no hot coals in the morning

[sappy]

Sitting in room where woodstove is and it is 88 degrees right now at 1015 at night. There obviosely is no need for me to add any wood as stove top is close to 450 degree room more than comfortable. When 5am comes however my stove will only have some red embers-no big hot built up coals that instantly lite off 10 or 15 min set draft and go. I will need paper kindling , you get the story and ready to go about a half hour later. Now before yall go on about moving heat outa the room, I already have two huge celing fans in there and another fan at ground level next room up blowing into stove room-works good and every 15 feet corner fans to help move heat further through house. Point is noone would throw wood on this to make it 95 degrees as it is at my upper limits now. It was a pleasure when I was home last week and able to every 4 hours or so from a small load refill with no fresh startup required. I geuss I will have to wait until those 10 and 15 degree nights where the house will pull down more and I can fill the stove more at bedtime in hopes of big coals in am.

 

[BrotherBart]

We have all been there. The art of this wood burning stuff is that fire before the night fire. To have it burned down to just the coal bed to set the night fire and not have the joint like an oven. It ain't always easy to do.

 

[sebring]

I let the ash build up more, and then I get coals way longer than with less ash.

 

[eujamfh]

Ditto on keeping a bit more ash around during the shoulder season. Like BB I also try to let them to burn down as much as possible to get a good load in before bed..but sometimes the traffic in this area doesn't allow the timing to work. Throw in the better half, kids, dogs and chores...I realize my timing is never right.

We started burning near 24 hours this past week...that said, we load it with pine in the morning and let it get right to the point where the fan is turning itself off before getting it going. Usually take a little help from a fire-starter (like a stick of fatwood). With the temps in the upper 50s lower 60s during the day, I can not keep it going without a relight assist without getting the house past 80 degrees.

 

[wkpoor]

Maybe you haven't figured out yet have to make it store coals for a long time. I just discoved, going into my second season that I don't need a big load of wood to have coals 8 hrs later. 2 medium splits on hot coals pushed clear to back of the stove with primary shut almost clear down and they will be there 8 hrs later. Pull them forward, add wood , open the vent and its off to the races again. There is a difference between firing for heat and firing for relight duration.

 

[Dune]

Stupid question dept., can't you fill the stove and turn the air inlet down more?

I think I am spoiled by an owner controllable stove.

 

[colsmith]

What we do in our house is easy. I play a wizard game on Facebook really late at night, and hubby wakes up early. So we have no long night time interval when no one is loading the stove.

 

[SlyFerret]

I've been running the propane furnace for the last few weeks. I've lit the stove two or three times, but that's it.

I can't really light the stove in the evening unless it's going to be in the low 30's overnight, and I don't light it in the morning before work if the high is going to be above 40.

It just puts out too much heat, and making the house too hot is a waste of fuel, in my book. I can't wait until we start getting some winter weather so I can get into the regular routine with the stove.

-SF

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm curious why a room with a Fireview in it is 88 degrees to begin with?

 

[sappy]

Solar there in lies the issue. If when going to bed room is already at 80 plus why put more wood in? Incidently that is with 3 or 4 mid size pieces. Room 22 by 12. Sure those room tems will drop when real weather arrives-hende I prob will be able to fill the thing like everyone else does.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Is it that small/tight of a room or is the stove not burning as low as it should?

 

[sappy]

Solar the room is half of my garage finished very tight as it steps up into the 80 foot long ranch( at gable end). I do have air at 1.5 typically because of the not so cold nights. I did on one colder night set air just below 1 and. The flame would go out- which is normal on this stove and would ploof on with a short time flame and smelt a little creasol smell from the burst. I think with colder temp this won't be an issue.

 

[Todd]

Shoulder season sucks. Sometimes it's hard to figure out a good wood stove heating cycle. Right now for me I'm getting away with one good hot fire in the evening and it keeps the whole house up over 70 til the next evening. If I try going 24/7 loading the stove 2 or 3 times per day I'd just waste wood and the house would be way too hot. When the outside high temps drop down to the 30-40's the stove will go 24/7, these upper 40's and 50's just don't call for that much heat.

I think you just need a little more time with your new stove to figure things out. Your right, when it gets colder it will be easier. If I was in your situation I would'nt of added anymore wood and would of just cut back the air down to about .5 for a good cat burn smoulder and maybe you would of woke up to enough coals for a restart if needed.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Todd is right with figuring out the stove. We also went through a short period of learning the stove (first time I've ever had to really do that). This is a hard time of year to be heating with wood but it still can be done.

Yesterday I lit a small fire around 3:00 pm and at 8:00 pm I added 3 small splits. House really warm this morning and some hot coals but not a lot. Just enough to get a new fire going. Now I wish I hadn't started that fire this morning as it is sunny outside and really warm inside.

Hold in there Sappy, you are a smart man and will have it figured out well before the cold air hits us. Not sure how long until that happens but will be probably a few weeks yet.

 

[Slow1]

Sappy - My approach would be to consider the prior load carefully and perhaps put less in there. Then when you hit that 10:15 bedtime, consider putting one or two pieces in there anyway. Let those two pieces get established, then turn the stove down lower than you normally do. There really is nothing wrong with allowing the stove to cruise at 300* stovetop as it will let the cat keep cooking and it will preserve that wood for longer and give you the morning coals you desire. Even if they aren't bright red in the morning, when you open up the air they will brighten up quickly and allow you to feed some fresh splits shortly after. The other thing is be sure that the last load at night has at least one piece of really good hard wood stuck in the back...

I'm doing the two loads a day pattern now for the most part, but due to the lower quality wood I'm burning I'm not getting a lot of coals in the morning either. I try to put one piece of oak in the last load so I'll have some good coals to start up with, or just plan on a cold start. Somehow a less than full box of poplar doesn't seem to hold the coals the same as full load of oak...

 

[babzog]

I'm just burning softwood now so it flames up fast, throws out a bunch of heat, then dies off quick. Overnights are generally not a problem as I load up 3-4 logs and close the air off almost entirely. I don't sleep where the stove is so I don't worry if that room gets hot (I might change my tune when my ZC is installed on the main floor in a few weeks). I usually get a pie-plate sized collection of coals in the morning which I then brighten up with a couple of newspaper knots (sometimes not required) and a piece or two of cedar kindling. Add a few splits, let 'er heat up then turn down for the day. When I work from home, I'm keeping it going round the clock, ditto weekends. When I'm not working from home, I have to relight the fire at night (usually do as well when burning hardwood as I'll be gone 10hrs). It's cool and damp enough around here that it's worth keeping the fire on now, but not so much that I want to get into my good wood. Plus, a few more weeks of letting it dry doesn't hurt either. It's a bit of an art and I often miss the mark but quite satisfying when it works out (and hasn't been smoldering all night, blackening my glass and chimney).