Full Hickory Load, Now Too Many Coals

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Huntindog1

Huntindog1

Minister of Fire
Dec 6, 2011
1,879
South Central Indiana
Well loaded the stove full of hickory after work now I am trying to burn down a massive Coal bed.

I have split a bunch of small kindling to throw on the coals.

I have put kindling on the coals like 3 times now.

Should I leave the door cracked to let lots of air get to the coals or keep it closed with the kindling to make lots of heat.

The kindling burns like all heck with the door cracked but dont know if its burning the coals down.

Hope to get the coal bed manageable by 10 pm for an all night load.
 
Huntindog1 said:
Should I leave the door cracked to let lots of air get to the coals or keep it closed with the kindling to make lots of heat.
Click to expand...
Try one regular split on the coals that should take care of the problem.
 
Rake those coals to the front and open the air all the way. Stop adding kindling or splits, cause that just makes more coals. Unless you have some pine or poplar to put on top. Quick, high heat, and they won't add to the coals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Backwoods Savage and zap
guessing you have the primary air wide open while burning those coals down right? I figure as much, but had to be sure.

Also, periodically rake them to the front of the stove so that the air doesn't have to travel all the way to the back to get to them.

I wind up with this problem when I get overzealous with really cold temps outside. I've found if I just keep myself from stuffing the thing to the gills, magically the house stays just as warm and I fight less than I would have when I loaded it too much and now have a box full of coals, and not room for wood later.

pen
 
I do have the air all the way open and have had the door cracked.

Its burning down but its taking a long time. Its down now to about 4 inches deep. It was like 6 or 7 inches deep.

Hickory is nice but the coals are something to deal with.

I have been raking them periodically to stir them up.

Once I got to the point I could pull some of the coals forward as they were so deep, I found one of the hickory splits in the back bottom that was just charred back there and not burned very much. Once I got it rolled up on top of the coals to get some air it started to burn more.

I even burnt this load almost wide open to get lots of heat in my house for the evening. I was thinking burning it wide open would lessen the amounts of coals left.

Thanks for all the advice.

Maybe I should mix the wood, something I havent heard much talk on this board about.
 
It sounds like you are burning E-W?

If you are loading E-W, the reason that back piece wasn't burnt was because air couldn't get to it. A furrow from front to back in the ash/coals before loading can help with that.

By burning it wide open, you most likely sent a good bit of your fuel / heat up the chimney. What kind of temps was the stove running at? Can you reach maximum temps with the air turned down 1/4 of the way open?

I'd suggest you try the trench in the coals (some folks on here call it the tunnel of love) and try using less wood (to the top of the firebricks) and adjusting the air control to keep things 650-700 on the hottest part of the stove top.

If you can't do that with a minimal amount of air, either you don't have enough draft, or that wood isn't really well seasoned.

pen
 
  • Like
Reactions: NortheastAl
I just spread the coals out and crack the door occasionally stirring the coals, they burn down pretty quickly.

Mike
 
Keep the door closed, if the hickory isnt seasoned well mix it with something that is, wood thats not well seasoned will give you massive coal build up.
 
Yeah, I've found that the coals burn down quickly too...when raked forward. I have been burning all hickory all season, but have not had any consistent excess coal build-up. When I do, I just rake them forward, open the air all the way and wait an hour or less. An hour of burning 'em down with full air doesn't make a big enough dent?
 
Black Walnut will coal pretty bad also.
I still think ash is the best all around fire wood.
Easy to split..drys well..burns well and not bad for coals.
 
Big coal bed is where old school primary in the door really shines. If I open that throttle all the way I can burn them things down in no time at all. My old magnolia was bad about excessive coal bed too. I remember being in a need heat situation and no room for more wood. I'm sure with the above advise and some experimentation you'll figure out how to manage them better.
 
wkpoor said:
Big coal bed is where old school primary in the door really shines. If I open that throttle all the way I can burn them things down in no time at all. My old magnolia was bad about excessive coal bed too. I remember being in a need heat situation and no room for more wood. I'm sure with the above advise and some experimentation you'll figure out how to manage them better.
Click to expand...
Yep i know what your saying about the Mag i have that problem sometimes not a big problem but it happens.
 
pen said:
It sounds like you are burning E-W?

If you are loading E-W, the reason that back piece wasn't burnt was because air couldn't get to it. A furrow from front to back in the ash/coals before loading can help with that.

By burning it wide open, you most likely sent a good bit of your fuel / heat up the chimney. What kind of temps was the stove running at? Can you reach maximum temps with the air turned down 1/4 of the way open?

I'd suggest you try the trench in the coals (some folks on here call it the tunnel of love) and try using less wood (to the top of the firebricks) and adjusting the air control to keep things 650-700 on the hottest part of the stove top.

If you can't do that with a minimal amount of air, either you don't have enough draft, or that wood isn't really well seasoned.

pen
Click to expand...
Excellent advice, pen. The tunnel of love is great for getting those coals burned quick. I

'll load two splits N/S with the primary air up the middle and to splits on top E/W and find I don't get that unburned piece in the back. Burning E/W always gives me a smoldering piece behind the front one. The tunnel can be a help for a little while. At least until the coals burn down.
 
I finally got the coals burned down last night and got the stove loaded back up around 10pm last night.

Pen your right I was wasteing heat , I wonder if the hickory isnt as dry as it could be. It burns good but it isnt that burn real easy get hot easy kind of burn.

I loaded up two medium maple splits and then the rest hickory for the over night load. It had lots of coals this morning but not as bad as last night.

This morning I did use the tunnel of love so air could get back to the back. I do load east west.

The stove will cruise around 600 but not so easy 700. I will have to play around with it some more.

The good thing is that I had my house last night up to 73 and this morning it was 69 inside with the outside wind chill at -6 degrees. This 2.12 cubic foot stove is heating around 2500 square foot house, my stove is in the basement family room. The 73 is upstairs in the main area of the house which I use as my measurement of how well I am heating the house.

Round two tonight another cold one.
 
I've never liked keeping the firebox door open to burn down coals. We've found that if you can open the draft fully open just before the burn is down to the all coal stage, this holds the stove temperature while burning down the coals. We rarely put any kindling on top of the coals since starting this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntindog1
OK tonight it is my turn to have to much coals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntindog1 and BucksCounty
I had a good load up last night. I think I got the most wood in my stove that I have ever have.

Was able to pick out pieces of wood that fit together like a puzzle.

Got the stove cruising at 750 stove top temp.

Lots of coals this morning for reload had to burn them down some.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Backwoods Savage
my pheonix coals up really bad sometimes if i reload too early. happens alot when its really cold. best thing i have found is putting a huge "halfer" or similar sized hunk of wood on top the coals and leave the air open pretty wide. i have some large pieces of wood that i dont split up completely just for this purpose.
 
Stir up the coals to let the majority of the ash and some small coals to drop down to the ash pan (which works quite well in my stove.)

Either spread out the coals or rake them forward towards the incoming air.

Open up the air all the way.

Place a single, small to medium sized split on the bed of coals . . . preferably a lower BTU wood like birch, red maple, softwood, etc.

Wait 15-30 minutes . . . and then stir again . . . usually the coal bed will have worked its way down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntindog1
I've found that a smaller split on top of the raked forward coals + opening the air inlet will increase the draft and burn the coals down faster. Then rake the coals out even and crack the door to maximize oxygen exposure to coals will pretty much take care of things.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huntindog1
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

bigealta
Reloading - How to do it Better?
Replies
22
Views
1K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
bigealta
bigealta
Dmitry
How do you deal with excessive coaling from oak and other high-density species?
Replies
42
Views
2K
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
Branimal
Branimal
marty319
Morning coals
Replies
10
Views
759
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
ctreitzell
ctreitzell
A
Smoke on reload on Ambiance Elegance
Replies
4
Views
855
The Hearth Room - Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
EatenByLimestone
EatenByLimestone
Z
Just for fun: restarting stove from a coal slivers
Replies
17
Views
2K
The Wood Shed
ClintonH
ClintonH
Top Bottom
Back