stoveliker]

BK owners get spoiled with almost no cold starts...
Hence I only burn if it's cold enough for 24 hrs or more.
Nothing wrong with a cold start, but talk about steps operating a stove (common misconception about the operational steps for a BK... Cold starts are way more hands on that "the extra step" of closing a bypass...)

 

[Murray01]

I know, right? So do you also have a catalytic style stove so you have to do the initial hot burn?

Yes, we have an older Blaze King, smaller than a King bigger than a Princess. We employ all the suggestions above plus a few more. When the house starts to get too warm we shut the ceiling fan off and let the heat build up in the cathedral ceiling and start opening windows. All rooms with an exterior wall always have the doors closed, they get fairly cold, if the living room/kitchen start getting too warm we open the bedroom doors allowing the cold air out. When we do relight the stove we let the living room/kitchen cool down to 16-18C, colder if the wife isn’t around and that gives us plenty of room to run the stove on high as per the owners manual. We burn Jack Pine dried by a forest fire in 2018, not the hottest burning wood but it’s so plentiful and within walking distance.

 

[BC_Josh]

Well, so far, I'm quite content with doing some smaller fires, with some smaller pieces laid in criss-cross fashion. That works well, it gives nice airflow, so less smoke out the chimney. I just open the front door, and the closest window for about an hour, slowly closing the front door as it cools off, usually in a couple stages. It's a lot of babysitting, turning on fans, opening and closing windows and the door, but it beats getting these outrageous gas bills from my old furnace.

It was (all on equal payment plans) $90 a month just before the pandemic, and it went as high as $160 a month before I put my foot down and got a wood stove. Like.... so they started supplying Europe after the Ukraine war, so in other words, they got more lucrative markets so we have to pay for their profiteering? Also, wood is pretty carbon neutral since it will one day rot and emit the carbon it stores anyway. Feels good not to support those rapacious corporate clowns and pay a local firewood supplier and a chimney sweep instead.

 

[begreen]

The good news is that the home is fairly tight and well insulated. This is why we run on the heatpump until temps drop. No worries, temperatures will be dropping by Tuesday and it will be easier to strike a balance. Even then, smaller fires until daytime temps drop into the mid-40s will work.

 

[Highbeam]

What’s wrong with a small fire at night. Let it go out and cold start the next time you need heat. I know this isn’t the BK way but from a wood burner living in a coastal moderate climate two cold starts a day is normal operation for me. Top down lots of kindling. Second suggestion is a heatpump. Easier and possibly cheap if you are buying firewood.

The BK way during the shoulder season is to have a small fire at night as temperatures drop. Later on in the winter we can load fully and the output is not too much. The BK does benefit from a wide range of available outputs but not down to zero.

It’s a careful dance to try and just hold a specific temperature all the time with a wood heater and changing outdoor temperatures. Larger homes can absorb and release heat better. Small homes are harder.

To the OP, I think you need to relax on the warm up burn. It doesn’t need to be that hot and long.