Wood stove info (Hope: house, live, oil)

[cdodge04]

Hey guys,
I just had my wood stove delivered and now that I'm looking at it I'm a bit worried...I got an Ashley APS1100B pedestal stove. Its a smaller stove as I have a pretty small house, its rated at 38000 BTU and I believe 1,300 sq ft. The problem with the stove is that the actual firebox where you put the wood in is only big enough for about 4 sticks of wood. My "sticks" are about 12-14" long and have been split 2-3 times so they are typically not more than 3-4" wide.

My main concern is that I'm going to have to put wood into it every couple hours to keep it going. My parents have a bigger stove, that they can put 8-10 sticks in and it will go through the night if they put it all in at 10 and get up around 6. If it takes 8-10 sticks for their stove to go all night, my 4 sticks are only gonna be good for 3-4 hours tops....Anybody have any insight? I can provide photos of the stove and of the size of my sticks if that will help anyone give me more information?...

thanks for any insight on this,
-Chad

[Maineah]

You'll just have to go to bed later and get up earlier!

[cdodge04]

Thats what I'm worried about Maineah! I'm a lazy guy, once I'm in bed...I'm in bed.... and it's going to take a lot to get me out of bed 1-2 times a night to put more wood in the stove haha!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by cdodge04

Thats what I'm worried about Maineah! I'm a lazy guy, once I'm in bed...I'm in bed.... and it's going to take a lot to get me out of bed 1-2 times a night to put more wood in the stove haha!

Getting cold is a good incentive to throw another log on the fire.
I looked up that stove...It's a nice looking one. Ashley's have a good reputation for holding a fire. My brother runs a Scandia stove that isn't even air tight. He loads it at about 9:00 at night and he says it still has plenty of hot coals to get it going again when he gets up at 5:00 am.
I don't think you'll have a problem.
Enjoy your new stove.

[Maineah]

We had our new stove delivered last week too. Now I have to install it. Hopefully we'll save some oil this winter.

[contented]

have the last two sticks you put in be unsplit (round). yellow birch, maple, oak, etc

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by cdodge04

Hey guys,
... My main concern is that I'm going to have to put wood into it every couple hours to keep it going. ...

I don't think it will last that long.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by contented

have the last two sticks you put in be unsplit (round). yellow birch, maple, oak, etc

I agree. When I load the stove before going to bed I make sure the pieces are large enough to go through the night, and I turn the stove back so that it doesn't burn as hot. I don't need the house to be toasty warm when I get up. I open it up and fill it so that it's warm when everyone else wakes up.

[msina]

I found some great info for those that have questions about using a wood stove for heat. Great tips on what to burn and how to keep an even heat.

How To Use Wood Stoves(AND USE THEM SAFE!)

here's the illustrations that go with the article.

Image Gallery: How To Use Wood Stoves(AND USE THEM SAFE!)