Stove load with burn time?

Yeah looks like your wood is indeed an issue here. If you’re willing to put wood down in front of the stove, this may help dry it out a little bit. Smaller splits would work too. They burn faster yes, but the more dry they can get the better before going in. I understand what you gotta do. At least you’re doing a good try. The burn will do better when the wood is dry. If you can find pallets to break up, this may raise your possibly in having a better burn since pallets are often heat treated. Downside is the metal. Would just help in those times when its needed. Good luck!

 

There is a blower on the stove, I also run a box fan to move air.

 

I wish I could move the stove setup, but that would involve alot. Like building a new chimney, or installing a pipe, and all that good stuff... I do use fans. The stove had a pretty good blower on it, I use a box fan to pull cold air down the stairs and blow towards the stove. I also have vents in the floor with fans to pull warm air up in to the living room. If the house wasn't just totally gutted and redone 4 years ago, I would be cutting in other vents.

 

I try to keep a couple days worth by the stove. I know, some of you will say it's too close. but the way the stove is made there is an air gap between the stove box itself and the outer panel. I have checked the temp with the stove at it's hottest, and the wood next to it doesn't get above 120f.

 

You're not overthinking it. Wood only has a certain amount of energy in it to give and it is pound for pound about the same for all species. The more dense the wood, the more mass you can fit in the stove. A small weight of wood burning quick will make the stove hot for a short time, a large amount burning slower will make the stove just as hot but last longer. If the wood is wet, some of that energy is going to be used to turn that water into steam and send it up the chimney.

 

Mine had a similar gap too, would get warm but never super hot so I think you’re ok.. if it were a Schrader or Fisher stove then no.

 

I am unconvinced that drying using stove heat results in a net gain. That is heat that could be warming the house, but instead is "lost" to drying the wood. I would just burn it as-is if that is what I had, with air increased as needed to get a decent burn.

 

Right but is burning it any different? I assume the temperature drop affects it the same way. I had to just figure that drying some of the wood Prior to loading it in would benefit better than putting it in straight from the stack. The drying is indeed less preferred by constraints but the only pro I can come up with is the moisture isn’t condensing in the pipe, the moisture would be in the house more so. Granted places where moisture needs to be kept in check like bedroom windows and windows with curtains or blinds where pockets of air settle against cold, fans should help that. Usually a stove at full bore erases this problem somewhat quickly. I can understand why some here keep a supply of wood in a backroom or stove room on the side, even if it’s dry as it can be. Also he’s not saying it’s dripping wet, low 20’s for moisture.
Not ideal but quite a few of us here admit to burning similar stuff, any higher and, it’s just not going to burn well.

 

How is the heat "lost" ?
It's still in the house.
As is the moisture that was in the wood which raises the humidity level in the house making the air "feel" even warmer.

 

The heat is "lost" because its energy is used to evaporate water, rather than heating, whether radiant or convective. The same heat energy cannot do both.

 

Um, outside of the stove the water is not being evaporated. It is being transferred into the room, not up the chimney.

 

Yeah as many said here, packing configuration is key for long burns. I question about having to have the damper half open first off. I'd say that if you can't keep a fire going with a bed of coals with it totally shut or cracked a hair, I'd suspect you have some moisture in your splits still or you may be having an exhaust related issue (clogged pipe maybe?). Second I would say that if you can keep a fire going with the damper closed but you're not getting the heat output you want (and thus opening it for a hotter fire) I would question your air movement setup. I can load my stove with pine and in the morning my heat powered fan is still moving. There's no bed of coals mind you (it's pine) but the stove still has enough heat in it to move the fan. I say this because even with pine I can get long enough burn times to keep good heat in the stove until morning.

 

Well, actually it is, but that's OK.

 

This^^^, you’re not losing the heat in a burn, if the wood is outside of the stove. Merely its being warmed. Most stoves would have more than enough heat in places to drive out moisture if it sits for long enough. However the more wood that does sit by the stove, the more heat that would require to to dry out.
If the wood is being used to drive moisture out is already in the stove heating whatever is outside of it, then that has to use extra energy to make heat INSIDE the stove. It wouldn’t necessarily be a lot but to drive 5-8% out...?

The difference would be placing a wet towel and a wet blanket, which one is going to dry out first if we assume they are both of similar moisture levels, differing in size.