I let the fire go out

[LLigetfa]

It's akin to closing the barn door after the horses got out, but spite is what it is. Yesterday was a really mild day so I told the wife to let the fire go out and I'd clean out the ashes. Well... rather than let it go out she did a slow dirty burn all day long that blackened up the glass. Man, I was PO'd when I got home and saw that. Try as I may to burn it clean, it was just too mild and the house too warm so I gave up on it and quit putting wood in.

It was weird this morning to see a cold black spot where a nice warm glow usually develops. I look forward to making it right.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Let mine die yesterday.. 55F, same today, last nights low at 48F.. heat pump kicked on about 8am, ran 15 minutes.. Took the oportunity to clean stove out, wipe her down, etc. Trying to get up the energy to pull it forward and check the flue.. But it was near spotless 3 weeks ago last time the stove went cold. Low toninght near freezing.. guess I will have an overnight fire.. shoulder season still in Feb.. weird winter for sure.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

A black firebox always makes me feel a little "sad" like a little part of me has been taken away. :shut:

I told Mr Gamma to let the fire go out the other day...we have been having daytime temps about 40 degrees.
Pfft....he didn't let it go out...

I know he did it on purpose.. >:-(

I know what his ulterior motives are....he enjoys the "summer attire" sported in the house when it's 80 freakin degrees! :lol:

 

[BrotherBart]

Brownie is going cold after a morning warm-up fire. But it is cloudy and rainy all day and in the forties so I see a Super Cedar getting sacrificed to the fire gods here in a little while.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Man I can relate to that. I had to give my wife heck the other day too. I like the bedroom cool, and my wife likes the heat, so she often sleeps in the stove room and sometimes tends the stove during the night. The other morning I came out to find the glass on the stove completely black. I pride myself on burning cleanly (in that stove anyway) and recently did a thorough cleaning of the stove and glass, so I found the site of that blackened glass particularly offensive, but she left for work early that day and I don't think she even noticed. She did get a lesson on clean burning practices when she got home though.

 

[oldspark]

Well my wife does not turn the stove down far enough so no black glass here, just less wood.

 

[Flatbedford]

I have never had a blackened glass in my Fireview. We've let the fire go out a few times this winter.

 

[LLigetfa]

We went nordic skiing after work so got home a bit later but I got right on the stove. Nice clean glass now and a hot fire. Life is good.

 

[eclecticcottage]

We've let the stove go cold during the day several times this month even. Today, yesterday...pretty much any day when it gets over 35.

 

[lopiliberty]

I have had a 24/7 fire for the last week, which for this winter is unusual. I have decided to let it go out tonight because it is 93 degrees in here right now which is a little to warm for me. I'm hoping its going to take the house a long time to cool down from that temp, plus its going to be in the 50s here the next two days so maybe no fire until Saturday night.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

This IS February right? Supposedly the COLDEST month of the year? Never thought I'd be complaining bout it being too warm during the winter but WTH, bugs are going to be horrific this spring/summer. Here in central NC I bet we have had fewer than 10 days where it even went below freezing during the night and maybe 2 in the teens. I hate it. It is making getting 3 years ahead easier though.

 

[eclecticcottage]

bugs are going to be horrific this spring/summer.

This is my fear also. Oh man...the sand flies...*cringe*

 

[corey21]

This winter has been really warm around here. I dont have a fire if it is above 40 so i have had a lot of practice starting a fire.

 

[Woody Stover]

i have had a lot of practice starting a fire.

Pretty quick and easy once you get it down...


I let it go out yesterday. Cleaned the combustor, screen and glass.

 

[greythorn3]

i read somewhere the moths are going to be at a record high in the usa for 2012 then they will get less in the following years. some kinda moth cycle thing.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Our fire goes out just about the time the garden goes in every year. Otherwise the house gets cold.

 

[LLigetfa]

I pride myself on burning cleanly (in that stove anyway) and recently did a thorough cleaning of the stove and glass, so I found the site of that blackened glass particularly offensive, but she left for work early that day and I don't think she even noticed. She did get a lesson on clean burning practices when she got home though.

I've all but given up on trying to coach her on stove operation. I've gotten pretty good at keeping the glass clean in this mild weather burning... bringing back a fire from the brink repeatedly by raking forward the coals and choosing and arranging the splits carefully. I will sometimes crack open the window to let in some cool air so that I can burn a little hotter.

I don't mind letting the fire go out and restarting it since I switched to Super Cedars. It sure beats the old crumpled newspapers and carefully built lattice of kin'lin and then trying not to soil the glass on startup. I would really get PO'd when I dirtied up the glass on startup having just cleaned it. Taking out ashes from a hot stove is easy but I've yet to find a way to clean the glass thoroughly when it's hot. I've done some light touchup with dry paper towel in circular motions, trying not to leave a pattern, but for a thorough cleaning it has to be cold.

I'm really grateful for this site having taught me how to clean the cold glass with nothing but plain water and a bit ashes. It still amazes me how well that works! If only someone would come up with a way to clean the glass while hot. I've thought of making an emergency door out of steel plate that I could have on hand in case I ever broke the glass with a raging fire going. It could also serve to allow the real door with the glass to cool enough to clean while the "emergency door" contained the fire.

 

[Wood Duck]

On days like today one of the main reasons I will let the stove go cold is to clean the glass. When the glass is cold, or at least cool, I can wipe it clean with a damp cloth most of the time. When it is hot wiping just smears the dirt and makes it worse.

Today I don't have to worry about cleaning the glass. The stove has gone out several times this week so the glass has already been cleaned, and the forecast is for more afternoons with a cool stove. I need to order more firestarters.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Thanks for all the reminders...we'll be cleaning the glass tonight, lol.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I pride myself on burning cleanly (in that stove anyway) and recently did a thorough cleaning of the stove and glass, so I found the site of that blackened glass particularly offensive, but she left for work early that day and I don't think she even noticed. She did get a lesson on clean burning practices when she got home though.

I've all but given up on trying to coach her on stove operation. I've gotten pretty good at keeping the glass clean in this mild weather burning... bringing back a fire from the brink repeatedly by raking forward the coals and choosing and arranging the splits carefully. I will sometimes crack open the window to let in some cool air so that I can burn a little hotter.

I don't mind letting the fire go out and restarting it since I switched to Super Cedars. It sure beats the old crumpled newspapers and carefully built lattice of kin'lin and then trying not to soil the glass on startup. I would really get PO'd when I dirtied up the glass on startup having just cleaned it. Taking out ashes from a hot stove is easy but I've yet to find a way to clean the glass thoroughly when it's hot. I've done some light touchup with dry paper towel in circular motions, trying not to leave a pattern, but for a thorough cleaning it has to be cold.

I'm really grateful for this site having taught me how to clean the cold glass with nothing but plain water and a bit ashes. It still amazes me how well that works! If only someone would come up with a way to clean the glass while hot. I've thought of making an emergency door out of steel plate that I could have on hand in case I ever broke the glass with a raging fire going. It could also serve to allow the real door with the glass to cool enough to clean while the "emergency door" contained the fire.

It's really not that hard. I keep a spray bottle of water by the hearth and one of those sponges with a rough side made for scrubbing. I spray the glass even while hot (not raging fire hot) wet down the sponge thoroughly and dip one end in ashes. Scrub the glass with the rough side of the sponge all over until clean. You may have to rewet the glass as the water evaporates as you work on the hot glass. I use a leather glove because the sponge gets hot quickly on your bare fingers depending on the temp of the glass. Rewet the sponge and dip in ashes again if needed. Once I have everything scrubbed and it is a total smeared mess, I rewet and wipe clean with a crumpled newspaper, turn paper a couple times and maybe rewet between and it comes clean as a whistle. I have a problem with my gasket seal in the lower right corner of my door and it gunks up pretty bad so sometimes I have to use a razor blade on that corner.

I worried about spraying water on the hot glass but was assured that it was ceramic glass and there was no danger of it cracking. Never had a problem and the whole process takes about 1-2 minutes tops.

Hope that helps.

 

[LLigetfa]

I've done it when warm but never when so hot it would burn my fingers. When hot, I use just a dry sheet and glove but the result is less than stellar. The dry paper towel doesn't have enough bite to remove the light coloured haze. I've wondered what else I could use dry that can resist the heat and not leave streaks or circles. Mind you, if it's bad enough then I think water is a must.

On cold or warm glass, I use two sheets of paper towel. I fold each one into quarters and wet them slightly with RO water. The first sheet I dip in ashes and rub the entire glass area. I then refold the sheet to expose another clean side and start wiping off the haze. Each pass seems to cool the glass a little more. By the time I start wiping with the second sheet, it is not evaporating as fast and I get a streak-free result.

I may try misting the hot glass carefully to cool it a bit.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I'm telling ya, the sponges with the plastic scrubber side are the ticket. Rinse em out once in awhile and reuse over and over. :cheese:

 

[firefighterjake]

I pride myself on burning cleanly (in that stove anyway) and recently did a thorough cleaning of the stove and glass, so I found the site of that blackened glass particularly offensive, but she left for work early that day and I don't think she even noticed. She did get a lesson on clean burning practices when she got home though.

I've all but given up on trying to coach her on stove operation. I've gotten pretty good at keeping the glass clean in this mild weather burning... bringing back a fire from the brink repeatedly by raking forward the coals and choosing and arranging the splits carefully. I will sometimes crack open the window to let in some cool air so that I can burn a little hotter.

I don't mind letting the fire go out and restarting it since I switched to Super Cedars. It sure beats the old crumpled newspapers and carefully built lattice of kin'lin and then trying not to soil the glass on startup. I would really get PO'd when I dirtied up the glass on startup having just cleaned it. Taking out ashes from a hot stove is easy but I've yet to find a way to clean the glass thoroughly when it's hot. I've done some light touchup with dry paper towel in circular motions, trying not to leave a pattern, but for a thorough cleaning it has to be cold.

I'm really grateful for this site having taught me how to clean the cold glass with nothing but plain water and a bit ashes. It still amazes me how well that works! If only someone would come up with a way to clean the glass while hot. I've thought of making an emergency door out of steel plate that I could have on hand in case I ever broke the glass with a raging fire going. It could also serve to allow the real door with the glass to cool enough to clean while the "emergency door" contained the fire.

I would guess that 7 times out of 10 I'm cleaning my stove's "glass" when it's hot . . . I mean there's no raging fire, but there are usually plenty of coals in there. I try to only clean the glass after a long overday or overnight fire, but sometimes there are still plenty of coals left.

What I do in this case is open up the door for a minute or so to allow the glass to cool down a bit . . . and I have a newspaper sheet that is quite wet . . . generally it will sizzle some and I have to keep flipping the newspaper over to always have a cool, wet side. I get the bulk of the glass clean in this way and then finish it up with another sheet or two that is damp, but not sopping wet.

When I'm smart I use gloves . . . but sometimes I live dangerously and don't bother with the gloves and instead I'm just very careful to be sure that there is plenty of wet newspaper between me and the hot glass.