Usually sometime around 7pm I throw in what I have come to call a "All Nighter"....Meaning one single very large piece of wood that I know will burn for 5-7 hours. Usually a big gnarly chunk that I have set aside. I usually set aside about 40 of them each year just for that. After about 20 minutes or so, I choke the damper down to about 2 and then I go upstairs. With that said...Is it better to do that(1 piece) or fill it with 3 or 4 good size splits? Whats your preference and what works better in your view??
As a Fisher owner and "most" who have them know it as the biggest @$$ piece you can shove in the stove or a couple large pieces "Jammed" in, you turn the draft knobs down so it's not pulling much air and keeps the stove about 300º all night. My normal routine is about 10PM I make sure I have a nice bed of hot coals and pack her in for the night. My draft knobs are only open 1/2 turn all day and that'll keep a constant 300º pipe temp and 350º stove temp. I turn the knobs down to 1/4 turn and pack it tight. Usually the dogs and I are up 0530-600ish and I have a got bed of hot coals. Start the day process all over again.
2 or 3 12-16" rounds in the boiler & put a few splits around them. In sub zero good for all night+. Normal temps 24hrs.
What WeldrDave just ran thru is exactly what I did with my old Fireboss Now with my Buck I load about 5 medium sized splits, let the cat probe hit 8 to 900, cut the air to about an 1/8th, engage the cat and let'er cruise.
I just fill the mama bear with whatever she can take set the drafts open a half turn. In twelve hours I still have coals.
In my cat stove all nighter means using oak instead of tulip. Spent years trying to get caught up so I split things small. This will be the first year where I can start making bigger chunks as they will have time to dry. Every stove is different.
To me, at 8-9pm depending how tired I am, spreading coals around to make even bed... jamming the lopi freedom bay to the brink filling all the gaps... letting it run with fury for 5min... then choking her down all the way, but then two bumps open.. With good seasoned hardwoods, like beech/oak/locust this means minimum 10hrs of useful heat where the fan is blowing the heat off the insert into the home. I wake up 5:30am and 99% of the time the insert is still running and the orange glow is more than obvious. I can let it go, but I usually open her up and throw a couple splits in to get a fresh fire going while i drink coffee. In the dead of winter I do that in the morning before i leave for work, and before bed... with a few splits when i first wake up, and a few splits when I get home at dinner. The system works great and most of all, the house stays warm!
I’ll have enough coals to nurse a fire to life the next morning with any reasonable load. If I know I’m going to want a big bed of coals so I can simply reload, I pack the firebox as full as I can with the most dense wood I have available. Big or small doesn’t seem to matter as much as filling it up. Get it going until it is hot enough that I still get secondaries with the air turned all the way down or nearly all the way down depending on the particular load and that’s that. Wake up, sift off the ash, refill, air up, take a shower, warm up in front of the fire, turn it down and head off to work.
Only do 2 hour fires, that is enough to keep the house roasty warm. No need to for "All Nighters". Thermal mass is King!!
Oh, I also forgot to mention this "all Nighter", This was a big boy in it's day! It was another "Fisher" knock off.
With the Fireview in this weather. I just stuff it with oak, turn the draft down and go to bed. I remember getting up last night around 1:00 and the stovetop temperature was 640. Was nice in here. But then, this morning when I got up the house temperature was down to 70. Egads! Well, I fixed that fast.
I agree with Canadian border VT...depends on the stove. Shenandoah stove at camp with grates and ash pan, biggest chunk of oak I can get through the door will last 8 hours. Bigger the better. Fireplace insert at home, fire on firebrick hearth, does not like huge pieces, can get 6-8 hours out of it filled with smaller oak or hickory splits.
