door open a crack to burn down the coals? is this a bad idea?

[par0thead151]

i have a 2.5 cubic foot insert(enviro 1700) and i want to get max heat output from this stove in the cold weather. i am wondering if it is a bad idea to have the door open a crack to allow more air to burnd own the coals at a greater rate, thus allowing me to restock the stove sooner.
i typicaly burn down coals once every 2-3 days and if i do not, i will have too many coals after 4-5 days.
i wake up some nights and rake the coals forward, and put a dry split on and put the air on wide open, and find the box has burned some fo the coals down.

i am asking about the cracking the door method for the times when i am home to monitor the stove, but want to burn down the coals and getmore wood in my stove.
will i be loosing more heat this way to make it not worth while?
i assume a lot more air will be going up the chimney with this method, but it will take less time, thus allowing me to add more wood sooner.
i have a unlimited source of free wood, so consumption is not much of a concern.

 

[fire_man]

i have a 2.5 cubic foot insert(enviro 1700) and i want to get max heat output from this stove in the cold weather. i am wondering if it is a bad idea to have the door open a crack to allow more air to burnd own the coals at a greater rate, thus allowing me to restock the stove sooner.
i typicaly burn down coals once every 2-3 days and if i do not, i will have too many coals after 4-5 days.
i wake up some nights and rake the coals forward, and put a dry split on and put the air on wide open, and find the box has burned some fo the coals down.

i am asking about the cracking the door method for the times when i am home to monitor the stove, but want to burn down the coals and getmore wood in my stove.
will i be loosing more heat this way to make it not worth while?
i assume a lot more air will be going up the chimney with this method, but it will take less time, thus allowing me to add more wood sooner.
i have a unlimited source of free wood, so consumption is not much of a concern.

I think its a BAD idea because unless you are monitoring the cracked door every second there is risk of a spark or ember shooting out of the stove. Call me conservative, but I never crack the door unless I am watching (and I mean looking at) the stove. I never tried cracking the door to burn down coals fast so I don't know if it's any faster. The other thing I have noticed is well seasoned wood (greater that 1 year) produces less coals.

 

[Jfk4th]

I crack the door to burn down the coals and I have never had a problem, works well in my book just to lower the coals, many guys do this also that our on this site. Would I leave the house when the door is cracked...never...would I leave the room...not a good idea either but in my setup I have the luxury of being there and watching that coal bed get lower as it is in my living room. As fire_man said there is a risk when that door is open so make sure you are around and there should not be any problems

I still have to clean out the ashes eventually but it does get that coal bed down to a "manageable" level for a while longer. Also open the air all the way when you crack the door for more draft

 

[pen]

I find that all it takes is literally a crack, for the door to be open (1/16-1/8 in) is all it takes to burn the coals down. In January, I'm doing this every day. I'd say it's one hell of a lot safer than trying to carry hot coals out of the house and then find a way to dispose of them.

Additionally, having the door cracked creates no more of an opening than the thousands of pre-epa stoves (like fisher, alaskan's, timberlines, all-nighters, etc) that used spin drafts on the door. Considering the draw of the stove is sucking air in there, I find it very hard to believe something would fall out. Especially since we are talking about coals here, and they don't have a great tendency to roll as there is little mass to them.

So, IMO, go for it, just be smart about it. Keep combustibles well away from your stove whether the door is cracked or not, and you'll never have a problem.

pen

 

[rkymtnoffgrid]

I have the same problem and am looking for the same answer...I crack open the ashpan door on my dutchwest it literally incerinates the coals to the finest powder to the point that they drop into the pan, but I'm not too paticualr about that stove. Now I have a new Lopi Leyden at my house which I'm having a real battle with the coals building up. I know that cracking the ashpan door will slove my problem but I'm afraid to void the warranty or damage the stove. Here is my question, If I regiliously moniter the temps, keep the bypass open, and totally shut down the air control so as to not overfire it, is there any damage I could do to it. I'm not an idiot, I have two therometers and an ir heat gun, I know the regular operating temps of the stove. So if I dont give it too much air, what is the danger? It literally says "do not operate stove with ashpan door open" on the ashpan door. By the way, when I say crack open the ashpan door, I'm talking about simply turing the lever so as to relieve pressure on the gasket. If I do this the fire responds about the same as the air control being 1/2 open, only the air filters through the coal bed burning huge coal chunks... Ideas on this anyone, I know its a "no-no" but what is the real damage?

 

[pen]

I'd say there is a greater danger in opening the ash door (by far) then the main door.

By opening the ash door and feeding air up through the fire, you are essentially creating a blacksmiths setup! You probably won't overheat the stove by doing this but I'd be concerned about running a good chance at overheating the lower plates and warping / damaging them.

But, it's your stove and you are the one witnessing what is taking place. As always, let common sense prevail.

pen

 

[begreen]

Agreed. Occasionally I've left the door ajar to accelerate coal burn down. On our stove there is no risk of anything falling out with the door opened a crack. Where is it going to fall but on a big ash lip? I always leave the door open a crack when starting the fire and that has a greater risk of me getting distracted and forgetting I left the door ajar.

 

[staplebox]

Sounds like you know what you're doing. Do what you gotta do. You may loose a bit of heat but if you have too many coals to get new wood in the box that ain't helpful either.

 

[LLigetfa]

If it's so cold out that I have to burn so hot that I get a coal buildup, I'll let the gas furnace kick in and give the stove time to burn down the coals. I DON'T leave the door ajar.

 

[Danno77]

i just open my stove up and the front wash get's em burning real nice as long as they are in front of the stove. the only time I ever leave my door cracked is to get a fire started (usually not even to do that). I agree with the poster who suggested you might get an ember flying out the door. Wouldn't be the first time I had some coals snap crackle and pop. better safe than sorry.

 

[Jags]

If you do use the "cracked open door" method do NOT ever walk away. If you need to walk away cuz your fish sticks are burning in the oven, close the dang door and come back to it. Do Not Leave The Stove Unsecured.

 

[MGC67]

I usually just add a single split to a large bed of coals. When she burns up, the coal pile is greatly reduced. Repeat as needed.

 

[jharkin]

[del]I would think as long as you are home and keeping an eye on it a cracked open door is no more dangerous than an old fashioned open fireplace. [/del]

Ash pan door open is definitely a no-no though. I did that once to clean out the ashes and the coal bed turned into a blowtorch in seconds. Only open that now after first raking coals to side away from the grate openings.

 

[Jags]

......a cracked open door is no more dangerous than an old fashioned open fireplace.

I respect the basis of this, but it's not really true. A cracked open door on an air tight stove will create an "unnatural" air venturi that an open fire is unlikely to get.

 

[Danno77]

......a cracked open door is no more dangerous than an old fashioned open fireplace.

I respect the basis of this, but it's not really true. A cracked open door on an air tight stove will create an "unnatural" air venturi that an open fire is unlikely to get.

I'm with Jags on this, my fireplace made air go only one direction (up the chimney). I could almost drop a tissue on the other side of the room and see it drift towards the fireplace. I've seen wood pop and send a ton of sparks out into the room (not super far or anything) only to have them get sucked back into it.

with the wood stove air goes up the chimney, but there is almost always some swirling going on inside of it (not dramatic, but it's there). This is one reason that makes them more efficient than a fireplace. I've found that I can have smoking embers sitting on the lip under the door and even with the door cracked it doesn't necessarily pull the smoke into the stove or at least not in a steady stream...

 

[jharkin]

A cracked open door on an air tight stove will create an "unnatural" air venturi that an open fire is unlikely to get.

Good point, I didnt think of that.

 

[firefighterjake]

If you do use the "cracked open door" method do NOT ever walk away. If you need to walk away cuz your fish sticks are burning in the oven, close the dang door and come back to it. Do Not Leave The Stove Unsecured.

+1 . . . except replace fish sticks with chicken nuggets . . . I'm not a big fish eater.

For the record I do crack the door open a bit when starting a fire, but to reduce the number of coals I simply toss in a split, open up the air and let 'er burn for a half hour or so which dramatically reduces the coals/ash.

 

[Joe_]

First post on this forum, long time reader.

I have an enviro 1700 kodiak insert, installed aug 08. Now in its second season - works great !

I agree with the others - never leave that door cracked to burn down the coals unless you are sitting in front of the thing. You could probably just rake the coals forward and max open the air - within 1 hr those babies should be dust.

FYI, I always have to crack the door max 1" wide to get the insert cranked up in the am, but only for 3-5 min tops and then the splits are blazin'. After that my insert runs avg 400 - 500 deg F max as measured on the insert top [use a Rutland magnetic], which results in a constant 71 - 74 degrees in the LR/DR/FR; 66-70 in the back BR's. Never had it higher than 575 deg F.

We bought the insert during the "Oil panic/ stove panic" of 2008. My house is a mid 60's L ranch with mid 60's insulation in the exterior walls [translation; MINIMAL insulation in the walls] ; regular heat is a 90's oil burner with hw baseboard; used to keep the DR stat at 67 all winter all bundled up because of drafts- now wear tshirts when it's 15 degrees outside !! Never been so comfortable than in the last two winters; have lived here since 1994.

This is a decent insert and went with this one mainly because the dealer was able to get me installed in 2 WEEKS; the quads, jotuls, etc etc were running Jan-Feb 2009 installs and I was looking in JULY. Very happy with it .

 

[cj-8_jim]

I have a small stove too. On my Century, I unlock the door (which causes the cast iron door to open 1/16"-1/8") and I'll let it burn the coals down.

There's no way a spark from the coal-only fire could blow it's self out against that wind tunnel or through a 1/16" crack or push the cast iron door open. And even if it did fight it's way against all that it would have to travel 1-2 feet of marble hearth and then over 1 ft of hardwood floor before it reached a rug.

However, THE safe answer is to NEVER EVER leave the stove unattended with OR without the door open. Make sure at least two fire extingushiers are always adjacent the stove as well as garden hose connected to the basement sink running up the stairs into the living room where the stove is. Also, make sure you have both a land line and a cell phone with 911 programmed into the speed dial.

You just can't be too safe. Why risk burning the whole house down over some coals?

 

[hareball]

I used to crack the door but since reading the last 2 threads on this subject I've stopped and never looked back and don't miss it.

I'm in no hurry, I pull coals forward and close the doors and open the dampers. Thats like an hours worth of "free" heat. If I can get heat by not adding wood I'm gonna run with it!

End result is nice when the coals burn down and you have a nice foundation for the reload.

I've also noticed coals really spark up when a door is open and they get a blast of fresh air. Cherry seems the worst I've seen.