So for the past few weeks I've noticed that my overnight burns were getting a lot better if I shut the air down once the stove reached about 350* instead of letting it get up t0 450* like I normally do before shutting it all the way down. I've been waking up to a warmer living room and really nice coal beds. So I started thinking that maybe I could use less wood during the day by using the same method. Now my splits are probably around 6" wide by so imagine a log round 12-15" in diameter and 20" in length being split into 4 pieces to get an idea of what the splits look like. It's mixed hardwood. I can usually cram 6 of them to fill the stove up. Yesterday I loaded 2 splits in the stove around 7am, got the splits lit well and the stove up to 350* then shut the air down 95% of the way. I got the house up from 68* to 76* on just those 2 splits before it leveled out at 73*. I threw in 2 more splits around 2pm and did the same routine. The house stayed at 73* from 2pm until the full load for the over night burn. So 4 splits total during the day to keep the house at 73* from 7am to 8pm. The outdoor high temp here yesterday was 31* with little to no wind. Today I decided to try again. 2 splits at 7am, 2 more at noon (didn't get as long a burn with whatever type of wood the morning splits were), 2 more around 4pm. It's 78* currently in the living room. So today I used 6 pieces of wood to keep the house 73* or warmer from 7am until 8:20pm (that's what time it is as I type this and I have not loaded for the overnight burn). The outdoor high temp today was 40* with little to no wind. I'm pretty damm excited about this. I used the same amount of wood over the last 2 days as I normally would of used for a morning load and a mid-afternoon load combined. The stove just cruises in the 300-350* and only slightly dips under the ideal burn range on my thermometers when it's time to throw 2 more splits on.
No cat. House is 2000sqft but I'm only heating about 1400sqft w the stove. The back bedrooms are closed off since it's a pain to get the heat back there. We just use oil filled electric radiators to keep the chill off in the bedrooms. Last night the stove temp went up to 450* after I shut the air down at 350* 350*-375 is right in the first 1/3 of the ideal burn zone on the magnetic thermometer. Creosote zone ends at 300* and Over fire starts at 575*. The flue temps should be fine.
This is where these kind of threads become very confusing, you need to be specific on what you are talking about, when posting numbers, stovetop temperature, flu temperature and whether or not it is a probe or a magnet mount. 575 is not the top point for your stove top, my stove likes to run at 650. Not only that but you may have magnet mount thermometers there are not accurate
Also; you said mixed hardwoods..............................these longer burns my be mostly or all of the "better" hardwoods. Too many variables here.
Oh I am. Currently sitting in a 73* house on 3 splits of wood from this morning. Outside temp is currently 32*. The glass has stayed pretty clean over the 3 day experiment with the usual ash film. No dark build up on the glass.
It's great if you are able to keep your home warm with less wood. I'm not sure with a secondary burn stove that you have the cleanest possible emissions if you are burning at 350 stovetop. I doubt the stove is hot enough for secondary combustion? Are you seeing secondary flames during much of the burn? Instinct says a lot of smoke isn't being combusted. Yet, you are staying warm. How tall is your chimney? Is it interior/insulated/single or double wall stovepipe? Do you monitor your stovepipe temp, with either a magnetic or probe thermometer? If not, you may want to stick the stovetop thermometer on the stack at about 18 inches above the stovetop and make sure you are maintaining at least 250 degrees interior temp. at that height. If single wall, the interior will be roughly twice the exterior temp, assuming some degree of accuracy in the magnetic thermometer. If double wall, it'll be more than two times as hot inside. How much more depends on the pipe, I guess, but at least 2 1/2 x I'd expect. With the warm outdoor temps, that is likely warm enough to prevent the chimney from getting below 212 at the cap. However, if you are not getting much secondary burn, and a lot of smoke is going up the chimney, then I'd have some concern about creosote formation as you move up the stack, if the pipe isn't warmer than that. Have you checked outside to see if visible smoke is coming out the stack when you are burning this way? If no smoke, pipe temps at least 250, then great. It's always very nice to need less wood. If you are burning at the same setting as you were previously, just lowering the maximum temp you allowed the stovetop to get to previously and thus lowering the average burn temp, then ( unless you are reducing draft significantly by having a lower temp in the box and so having more time for heat to radiate into the room from the box, thereby making your stove more efficient at delivering heat to the room) you should simply be prolonging the burn time by producing less heat per hour into your living space. Which would indicate you need less heat to stay warm...unless it has been significantly warmer while you have run the experiment. There is the possibility, also, that if your home is not very tightly sealed, then higher indoor heat generation and greater differential between inside and outside heat results in quicker heat loss to the outdoors. In that case, delivering less heat to the room may slow down heat loss. Just speculating.
Good to know there is no smouldering, but would not expect any at 350 degree stovetop. Does not mean all the smoke is being burned, however. If you have not been, do periodically check the outside stack during this experiment. I'd also check the flue for buildup after a month or so of burning like this, since it is a new mode and may result in different cap /chimney /pipe build up.
My responses are in bold. House is 76*, 35* outside. Reloaded that stove around 12:30 when the house was 73* and the outside temp was 32*.
Yeah I plan on checking things out in a few weeks. I've always ended up with a small coffee can's worth of buildup when I clean the liner after the heating season. I'll report my findings.
I just hear stories like this and can't wait until I get a nice insert and can more effectively heat my house with wood, not lp gas.
When my outside temps stay 40 or above during the day even with last night dropping to 22 my wood consumption goes way down, I don't have stove top t-stat. Sun is higher in the sky now vs. December so more solar gain as well I have noticed that instead of opening the air on a fresh load(wood comes from outside straight to stove) letting it sit on a coal bed for 20mins prior to opening the air has given me much longer periods of useful heat, the house is staying 70-73 overnight with low 20's outside on 4 splits of oak, morning load of 1-2splits of pine with 1-2 splits of oak and the house is 70+ when GF gets home around 3-4
I'm not sure what your revelation is here, are you saying by not burning your stove as hot your burning less wood? Or are you saying by spreading the load out you keep the temp more consistent, therefore heating your house on less wood with a more stable indoor temp? When I'm home and its really cold I burn smaller loads more frequently and have better results keeping the house more stable. Also if I turn the air down at a lower temp I get a longer more even burn too. Either way if it works for ya, go with it.
Spreading the load out is keeping the temp more consistent. I'm burning 1 less load per day (if you add up the splits) by only chucking a few splits in during the day rather than filling up the firebox every time. I've found that my burn times are not that much different than if I were to fill the box. My normal schedule is 7am, 2-3pm, then 8-9pm for the overnight (overnight gets a full box). By filling the firebox 1/3 of the way full I'm still able to get pretty much the same burn time at a lower temp and the house is a more even temp.
