What's your nightly routine?

Front, or side loader?

 

Yeah, I'm not picturing this either. Maybe sideways is east/west ?
I've never found an advantage to making a "teepee" of splits in a stove either and yet I've seen even stove manufacturers do it. Sometimes just kindling, sometimes even with bigger splits.

 

Haha. My apologies. I can understand the confusion.

Do you load your logs east to west or stick em in north south? I hear people saying putting logs in the back and I imagine the logs being put in sideways. To me, a log that's put in north-south is in the front and back at the same time.

 

We advocate for N/S loading for a few reasons.

1) Not always, but in most stoves, you can load more fuel into a stove North/South.

2) With the end of the log facing you, you won't have to place your hands into the firebox as deeply to load.

3) With the end of the log facing you, it's less likely to roll forward and strike the glass (if so equipped) and break it.

4) In shallow fireboxes, less likely to have wood roll forward as you open the door and roll out onto the hearth.

5) With many designs that have an air wash to keep the glass clean (or at least somewhat clean) loading north south allows for more airflow between the fuel pieces and less likely to create a dam effect to air circulation.

6,7,8,9,10) Because my wife told me to do it this way!

BKVP

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to all the wood burners!

 

We advocate for N/S loading for a few reasons.

1) Not always, but in most stoves, you can load more fuel into a stove North/South.

2) With the end of the log facing you, you won't have to place your hands into the firebox as deeply to load.

3) With the end of the log facing you, it's less likely to roll forward and strike the glass (if so equipped) and break it.

4) In shallow fireboxes, less likely to have wood roll forward as you open the door and roll out onto the hearth.

5) With many designs that have an air wash to keep the glass clean (or at least somewhat clean) loading north south allows for more airflow between the fuel pieces and less likely to create a dam effect to air circulation.

6,7,8,9,10) Because my wife told me to do it this way!

BKVP

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to all the wood burners!

 

I have a non-cat insert with reburner tubes in the top - 2.5cu ft firebox. What typically works for this kind of stove for me is:

Open the air to full and let the embers burn down and the STT get around 650F. Modulate the blower to help achieve this quickly. Rake the coals into a level base.

Load the first layer of splits N/S, the second later E/W, and if space allows, a third layer N/S. Allow this to catch fully and the outside to char before re-checking temperature and increasing blower speed, damper down, open the son's bedroom door (still in a crib) and head to bed for the night. Usually this gets me 8-10h easy with a good coal base to re-light with in the morning. Proper STT and full loading to me are the keys to getting it to cruise all night and still keep the house toasty.

Since my insert draws from the front bottom towards the back and up across the ceiling of the firebox, the E/W slows down the overall burn rate while the N/S allows for airflow.

Biggest thing for me was to experiment and learn my own setup. Your mileage will obviously vary with the variables you have!

 

Normally, the stove is already burning if we need a burn overnight. In that case, 30 minutes before bedtime, root around in remaining wood and coals, then load it full, all the way up to the secondary tubes, East-West, with a wide open air supply. After 15 minutes, the air gets choked to 50%. When going to bed, and the fire is roaring, the stove gets choked slowly down to about 90%. It it somewhat temperamental as far as air supply. Has to be a little slow and gradual process. Thats where it stays overnight. I have plenty of coals to hot-start the next morning. Blowers are still running in the morning as well.

 

Haha. That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. Burn on!

 

Useful information. I will try the layered approach. Thank you!

 

Might have to give this a try. Thanks!

 

If I'm burning one fire a day like I am a lot this year, I'll rake everything forward and put a chunk of elm in the back corner the cover it with as much ash as I can. Then have my fire. 24 hors later I can dig out a nice coal to get things started and repeat the process. Always easier to start a warm stove.

 

That's how he said he was loading. And yes, we load sideways. We can cram the box full, even though we have small load doors. Splits never roll into the glass..we have andirons!
But Dennis doesn't have the options I do; I also have an ash grate in the floor of the stove, with a 1/4" hole in the side of the ash pan housing, feeding air through the grate. With that, I can stir the ash down through the grate and the incoming air from the pan housing will make the coals burn hotter in any place I want below the load, front or back. I sometime stir ash down in the center to get a cool-looking "coal cavern" that's visible through the glass, once the wood is burned out of that area. Have I mentioned that my stove is way cool?

 

Sounds like you are doing it right.

 

I'll open the ash tray door, then the main door, and rake the ash to the pit and into the ash tray. Pull all the coals towards the front, leaving a 2" gap off the front wall. Mash/push the coal bed out evenly. Fill with the most solid splits I can find, doing my best to fill every square inch of firebox with wood. Close the main door. Make sure I have a nice burn started in the box (hang out for a few minutes, leaving the ash tray door open if I have a weak burn). Once the burn is going well, I turn the dial to the preferred heat output for the evening, close the ash door, and go to bed. Probably a 5 minute ordeal.

 

I was reading this and thinking to myself....this guy sounds like he has a Kuuma. Then I read your sig. Kuuma's make wood burning soooo easy!

 

And as Stihly once said...almost boring...

 

Nightly routine?

 

I suppose a side-loader could be confusing. I always go with N/S relative to the loading door, be that on the front or the side. Someone else might not.