The Blaze King thread, new combustor & good wood.

Always fun to hear that Alaska is warmer than I am right now...

 

No difference though my softwoods have more btu per CF than my hardwoods. If I can, and I can, get 24 hour burns with low btu wood then you know that I can't get 36 hour burns with wood that has 50% higher btu per CF. So the higher btu woods must make more heat during the cycle.

 

This is what I do.

When it is warm out I do full loads once per day in the evening and sometimes I have to rekindle a cold stove but the house temps are good. If house temps drop too much to allow that cycle then I go to 12 hour loads and they aren't full loads. Just enough to keep the cat active and allow hot reloads every 12 hours. If that is not enough, really cold out, then I do full loads every 12 hours and bump up the stat.

I like it when it's really cold out and I run 12 hour cycles on higher settings. The stove glass and firebox stays cleaner.

Anything other than 12 or 24 hour cycles is troublesome with my schedule. Even on full boogie to get 12 hour burntimes is awesome. My non-cat on full boogie gets reloaded every couple of hours.

 

Hotter burns definitely keep the glass cleaner.
Though this year , with much better wood, the glass is much cleaner than in the past
with the low burns I'm doing now.
Hasn't blacked all over, just the left & right edges.

 

Yea
Same here.
still have some hot coals mixed in the ash,
but don't need a thermal suit to load LOL
& it's nice to load at a reasonable pace when the flames aren't lapping at your hands & arms

 

Well in the PNW our hardwood is actually a lower btu per CF than softwood. This year I am burning douglas fir plus some sort of juniper. Most times when cruising the stove top temp (inferno surface meter right on top of the cat) is 400 and the flue (condar probe) is 400. My stat is set right between the N and O of "normal" which is right about 1.75. I can choose to run it hotter and have had STT up to 650 but prefer to leave the stat alone and boost room temps by running the fans temporarily.

 

Rreloading on a pile of fuel I find smoke spillage to be an issue. If the stove has cooled then the smoke stays in the firebox better.

 

Those conditions,
I crack the door for a few minutes to heat the stove pipe & chimney before loading.
Not a cure all but the stronger draft helps quit a bit.
The birch bark ignites almost on contact of the hot coals, I have the wood ready to go in & load fast.

That's another reason it's good to have a full burn cycle,
regulating the burn cycle reduces the need to load a really hot stove

 

An easy 24+ if loaded full. It cools some near the end of course but cat is well into the active range and no kindling is needed. I find that 24 hours at these low temps is really nice for even heating.

 

Swags, reduce your air more. Resist the urge to check temps. for the next hour, then see what happens.
Oh yeah, take the T-stat cover off, and adjust by sight. I haven't had my cover on for years, I adjust by visual on the flapper alone. Sooo much easier and consistent.

 

The temp probe clean?
The number on the stat setting don't mean much to anyone
else, as each set up & stat is a bit different. 2 for mine is almost closed at low stove temps.
1.8 is my low slow mode.

But no doubt to me now,
a new combustor will improve efficiency

 

If I remember correctly I use run a 12 hour schedule at about #2 with a 3/4 load of Oak. For a 24+ hour burn I set it at 1.5 or just a bit less and filled the box full. Also before turning it down I'd burn it kind a hot around 2-2.5 for 20-30 min to make sure that cat is lit.

 

My chimney is double wall for about five feet and then 8 feet of class a. All vertical and only the last four feet is above the roof. No screen in my cap.

Cat glows every burn but not the whole burn.

 

This entire thread makes me so jealous! What I wouldn't give for a 24 hour burn! I'm lucky to get 8 hours on low-glow with the Lopi.

 

Yes, the cat mostly glowed at the beginning of the burn then kind a faded after a couple hours or so. The cat probe stayed above active for all but the last 2 or 3 hours of a 24 hour burn.