Burn your embers (a.k.a. coals) down: HOW TO - open discussion

[NWA_PeaRidge_Homestead]

I have searched and re-searched almost everything regarding best practices. I know how things are relative.

I know other threads have discussed the ember accumulation (coal) burning issue, but I found no resolve and good solutions.

Still many questions you all might help to answer?

My research says this:

1) Burn all the wood down in cycles (i.e., burn it down before adding more)
2) Rack all the embers to the front
3) Add bark to burn it down.
3) Add more air to burn it all down (e.g., open the door a bit to blow torch the embers down).

However, when it really cold outside, I find it hard to NOT ACCUMULATE a thick disturbing bed pf embers/coal.

How do you deal with this?

Do I lack patience? I feel like waiting to get rid of ember is losing me quality heat burning time.

Note: I did not mention = rack the embers out and toss outside. (does not seem like a good solution).

Thanks
BEST

 

[ABMax24]

I wouldn't recommend opening the door to burn down the coals, for one the stove shouldn't be left unattended this way, and second it draws a substantial amount of your heated air into the stove and up the flue. Absolutely open the damper all the way though.

I've also never found adding bark to be successful, bark contains a lot of ash which buries the coals, preventing air from getting to them and slowing the rate they burn down.

Wood species has a lot to do with it, softwoods don't coal as much and they burn down faster, use those on the coldest days. Yes the stove has to be loaded more often, but the overall heat output is higher.

The final option is stove sizing, if the stove is being pushed so hard the coals can't be burnt down the heat load is likely too much for the stove, and another fix (albeit expensive) is to replace the stove with a larger model.

 

[snobuilder]

You need the coals to continue the fire, no? If not and you are wanting the stove to go out, just give it time.
Personally it ticks me off when I forget to restoke and have to get the newspaper and kindling out again. Coals= your friend.
If you think you have too many coals ,open the damper and spread them around so the air hits them from all sides and the pile will diminish quickly.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Wet wood often leads to excessive coaling. You can try opening up the air earlier, when the heat starts to go down, and adding a few small splits on top to get the air moving faster. When it drops stupid cold, sometimes you really need heat and can't wait for them to burn down. Get out the shovel and move the coals outside in a bucket so they can cool and you don't have any carbon monoxide dangers.

 

[Todd]

Smaller loads burned hotter with softer woods is what I like for those colder days. Save the better hardwoods for milder days when you can let the coals burn down longer. Smaller splits also help.

 

[John B]

Open the air up mid burn and you will be left with less embers at the end. However sometimes coaling is unavoidable and you either burn them down or scoop them out.

 

[firefighterjake]

When it's cold and I need to burn down the coals I will toss on a single split, preferably softwood, and open up the air all the way. In a half hour or so the coals are often notably smaller. I will rake them up, allowing the ash to spill down into the ash pan and then reload as normal.

 

[snobuilder]

When it's cold and I need to burn down the coals I will toss on a single split, preferably softwood, and open up the air all the way. In a half hour or so the coals are often notably smaller. I will rake them up, allowing the ash to spill down into the ash pan and then reload as normal.

Makes me wonder what you guys do in this situation without a sealed ash drawer and open grate stove bottom.....It's all I know as all my stoves through the years were set up like that.
I'm clumsy ....it would be dangerous for me to be scooping out hot coals into my living space to get rid of them......😆

 

[stoveliker]

I have my bucket right up against the door. And, of course, there is ember protection in front of the stove. So no big deal if something falls.

The one thing I have learned is that it's best to not have the next load of wood lying there, because when it's properly dry, a falling ember can easily ignite it - on the hearth pad...

 

[old greybeard]

When it gets very cold, sub 10f, I can’t wait to burn coals down, especially when windy.
Wood does matter, maple is the worst for me.
Not a big deal to scoop out enough coals to build a big fire. I want to maintain mid 70’s.
Overnight we don’t care if the house drops into the upper 60’s while the coals burn.
Above 10f I usually can just burn them down. This is running a big stove.

 

[savageactor7]

We raked the hot coals forward and just keep adding wood, eventually the opportunity presents itself where the fire dies down on its own from our own neglect. At that time we take a couple shovels full of ash from the front of the stove and put it in the bucket then we rake the rest of the hot coals forward then throw more wood in. This time of the year we're burned 24/7 so we never intentionally let the stove go cold. When it does go cold it's because of our neglect then we take care of the ash.

 

[brenndatomu]

A partial load of nice dry pine, or other softwood/low BTU/low coaling wood...will get you some usuable heat, and still buy the time needed to burn down the hardwood coals, without adding to them.
Rake coals forward as usual, then load pine (or other)

 

[saberbass]

Its been brutally cold in Manitoba this winter and I have been burning a lot during the day but don't want a fire when I go to bed at night. I burn mostly birch and a bit of oak during the day but by the late evening I have a lot of coals but not as much heat with no visible flames. I pull the coals forward and put on splits of poplar, cotton wood or pine. These lighter woods burn faster with no coals but with the flames I get another bump of heat from the stove and the coals burn up. They are cheaper woods with less btu's but I find they work really well for this application.

 

[jetsam]

Turn the air up high, rake the coals up front, and optionally throw some kindling on the coals. No need to waste 'em by throwing them out.

(Though if you grill in the summer, throwing them in an airtight steel bucket yields some nice homemade charcoal that doesn't make your meat taste like lighter fluid. If you're trying this, remember that your charcoal bin needs to be outdoors and away from anything combustible such as houses and decks.)

 

[brickie]

I just finished up a cord of water hickory and the coaling of that species is brutal!

 

[kennyp2339]

Im a raker myself, rake to the front load behind and on top, when the ash starts getting high I'll rake to one side, scoop ash out, the rake to the other side and scoop more ash out, seems to work well, then on a milder day I'll just let it burn down to make more room.

 

[Gearhead660]

I have a larger N-S loading stove. On colder days when we need more heat, I will do smaller loads, fully open damper when visible flames are gone, then rake coals to front and add a pine split leaving damper open. Another option is to rake most of the coals to one side, taking up the space that one split would occupy and reload.

 

[ohlongarm]

I have searched and re-searched almost everything regarding best practices. I know how things are relative.

I know other threads have discussed the ember accumulation (coal) burning issue, but I found no resolve and good solutions.

Still many questions you all might help to answer?

My research says this:

1) Burn all the wood down in cycles (i.e., burn it down before adding more)
2) Rack all the embers to the front
3) Add bark to burn it down.
3) Add more air to burn it all down (e.g., open the door a bit to blow torch the embers down).

However, when it really cold outside, I find it hard to NOT ACCUMULATE a thick disturbing bed pf embers/coal.

How do you deal with this?

Do I lack patience? I feel like waiting to get rid of ember is losing me quality heat burning time.

Note: I did not mention = rack the embers out and toss outside. (does not seem like a good solution).

Thanks
BEST

Back in the day when I started burning, 2004 I often had an annoying massive coal bed, eating up space in the stove. since then my wood for a decade at least has been near perfect at 16 to 19% , I don't have that problem anymore. Just a thought, and my experience. I believe less than ideal wood causes this annoyance, anyone agree?

 

[bholler]

Makes me wonder what you guys do in this situation without a sealed ash drawer and open grate stove bottom.....It's all I know as all my stoves through the years were set up like that.
I'm clumsy ....it would be dangerous for me to be scooping out hot coals into my living space to get rid of them......😆

Not sure how an ash pan would change anything regarding an excessive coal bed

 

[bholler]

Back in the day when I started burning, 2004 I often had an annoying massive coal bed, eating up space in the stove. since then my wood for a decade at least has been near perfect at 16 to 19% , I don't have that problem anymore. Just a thought, and my experience. I believe less than ideal wood causes this annoyance, anyone agree?

Running a stove really hard can cause it even with good wood

 

[venator260]

Not sure how an ash pan would change anything regarding an excessive coal bed

So in my basement 30NC, the coals get covered in ash, and the whole thing turns into a big lump. It would be great if I could have a grate to shift the ashes through and allow the coals to remain in the firebox and burn down further. Not as big of an issue now that I have my FP25 upstairs to carry most of my heating load. When I was using that as my only woodstove, it was super frustrating to come down after an 8-10 hour burn and find a 200 degree stove that's still half way full.

 

[fvhowler]

Seems like a universal problem. When I'm ready to reload (like before going to bed), I remove some coals and ash and take outside to a safe place. I don't have time to wait for coals to burn down, I remove them, leave some and restart fire with remaining coals.

 

[jalmondale]

So in my basement 30NC, the coals get covered in ash, and the whole thing turns into a big lump. It would be great if I could have a grate to shift the ashes through and allow the coals to remain in the firebox and burn down further. Not as big of an issue now that I have my FP25 upstairs to carry most of my heating load. When I was using that as my only woodstove, it was super frustrating to come down after an 8-10 hour burn and find a 200 degree stove that's still half way full.

I've had really good luck with the ash sifter (aka metal kitty litter scoop) that StoveLiker recommended. I just run it through the ash/coal on a reload and it gets all the coals sitting up on top, nicely aerated and ready to burn down. It also makes it easy to separate the coals for removing just the ash.

 

[wjohn]

I have been loading full and letting them burn down a ways. In order to do that I have to make sure I get the house up to a decent temp at the peak of the fire and then let it coast down on the coals to a point where it's getting chilly again (for me, ~62 degrees). If needed I will stir them once or twice with the poker in the last hour or two of coaling before I reload to knock the ashes off the top and expose fresh coals to air. Then I rake some coals towards the front. With my baffle angling downwards towards the rear, I maintain basically the same amount of height from front to rear of the firebox because there is sort of a ramp of coals going angling downwards to the rear of the stove. Then I shove my new logs down into the coals, fill it to the top, and shut the door. Ride it up to ~70 degrees and repeat. To me the coals are a valuable source of heat but if you have a stove sized such that it requires closer to max output to maintain temp in your size of house when it gets really cold, you can't ride them down with enough heat still being generated to warm the house, like I do.

I have a VC Aspen C3 so it's a small stove to begin with. I imagine it's about the same for any of the smaller stoves like the Morso 2B, Jotul 602, etc.

 

[venator260]

I've had really good luck with the ash sifter (aka metal kitty litter scoop) that StoveLiker recommended. I just run it through the ash/coal on a reload and it gets all the coals sitting up on top, nicely aerated and ready to burn down. It also makes it easy to separate the coals for removing just the ash.

I have an ash sifter that looks a good bit like a deep fryer basket. Works really good with the firebox of my fp25 that's smaller and wider than it is deep. With the 30 NC, I often have too much ash/charcoal mix in the stove to move things around enough, at least until I babysit it for an hour or two burning down the embers that I have.