getting good hot coals

[lunk30]

Looking for advice on getting a good burn going..... I was told that getting a good hot bed of coals going is most important.... What is the best way to get this? This is my first year with a wood burner (englander add on furnace) and somedays i get a pretty good bed of coals going and sometimes not .... Im not sure what I doing right or wrong.... Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Heem]

Looking for advice on getting a good burn going..... I was told that getting a good hot bed of coals going is most important.... What is the best way to get this? This is my first year with a wood burner (englander add on furnace) and somedays i get a pretty good bed of coals going and sometimes not .... Im not sure what I doing right or wrong.... Thanks in advance for any help!

build up from small to large. pile it up.. paper.. cardboard.. small kindling.. bigger kindling.. small splits. Stay away from the larger splits until you burn that into some hot coals.

 

[edthedawg]

Very likely comes down to a careful balance of your wood (seasoning and/or moisture content), reloading cycle time, and air settings... But I'd look at the wood first.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Looking for advice on getting a good burn going..... I was told that getting a good hot bed of coals going is most important.... What is the best way to get this? This is my first year with a wood burner (englander add on furnace) and somedays i get a pretty good bed of coals going and sometimes not .... Im not sure what I doing right or wrong.... Thanks in advance for any help!

Hey lunk30, welcome to the forum.

Saying you need a good bed of coals going is sort of vague. You do not necessarily need a big coal bed to have a good fire. We make sure we leave an inch or two of ash in the bottom of the stove and as the coals burn down from the previous burn, we rake them and finally push them to the front of the stove to get rid of most of them! You only need a small coal bed is what I am trying to say.

But like has been posted many times, the real key to a good fire is the fuel you burn. Most folks simply try to build a fire out of any wood or are told the wood is seasoned or whatever. But then you find out the true story of the wood and find that it really isn't that well seasoned. There is a terrific difference between well seasoned wood and partially seasoned wood. Sort of like the difference between eating a soggy cookie vs. one fresh out of the oven.

Good luck.