Mid night re-fueling

[tbow388]

Since I got my stove installed and am finally enjoying a fire from the wood that I have cut instead of selling the wood I cut, I have a burning question.

What time on average do you get up and re-stoke your fire? I have been getting up in the 3am hour. Except for this morning. I said the heck with it and woke up, rolled over and thought "I like to be cold"

 

[flyboy553]

I fire mine around 9 or 10 when I go to bed and then not again til I get up, usually around 6. That's when it is cold out, like 10 or 20 below zero. Above zero I might not fire up til noon if I am going to be around home.

Ted

 

[Zeus103363]

I don't. I put a full load of oak and or hickory in around 10 pm, completely close the air intake, and the damper. She will throw the heat out till mid morning the next day. Love the thermostat as it will turn off the blower as the insert temp comes back down. The next evening, when I clean out some ash, there are still some coals in there under the ashes.

 

[H 2 H]

Each stove is different it depends how tight the stoves are (how air tight they are)

I've only keep mine going just a few times (24/7) this year; all I do is load it up when I go to bed and close it down (air tight) and there has been coals in the stove in the morning so I just re-stoke it when I get up

 

[farmboss45]

I fill mine as full as I can before heading for the rack at 9, open it up at 430 when I get up, fill it up before I go to work, and then when I get home at 430pm. Mine holds a good coal bed for a long time when I fill it and then shut it down for the night or all day. House never go's below 65, even when its 20 and blowing out as long as I don't let it too long.

 

[laynes69]

This time of year we do maybe a half load for overnight, or 3 decent splits. We load at 9-9:30 pm and I put more wood in at 4:00am when I get up. Once it gets cold, the loads increase. Normally I load at 5:00am, but I'm working OT so I'm the first one awake.

 

[stihly dan]

Get up as needed. If at these temps you need to get up in the middle of the night? You need a bigger stove!!!!

 

[Encore]

When we used the wood stove (now have an OWB) I'd load it all the way up around 10-11pm and close the intake just about shut (not all the way) and I'd still have a nice coal bed around 7am when I got up.

I agree with others, if you are having to re-load already your stove needs some work or you need a bigger one. When we really get into december, january and february you'll be up all night feeding it

 

[wreckscuba]

Load stove at 11pm .close air down fill again at 730am .only time I reload sooner is when nature calls :msp_ohmy::msp_ohmy:

 

[unclemoustache]

I don't suppose I could convince you all to go back and edit your posts by mentioning what kind of stove you have?

I've got a Lopi Leyden, and I can't get more than 6 hours out of it.


It's only a few years old and the insides are all completely worn out. What a crappy stove. :mad2: Wish I would have done some more research on stoves. But I might as well stick with it until it's completely dead and I really need a new one.

 

[H 2 H]

I don't suppose I could convince you all to go back and edit your posts by mentioning what kind of stove you have?

I've got a Lopi Leyden, and I can't get more than 6 hours out of it.


It's only a few years old and the insides are all completely worn out. What a crappy stove. :mad2: Wish I would have done some more research on stoves. But I might as well stick with it until it's completely dead and I really need a new one.

Mine is call a "Country"

I replaced the gasket around the door and the bricks inside it just before last winter and it's about 15 year old stove

 

[Rio_Grande]

Well a few years ago I woke up every morning cold. Then age started to catch up with me and now I fill it about every 3 hours. Not real happy with the way it heats, too hot, then freezing to death, probably something I have done.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Big old Woodchuck wood furnace here, I light a small fire when I'm around and throw a couple pieces in as needed, it burns a bit cleaner with a small hot fire (not EPA stove clean by any means - new stove is high on the "want" list, and about ready to go onto the "need" list). When I can't be around, and when colder weather hits and I need more heat, I fill it full and damp it back about halfway before I leave for work, and when I get home 10-14 hours later I still have coals, but the house is cooling off. Then I'll fire it back up with a small hot load, do my nightly cruise of AS, and add more wood and damp it down a little before bed. Done right, there's still a little fire or at least coals after my usual 5-7 hours of sleep.

It's what works for me, but it's for sure more of an art than a science, and takes some effort to not get the house too hot this time of year. Windows get used at least weekly almost throughout the heating season.

Right now, it's 33° outside, and 75° inside. I loaded the stove before work today, and got a bit overzealous. It's not running tonight, and won't get fired back up until the inside temp drops below 65°.

 

[farmboss45]

I don't suppose I could convince you all to go back and edit your posts by mentioning what kind of stove you have?

Napoleon insert w/ dual blowers

 

[Whitespider]

I'm the early-to-bed, early-to-rise type, when the sun goes down I'm thinkin' about bed... so during winter, 8:00-9:00 Pm is usually bedtime for me. I get home from work 'round 5:30, give-or-take, and get the fire goin', then around the time my eyes are gettin' heavy I'll fill it up and damp it down a bit. When I get out'a bed around 4:00-5:00 AM I stir-up the coals and load 'er up... and if it needs it I'll add a bit more before headin' into work around 8:00. Seriously though, we rarely heat the house warmer than 71[sup]o[/sup]... try and keep it right close to 70[sup]o[/sup]. Most mornings the house will be down around 65-66[sup]o[/sup] when I get up, and around 68-69[sup]o[/sup] by the time I head out. The wife is home most days, but she rarely adds fuel to the fire... except on those bad-azz cold, windy days.

Now there's always a few winter nights with temperatures dropping into negative numbers, wind blowing, nasty cold out. On those nights I don't damp down the fire much, and just seem to naturally wake around 1:00-2:00 AM, toss in a few more splits, take a pee, and go back to bed... maybe a half dozen or so nights a year.

We live in a 100-year-old farm house with no insulation; I seal up the drafts... plastic over windows, weather strip doors, etc. Really though, it doesn't seem to matter if the overnight is 30[sup]o[/sup] or 0[sup]o[/sup], the house sheds heat at about the same rate so my routine works most all winter. The exception is those few nasty cold, windy nights... that wind just seems to suck the heat away, which requires a bit of alteration to the routine (hotter fire, more wood, more often).

 

[haveawoody]

tbow388,

What kind of wood and size are you using for your overnight burns?

I have a smallish epa stove that gets loaded with some of the highest btu chunky or even block size firewoods at around 10pm with the vent turned down just enough air to allow fire to still happen.
I'm up around 5am but not having to think about adding more wood until maybe 6am-7am.

Shoulder season is a bit of a difference since those dence hardwoods would tend to make the place way to warm.
For me lots of crappier wood gets burned this time of year and night burns reflect that in burn times or a coolish house when i get up.

 

[mountainmandan]

I like to refuel when the wife wakes me up.

Wife: "Do you think it might be a little cold in the kids room?"
Me:"I am sure they are fine"
Wife: "No, it is really cold in the kids room."
Me: (getting up)

I have a pretty non airtight old cast iron stove. It burns a lot of wood, but we have a lot of wood. We use the fan for the central heat to move the heat on cold days, and box fans most of the year.

If it was up to me we would just get cold at night and snuggle up under the covers. I do like the morning routine of starting a fire, brewing coffee and slowly waking up before work.

By the way, hedge is great for all seasons, not just cold waether. You just use less of it. We are only burning hedge this year, something that gives me a little pride. I tried to sell it, but none of my regular cutomers wanted it. I even threw a couple of pieces on top of a load to give to a new customer, and he acted like I was ripping him off, he said "just oak".

Dan

 

[jhoff310]

sleep is to hard to come by....I load it full around 1030-1100 and let it go until I get up around 6. The furnace might kick on 2-3 times in the night. I'm heating 2500 sqft and the stove is in the opposite end of the house as the as the stairs. Kuma Tamarack is current stove. I cant complain considering the size of its firebox

Jeff

 

[rigandig]

I have a Buckstove Insert. Can't remember the model, but is on it's 2nd year of use. We heat 4000 sq ft with it. It is advertised at capable of heating 3600. I use the central heat fan to move the air through the house. Had a 14" x 14" return put in the ceiling directly above the fireplace when the house was built with wood heat in mind. The coolest rooms in the house tend to be the ones at the end of the ductwork run,the Master Bedroom and Bathroom, and the wifes Dressing Room. I was gone from home a lot before last year so Oil was the heat source. Three seasons ago our Oil bill was $3000.00. Last year it dropped to about $600.00. I figure the cost of the Insert will be offset before this season is over. That's figuring the savings on Oil, less makeup for the wife to buy as she spends less time gussying up in a cool dressing room, and time saved waiting for her to gussy up. I burn the uglies. Small rounds, knot wood, boards, slabs, it all makes btu's. Fill it to the top, when it burns down, fill it again. In the mornings it's usually hot enough inside that all I have to do is place a few small splintery pieces on the bottom and it lights off on it's own. Werks fer me.

 

[RandyMac]

No getting up for me, just top off the hopper every three days.