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[cantoo]

I have a Pacific Western own that I just put in last fall. I have a variety of wood to burn in it.
 Oak slabs from a sawmill, small little pieces burn like heck.
 16 to 20" Poplar splits last summer, dry as a fart and lots of quick heat but short lasting.
 16 to 20" Hardwood splits from tree tops ash, maple, walnut etc. Burns real hot, stove holds lots but not real long burn times.
 6 to 10" dia x 48" long cherry logs, These are great, throw them in, lots of heat and long burns.
 Old hydro poles 10"x 48" long (not treated) These also were great but I only have a few left. Stack them in last fall and I was getting 2 or 3 day burns out of them.
Next year I will be cutting longer lengths of stuff and very little splitting. I still have 10 cords of split hardwood to get quick heat if needed. If only I had a source of cheap coal.

[DaveWertz]

Is the little notch the indicator for the low recovery temp. This is a honeywell aqua stat?

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[slimjim]

Dave, if thats the aquastat that I think it is, the metal dial is your cut out temp and the smaller white dial is the differential or temp cut in below cut out.

[DaveWertz]

Slim the white is the diff. I couldnt get a pic with the metal dial because the little white dial "diff" sits behind it.

[slimjim]

OK Dave the metal dial is setpoint, the boiler should shut off at setpoint, the diff or white dial is cut in temp, example setpoint of 185 with 10 degree diff, boiler runs up to 185 and shuts off, it will come back on at 175

[DaveWertz]

Gotcha. Thats what I set it at tonight as we are having high winds and dipping down to negative numbers.

[walkerdogman85]

this year is the first year that i have burnt big rounds, just beacuse i cleaned up my pile.. i have nice split and stacked wood that is seasoned and if i loaded the box up with rounds i had a hard time keeping it going so i would then put dmaller splits on the bottom and then a few big rounds. i have a log splitter but my brother has it so i cut all of my rounds into 6' rounds and then split them they seemed to burn better than big rounds.. but now i am into season splits with great results good burn times and great recovery times, now if i had new windows and doors i would be in great shape lol

[fryedaddy]

I normally mix large rounds with split wood on cold nights.

[DaveWertz]

I hear ya walker! I got all new windows threwout the entire house even in the basement and attic. It did help. Tomorrow im having a contractor come and give me an estimate on cellulose blown insulation.  Im excited to help keep thehewat in and cold out!

[LittleJohn]

If I can't get my hand across the block, when its green, I split it; kind of a hold over from the old day with indoor wood stove.  Cause if I couldn't pick it up with one hand green it would not fit in the stove and the wife could not pick up the blocks.

By the way, "my hand size guide" means that anything over about 9" gets be split

[d conover]

If I can't get my hand across the block, when its green, I split it; kind of a hold over from the old day with indoor wood stove.  Cause if I couldn't pick it up with one hand green it would not fit in the stove and the wife could not pick up the blocks.

By the way, "my hand size guide" means that anything over about 9" gets be split

Starting this year I starting splitting down to "hand size" at 56 years old my back was feeling the bigger stuff, it takes a few seconds to split a block and a backache for me is all night...

[Sprinter]

 

[dukethebeagle]

for sure big round blocks last long but they won't burn as intense especially if the stove is natural draft.
i always wack em in half.i know they don't last as long but it don't take all day to get going
and it  ewasy to keep up to temp.instead of filling the stive up full just load smaller loads a little more often
  just my opinion

[d conover]

I also noticed since I started splitting almost everything my wood hasn't bridged and went out once.

I don't know if that is an issue with anything but Hardys but I used to have my fire die down and all but go out from bridging..

[franky1]

I have seen where big logs would not fall down,,and therefore my stove went cold,,,they got caught half way down and did not hit the ashes....
learned my lesson,,,only 1 big one with few smaller ones..\