coals coals coals

Actually sounds about right....It is labeled to be about 8-12 hour burn time and that is going to include the coaling stage..

And with the 2.5cu ft fire box it is right around what I would expect based on size as well.

Rake coals to front piled up in front of dog house ( your stove has one) take a one smalish split lay crosswise on top of coal pile, the take a few more and lay those from the back to the front like a lean too ontop of the crosswise one. open up air fully. Best to use shoulder season type wood, stuff that doesn't coal tool well. The air from the dog house will act like a blast furnace through the coals and the lean to pieces will tend reflect the air back into the coals. In about an hour or so the coal pile will be about 1/2size or less and generally the stove will be in cruisin temp range. This how I deal with big pile of overnight or gone all day coal beds on the NC30 works pretty well for me.

I woke up to a bunch of coals too, and it's not even Christmas. I poked the coal bed to get air in there and opened up the air. Temp at the thermostat went up from 68 to 70. Fan is on high. Just reloaded. I'm liking running the fan on high lately, but darn noisy. It's 9* F here now. Brrr.

This is about the time of year when we start seeing this problem cropping up for many.

We too faced this problem when we got our first epa stove but I found no help. Some say put some kindling on the coals and some say a small split and that can help a lot. What we've found for best results is when the burn is down to almost the all coal stage, that is the time to open the draft full. This should hold the stove heat while burning those coals down.

I'll also add that those who burn marginal wood will have much more problem with the coals and for sure those folks need to open the draft. Like BrotherBart stated, give it some air. But give it lots of air!

I'm dealing with the same thing with my new summit. Hate to complain about a ton of hot coals but it takes up too much room. I'm only able to get 3 large splits in it without it being against the secondary. When I'm home its no problem. I just open up the air all the way and utilize the coals as suggested. Not optimal heat but sufficient. However I have to leave for work around 6 during the week so I've been shoveling out a half bucket of good heat to make room for more splits so I have a good burn till the wife gets home at 3. Working is the problem. I'm going to have to retire so I can stay home and operate this thing properly.

blades said:

Rake coals to front piled up in front of dog house ( your stove has one) take a one smalish split lay crosswise on top of coal pile, the take a few more and lay those from the back to the front like a lean too ontop of the crosswise one. open up air fully. Best to use shoulder season type wood, stuff that doesn't coal tool well. The air from the dog house will act like a blast furnace through the coals and the lean to pieces will tend reflect the air back into the coals. In about an hour or so the coal pile will be about 1/2size or less and generally the stove will be in cruisin temp range. This how I deal with big pile of overnight or gone all day coal beds on the NC30 works pretty well for me.

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Just tried this. It really works very well. Small split on top of coal bed in front, three medium-smalls lined up behind it resting on it. You get high heat and you see the coal bed melting away in front of you.

I'll get them from running with min air ( and the wood I'm burning has seasoned 5-10 years, is quite dry )
I'll throw small round wood in ( the 2 " stuff that sane people toss back on the forest floor ) and open up the air - will usually clean the corners of the window at the same time. Short hot burn.
Could probably accomplish the same thing without the sticks but I've just gotta throw something in there.

I like big hot coals in the morning. Open it up and give it air. The big coals are throwing some intense heat.

Throw a single split on the coals . . . softwood is even better . . . open up the air . . . wait. Coals should burn down like magic.

This is why I love a big, deep fire box...coals are only a good thing. With a shallow small firebox, you're always trying to get ride of some ash and coal to make room for splits.

I offer two solutions....one: the stove only puts out so much heat per cycle and let the stove go through this whole cycle. Supplement if needed and don't worry about it.

Two: do as stated above...just open the air all the way when you wake up in the morning. Make some coffee, eat some food. Then go and dig out a few scoops of ash. Do this every morning. Just Get the deep stuff and get about half the total ash. Leave the rest of the ash and most of the coals. Now you'll have room for splits and still have hot coals for an easy start.

I find this works well 2.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...edit-pics-at-end-of-thread.59827/#post-745869

During very cold weather with full loads going 24/7 I will have a significant coal base when I am ready to reload because I am looking for more heat. I do one of two things depending on my mood or the amount of time I have available before I need to leave the house. 1. Rake forward into a pile in front of the DH and give it full air - possibly add a small spilt. Burn down with decent heat coming off until there is room for a full load.
2. Rake forward as usual and load E/W behind the coal pile with large splits or rounds and place one big split on top of the coals. Keep a close eye on the fire and adjust air accordingly because it will take off quickly.

That big pile of coals is like a really nice split and just burns up nicely with the E/W fire

I've basically been doing the aansorge #2 method. I open the air all the way in the morning, even leave the door cracked slightly open and putz around for 30 minutes or so. Then I rake the coals and try to get rid of the spent stuff on the bottom. This amounts to almost a half a bucket but gets me down to a couples inches of really hot coals and I'm able to get a pretty good load into it, usually 4 or 5 splits. I'm home today and can play so I'm trying your idea of raking the coals forward, put a split on top and put 3 splits east west behind it. I'll also try the lean too program after today and see which works best for me. What are you guys referring to as the doghouse?

aansorge said:

.just open the air all the way when you wake up in the morning. Make some coffee, eat some food. Then go and dig out a few scoops of ash.

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I prefer to get the ashes first while they are cooler, before turning the air up and heating up the stove. It's also a good time to clean off any glass haze.

esox said:

What are you guys referring to as the doghouse?

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At the bottom front center of your firebox, along the bottom edge of the opening where you throw in firewood, is an air inlet. It is usually covered by a little angled metal like the roof of a small house. Because this is the main air inlet, scooping the coals in front of this will cause them to burn a bit more intensely.

I am beginning to switch over to smaller pieces of wood which allows more air which leads to burning up the wood and coals quicker.

What is going on here? I thought it was completely normal to wake up to a bed full of coals in the morning? I am kind of lost as to what everyone is describing. I am always more happy to wake up to more coals because the stove is warmer and it is easier to restart using larger splits. If i wake up to small coals, it means i have to start with smaller pieces, even kindling sometimes and really stoke the fire and baby it for a period. With a good deal of coals I open my air control let the coals flare for like 30-60 seconds, load my splits and off we go.

So what am I missing here that everyone is not happy waking up to coals?

If there are so many coals you can hardly put any wood in, and the weather is cold so you need the heat.

So this would be mostly a concern for a small fire box then. I never thought 2.3 cu ft of my stove was large , but it would take a lot of coals for this to be problem. 1.3 cu ft stove would be half the size and I can see that not being fun to reload on if it was 1/3 full of coals then.

A hunting camp that I belong to has this issue. After burning a full load at half throttle it leaves a box FULL of coals. Fire box is 1.9 cu ft. No room for more wood. Coals take a long time to get rid of with very little heat to heat the camp.

I can get coal build up on my 30nc but can get rid of them pretty quickly. Timing and technique is most everything in wood burning.

Charles1981 said:

So this would be mostly a concern for a small fire box then. I never thought 2.3 cu ft of my stove was large , but it would take a lot of coals for this to be problem. 1.3 cu ft stove would be half the size and I can see that not being fun to reload on if it was 1/3 full of coals then.

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I can get a bunch of coals with my summit which has a 3 cu ft fire box, large pieces of oak and a stove that just barely keeps up, you want to reload before the coals get a chance to burn down.

What could you infer then from the fact that I don't get the same kind of coal buildup you all are speaking off? Inefficient burning then? I've had a few hot fast burns and had a serious coal bed before but never anything that came up close to even halfway up the andirons.