FHC Exclusive! Long low oak burn in the new Ideal Steel stove

Of course!

Its kinda fun being given the keys to a new toy and being told, in essence, 'Use it, abuse it and see if you can break it. And return it when you're done so we can tear it apart and make the next one better.'

 

Superb performance. But...
waiting on the Pine performance testing. That's what will lock me in on the new stove.
Does anyone think it'd be worth it, for me to send BrianK some Lodgepole to try? BrianK, what are your thoughts on that?
JB

 

JB,
I'm certainly willing to try it, but someone pointed out on BBAR's thread about the Progress that shipping firewood might not be prudent.

That being said, 16" long medium splits fit in this stove quite well NS and it would take about ten of them to fill 'er up. Its your call, I'm game.

 

It's worth it to me to find out. 16" splits, done deal. I'll let you know when they're on the way. This dry pine is light, so you may end up with more than one box, shipping should be cheap. I'll let you know. Thanks, JB

 

Great, looking forward to letting it rip on some Lodge Pole pine!

Make them 17" so we can pack it tight to the front.

 

Done.
Since I have the Wife's OK, you'll get a decent mix. Rounds, splits, and slab wood. Enough of each for a decent burn. I just have to round up some shipping boxes. I'll keep you posted. Thanks, JB

 

Cool.

This is more fun than I should be allowed to have just burning wood.

I just packed the Ideal Steel full to the gills with 14" long pieces of the 3"x6" oak blocks. Loading NS with a couple stacked in the front of the stove I probably got 10% more wood into the stove tonight than I did for the 24 hour burn, without the gaps down the middle of the previous test load.

I'm running this one on about half the air that I used for the 24 hour burn. I loaded at 11:15 on some hot coals but they took a long time to catch. Engaged the cat around 11:35, stove top was up to 425 by 11:45, and I cut the air back to around 7% judging by my hash marks which I just drew in by pencil for this run (and judging by which my 24 hour burn was probably at 13-15%, not 10).

I'm not worried about room temps or stove temps. I'm just going long. This is to simulate an early shoulder season long burn. I'm letting the house furnace fire as needed to maintain interior temps.

I suspect I won't be able to report total burn times on this load till early Tuesday am.

 

Awesome!

 

Got up this morning to a completely black glass on the door and a heavy smoke smell in the house. It appears one of the front pieces of oak tilted up against the door glass overnight. Maybe I should have put the andirons back in on this load.

Stove top temp was 285, hot spot on front of stove above door was 340, so I don't think the cat stalled.

Still, I don't like this smoke smell so I'm going to increase the air to just below what it was for the 24 hour burn for the rest of this burn cycle.

 

Have you seen any backpuffing on the low air setting?

 

No, but I set it last night and went to bed.

 

Any wind last night?

 

I don't think so.

36 and overcast.

 

Just got home from the office, 18 hours into this burn cycle. Adjusting the air a little higher this morning resolved the smoke smell in the house but stove top temps this evening were 180 and front of stove above door 230.

Still giving off heat but not to the same degree as I was getting on the prior 24 hour burn. Air was several percentage points higher on that burn so not unexpected.

Firebox is still a third to a half full of wood. Door glass mostly sooted up so no photos worth sharing. I think this burn will go a couple hours longer than last one but noticeably less usable heat.

 

I suspect it stalled. I'm trying to figure out the air level needed to maintain it and with the warmer temps outside today (got up to 45?) I think the draft was weak and stove temps couldn't keep up.

I just opened up the air to full for about ten minutes to clean off the glass and get the cat back up to temp and everything took off as expected. I cut the air back again to about the level I had it for the prior burn.

The smoke smell in the house this morning had me a bit concerned and I don't think I'll be running this stove at air levels below what I used for the first 24 hour burn in the future. I don't know if that smoke smell also indicates CO in the house and I don't want to find out. The smoke detector and CO detector did not alarm.

 

It will probably take some time to figure out what the best air settings are for a long burn when you are away from the stove.

 

So, Sherwood was the one who said don't ship firewood. I was the one who offered the reasons not to move firewood. Of course everyone is going to do what they want. I don't know what the regulations are everywhere but I will reiterate, there are potential consequences of moving/shipping firewood if not properly treated. Invasive non-native species are most often spread by humans. Sometimes it's accidental and sometimes it is on purpose with some kind of economic benefit in mind. Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Carp, Kudzu, Zebra Mussels, Asian Longhorned Beetle, White Pine Weevil, Gypsy Moth.... The list can go on and on.

So my recommendation to those who plan to move firewood long distances is to follow the international standard for treating the wood prior to shipping as found on this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISPM_15 As you can see, wood shipped internationally is either chemically treated or heat treated to 133 degrees for 30 minutes. My recommendation is to take the wood that you plan to ship, and throw it in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour. Pull out the biggest piece, split it down the middle and see what the temperature is. If it's right at 133, then leave it in there for 30 more minutes. Of course it would be necessary to collect data to find out what the optimum heating time is based on species, size and moisture content.

Is this overkill? Sure, but by doing this, one would never have to be concerned about spreading bugs, fungi, bacterium or even seeds of plants that could potentially be harmful somewhere else.