MrWhoopee
ArboristSite Operative
HEY NOW! If you're "making Whoopee" by the fire, you'd better be a beautiful, big busted blonde, and Whoopee will be looking like the stud!
Long Burn vs Efficiently
- Thread starter mopar969
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HEY NOW! If you're "making Whoopee" by the fire, you'd better be a beautiful, big busted blonde, and Whoopee will be looking like the stud!
Ain't that the truth.
I loaded the box yesterday morning at 5:00 AM, when I got home last night at 5:30 PM there was some coals left, the house was 72° and the wife hadn't added a single stick all day. It was 9:00 PM last night before I loaded the box again (16 friggin' hours between loading‼) and at 4:30 this morning it was 5° outside, still 69° in the house (thermostat is set for 68° overnight), the thermostat kicked up to 71° at 5:00 and the house warmed up in about a ½ hour. Heck, I didn't even load any wood in the box until 7:00 AM this morning. I swear the difference between +5° and -5° is double the wood consumption; anything above zero and my furnace goes into "economy" mode, and anything in double digits puts it in "miserly" mode... but it sure gobbles the fuel when temps drop below zero.
If we would've had a "normal" winter I'm betting I'd only have burned half of what I did so far... maybe even less than that.
*
Bushmans
Smoke Dragon Herder
Yes I am loving the 20 and above weather. So are my two ducks. I actually had to shoo them back into the coop last night as they were outside sleeping in the snow. I would have left them but this time of year everything is hungry and I imagine the poultry eating critters are on the look out!
I see 40s within a week! It's like Christmas presents in February!
I see 40s within a week! It's like Christmas presents in February!
MrWhoopee
ArboristSite Operative
I've had to wrestle with the issue of burning clean vs. extended burn time and comfort ever since I got my Buck 81. The reason I heat my house is for my comfort, I put a tremendous amount of effort into this comfort. If I run my stove to burn clean, my home overheats and becomes extremely uncomfortable, defeating the purpose. I then have to open doors and windows, wasting the heat I have put so much effort into acquiring. Extended burn times are part of the same equation, stable temperature = comfort. I have to throttle the stove down in order to achieve the purpose for which I purchased it. My wife and I are frequently gone for 10 hours per day while working. Coming home to a dead stove and a house in the low 60s (or 50s), which then takes several hours to re-heat, is not acceptable. Waking up at 2:00 am and lying awake sweating is not acceptable.
I burn wood to be comfortable. I have an EPA approved smoke-dragon. I clean my stack several times per season.
Flame on!
I burn wood to be comfortable. I have an EPA approved smoke-dragon. I clean my stack several times per season.
Flame on!
zogger
Tree Freak
Would you be able to add some significant thermal mass to your heating set up? That would help a lot in moderating the output, let you burn hot and clean, and still get extended comfort time.
Bushmans
Smoke Dragon Herder
Mr. Whoopee
I used to live not too far from Shingletown. I lived in a tiny little spot called Forest Ranch on 32 up the hill from Chico. My brother and I used to drive up to Lassen to hike and see the sights. Such beautiful country. I miss fishing, swimming and tubing in all those mountain creeks. There was a little lake up by Chester just past Lake Almanor that we used to catch the biggest rainbow trout out of. I miss that country.
I used to live not too far from Shingletown. I lived in a tiny little spot called Forest Ranch on 32 up the hill from Chico. My brother and I used to drive up to Lassen to hike and see the sights. Such beautiful country. I miss fishing, swimming and tubing in all those mountain creeks. There was a little lake up by Chester just past Lake Almanor that we used to catch the biggest rainbow trout out of. I miss that country.
mainewoods
Addicted to ArboristSite
What you really mean is you miss not having below zero temps and no snow drifts!
NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
Being on an open hilltop, it's the wind here, not so much the temps. I would much rather have -20c & no wind than -5c and wind.
Some crazy-butt weather now. It was -20c yesterday morning, it was up to +8c a couple hours ago (heavy rain overnight), now it's on it's way back down to -8c for tonight. Time to spread some ashes on the driveway again, been doing that a lot this winter.
ppkgmsy
ArboristSite Operative
Exactly. This is how to keep a house warm in an efficient way.
This is my experience I'm not using bogus math tactics or making claims on theory ..for me I get approx 2 more * hours of real world burn time on every load compared to my old furnace that was not EPA rated and it even had a bigger firebox than my current one . However the old furnace did throw more overall heat but did so at a great disadvantage because it released the bulk of it's energy over a far shorter period of time and petered out but the new EPA one has a consistent even heat over a greater length of time much like you'd expect of a conventional fuel oil or propane furnace that cycles itself . I'm on track to use approx 2 less cords than I would have and I don't need to tell anybody this but it has been an unusually cold winter this year so I have a good gage that it can do the job .
Lignator
Swamp Yankee
I think it is possible to buy an EPA stove and have nice long stable burns. Check out the mfg Blaze King. They make some stove that hold 100 lbs of wood and burn for 24hrs. They also feature a mechanical thermometer which regulates the air flow, controlling heat output.
I am pretty sure the Princess or the King will be my next stove. In fact I might build my house around its placement!
I am pretty sure the Princess or the King will be my next stove. In fact I might build my house around its placement!
naturelover
Tree Freak
MrWhoopee
ArboristSite Operative
No, very dry wood.
MrWhoopee
ArboristSite Operative
I've been trying to figure out something like that, but there's not a lot of extra room. An extra ton of warm brick would help a lot, as long as it never gets cold.
opcorn:Still waiting...
opcorn:
Is there an issue??
opcorn:
*
opcorn:*
naturelover
Tree Freak
Well, I'd say that it is just an incorrect statement.
Many have reported the exact opposite, longer burn times using less wood.
I've tried to feed mine as much wood as it could handle in a day, throwing in a piece as soon as I could without fear of overfiring it. I don't believe it dropped below 400 stovetop.
I did have to dig some coals out as I didn't let it coal down, but I still couldn't feed it anywhere near the wood the old WM 520 would eat through in a day.
Many have reported the exact opposite, longer burn times using less wood.
I've tried to feed mine as much wood as it could handle in a day, throwing in a piece as soon as I could without fear of overfiring it. I don't believe it dropped below 400 stovetop.
I did have to dig some coals out as I didn't let it coal down, but I still couldn't feed it anywhere near the wood the old WM 520 would eat through in a day.
spike60
Addicted to ArboristSite
I gotta say I've been amused at the way you old stove vs new stove guys have been going at it all winter. It's a tough argument to sustain in one way, as the positives and negatives of the 2 types of stoves are accepted and not in dispute here. It's more a matter of which set of parameters you'd rather live with.
I do think however that with this absolutely brutal winter we are having, some of the characteristics of these stoves are amplified. Particularly the burn time issue. I've got an EPA certified stove; Quadra-fire 3100. I love it. Had it 20 years now. Never had to clean the chimney. (Of course I check it!) I like the positives. There IS a negative, and that's the burn time. I'm also away for 8-10 hours a day and unless I load it with hickory or white oak, I'm starting with newspapers and kindling when I get home. After 20 years, that's routine for me, so no big deal.............depending on the temp. 25 degrees or more, the house is still toasty. If the temp only gets up to 10-12 dgrees all day I have a choice of the house being 56 or the oil burner kicking on sometime in the afternoon. Would I like a longer burn time this year? Absolutely! Same for all of these below zero nights. But it's a good stove otherwise and that shortcoming isn't enough to make me go out and buy another one. I'll be the first to admit that in a winter like this, the longer burn time of an older stove is a huge advantage. But in a milder winter, the difference in burn times is not as important.
Now one thing about burn time is that it's kind of hard to define. What the stove companies come up with in their labs has little to do with how they perform in all of our homes. There's so many variables. How cold is it outside? Any wind? How old/insulated is your home? What wood are you burning? Some of these companies likely stretch their burn time estimates. Simply having some hot coals is not the same as throwing heat. I have a kind of simple definition of effective burn time: the point at which the stove is no longer throwing enough heat to prevent the house temp from dropping. Add in some of the above mentioned variables and that burn time is going to be all over the map. At 5 degrees the stove may still be burning, and throwing plenty of heat for a 30 degree ouside temp. But you've reached the point where you need to add wood or your losing indoor temp.
OK, I know I'm rambling on here. Another one of my long winded posts, and I haven't had a single beer tonight.
I do think however that with this absolutely brutal winter we are having, some of the characteristics of these stoves are amplified. Particularly the burn time issue. I've got an EPA certified stove; Quadra-fire 3100. I love it. Had it 20 years now. Never had to clean the chimney. (Of course I check it!) I like the positives. There IS a negative, and that's the burn time. I'm also away for 8-10 hours a day and unless I load it with hickory or white oak, I'm starting with newspapers and kindling when I get home. After 20 years, that's routine for me, so no big deal.............depending on the temp. 25 degrees or more, the house is still toasty. If the temp only gets up to 10-12 dgrees all day I have a choice of the house being 56 or the oil burner kicking on sometime in the afternoon. Would I like a longer burn time this year? Absolutely! Same for all of these below zero nights. But it's a good stove otherwise and that shortcoming isn't enough to make me go out and buy another one. I'll be the first to admit that in a winter like this, the longer burn time of an older stove is a huge advantage. But in a milder winter, the difference in burn times is not as important.
Now one thing about burn time is that it's kind of hard to define. What the stove companies come up with in their labs has little to do with how they perform in all of our homes. There's so many variables. How cold is it outside? Any wind? How old/insulated is your home? What wood are you burning? Some of these companies likely stretch their burn time estimates. Simply having some hot coals is not the same as throwing heat. I have a kind of simple definition of effective burn time: the point at which the stove is no longer throwing enough heat to prevent the house temp from dropping. Add in some of the above mentioned variables and that burn time is going to be all over the map. At 5 degrees the stove may still be burning, and throwing plenty of heat for a 30 degree ouside temp. But you've reached the point where you need to add wood or your losing indoor temp.
OK, I know I'm rambling on here. Another one of my long winded posts, and I haven't had a single beer tonight.
Personally I've gotten 15 hrs and 15 minutes of what I'd consider real burn time in mine with a bed of coals it was packed up with very well seasoned maple slabs and set at 71degrees which it held on a 25-30 degree day. ..it has a 3.5 cubic ft firebox
I'd love to see a non EPA unit do that on a firebox that size * ***and do it cleanly with no smoldering not claiming it's impossible just that I'd love to see that because I have only personally witnessed half that burn time on similar old air right stoves I've been around.. That being said if you wanted a stove to throw maximum heat over say a few hours a EPA unit may not be the best choice ..heck even a old Ben Franklin stove or a cast boxwood style one can sweat you out of a room ,so if all you want is a ton of heat right now and happy with its 4 hr burn time.. But I would be inclined to believe most people want a softer longer more controlled heat output that offers even temperatures over a roaring wood eater
I'd love to see a non EPA unit do that on a firebox that size * ***and do it cleanly with no smoldering not claiming it's impossible just that I'd love to see that because I have only personally witnessed half that burn time on similar old air right stoves I've been around.. That being said if you wanted a stove to throw maximum heat over say a few hours a EPA unit may not be the best choice ..heck even a old Ben Franklin stove or a cast boxwood style one can sweat you out of a room ,so if all you want is a ton of heat right now and happy with its 4 hr burn time.. But I would be inclined to believe most people want a softer longer more controlled heat output that offers even temperatures over a roaring wood eater
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