How to make a wood stove more efficient?

[NvrDwn]

I have a big double door cast iron wood stove. It heats and cools quick. I was wondering if I put stone inside the stove, wouldn't that help retain heat so it isnt cold when I wake up?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Wake up earlier and reload it. We took turns for ten years before getting a larger and better wood stove. Thirty years later I still get up in the middle of the night, but it's to pee.

 

[Deleted member 150358]

Weatherization is probably the best return on holding heat. Old houses like mine used to get banked with straw and plastic on the windows.

Makes a huge difference but straw goes for more than hay these days. So insulating the foundations on my to do list.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

just drink a quart of water before bed , or 3 cans beer. feed it when that wakes you up.

I have been playing with a basic oven thermometer I had to get because my wife thought the oven was to hot when my daughter burned some cookies in the oven , it wasn't you just can't put them on the bottom rack.

I it gives a better way to quantify the actual heat output of the stove , I leave it on top and adjust the air controls till I get in the 200-250 range that is my stove with it in that one spot each will be different what your number in is less important than finding your optimal air controls for heat range more air makes for good start up but it does not make for more heat in the house or long burn time but there can be a limit to how little air you can do also , so that you don't smother the fire either.

make sure you run plenty of air till the wood is been fully engulfed in flame for 20 minutes minimum before shutting down the air.

running hot enough with fully dry wood to not creosote up the chimney but also try and get full heat from the wood.

big usually means room for lots of fuel which is how most people get the longest burn lots of fuel, get it all going then turn down the air to extend the burn. your looking for a fire box full of slow but clean burning ember covered wood .

dry dry wood

I split in 3 sizes small startup approximately 2x4 size , mid size about 4x4 and long burn wood the largest piece I can handle with one hand , I am mostly going for the largest pieces I can handle one handed but the others happen because of how a piece needs to split or how it splits because of the grain . I have on occasionally split some of the larger wood down further if I am running low on small to make a bin of start up wood and kindling my intention is that everything be 16 inches but again some ends up smaller just because I burn it all and not just the pretty wood.

what is your fire box depth , width and height?

mine is small 16 wide , 18 deep , 13 high I load front to back

for long burn whatever your fire box is you want wood 2-3 inches shorter in as large of pieces as you can handle and get in the stove safely. lay them in on a very good bed of red coals from your start up burn with smaller wood .

then work your air controls and see what you can do

 

[sb47]

You can put stone around the outside and or behind the stove. The stove will heat the stone and it will retain the heat. The more stone, the more heat can be stored.

 

[trains]

I have a big double door cast iron wood stove. It heats and cools quick. I was wondering if I put stone inside the stove, wouldn't that help retain heat so it isnt cold when I wake up?

By Stone, do you mean fire bricks that would be placed on the outer part of the inside firebox ?
if you just have an iron firebox, with no firebricks I would suggest you line the base, sides and back all the way up to the top of the firebox with firebricks, and fire cement.
Burn the fire on a nice bed of ash, that will take lots of stress out of the cast iron, enable a hotter more efficient burn, and longer heat out put etc.

cheers

 

[Franny K]

Stone can have various meanings. Soapstone is used in some woodstoves otherwise fire brick. The fire box will be smaller if it is lined. Heat a masonry mass like central to historic house not put rocks in with fire.

Up draft stove hold fire longer when ash level is higher. Large pieces of wood fuel should last longer. A taller chimney and colder outside temperature seem to lessen burn times.

 

[NSMaple1]

We have no idea exactly what stove is being talked about here. Some will just send heat up the pipe and nothing can be done about it.

 

[farmer steve]

First, of you stove. Rounds in your stove will burn slower than splits. i use a combination of both for overnite.

 

[rarefish383]

Back in the days of fireplaces the "Bigger" pieces burn longer theory worked. With stoves, especially cat stoves, splitting the wood small so you can pack it full can get longer burns. As an example, I can only get 5, 10-15 pound pieces through the door, for 50-75 pounds of wood in the stove, and there is a lot of dead space above the opening. If I split it smaller, I can get 20, 5-6 pound pieces packed in, for 100-120 pounds of wood. With regulated air flow, 100 pounds of wood will burn longer than 50 pounds. Not saying everyone should split their wood like tooth picks, and the type of wood makes a difference too. Where I live almost all of my wood is straight grained Oak, so it splits very square, and I can pack it in almost like bricks. If you have nothing but twisted odd shaped wood, you might get way different results. It takes a lot of trial and error to get it tweaked just right.

 

[Franny K]

........ood will burn longer than 50 pounds. Not saying everyone should split their wood like tooth picks, and the type of wood makes a difference too.

I had a catalytic stove for a while. There was an air adjustment but also a secondary air intake that was not adjustable. Fill it up and most of the heat came from the secondary burn and the catalyst leaving a choice of harvesting charcoal or settling for periods of less heat as the charcoal slowly goes away. Rarely would it go out. It was not updraft with ash pan design.

 

[NvrDwn]

First, of you stove. Rounds in your stove will burn slower than splits. i use a combination of both for overnite.

Here you go.

 

[Mustang71]

Looks like an American eagle stove that I have seen a lot of around here. Can't be very efficient. After running a new stove with secondary burn and getting crazy burn times out of it I'm very jealous. Using a wood furnace I dont get long burn times unless I get it hot and load it up so it burns slow. And we are talking 3 hours not 10. I'm guessing your stove pulls air in the door past the wood and up the chimney unlike new stoves that get that secondary burn going burning the smoke and not the wood. Best to load it up and find the right air mixture to where it burns just enough to get you heat and not to fast and to hot where all that heat goes up the chimney.

 

[bfrazier]

With stoves, especially cat stoves, splitting the wood small so you can pack it full can get longer burns. As an example, I can only get 5, 10-15 pound pieces through the door, for 50-75 pounds of wood in the stove, and there is a lot of dead space above the opening. If I split it smaller, I can get 20, 5-6 pound pieces packed in, for 100-120 pounds of wood. With regulated air flow, 100 pounds of wood will burn longer than 50 pounds.

Thanks for the super advice!

Everybody, I am burning mostly softwoods, and have always heard to burn hot so as to avoid the creosote issue, so do you think I'll be ok filling a stove in good condition full of fir and after it's really caught just shutting it down nearly all the way for the night?

I've been honestly afraid of literally filling my (new to me this year) woodstove. I am able to damp it down so far that it hardly has any flames, and the embers glow dark red rather than bright red.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

Here you go.

it reminds me of my parents old Fisher

is that single wall pipe ?
does it have a damper in the pipe?
do you have a thermometer for the stove pipe ?

big wood on a good bed of coals and damper it down witht he door air controls and the chimney damper if it had one was generally how they got that type of stove to produce longer

I bet with that heat exchanger and blower small hot fires can really warm the house up fast thermal mass around the stove may help hold the heat in the room longer.

keeping a good flue temp while running that heat exchanger would be a concern I would be inspecting the chimney for any issues with creosote.

 

[rarefish383]

Thanks for the super advice!

Everybody, I am burning mostly softwoods, and have always heard to burn hot so as to avoid the creosote issue, so do you think I'll be ok filling a stove in good condition full of fir and after it's really caught just shutting it down nearly all the way for the night?

I've been honestly afraid of literally filling my (new to me this year) woodstove. I am able to damp it down so far that it hardly has any flames, and the embers glow dark red rather than bright red.

My old insert was deep, so I'd pack it solid, front to back like you have yours. With all Oak I'd get 12 hour burns. My buddy had a big Tulip Poplar fall across his back yard. I cut and split it for his shop stove, But, he said he would never use it all and it would go to waste, so I took it home. The following year it was dry as a bone and was great for starting fires. I tried packing the stove like always, and in 8-9 hours I had cold ashes. The type of wood definitley makes a difference in burn times. My old stove was made to get hot, then damp it down. I'm still learning how my new Jotul works. So, not knowing your stove, I can't advise on the best way to use it.

 

[NvrDwn]

it reminds me of my parents old Fisher

is that single wall pipe ?
does it have a damper in the pipe?
do you have a thermometer for the stove pipe ?

big wood on a good bed of coals and damper it down witht he door air controls and the chimney damper if it had one was generally how they got that type of stove to produce longer

I bet with that heat exchanger and blower small hot fires can really warm the house up fast thermal mass around the stove may help hold the heat in the room longer.

keeping a good flue temp while running that heat exchanger would be a concern I would be inspecting the chimney for any issues with creosote.

Yes, yes, no.

It works very well at warming the house quickly. When I first used it I got it to 92 in the house. Its 1800sqft. It's a very fine line that moves with the type of wood i use. I can fill it with wood get a good fire going then damp it way down but itll still get extremely hot, or, smoke will start coming out of the door. Sometimes i can get it just right and other times not so much.

 

[farmer steve]

Yes, yes, no.

It works very well at warming the house quickly. When I first used it I got it to 92 in the house. Its 1800sqft. It's a very fine line that moves with the type of wood i use. I can fill it with wood get a good fire going then damp it way down but itll still get extremely hot, or, smoke will start coming out of the door. Sometimes i can get it just right and other times not so much.

It looks like you have a reducer on the pipe coming of the to of the stove. yes/no? that may be the cause of it smoking when you damp it down. to your questin about bricks ,you may be able to place some on the sides but i don't how you would be able to keep them in place

 

[MAD MARK]

Your BEST investment is to install a newer stove.

A $500 investment that will give more heat, hold more heat, use less wood, look better, and be safer.

 

[r1stgei]

What kind of wood are you burning? Are you banking it properly during the night? You should be good in the morning if your setup is dialed in . When you wake up toss on a log and there she goes.

Another option (if you use wood as your primary heat source) would be to Throw in full unsplit pieces. But you need to let it dry out well first . I have a few stacks that have been drying to almost 2 years . I toss in a big piece in the evening and it’s still going in the AM.

I also use a hard wood in the evening when banking the stove.