Not burning complete.

[jameswise1]

Hello,

I am brand new here. This is my second year heating with wood. Last year I used an antique pot belley stove, this year I upgraded to a Engalnd stove works 13NC. The stove overall is really great except aside for the ash drawer but no biggie. The mian concern that I have is that the stove burns great down to coals but never seems to make the transition from coals to ash. I am wondering if anyone else out there is having or has ahd this problem. All info regarding this stove would be great. I am using it as my sole heating source for my 1500 square ft house and trying to prevent the gas boiler from coming on but over night the stove burns out and when the house hits below 55 the boiler kicks on costing me money. With the stove I have installed a heat reclaimer and plan on also adding the room blower.

Thanks,

James Wise

 

[Hogwildz]

Sounds like wet wood.
And if you keep loading it without letting the coals burn down enough, the ash from the next load buries the previous coals and insulates them from the burn.
Pull the coals to a big pile along the front, open the air a lil bit, and let them burn down. Prior to reloading. Also keep the ash on the floor to a couple inches.

 

[Nic36]

And if you keep loading it without letting the coals burn down enough, the ash from the next load buries the previous coals and insulates them from the burn.
Pull the coals to a big pile along the front, open the air a lil bit, and let them burn down. Prior to reloading. Also keep the ash on the floor to a couple inches.

I noticed that the few times I really loaded up my stove. This is my first year, so I'm learning too.

 

[North of 60]

The heat reclaimer mentioned isnt helping much either as it will reduce the draft which is still required at the end of the burn to use up the coals. If Hogz assumption is right about wet wood and using a heat reclaimer on top of it. Ouch :shut: Tes creosotes are going to plug up that area at the reclaimer thus again reducing your draft. Also Welcome aboard the safe train James. :coolsmile:

 

[Hogwildz]

Get rid of the heat reclaimer. I missed that in the original reading of your post.
Good eye North!

 

[CowboyAndy]

Ya, those heat reclaimers are bad news. They lower the stack temp too much and cause all sorts of problems.

 

[savageactor7]

james sometimes ash will insulate coals and slow them down from burning up completely. The fix is to just stir the coals with the poker when ever ya tend the fire...do that and it'll probably reduce your coals by 50%. If you already do this and still have a problem I suppose you could unplug the heat reclaimer for a few days just to check for any differences.

 

[Tfin]

To completely burn your coals down, simply stir them up, open the air control all the way and leave the door cracked.

I have the 13 NC as well and can easily maintain an over night burn. As others have stated, make sure you're using well seasoned wood and don't be afraid to load it right up for the night. Make sure you get the wood nice and charred though before you close it down.

 

[velvetfoot]

What's a room blower? If that comes with the stove, I bet it could help in kicking out the heat.

 

[InTheRockies]

I wasn't having a problem with coaling during shoulder season, but now that our temps are really falling and I'm burning more wood, I've had to adjust my burning routine a bit. I hadn't been opening up the air later in the run cycle. During shoulder season, with lighter loads, coaling wasn't an issue. However, after reading some threads on coaling, I'm now opening my air back up near the end of the burn cycle and it helps keep coaling down. If I find that I've got too many coals, I use a tip that was included in another thread here--wood.org's tips for reducing charcoaling. This tip works well (the secret is using a very small split while following their instructions and sometimes you may to burn another small split). Good luck. It seems to be a common issue with the non-cat EPA stoves.