Anyone else set their alarm to wake in the middle of the night for stove duty?

I've never really needed to. My big 'ol stove eats a LOT of wood, but you only really have to feed it once or twice/day. If I run it as hard as I can (a lot of air and fans on high) I can still easily have a 400* stove top after 12 hours with a load of hedge and black locust, which is about all I burn anymore. I loaded it last night about 6:30PM and the wife will probably have to load it later this afternoon with 3-4 splits to get through for the next big load.

I'm sure I could load more often and have it burn more efficiently and use less wood, but I'm NOT getting up in the night. I don't mind making firewood...but once I'm up in the night...I'm up and not getting back to sleep.

 

I used to, when I was using the hotblast furnace in the basement. The thing did a good job, but sub-zero weather required a 3 am reload.

Now, I wake up at 5ish on my off days. No particular reason, just do. I go out and give the knob a twist and maybe turn the fans up. I crawl back in bed for an hour, and then we all get up to a toasty house.

 

Started burning my stash of 4x4 oak pallet wood. Packed the PE summit insert with 15 pcs loaded N/S. 14 hour burn on low (high 20 out low 70 inside)
Burning the Cherry and Maple 6 hour 8 if lucky, No alarm needed as gark said I wake for bathroom enough

 

I hear you guys. I'm getting up tonight. 10 degrees as an overnight low. Wood will be picked out for reload and laid out next to the stove. No going outside tonight. 10 degree air hits you and you're awake.

 

What kind of stove you got? I'm envisioning a big Hearthstone I like my brother runs. That is a bigun

 

Old Blaze King King. Pre-EPA smoke machine, but it cranks heat for a LONG time.

 

I googled old blaze king king and I found your thread. Random

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/old-blaze-king.45640/

 

Even in my wind tunnel of a home, with a good load of wood, I could go 5-6 hours of usable heat.

 

I have a lot of coals at 3 hours. At 5-6, coals are dying down and heat output is suffering. Plus it relights easier with so many coals.

 

I'm happy, with my new stove, I got 11 hours of heat on a load today, With an outdoor temp of 27

 

That's really good with a firebox of this size (2.2 cubic feet)

http://www.lopistoves.com/product-detail.aspx?model=247

 

Does your stove have the Green Start igniter option?

 

There is a problem here. You either desperately need a damper or your home is drafty/incredibly large. I was getting 5-6 hours of usable heat (and my situation was drafty and awful). If you are saying you are only getting three, there is a problem here. Let's figure out that problem and improve your sleeping schedule.

 

It doesn't take a lot of coals to light up a load If the wood is good and dry.
I don't know your particular situation and everything but, during the day I Rake the coals forward and open the air up a little and get a couple hours More of a good heat.

 

No

 

In that respect I think loading north South, Has something to do with it because I can put the puzzle together and load It tight and full

 

+1 North South loading. also ya don't burn your arms reaching into hot stove and no logs rolling foward

 

I'm going to bed in a few hours. So, for the next couple hours, I'm going to push the stove hard, load it full before bed and reload at 3.5 hours. It's 10 outside tonight. Gotta' work harder.

 

1) I have not needed to do this. I set my natural gas furnace for 65 and just let it kick on early in the morning for a couple hours if the stove peters out.
2) Even if 1) above were not the case, as you get older, you just don't seem to need to set an alarm to wake up several times a night ... (sometimes the prostate does not permit one to remain prostrate.)

 

Woke up at quarter to 3 for a nature call and went down to check the stove. I had packed it at 10 the night before with about a 3/4 load of oak. Temp was 350 on the stovetop, and 72° downstairs. Had about 4" of coals, put in two big oak splits, and I should be good until 6am. 27° out tonight.