how to get longer burn times?

[hangnail]

I have a jotul f 400 and it is supposed to have 8 plus hour burn time. right now i can maintain a stove temp of about 400-500 with a 45-60 minute burn time. draft is right about in the middle. i have found that if i close the draft any more than that, i start to lose temp, and i can see that the fire is not burning as well, the glass smokes up, ect. granted i am still learning this stove, but how do you get a long burn time, on a well packed stove and get good heat out of it?

 

[savageactor7]

Not to familiar with that stove but if you want to stretch out your burns properly seasoned wood is a must. Also you do this once you have a full bed of coals...an established fire.

So with an established bed of coals load the stove up to the max and fully open the primary air. Give the wood 15-20 min to catch good then you throttle down. After a few minutes when the fire settles down observe you have a good secondary burn and you should be good to go.

If your glass gets dirty, like filthy dirty...there wood isn't seasoned enough for an extended burn the way the stove was designed. Give that a try hangnail.

 

[mga]

i guess manufacturer's burn times are much different than real burn times.

like in cars or trucks...try to get the same mpg they advertise......

 

[Locoweed]

search out the definition of burn time

 

[joecool85]

i guess manufacturer's burn times are much different than real burn times.

like in cars or trucks...try to get the same mpg they advertise......

I get exactly what was advertised for my car (27-33mpg), normally on the high side actually.

As far as a burn time goes, I'm guessing the 8 hours is at a low temp with seasoned hardwood. If you are burning green softwood at a high temp, it'll go fast.

 

[Mike Van]

Another thing that helps is the length of the wood - If the stove can take 24" wood & you're using 18", you've lost 25% right there.

 

[woodguy105]

Not to familiar with that stove but if you want to stretch out your burns properly seasoned wood is a must. Also you do this once you have a full bed of coals...an established fire.

So with an established bed of coals load the stove up to the max and fully open the primary air. Give the wood 15-20 min to catch good then you throttle down. After a few minutes when the fire settles down observe you have a good secondary burn and you should be good to go.

If your glass gets dirty, like filthy dirty...there wood isn't seasoned enough for an extended burn the way the stove was designed. Give that a try hangnail.

:agree2:

A good bed of coals, seasoned wood and that 15-20 mins to get everything good and black & then you should be able to bank it down until those flames dance and maintain a good long hot burn...if it's damp wood you'll be fighting it...

 

[laynes69]

Hows your gaskets? Also hows the draft?

 

[bore_pig]

Not to familiar with that stove but if you want to stretch out your burns properly seasoned wood is a must. Also you do this once you have a full bed of coals...an established fire.

So with an established bed of coals load the stove up to the max and fully open the primary air. Give the wood 15-20 min to catch good then you throttle down. After a few minutes when the fire settles down observe you have a good secondary burn and you should be good to go.

If your glass gets dirty, like filthy dirty...there wood isn't seasoned enough for an extended burn the way the stove was designed. Give that a try hangnail.

:agree2:

And with a little more experience with your stove, you'll be able to just wait 5 min for the wood to catch, then set your air where it needs to be. You'll figure out what the stove likes!

 

[Moss Man]

Where is the stove thermometer, on the top surface or on the stove pipe?

 

[hangnail]

the wood is hardwood and seasoned, the stove is brand new, the draft is awesome.

the stove will take a 20 inch log, but my average size is around 18"

i have a decent bed of coals, but could have better

i would like to get up with some coals, but really i would just like a few more hours with good heat output

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Big wood.

Don't split it too small. Bigger chunks have less surface area, so they burn slower. Keep some smaller stuff in your collection for when you need to get a cold stove going, but once the coals are good, use bigger wood. Most of what I'm burning is about 5-6" across these days.

Saves the woman a heap of splittin', too.

 

[bore_pig]

the wood is hardwood and seasoned, the stove is brand new, the draft is awesome.

the stove will take a 20 inch log, but my average size is around 18"

i have a decent bed of coals, but could have better

i would like to get up with some coals, but really i would just like a few more hours with good heat output

Here's what I do:

Get a kick a$$ pile of coals going. Then load the stove, turn the damper way down (slightly off of closed), then go to bed. You'll still have wood burning in the morning. The stove won't be as hot as when you went to bed, but will still be throwing good heat.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Have you tried lighting the fire from the top ? Letting the fire burn it's way down through the wood.

This way it makes more heat by burning off more of the smoke. Not a Jotul stove here, but, it works for me.

 

[hangnail]

Have you tried lighting the fire from the top ? Letting the fire burn it's way down through the wood.

This way it makes more heat by burning off more of the smoke. Not a Jotul stove here, but, it works for me.

its a front load, so, kinda cant really do that,

 

[PaulinNY]

Jotul Castine

Hey there fellow Castine owner. Ive been burning for two years with my F400. Great stove but i seem to struggle with the same issues. The only way i get an overnight burn is if i load her up at bedtime (must be late) and damper it way down to 1/4 open. Have you ever removed the top of your f400 for cleaning? I was told that after sweeping chimney pull the top off to pick up the creosote. It makes me a bit nervous but so does leaving any creosote piling in there. Have you heard this? This is hands down the best site for wood burning stuff but for more stove specific info i really like the forums at www.**********

 

[woodguy105]

Hey there fellow Castine owner. Ive been burning for two years with my F400. Great stove but i seem to struggle with the same issues. The only way i get an overnight burn is if i load her up at bedtime (must be late) and damper it way down to 1/4 open. Have you ever removed the top of your f400 for cleaning? I was told that after sweeping chimney pull the top off to pick up the creosote. It makes me a bit nervous but so does leaving any creosote piling in there. Have you heard this? This is hands down the best site for wood burning stuff but for more stove specific info i really like the forums at www.**********

Hey PaulinNY-
Funny you mentioned the build up on the shelf under the pipe. My BIL was having problems with zero , zilch,nada draft this year getting his Jotuul ready for the second season of use. We pulled the pipe ( he uses flex pipe because his house was built in the 1700's and the chimney is anyhing but straight). Long story short the shelf was totally packed with creosote chips. stuff was falling down all summer used a shop vac and cleaned her out.

This year he should be burning alittle cleaner and hopefully avoid the problem.

 

[woodguy105]

Big wood.

Don't split it too small. Bigger chunks have less surface area, so they burn slower. Keep some smaller stuff in your collection for when you need to get a cold stove going, but once the coals are good, use bigger wood. Most of what I'm burning is about 5-6" across these days.

Saves the woman a heap of splittin', too.

:agree2:

Another thing to try is before the last load, rake the coals close to the front and then pack wood tight starting from the back. Load her up, fire it up for 15 mins or so then bank it down -the air wash brings air down the front of the glass and fires up the coals and keeps the temp up and allows the tightly stacked wood to burn from front to back.

When I used to pile the wood directly on top of the bed of coals the fire totally blazed up but didn't last long...Experiment and you'll hit the right method for your stove!

 

[JBinKC]

I have been using a Castine since Jan 2006 and in typical cases it is really only good for about a 6 hour burn time unless you are burning some hedge in the mix you can get that extension of an hour or two. (The way I define burn time is at what point you can easily restart the stove without the aid of paper)

All I can suggest to increase burn times is either use the highest btu firewoods and/or leave lower btu firewoods on the larger size than what Jotul recommends (6" max) and put those pieces in the front of the stove as that is where the stove can accept the larger pieces and eventually (in increments) cut your air setting below a 1/4 in your case since it drafts so well as overdrafting again speeds up burn times.

Try to find an air setting where you can get your stove in a true secondary burn mode.

 

[LTREES]

I have 2 Jotul's, 1 is a f-400 ( I think ) it has a nautical sail boat on it. That one is 4 years old and when I load it for the night or before I go to work I just shut the damper all the way. NO, It does not get crazy hot and it smolder a bit. You can never close the air off completely. You MUST have a coal & ash base. I take out ash once a week in the stoves. 2-3 inches of ash keeps it all going. I even keep that much on top of the grates, and need be I push them through the grates and take the pan out a day or two later when the Amber are out in the pan. When I get home I stir it up and put 2 pieces on it and open the damper 1/2 way. This allows the stove to roar, clean the glass, and it wont heat you out of the house. Do that with the stove full and you will get too hot !! I can get 3-4 hrs. on that 2 pieces of SEASONED HARD WOOD. I also have a insert w/out a pan. Same thing with the ash @ 3" in the bottom. This one has a fan on it and heats 70 % of the house. On the mild days like now I can get 10-12 hrs w/ a great coal base. I just let it go in the day time cause there is a big picture window that allows the sun to heat the house up. There are always coals at 4 o'clock. As for the baffle, they come out. I put on gloves and push it up and allow a corner to go down and work it out. This is heavey and your in an awkward position to get it out. the f-400 has 2 little handles below the baffle you turn them 90 degrees, then lift up the baffle and twist it out. Some times I take out the bricks to make more room.Then I brush the pipe down from the top. I get @ 1/2 bucket in the stove (close the stove door when sweeping) and just shovel it out.