How do you shut down your stove ?

thats a good question ,i would imagine to some degree, creosote forms if it runs on low temps for a long duration
the best scenerio is that next stong fire up introduces enough internal heat to burn it off

I just turn the dial to the "OFF" position.

Let it burn out, you never want to smolder unless it's a cat stove.

Depends. If I have a good coal bed and I want to try to keep it for ease of relight within a reasonable time, I bank the coals into a pile and cover them with ash, then shut the primary air completely and shut the door. If I want the coals to burn to ash and won't be re-lighting soon, I spread them out , open the primary completely, and leave the door cracked open. Rick

[quote author="kwikrp" date="1227678197"]DO you just let them burn out or do you just shut the air offquote]

...i forgot...i'll let you know in April/may. ;-P

kinda funny....

i wanted to let my fire burn out today, to clean and inspect it since i've had some glowing sessions....

anyway... 9 1/2 hrs after my last load, i opened it up and there were enough coals left it would have took another 1 or 2 hrs spread out before i'd want to stick my hoover in there!

HUH...in all our time burning we never did that...guess I'd follow fossil's recommendations.

I just stop putting wood in it, and it shuts itself down, eventually! :lol:

Jimbob said:

I just stop putting wood in it, and it shuts itself down, eventually! :lol:

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Yup, my experience as well. ;-)

trailblaze said:

kinda funny....

i wanted to let my fire burn out today, to clean and inspect it since i've had some glowing sessions....

anyway... 9 1/2 hrs after my last load, i opened it up and there were enough coals left it would have took another 1 or 2 hrs spread out before i'd want to stick my hoover in there!

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I'd want it dead and cold for a couple days before I'd try a vacuum. Those little coals have an amazingly long shelf life...

Chris

fossil said:

Depends. If I have a good coal bed and I want to try to keep it for ease of relight within a reasonable time, I bank the coals into a pile and cover them with ash, then shut the primary air completely and shut the door. If I want the coals to burn to ash and won't be re-lighting soon, I spread them out , open the primary completely, and leave the door cracked open. Rick

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Same here.

I just ask the wife to keep an eye on it and it soon goes out.

I just ask the wife to keep an eye on it and it soon goes out

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So after she watches it and the fire goes out, do you then stick your Hoover in there?

ScottF said:

I just ask the wife to keep an eye on it and it soon goes out

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So after she watches it and the fire goes out, do you then stick your Hoover in there?

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You are both in SOOOOOO much trouble.....

Chris

kwikrp said:

Either way when the temp begins to drop does that increase the production of creosote as well as smoke?

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If you only have coals left there is absolutely no chance of creosote production whatever the temperature.

ScottF said:

I just ask the wife to keep an eye on it and it soon goes out

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So after she watches it and the fire goes out, do you then stick your Hoover in there?

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No Hoover. She came with a Eureka but now it's a Kenmore. hh:

I agree with boke. Doesn't matter what you do at the end of the fire, there aren't any volatiles left to make creosote at the coal stage.

I certainly do shut the stove's air control "off" or to the lowest possible setting which is where it burns the longest. Doing this does not smolder a fire unless you have made an error somewhere else in operation. Modern stoves can't be shut off completely, as the minimum setting is still allowing primary air plus full throttle secondary air to feed the fire. If I happen to be wlking by when the fire is dwindling and I don't want to keep it going then I have flipped the air control open to try and get the coals to turn to white dust instead of spent black chunks.

Highbeam said:

If I happen to be wlking by when the fire is dwindling and I don't want to keep it going then I have flipped the air control open to try and get the coals to turn to white dust instead of spent black chunks.

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Yeah, but it's really only half spent. You could sift out the coals if you were so inclined (and rather anal like me ;-) ) and use them over again. I used to do this in the BBQ grille by closing up all the air to snuff out the fire and shake the remains down to save the unburned charcoal. YMMV.

Chris

I shut my stove down in by going to work without loading wood on the porch. My wife has not and will never get it from the pile. I'm not even sure she knows where it is. This method is a sure fire (perhaps not fire!) way to shut my stove down.