Ideal Steel overnight burn settings

I was just curious what notch everybody is using for their overnight burns? Obviously temperatures have an effect as well.

I am using either the 4th or 5th notch depending how much heat I need. I always have plenty of coals in the morning.

 

About the same for me. Closed a little more when it was minus 4 one night.

 

Been running ours at just under the third notch. Eight hour burn with 5 or 6 splits over a 3" coal bed. White ash fuel.

 

Similar to the others, notch 2 -4 depending on the type of wood I'm using and the temps.

 

Without having read the entire blog on the IS, I'm curious, is an 8 hour burn a "Choice" or is it what you can get out of your stove with that fuel. You say 5 or 6 splits, is that a full load? Could you tell me approximately what percentage that is of a full load if it is a partial load you speak of. Reason is that I'm wondering if IS users on average are utilizing the full capacity of the stove. Is a full load as controllable as a partial load, etc. Lots of thinking about this stove after reading a bit about it.
Thanks. Brian in Bozeman MT

 

The 8 hour burn is by choice. 5 or 6 splits makes the firebox maybe 2/3 full. Still burning shoulder season method so far, haven't used good wood yet (b.lucust & w.oak). Hopefully other IS users who have filled 'em up will comment about their burn times and fuel type with full loads.

 

BridgerBurner - in the Ideal Steel, 5-6 splits can be a 3/4 load or closer to a full load, depending on the size of the splits. When the R&D team at Woodstock, as I'm certain other stove makers do, test their stoves, they burn the stove on a scale and measure the load by weight and not pieces (subjective). As one of out members asked and proposed; How do we define "the burn". When do we start the timer, when do we stop the clock? The parameters for defining "the burn time" are myriad; however familiar to those who are experienced wood burners.
May I suggest reading through the thread entitled; Production Woodstock IS, started by My IS Heats My Home.
The amount of information and level of detail regarding the IS is astounding and very informative.
I purchased the IS and installed it this past September. This is a great stove that allows burning wood with flexibility and efficiency. It heats well, cleanly and as I said, efficiently so, those of us who own one believe we are burning a decent percentage less wood to meet our heating needs (speaking anecdotally, I find I burn 25% - 30% less wood).

 

As Gark said, it's by choice. Still somewhat in shoulder season so some have been loading more to capacity and other not as much yet, depending on your temps and house size ect... Going 8 - 10 hours overnight being either fully loaded or even half to 2/3 loaded with 4 - 5 splits on a bed of coals has not been a problem.

 

I have over loaded the stove on several occasions resulting in a stove too hot/full to load in the morning. During shoulder season I was loading on a 24 hr cycle. Right now I am loading on a 12 hr cycle and viewing 400 degrees as my cutoff as "usable" heat. Coaling usually takes place for ~2 of those 12 hrs.

 

A choice. I commonly 'burn' for 12- 20 hours in my I.S. but as others have pointed out, it is not yet deep in the cold season here. I define a 'burn' as having the stove put out sufficient heat to maintain the house temp. w/in 3 degrees of where I want it and of course a lot of that 'burn' time is done with coals and little or no combustor activity because all the gasses have been driven out of the fuel.

Because I actually measure temperature in several places inside and outside the stove, and because I often look at the amount of smoke the stove produces (with the goal being zero visible smoke), I can say that one of the most surprising things is how well this stove runs at very low draft and temperature settings. I commonly run mine at 5% to 10% draft setting, which because the I.S. draft is NOT linear, is probably about 2% to 3% of fully closed. Firebox temps. often in the 450F range and combustor temps. between 750F and, say, 950F and the stove will easily run 16- 20 hours and put out sufficient to keep my house above 70F (I shoot for 73F in the hall, well away from the room where the stove is located). I think a lot of people run these stoves 'harder' than they have to to maintain a stove top temp. which is really not all the representative of the stove's efficiency. I try to keep my exhaust temps. in the low 300F and often dip into the 200F degree range, which I think is fantastic: as the stove is burning without producing smoke, such low exhaust temps. indicate a fantastic efficiency.

All of that said, I think a lot of the modern, 3.X cubic foot catalytic combustor stoves on the market will do the same thing. The I.S. is an excellent design IMO but it is not magic and I would expect the similar behavior from other stoves such as the Blaze King princess. In fact the B.K. may have an advantage given that they have a stove temperature controlled damper; I fully expected to have automated my own draft control on the I.S. by now but it has proven so stable that my interest in doing that is not a high priority.

Brian

 

This is a perfect example of different definitions of a 'burn'; my stove spends a LOT of time with the surface below 400F yet provides sufficient heat for the needs of my house. Obviously Mr. Stix D) has different needs in his house, at least at this time of year.

Brian

 

Excellent info. It would however seem that the IS is a bit of a chameleon of sorts, and perhaps why others run the stove harder than needed for optimal efficiency. This jack of all trades is what I "think" I'm looking for. A fireshow with secondaries and adequate control vs. a non cat mod/epa with the opportunity to earn the control of a BK unit with a "lights out" firebox providing optimal btu efficiency. Am I wrong to assume this?

 

You are correct to assume this is the stove for your needs. It will put out impressive ghost flames or settle into a long lasting black cat burn. The progress hybrid would be another option with similar features.

 

You'll get the fire show or the black box depending upon what you're looking for. I'm still learning how to run her, but I will say if you're on the fence about taking the plunge, I'd recommend going for it. I'm just starting to use the lower settings, have it on the third notch right now (2 notches below 1/4 open), and I'm looking at a black box and a stove top temp of 450 degrees. 2/3 full loaded at 9:00, and it will have a great bed of coals in the am. The last four or five days I've only needed a little heat out of it, and I've found I can get it through a 12 hour cycle on just two or three splits, depending upon the size. I'd say about 1/3 full. I typically have been putting the air intake at 1/4. I've had a couple of beverages tonight, but it's not beer goggles making me say I love this girl.

The fire show is very cool, slow rolling flames toward the front of the fire box. A couple of guys who have been to the house in the past few weeks have remarked about them. One said he could watch them all day long, the other said they reminded him of the eye of Sauron - but in a good way. You also get secondaries in the back that I find are pretty mesmerizing too. But I'm pretty easily entertained.

 

Now if they'd make the identical functioning firebox in steel (read affordable), in say... 2.8 cu. ft. and wrap in in an attractive cast as do many other mfg's. Soapstone guts, steel shell, and luxurious cast exterior. I'd pay $2,750.00 for that stove. It sounds to me that for the average sized home with good insulation that the IS has functioned so well that the size is a bit overkill, so the thought of slightly downsizing it to allow for a cast shell with decent overall dimensions would be awesome.

 

I wouldn't call it overkill yet. Most of us are still in the late stages of shoulder season. I have not had this running in temperatures under 20 yet. The big firebox is desirable for when it gets really cold. I think they did exactly what they planned. They picked a market of people who wanted an efficient stove cheap and they built it with tons of features. The bang for your buck is pretty remarkable. It is a very attractive stove once put together.

 

I definitely concur that this stove, despite its size, isn't overkill. I have it in a 250 sq ft kitchen, and the ability to keep it at around 300 degrees stove top temp for a long period of time has been key to not heating us out of that room. But I like the ability to really crank out heat when I need it.

 

Agreed that the stove is remarkable for the price, I'll be designing a spot in our new remodel this year specifically for it. Thanks for the input, much appreciated. Brian

 

Our winters are pretty mild here in Bozeman, but there are those weeks of sub zero that the larger box may be necessary. Our home will be 2k sq. ft. (after the remodel and addition) , 1,000 down and 1,000 up. Both bedrooms upstairs. I wouldn't be opposed to having the furnace fire up when it gets that cold here. Really looking for a stove that will fit my needs the best. 12 hour burn time, good light show, and the ability to heat comfortable in shoulder season. My wife and I like it at about 60 upstairs for good sleeping. Hoping the IS is not more stove than I need.

 

This stove can be whatever you want it to be. You want it to burn low and slow, it will do it just fine. All you need to worry about is your wood being dry with proper draft.