Catalytic short burns?

Do any of you have a catalytic stove that you do short, overnight burns in. I'd like to try it in shoulder season but was hoping someone had some experience doing so. My stove is the BK princess. Should I try a half load of soft wood?

 

I do small/short loads in the shoulder season. Three splits usually. It takes a little longer to get the cat up to temp and engaged, but burns fine. I use oak because its all I have usually.

 

Not sure how little your stove's cat needs to function, but for our last two cat stoves there seemed to be a lower limit. It takes some experimenting to find the minimum amount of smoke to feed the cat. But yes, we run short loads in shoulder season just fine.

 

I also do short burns in my Woodstock Fireview during the shoulder season, I usually use maple. Like fox said, it can take a while for the cat to light off with short burns, sometimes I'll throw a couple pieces of red oak or hickory in there to get it going. Plus I love the smell of hickory at a slow burn, smells like bbq ribs!!!!

 

Smaller loads seem to get up to cruising speed faster than if I pack it full.
But mine is a cellar dweller, so I rarely do short loads. If I gets too hot in the house, I'll close the basement door.

 

Any special way you load the stove for the short burns? I usually stuff the stove in the winter so north/south full bottom row. Would you start the same way? Or have a 4 or 5 split stack in the middle of the stove?

Btw I use super cedars to start it no kindling. If that makes a difference.

 

Stack them. The uppers light off the lowers.

 

Howdy! I have the BKK, and I'm here to help. You stated soft wood. What is it? I burn Lodgepole Pine, Aspen, and Cottonwood in mine.
Start small. 2" diam. limb size , (2) N/S and (3) E/W on top. Assuming the Super Cedar is on the bottom lighting everything else off. T-stat wide open. Let it get cooking and burn down a bit. Of course, monitor flue temps.
If you have a good draw, you can close the T-stat down a bunch. I took the cover off of mine a number of years ago and never looked back. I like to visually see the amount of adjustment.
Adjusting the T-stat to 1/4" open at that point slows the burn down a bit, and also allows more flow through the CAT chamber. It heats quicker.
At this point, you should have a decent coal bed with some un-burnt ends. Toss on a couple of splits/rounds, and let them take hold. E/W is good.
Let them catch and go from there. At this point, your CAT should be about active, so wait until you hit "above active" to close the bypass. Or, let it go for about 10 min. before you slow it down, depending on flue temps./ MC of wood.
Reduce your T-stat until your temps. even out, you're good for the night. Adjusted correctly, 3 (large) splits of pine will be adequate for 8 hrs. during the shoulder season (now).
Oh yeah, blower on low, don't crank it up.

 

Thanks Beetle. Just the detail I was looking for. Silver Maple is my "soft wood". Not soft buy Colorado standards. But, I don't have evergreens around here

 

If you have questions, ask away!

 

A short overnight fire with a quick cat light off means you are a candidate for a top down fire.

I've made a few in my IS hybrid.

 

I agree. Top down fire all the way. Put how ever many splits you want in it and load your kindling on top. This way you can engage the cat quicker and get a cleaner burn. You don't have to open the door again. It will be self sustaining.

 

I get a bunch of 2 by 4s for free. I cut them with a miter saw and then split them a bunch to make some great kindling. Gets those top down fires roaring. Just pick up one for like 2 bucks and make a bunch of kindling.

 

Good idea. Thanks. Don't think I've ever heard of burning a fire top down. In your experience do the logs at the bottom catch well? Ever any issues with the cat falling out of active after the kindling burns down?

 

I'm on board the the fellas with the top down fires. It's a great way to burn your should season wood until full time burning comes into play.

A couple of the above posters and I have the same stove, and the top down works great with the this stove. I'm sure your BK will respond well
for short burns as well.

What is in your wood supplies inventory? You mentioned Silver Maple. Have you had any cool nights yet?

 

The start date of my burn season is entirely dependent on my wife. So, "cool nights" is relative. It was 50 here last night. She was cold. We burnt over night. 1st of the year. Usually, we burn 24/7 starting in late October. We regulate house temp by opening windows until mid November. I have a small stack of silver maple a neighbor gave me. Otherwise, i only cut wood off my land. Hedge, Shag Hickory, Honey Locust, Red Oak, Black Cherry, Hackberry. I have about 10 cord cut split stacked and top covered. I'm a follower of the Backwoods Savage 3 year plan. We burn 2.5 to 3 cord per year.(small house,heavy insulation)

 

MissouriFrontier , you can never go wrong with ANY Backwoods Savage advice, he's a living legend and I've had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him and his wonderful wife.
You seem to have all your ducks in a row with your last response, and quite a variety of species coming from your backyard! Your small house and good insulation sounds like the recipe for a warm house burning with a BK. Nice to meet you

 

Y

Nice meeting you as well. I agree, Dennis has been my wood heat Yoda since I first came across his posts in a old forum I used to be a member of. I wish my desire for wood heat came from some noble place. In reality, I'm just a cheap redneck that hates paying the propane man.✊

 

The only advice I have is don't use wet wood. It simply will not work with a top down fire. This method is a fantastic way to get a stove from cold to operating temperature. Starting a cold stove typically causes a bunch of smoke and pollution. Top down fires prevent that by creating a ceiling of combustion that quickly raises the temperature of emission components and brings them online.