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  1. corey21 Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 28, 2010
    2,208 posts
    Soutwest VA
    I want to bank my coals with ash when i don't really want to reload. My concern is would this cause a CO2 or whatever you call it problem? My draft is great but i just thought i would ask before i started doing it.
    #1

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  2. lopiliberty Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 7, 2011
    565 posts
    Mineral County, WV
    its probably no different than waking up to ash in the firebox, stir it around and under the ash is a ton of coals. That's what I woke up to this morning. I thought my fire was out. Stirred the ashes and found a sh** load of hot coals and no CO2 problem here if that make any sense
  3. Waulie Minister of Fire

    joined: Aug 31, 2011
    917 posts
    Nothern Lower Michigan
    No problem at all. I just shoveled some ash out of my stove and I'm sure I uncovered some coals down in there that have be in there since it got cold on Sunday. I can't imagine what harm it could cause to cover them up. Although, I'm not positive you'll be thrilled with the results either.
    Jon1270 likes this.
  4. corey21 Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 28, 2010
    2,208 posts
    Soutwest VA
    Yep that does make sense. Thank you all for the help.
  5. ridemgis Member

  6. rideau Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 12, 2012
    1,346 posts
    southern ontario
    I find it extremely unlikely that banking the coals presents any greater risk than simply letting a fire burn down. If I ever reload before my fire has burned down to a small coal bed, then I get a large coal bed, with plenty of coals buried under ash. To burn the coals down quickly, if it is cold out and I want to keep the stove putting out lots of heat, I have to open the air pretty fully, rake the coals a bit to expose the covered coals, close door, wait a while and repeat. This process can take several hours. If it isn't really cold out, or if I am away from the home, then I in essence have banked coals that take absolutely forever to burn down.

    That said, I wouldn't take the time or energy to bank my coals. My stove will maintain coals for hours unless it is really cold out (see above), so if I am going to reload within three or four hours I can just leave the stove alone. If I had any concern about there being enough coals to start in three or four hours, but had the house warm enough so I didn't want a big fire, I'd just toss a small split on the fire to maintain a small fire. If I was going to let the fire go out for half a day or a day, then I'd want the coals to burn down to ash, because I'd have better reloads. I wouldn't worry about the coals: if I had enough to start the load, great. If not, the stove starts really well with any of many firestarting methods: white birch bark, newspaper, tinder and kindling, supercedar, home made fires starter. Doesn't take any longer than banking the coals would.

    Caveat: Soapstone stove. May retain enough more heat to maintain a good draft longer than most, making a "cold" start 12 to 24 hours after the last start easier than for those without soapstone.
  7. corey21 Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 28, 2010
    2,208 posts
    Soutwest VA
    Yeah now i remember that thread i think i will stay away from banking coals.

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