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[fordtech66701]

I am new to this forum and also to my MF5000. I've only had it one year. I am burning ash and locust mostly and have to load every 8 hours or so when temps are in the 20's.
My settings are 175 with a 10 degree differential and the damper at 50%. Any suggestions on what to do to get my loading times up around 12 hours. We are heating about 3000 sq. ft. with pretty good insulation?

[racnruss]

huh, I'm surprised no one has commented here.  If you look around the forum, there have been similar threads you could browse.

Basically you have just a few variances.  BTU vs. load.

3000 ft is quite a bit for that stove, depending of course on outside temp and wind.

So, to increase burn times you have to do something:

-put more wood in per load
-get a bigger stove-
-lower demand by lowering temp of house
-increase insulation of house
-assuming no water intrusion of underground pipes

did you buy stove new or did you move into house that had it already?  You could ask previous owner about it if its used.

[slimjim]

I guess I missed this one, Good answer rancuss! I would be looking closely at heat loss in the ground.

[caper]

hey pal, just a quick comment, I also have a mf 5000, I currently heat 4500sq feet with no issues, ive had my hiccups but with help from these guys I ve figured things out along the way, be patient and it wil work out, 3000 sq feet should be no problem at all for the mf 5000....

[mlappin]

Hmm, pretty good insulation?

That’s always hard to justify, one persons good insulated house is another drafty SOB.

Anyways, if possible get some supply and return temps with no load in the house.

How far from the house is the MF5000?

Before I replaced my old pipe with Logstor I’d have a green streak from the OWB to the house. Takes an insane amount of wood to try and heat the ground all winter.

[martyinmi]

That's a LOT of wood!
The firebox on the 5000 holds just over 20 cu.ft. of wood.
If you are filling it 3x daily with only 15 cu.ft., that comes out to roughly a cord every 3 days.
Even if you only put 10 cu.ft. in 3x daily, that would still be a cord in about 4 1/2 days.
That would make it cost prohibitive to heat with wood if you had to buy it...even if you could buy it for $100/cord.
I'd listen to good 'ol Slim on this one and check to see how much heat loss you have from your underground lines.
I have no way of knowing, but I'll bet your heat load isn't that far off from mine(1800 sq.ft. not well insulated-heats like a corn crib).
My boiler holds just over 11 cu.ft., and if I stuff it full of Ash I can easily go 24 hours in the very coldest, windy weather that our mitten state can throw at us. I usually fill it roughly 1/3 - 1/2 full at 6 am and 6 pm.
I use the very best 5 wrap on the market (from Zsupply in Muskegon, Mi), so heat loss is minimal in my 95' run.

[mlappin]

I use the very best 5 wrap on the market (from Zsupply in Muskegon, Mi), so heat loss is minimal in my 95' run.

Z-supplys new double walled tile looks promising. Saves the hassle of sliding a wrapped inside either PVC or another tile.

[AirForcePOL]

I use the very best 5 wrap on the market (from Zsupply in Muskegon, Mi), so heat loss is minimal in my 95' run.

Z-supplys new double walled tile looks promising. Saves the hassle of sliding a wrapped inside either PVC or another tile.

It's good stuff.  I've put in about 500 ft of it.  Very easy to work with also.  It's obviously not as durable as Logstor or Rehau but I think they have a great product going for them. 

[kybaseball]

Make sure you have the air at full max on the damper. That will beat it heat quick and shut down fast. Get you a infrared temp gauge and check the pipes inside the house. I have about 80 foot run and I lose maybe 1 or 2 degrees. I have checked my vents thur the house and they are 130 to 145 coming out of them.