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[PMo]

SO...   when I load the boiler...  I fill the thing pretty full.  Sometimes all the way to the top.   Usually, after around 12 hours... its is burned down to ash or mostly ash.  What is the theory on this.  Am I wasting wood by doing this?   I am going to play with putting less in, but usually I have to be gone for long periods of time and have not wanted to chance it going out. 

I seem to be going through lots of wood and wonder if this is the culprit.

Heating a 3200 ft house...   a 3 bay garage (kept at 40 degrees)  and hot water for the house.

thanks all
PMo

[slimjim]

I should wait for Boilerman to respond, I think I will!!!!

[pwdiver]

I had the same problem last week I was using poplar Ive since cut some seasoned oak and it burns longer, I don't know which type of boiler you have but i have to clean the damper plate surface about once a week because mine will get a little crud under it and let more air get to the fire box causing the wood to smolder (burn more than it should)

[Jack72]

SO...   when I load the boiler...  I fill the thing pretty full.  Sometimes all the way to the top.   Usually, after around 12 hours... its is burned down to ash or mostly ash.  What is the theory on this.  Am I wasting wood by doing this?   I am going to play with putting less in, but usually I have to be gone for long periods of time and have not wanted to chance it going out. 

I seem to be going through lots of wood and wonder if this is the culprit.

Heating a 3200 ft house...   a 3 bay garage (kept at 40 degrees)  and hot water for the house.

thanks all
PMo

Man that's a big house I'm at 2400 sq ft heating domestic water and house heat forced air I stuff mine pretty full because I'm gone 12 hours during the week also I can usually get 14-16  but my house is smaller      It's been cold I think you are doing well not sure if you are all hardwood or mixed all hardwood would help.         I don't think it makes a big difference on full it is  on mine anyway

What I think makes a difference is how it's stacked inside the firebox I think the tighter it is their is some bridging that happens and helps slow the burning process.  IMO
I'm not sure my stove is just a baby compared to your 3200 that's a lot of wood if you are filling yours tight


Jack

[boilerman]

PMo, In my experience I like to put enough wood in so that when I come out for the next "feeding time" the firebox is burned down to mostly coals and 3-4 portions of well burned/charred up logs remaining. In some conditions, that means filling it full to the top, while during warmer conditions only filling half full. Remember, it only works as hard and burns as much wood as it has to, replacing the btu's back into the water that you draw out for your heat load. The amount I put in varies on outdoor temps and conditions for that period. You kind of get a feel for it after awhile. You don't want to burn completely out and lose your coal bed or you'll struggle getting your next load going and it won't gasify correctly without re-establishing the bed to burn down through. It sounds like you have a pretty good heat load right now with the extreme cold temps this winter. Your btu demand sounds high. You might try loading some larger logs on the top of your load to extend your burn time. Different wood varieties and moisture content can all affect your burn times and output. You may want to experiment there as well.

[slimjim]

   I could have sworn we just had a discussion on another thread about the E-2400 and  your 24 hour burn times? I thought so.

[woodisgood]

  First off Im heating a 2600sf well insulted house plus my domestic water. I load my stove every evening pretty much all the way but not tight to prevent bridging. Im burning all harwoods that been seasoned atleast 8 months. Usually my firestar controller says ive had a burn time around 8 hours when I reload every 24 hours. The only time I reload more than once a day is when we get a wind over 30 mph.

[slimjim]

That seems like a lot of wood for a small home that's well insulated, you might try loading a bit less and adding more often.

[randy_1]

Put six logs all under 8 inches in mine last night at 7 pm went out at 645 this morning with large coals and embers it was mid 20s last night 2400 sq ft radiant / baseboard with Domestic hot water.  Am I missing something lol btw 73,in the house with the bedroom windows open yup I'm happy...

[5050racing]

You probable live in South Carolina with a low temp of 50 at night!! Everyone system is different wood is different,house,etc.just to keep my CB guys happy my neighbor has a pm 250 new this year looked at mine many times while I was loading it and told me it's so hard to clean those little tubes he's selling it and getting a CB 1450 like mine,can't make this up just facts.I sure like to keep track of mine online when I'm away like 30 hrs  most of the time 14-16 hrs in this super cold winter.temps to be down to 11 Thursday

[5050racing]

Randy just remember you came to this forum on cb line I didn't come looking for you to talk about my furnace !Just read and absorb what you want but us CB guys know we already have the best furnace

[randy_1]

Actually I live in northern maine

[slimjim]

  Funny how some people believe anything they are told, how many of those CB guys have ever installed a stack temp gauge to check on the efficiency of their own boiler as you have Randy, all that money to spend on controls that you can check on from away but nobody ever talks about stack temps from that single pass heat exchanger. What do you do when you are gone for 16 hours and after 12 hours you get an alert telling you the temp in your boiler is down, rush home? what real good did it do?

[Roger2561]

  Funny how some people believe anything they are told, how many of those CB guys have ever installed a stack temp gauge to check on the efficiency of their own boiler as you have Randy, all that money to spend on controls that you can check on from away but nobody ever talks about stack temps from that single pass heat exchanger. What do you do when you are gone for 16 hours and after 12 hours you get an alert telling you the temp in your boiler is down, rush home? what real good did it do?

I really don't care about stack temps, all I care about is I'm not dishing out $5100.00/yr to the oil man and at the same time I keep my house at 70 degrees as opposed to the 65 when burning oil.  I never bought mine for the bells and whistles, it's that CB was closer to me; 25 minute drive down I-89.  Roger

[slimjim]

Roger, I simply was responding to the comment about the tubes in the 250 made by 5050, when slurrs are thrown out there they will be countered, I have heard far to many lies from CB and their followers and it sure seems that we are their target, perhaps they are worried, the tubes and reaction chamber on the 250 I personally have cleaned while it sits on my show trailer while I stand on a stepladder, in front of many potential customers at a show in less than 8 minutes, how much time does it take to poke out all those holes in the intake of the CB, every boiler has it's quirks and we all believe we made the right choice, we did, we burn wood, The fact that P+M consistently gets targeted by the CB sheeple is I guess a sign that we are doing pretty well don't you think! Which dealer did you buy from, I'm hoping not the one in Colebrook NH