Wood Stove Loading Direction?

[Be Stihl]

I am sure it has been debated but I am fairly new to burning and was wondering which way may be better and in what ways. My wood box is 11” deep and 20” wide, so all my wood is cut to 18”. I was thinking about cutting up some of my pieces in half so I can load them front to back as the air enters my stove in the front. Is it worth the extra steps to process some sticks this way? Would it burn hotter, faster, slower?


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[merc_man]

I like loading mine length wise front to back. But mine is about 20 inchs deep and 24 wide. My old stove was like yours and i just loaded the wood side ways. Just gotta watch stuff dont roll out.

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[Bobby Kirbos]

I load mine east to west, which on my stove is 18" internally, 16" through the door. I cut everything between 15-16 inches. North to south on my stove is only about 13-14 inches, so that's a lot more smaller pieces to handle.... screw that.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

Stack mine slightly NE/SW, could get out a compass and give exact degrees. Everything I put in seems to burn to ash.

 

[JustJeff]

My firebox is square so I can put wood in either way. I find it works best from the door to the back, or north-south. Like someone else mentioned, rolling forward can be a pain, but maybe yours has more of a lip on it. Be an interesting experiment to cut some shorter pieces and try it..

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[farmer steve]

My stove sits E/W so that how I load it. Shorts get thrown in helter skelter.

 

[Ronaldo]

My Pacific Energy is deeper than it is wide, so all mine go in with the ends facing the glass door. Have never tried it any other way.

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[homemade]

My kuuma is north to south. My Quadra Fire pioneer 2 is east to west. My sister just had an insert put into her fireplace and now everything is too long and most goes in northeast to southwest.

 

[svk]

N-S on my indoor boiler. Try to push stuff to the back so the air vent in the middle front is clear.

 

[Marley5]

I actually build a damn with slabs to block direct airflow to exhaust.....don't laugh, it's effective.
Forces flame and heat straight up and limits exhausted heat.

I know.....throw the damn wood in and shut the door.

 

[U&A]

Bottom line.

Stack with the wood grain going the same direction the air moves in will make the wood burn faster and hotter and light up easier.

If the grain is going the opposite direction the air is coming in it burns and lights MUCH slower and longer.

It is always safer to stack so wood wont roll out the door or roll i to the glass. That is MOST IMPORTANT IMO. Last thing you want is a log to roll into the glass and crack it. It’s definitely possible but unlikely.


I like loading N to S as my air comes in at the bottom front right under the door as well as comes down the front of the glass door.

N/S lets me load more wood without worrying about it falling on the door

I have a PE Summit


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[sb47]

I am sure it has been debated but I am fairly new to burning and was wondering which way may be better and in what ways. My wood box is 11” deep and 20” wide, so all my wood is cut to 18”. I was thinking about cutting up some of my pieces in half so I can load them front to back as the air enters my stove in the front. Is it worth the extra steps to process some sticks this way? Would it burn hotter, faster, slower?


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Experiment! That's part of the fun. Try different ways and see what results you get.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

My kuuma is north to south. My Quadra Fire pioneer 2 is east to west. My sister just had an insert put into her fireplace and now everything is too long and most goes in northeast to southwest.

Had a fire in the vapor fire yet?

 

[SuperDuty04]

My wood box is a 55 gallon drum I welded into a stove. I can fit some long stuff in it. Oh, and mine goes east to west lol

 

[homemade]

Had a fire in the vapor fire yet?

Dec 13 technically is when I can move in. But I’m hoping it will be getting done sooner.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Bottom line.

Stack with the wood grain going the same direction the air moves in will make the wood burn faster and hotter and light up easier.

If the grain is going the opposite direction the air is coming in it burns and lights MUCH slower and longer.

It is always safer to stack so wood wont roll out the door or roll i to the glass. That is MOST IMPORTANT IMO. Last thing you want is a log to roll into the glass and crack it. It’s definitely possible but unlikely.

We take advantage of this in the hunting cabin. We run the grain in line with the air flow when we're getting the stove up to temp in the morning and then when we stack it up for the night, we run them 90º to that so it burns slower and lasts longer.

 

[anlrolfe]

I've got a little Jotul 602, not much leeway there. It's so small that one of the guys at work accused me of swiping pencils when it gets really cold outside.

Despite the jokes E/W , N/S I find air flow the key? Any stove with secondary combustion fuel needs to be placed to take advantage of that. Sometimes I get more fire of the secondaries than the wood itself.

Who would have thought you could burn smoke....

 

[SS396driver]

I have a drolet 2000. I have found that east and west the wood lasts a little longer . Manual states north to south the wood burns faster but less chance of glass breakage from wood hitting the glass . I don't throw rounds in and have never had wood roll around in the firebox.

 

[babybart]

I always did N/S but experimented with E/W this year. As a couple others have stated, N/S burns faster but hotter and E/W is slower burning but I seem to get more action from the secondaries. I also agree that withe small dimensions in one direction of your stove I would NOT be cutting 10-12" chunks.

 

[sb47]

I have a drolet 2000. I have found that east and west the wood lasts a little longer . Manual states north to south the wood burns faster but less chance of glass breakage from wood hitting the glass . I don't throw rounds in and have never had wood roll around in the firebox.

That is Pyrex glass and it's tough stuff. I highly doubt it will break from a piece of wood rolling over and hitting it.